Friday, December 26

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Trump suspect pleads not guilty to attempted assassination charge
30Sep By No Comments
World News

Trump suspect pleads not guilty to attempted assassination charge

By Andrew Goudsward, Reuters Ryan Routh has pleaded not guilty to five federal charges, including attempted assassination. Photo: AFPTV / AFP The man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump after allegedly positioning himself with a rifle outside one of the former president's Florida golf courses on 15 September pleaded not guilty to five federal charges. Ryan Routh, 58, entered the plea to charges that include attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate during a hearing in federal court. He has already been ordered to remain in jail to await a trial. Prosecutors have said Routh intended to kill Trump as he golfed at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. Routh, a struggling roofing contractor, condemned the Republican presidential candidate in a ...
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What went wrong for Fletcher Building?
30Sep By No Comments
Business

What went wrong for Fletcher Building?

Fletcher Building's share price has fallen from $8 to less than $3 in the past decade. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly It might be one of the country's biggest companies, but Craigs Investment Partners has not had Fletcher Building among its recommended portfolios for the past decade, and that has served the investment firm well. A series of unfortunate events, and the cyclical nature of the business, have meant its share price has fallen from about $8 a decade ago to $2.95 this week. So what went wrong for Fletcher, and will its new chief executive and recently completed capital raise help turn it around? A number of significant events have damaged the company in recent years. It has been involved in a dispute over leaking pipes in Western Australia, installed between 20...
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Australia’s online dating code will require Tinder, Hinge to act on dangerous users
30Sep By No Comments
World News

Australia’s online dating code will require Tinder, Hinge to act on dangerous users

By Jake Evans, ABC political reporter Photo: Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto Tinder, Hinge and other online dating platforms will have six months to become compliant with a dating code of conduct designed to make the matchmaker apps safer, after years of reported failures to act on incidences of sexual assaults enabled by their platforms. A 2022 Australian Institute of Criminology study found three in four people it surveyed had been subjected to sexual violence facilitated by dating apps in the prior five years. From Tuesday, the online dating code will begin requiring dating apps to have systems to detect potential incidents of "online-enabled" harm and take action against users who violate a company's online safety policies. Apps must also display prominent and transparent complaint an...
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Company liquidations up 19 percent on last year
30Sep By No Comments
Business

Company liquidations up 19 percent on last year

The construction, hospitality and transport sectors are twice as likely to be placed in liquidation. File photo. Photo: 123rf The number of company liquidations has soared, as businesses struggle to stay afloat in a slowing economy. The latest monthly report from credit bureau Centrix shows liquidations are up 19 percent year-on-year, and business credit defaults up 5 percent. Construction, hospitality and transport businesses appear to be the hardest hit, as consumers and businesses pull back on spending. That is despite an improvement in business and consumer sentiment in recent months. Centrix managing director Keith McLaughlin said the trend of difficulty for businesses often followed that of consumers. "The cost of running a business has gone up and to counter that, consumers haven...
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Israeli troops may be positioned for imminent Lebanon ground incursion, US official says
30Sep By No Comments
World News

Israeli troops may be positioned for imminent Lebanon ground incursion, US official says

A smoke plume erupts after an Israeli airstrike targeted the outskirts of the village of Ibl al-Saqi in southern Lebanon. Photo: RABIH DAHER/AFP The United States has observed positioning of Israeli troops that suggests a ground incursion into Lebanon could be imminent, a US official has told Reuters. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to offer further details on the posture of Israeli forces and declined further comment. Earlier, Israel warned Iran that nowhere in the Middle East was beyond its reach and hinted at a land invasion of Lebanon after assassinating the leader of the Tehran-backed Hezbollah group, one of its biggest adversaries, in a Beirut suburb last week. "There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people and protect our country," Prime Minist...
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KiwiSaver withdrawals soar: But how does it actually work?
30Sep By No Comments
Business

KiwiSaver withdrawals soar: But how does it actually work?

The number of people withdrawing money from KiwiSaver for financial hardship reasons has almost doubled in a year. File photo. Photo: 123rf Large numbers of New Zealanders continue to withdraw money from KiwiSaver for financial hardship reasons. More than 4200 members withdrew money for this reason in August, up from 2760 in August last year. But how do you make a financial hardship withdrawal, how long does it take, and what might get you turned down? What can you claim for? KiwiSaver members can apply for withdrawal for hardship reasons in fairly limited circumstances. You can apply if you cannot pay your minimum living expenses - such as power, water and food bills, if you can't keep up with your mortgage or rent, if you need to modify your home to meet special needs, or if you need ...
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Leptospirosis may prove to be fatal, warns expert
30Sep By No Comments
Health

Leptospirosis may prove to be fatal, warns expert

As Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was hospitalised after he was diagnosed as suffering from leptospirosis, a disease not many are familiar with, a doctor explains how this bacterial infection occurs, its dangers, and the precautions that must be taken. Explaining how leptospirosis spreads, Dr M Wali, Senior Consultant from the Department of Medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi, said that this infectious disease is caused by the bacteria Leptospira, and often spreads to humans through rats. The infection can occur when food, water, or soil contaminated by animal urine comes into contact with the nose, mouth, eyes, or broken skin, he said. Regarding the symptoms of this disease, Dr Wali said that in the early stages of leptospirosis, patients may experience flu-like symptoms. H...
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In defence of Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff
30Sep By No Comments
Life Style

In defence of Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff

As far as Heathcliff’s otherness is concerned: yes, it is an important part of his character. But the beauty of art – and of a 177-year-old tale of pure fiction – is that the creator (in this case, Fennell) can (and should) be afforded freedom to express that otherness as they see fit. The answer to the Elordi-not-being-a-gypsy conundrum might be found in what former Heathcliff Tom Hardy did with Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. “Bane, quintessentially, is Latinx in origin and I’m not,” Hardy told Wired when the Christopher Nolan film came out in 2012. “So I looked at the concept of Latin and found a man called Bartley Gorman, who’s a Romani gypsy. The king of the gypsies, in inverted commas, and a bare-knuckle fighter and a boxer.” He remoulded the movie’s villain to fit an image that he co...
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Hurricane Helene toll hits 90 in USA; homes and memories washed away
30Sep By No Comments
World News

Hurricane Helene toll hits 90 in USA; homes and memories washed away

By Alyssa Pointer, Maria Alejandra Cardona and Octavio Jones for Reuters Bo Hester assessing damages to his house after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Horseshoe Beach, Florida, on 28 September, 2024. Photo: AFP/ Chandan Khanna Cleanup and recovery efforts under way from Florida to Virginia Damage estimated from $15 billion to over $100b. The Southeastern US begun a huge cleanup and recovery effort, and the death toll climbed towards 100 people after Hurricane Helene knocked out power for millions, destroyed roads and bridges and caused dramatic flooding from Florida to Virginia. The storm's winds, rain and storm surge killed at least 90 people in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia, according to a Reuters tally of state and local officials. O...
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Air New Zealand to stop direct flights from Invercargill to Wellington
30Sep By No Comments
Business

Air New Zealand to stop direct flights from Invercargill to Wellington

A Boeing Dreamliner 787-9, from the Air New Zealand fleet. Photo: Supplied/ Air NZ Air New Zealand has confirmed it is canning direct flights from Invercargill to Wellington from January next year, with people travelling from the deep south having to go through Christchurch. It said tough economic times meant domestic demand had softened, particularly in the regions, and combined with having an aircraft out of service due to global engine maintenance issues, it had to make the tough decision to cancel the direct Invercargill to Wellington service. Invercargill Licensing Trust chief executive Chris Ramsay runs 23 different establishments, and is expecting to host thousands of visitors to Invercargill next year. He told Checkpoint Air New Zealand is putting profit ahead of its social resp...
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