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By Jeff Mason for Reuters Former US president Barack Obama campaigns for US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 10, 2024. Photo: AFP / Ryan Collerd Former president Barack Obama made a passionate case against Donald Trump and in favour of Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday during a rally at a Pittsburgh college campus aimed in part at spurring young people to show up for the 5 November election. Obama has been a vocal supporter of Harris since she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden stepped aside in July following a poor debate performance against Trump, the Republican former president. Obama, whose White House term ended in 2017, is still popular with his party's base. The...

By Susana Lei'ataua and Louise Ternouth in Apia A sign on the Samoa Government building in Apia shows the countdown to CHOGM. Photo: Louise Ternouth The warship HMS Tamar is berthed at the Apia International Port as Samoa prepares for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM). The Royal Navy ship from the United Kingdom is permanently based in the south Pacific and has been patrolling the south coast of Upolu since HMNZS Manawanui ran aground on the Tafitoala Reef on 6 October before catching fire and sinking the following morning. In Apia, there is a giant digital clock on the Fiame Mataafa Faumuina Mulinuu II Building - which houses the government, including the offices of the Prime Minister and her Cabinet - counting down to the start of CHOGM in 10 days. In the coming ...

Hurricane Milton has moved off Florida's east coast, leaving widespread devastation. The death toll has been rising throughout Friday morning (NZT) and 15 people have been reported as killed so far. The full extent of the damage is not yet clear as some areas are not yet accessible due to weather conditions, flooding and debris. Look back over RNZ's updates: Source link

Coal miners and labourers along with the coffins of victims take part in a protest against killings in Duki district of Pakistan's Balochistan province. Photo: FARID KHAN / AFP Unidentified gunmen have lined up miners at a small private coal mine in southwestern Pakistan and shot them, police and media say, killing at least 20 and wounding seven in rising violence in the restive region. The attack early on Friday morning (local time) in the mineral-rich province of Balochistan - which borders Afghanistan and Iran - is the worst in weeks and comes days ahead of the country hosting a summit of the Eurasian group Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. It also comes as Islamabad hosts a delegation from Saudi Arabia that is exploring mining deals in the South Asian country trying to recover from...

By Stefan Armbruster, BenarNews French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson address the UN Decolonization Committee in New York, pictured on 7 October 2024. Photo: UNTV French Polynesia's president and civil society leaders have called on the United Nations to bring France to the negotiating table and set a timetable for the decolonization of the Pacific territory. More than a decade after the archipelago was re-listed for decolonization by the UN General Assembly, France has refused to acknowledge the world's peak diplomatic organization has a legitimate role. France's reputation has taken a battering as an out-of-touch colonial power since deadly violence erupted in New Caledonia in May, sparked by a now abandoned French government attempt to dilute the voting power of indigenous...