Blog

Members of the Nihon Hidankyo and atomic bomb suvivors, assistant secretary general Toshiko Hamanaka (left), co-chair Terumi Tanaka, assistant secretary general Masako Wada and assistant secretary general Jiro Hamasumi. Photo: AFP / YUICHI YAMAZAKI Almost eight decades after an atomic bomb devastated her home town of Hiroshima, Teruko Yahata carries the scar on her forehead from when she was knocked over by the force of the blast. The US bombs that laid waste to Hiroshima on the morning of 6 August 1945, and to Nagasaki three days later, changed the course of history and left Yahata and other survivors with deep scars and a sense of responsibility toward disarmament. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Nihon Hidankyo group of atomic bomb survivors, for its work warning of the d...

Photo: 123RF Researchers at Cambridge University have called for beer and cider to be served in smaller glasses in the United Kingdom, after a study found it could reduce alcohol consumption and harm. But Alcohol Healthwatch, an organisation that works to reduce and prevent alcohol-related harm in Aotearoa, said doing the same here would be unlikely to have much of an impact. The study, conducted in England, found beer and cider consumption dropped by about 10 percent in pubs, bars and restaurants where customers were offered a 2/3 pint as the largest serving. Unlike in New Zealand, beer glass sizes are standardised. A UK pint equates to 568ml, while a 2/3 pint is 378ml. "Removing the offer of pints in 13 licensed premises for four weeks reduced the volume of beer sold," the study's auth...

JD Vance. Photo: AFP Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said the way he phrased his criticism of "childless cat ladies" - comments that took on new life when Donald Trump tapped the Ohio senator as his running mate - was "dumb". "I certainly wish that I had said it differently," Vance said in an interview with The New York Times published Saturday. But Vance said he stood by the point he made as a US Senate candidate in a 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson discussing leaders of the Democratic Party, including Vice President Kamala Harris. He said he did not intend to criticise those who couldn't have children "for medical reasons, for social reasons - like set that to the side; we're not talking about folks like that". "What I was definitely trying to illustrate ultimately in...

By Brad Brooks, Reuters Aerial view of destroyed houses in Port St Lucie, Florida, after a tornado hit the area and caused severe damage as Hurricane Milton swept through Florida on 11 October, 2024. Photo: MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO / AFP Chris Fiore was supposed to be accepting delivery of new household appliances and furniture, replacing items that were swamped by Hurricane Helene just a few weeks ago. Instead, the resident of Siesta Key, the Florida barrier island town where Hurricane Milton made landfall this week, was using a broom to push muck and seawater out of her ground-floor condo, a dream home she purchased just four years ago. "There is no chance I'm pulling up stakes," Fiore said on Friday, pointing out the waterline where ocean water earlier this week was 60cm up a ...