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Raygun quits competitive breakdancing after performance mocked at Paris Olympics | World News
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Raygun quits competitive breakdancing after performance mocked at Paris Olympics | World News

An Australian Olympian, whose breakdancing routine at the Paris Games went viral, says she will no longer compete.Rachael Gunn known competitively as 'Raygun', says her professional career is over. The 37-year-old Sydney university lecturer failed to get on the scoreboard in all three of her competition rounds in August.Her routines at the Olympics included unorthodox moves such as a "kangaroo" dance.She later apologised and said she was "very sorry" for the backlash, but suggested much of the criticism was due to ignorance of the sport. On the Australian radio station 2DayFM on Wednesday, she said she now only "breaks" at home with her partner."Dancing is so much fun and it makes you feel good and I don't think people should feel crap about, you know, the way that they dance," she told Th...
US election: What happens between now and Inauguration Day
World News

US election: What happens between now and Inauguration Day

Donald Trump on election night. Photo: JIM WATSON American voters have spoken, and they decided to rehire Donald Trump as president of the United States. But he won't take office until 20 January, 2025, and there are multiple things that will happen between now and then. Throughout November, December and January, there will be a transition between the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden and the incoming Trump administration. The transition has been complicated by Trump blowing through multiple deadlines in that process, which is laid out in law. Trump faces sentencing for his felony conviction, plus many other question marks Before he became president-elect, Trump became a convicted felon this year. A jury in New York found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business recor...
US election: When will Donald Trump get the keys to the White House? This is what happens next | US News
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US election: When will Donald Trump get the keys to the White House? This is what happens next | US News

The US election is all but over, the headline result is known with just a couple of states left to declare for either candidate.Donald Trump is headed back to the White House in January, but before then there are still a few things that have to happen. Here's what happens next:Final counting in remaining statesWe are still waiting for official results from some states. And while we know that Mr Trump has secured enough Electoral College votes to win the presidency, a handful of states have still not been declared for either candidate.They include Alaska, Arizona and Nevada.There is also the matter of the popular vote, which looks set to go to the Republican. That would mark the first time Mr Trump has won the popular vote in his three election campaigns, and the first time his party has do...
Labor backs 16 as the minimum age to use social media ahead of national cabinet meeting
World News

Labor backs 16 as the minimum age to use social media ahead of national cabinet meeting

By Maani Truu, ABC News Photo: 123RF Australian children and teenagers under the age of 16 could soon be banned from using social media after Labor announced it would back the higher cut-off limit. The government had previously committed to introducing the legislation that would get kids off social media by the end of the year, but earlier suggested it would not announce a specific cut-off age until after a trial of verification technology. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also confirmed on Thursday that the proposed legislation would not include grandfathering arrangements - meaning young people already on social media would not be exempt - nor would it allow for exemptions due to parental consent. A virtual national cabinet meeting will be held on Friday to discuss the changes, where...
Hurricane Rafael crashes into Cuba triggering island-wide power blackout | World News
Business

Hurricane Rafael crashes into Cuba triggering island-wide power blackout | World News

Cuba has been plunged into darkness after Hurricane Rafael slammed into the island as a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 115mph (185kph).The country's electricity operator UNE said high winds had caused the electricity grid to collapse. State-run TV reported the entire population of 10 million people was without power - part of a series of blackouts which have plagued the Caribbean island in recent weeks. Image: Cuba's energy grid suffered a complete blackout when Hurricane Rafael made landfall. Pic: Reuters Image: In Havana, people were warned to take shelter. Pic: Reuters Rafael lashed Cuba's capital Havana late on Wednesday afternoon, with wind...
Harris concedes the election, but not ‘the fight that fueled this campaign’
World News

Harris concedes the election, but not ‘the fight that fueled this campaign’

By Betsy Klein, Aaron Pellish and Ebony Davis, CNN US Vice President Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris delivers her concession speech at Howard University in Washington, DC, 6 November 2024. Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP Vice President Kamala Harris offered an uplifting, positive charge to her supporters as she conceded the 2024 presidential election, acknowledging the stinging loss while committing to a peaceful transfer of power and vowing to "fight" in a much different way than a defeated presidential candidate promised four years ago. "Earlier today, I spoke with President-elect (Donald) Trump and congratulated him on his victory. I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power," she said in r...
New Zealand ‘prepared’ for Trump presidency, Winston Peters says
World News

New Zealand ‘prepared’ for Trump presidency, Winston Peters says

Donald Trump campaigned on protectionist policies to favour Americans. Photo: AFP / Jim Watsonn Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is warning against jumping to conclusions about Trump policies that might affect New Zealand. Republican Donald Trump was projected to win the US election and had spoken on the campaign trail promising trade tariffs and protectionist policies to favour American manufacturers and farmers. Read more: Luxon congratulated Trump on a "comprehensive win". "I look forward to working with him and advancing the interests of our great countries. "I know both sides of the aisle in Washington... I've got no doubt we'll do everything we can to work constructively to move forward together." Asked about Trump's campaigning on trade tariffs which could be bad for New Zealand...
Germany’s coalition government on the brink of collapse, after key minister is sacked | World News
Business

Germany’s coalition government on the brink of collapse, after key minister is sacked | World News

Germany's ruling coalition is on the brink of collapse, triggering potential political chaos in Europe's largest economy.It means Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his Social Democratic Party (SDP) face heading a minority government after sacking his finance minister Christian Lindner from the pro-business Free Democrats Party (FDP). Mr Scholz made the decision after weeks of disputes among Germany's coalition partners over ways to boost the country's ailing economy.Added to that, the government's popularity has been sinking while far-right and far-left forces have been surging.He said Mr Lindner "has broken my trust too often", and claimed he was focused on the short-term survival of his own party. "This kind of selfishness is utterly incomprehensible," he added. The three other FDP ministers - ...
German receives 1700 identical letters from taxman
World News

German receives 1700 identical letters from taxman

Photo: 123RF Most people dread a letter from the tax office. So spare a thought for the German man who got 1700 of them. In an administrative meltdown worthy of a Franz Kafka novel, the mountain of tax correspondence arrived at his front door in 10 boxes, a local newspaper reported. Germany's finance ministry apologised on Wednesday for the "technical error" that threw the man from Quickborn in northern Germany. "The finance ministry has contacted the taxpayer and apologised," said a ministry spokeswoman. The ministry offered to take the letters - which were all identical - off the man's hands and destroy them, but he declined the offer as unnecessary, she said. Europe's biggest economy may be at the forefront of many advanced industries but has long suffered from notoriously outdated bu...
US elections live: ‘We must accept the results’: Kamala Harris concedes to Donald Trump
World News

US elections live: ‘We must accept the results’: Kamala Harris concedes to Donald Trump

Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has addressed supporters after conceding victory in the US election to her Republican rival Donald Trump. Trump is projected to win the election, clinching 291 electoral college votes so far. The candidates needed 270 to win. Votes are still being counted in some areas, with the winners in a handful of states - Alaska, Arizona, Maine and Nevada - yet to be announced. Harris has called Trump to concede and made a speech at Howard University in Washington DC where she said "we must accept the results of this election", but "while I concede this election I do not concede the fight that fuelled this campaign". Follow all the action with RNZ's liveblog: Source link