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A satellite image shows Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida. Photo: AFP / NOAA Milton is the latest hurricane to strike the southeastern coast of the United States, just two weeks after Hurricane Helene caused widespread devastation and killed hundreds in the area. It is is the ninth hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season and the fourth major hurricane (defined as a hurricane forecast to cause devastating or catastrophic damage). Read more: But why do so many hurricanes form during this 'season'? When does it run until? And how does it differ throughout the world? Here's what you need to know. What is hurricane season? Hurricane season is a time of year when hurricanes (also referred to as typhoons or tropical cyclones) usually develop. There are seven different hurricane...

By Niklas Pollard and Johan Ahlander, Reuters A screen shows the laureates of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, John J Hopfield and Geoffrey E Hinton, as Anders Irbaeck delivers a speech. Photo: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP US scientist John Hopfield and British-Canadian Geoffrey Hinton won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for discoveries and inventions in machine learning that paved the way for the artificial intelligence boom. Heralded for its revolutionary potential in areas ranging from cutting-edge scientific discovery to more efficient admin, the emerging technology on which the duo worked has also raised fears humankind may soon be outsmarted and outcompeted by its own creation. Hinton has been widely credited as a godfather of AI and made headlines when he quit his job at...

By Nicholas McAnally and Laurent Banguet, AFP Saudi painter Omar bin Laden, the fourth-eldest son of former Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Photo: JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP Omar bin Laden, a son of slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has been banned from returning to France where he made his home for several years before he was ordered to leave in 2023, France's Interior Minister announced Tuesday local time. Born in Saudi Arabia, bin Laden has also lived in Sudan and Afghanistan. The 43-year-old settled in the northern French region of Normandy with his British wife several years ago, taking up painting. France's new interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said Omar bin Laden "posted comments on his social networks in 2023 that advocated terrorism." "As a result, the prefect of Or...

Workers board a window in Tampa, Florida, on October 8, 2024, ahead of Hurricane Milton's expected landfall. Photo: MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO / AFP Milton is expected to make landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida overnight NZ time as a dangerous major hurricane, the second huge storm to hit the US in a fortnight. The storm has exploded in strength as it nears the Tampa region. "It's a matter of life and death, and that's not hyperbole," US President Biden said from the White House, urging those under orders to leave to "evacuate now, now, now." Across the southeastern United States, emergency workers are still struggling to provide relief after Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 230 people across several states. Follow RNZ's live updates: Source link

Hurricane Milton approaches Florida. Photo: Screenshot / Weather Channel Storm-battered Florida braced for a direct hit from Hurricane Milton which strengthened back to a Category 5 storm Tuesday, as US President Joe Biden begged residents to flee what he warned could be the worst natural disaster to hit the state in a century. As the second huge hurricane in as many weeks rumbled toward Florida's west coast, a sense of looming catastrophe spread as people raced to board up homes and flee. "It's a matter of life and death, and that's not hyperbole," Biden said from the White House, urging those under orders to leave to "evacuate now, now, now." Biden's warning came amid a bitter pre-election quarrel, with his Democratic vice president Kamala Harris castigating her rival Donald Trump for...

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in 2019. Photo: AFP Then-president Donald Trump secretly sent Covid-19 test kits to Vladimir Putin despite a US shortage during the pandemic, and spoke multiple times with the Russian leader after leaving office, Bob Woodward says in an explosive new book. The famed reporter's opus also chronicles some of President Joe Biden's own acknowledged missteps and his struggle to prevent escalation of conflict in the Middle East, including exasperation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over futile efforts to get Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire. In excerpts of War published Tuesday local time by The Washington Post, where Woodward is an associate editor, he says Trump retains a personal relationship with Putin even as he campaigns for another term and t...

John Farnham, pictured here in 2002, has a new memoir out next month. Photo: GREG WOOD A short audio trailer of Australian legend John Farnham reading his memoir The Voice Inside has been released. It's the first time the 75-year-old singer's voice has been heard since he was diagnosed with throat cancer 2022. "I don't enjoy talking about myself, I really don't. Don't get me wrong, I'm an egomaniac," he says in the audio clip released by the book's publisher Hachette ahead of its release later this month. "But dredging up the past and picking through what has and hasn't been is just not something I've ever really enjoyed. I'll try to share as much as I can, but that's not easy because I've never really been that open. I guess there are reasons for that. Reasons for my reluctance." The m...