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Philip Mehrtens release: Veteran negotiator explains why hostage talks can take so long

23Sep

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World News

Philip Mehrtens release: Veteran negotiator explains why hostage talks can take so long

Phillip Mehrtens, left, with former acting Bupati of Nduga regency, Edison Gwijangge, in the helicopter on his release from captivity. Photo: Mehrtens family / Supplied A former New Zealand police negotiator says international negotiations can be long and complex, following the release of a Kiwi pilot held hostage in West Papua for more than a year-and-a-half. Philip Mehrtens, seized by rebels from the West Papua National Liberation Army in February 2023 after he landed a small commercial plane in a remote area of Indonesia's Papua region, was freed in recent days. He is in good health and has since been reunited with his immediate family in Jakarta. Liberation Army spokesperson Sebby Sambom claimed the leader of the group that took Mehrtens hostage, Egianus Kogoya, was bribed with mone...

What is going on with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs?

23Sep

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World News

What is going on with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs?

2024 is shaping up to be a memorable year for US hip hop star Sean 'P.Diddy' Combs, for all the wrong reasons. Here's why - including what 'freak off' parties have to do with his fall from grace. Photo: ROBYN BECK Warning: This story contains details that may upset some readers. Explainer: Once upon a time in the 90s, P Diddy (real name: Sean Combs) was the crowned king of US hip hop, with a stellar music career and friends in high places. Now he's in big trouble - and in custody - after being charged with sex trafficking and racketeering. How did we get here? Who is P Diddy, anyway? Sean 'Diddy' Combs, 54, is a US music mogul and influential hip hop producer who first gained fame in the 90s. Combs, also known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Diddy, made his name by being the manager and pro...

Yashaswini on attempts to sing for `Bandish Bandits`

23Sep

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Entertainment, Movies

Yashaswini on attempts to sing for `Bandish Bandits`

There is a vivacious charm to Yashaswini Dayama, who played a timid and sombre student in Delhi Crime (2019-22) after she gave her two bits on Adulting (2018-22). After voicing the character of Valeria Richards in Wastelanders: Doom, she will next be seen in Bandish Bandits. The Prime Video’s musical series is expected to return soon with its second season. “We finished shooting it a long time ago, but I don’t know when exactly it will be released. I have just been waiting,” shares Dayama. She plays a singer in the series, which also stars Ritwik Bhowmik and Shreya Chaudhry. With a visible passion for singing, as evident from her social media posts, Dayama was eager to lend her voice to the music in the show. However, she admits that singing wasn’t an option for her. “There are some very ...

McDonald’s Monopoly heavily gamified and difficult to understand, marketing expert says

23Sep

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Business

McDonald’s Monopoly heavily gamified and difficult to understand, marketing expert says

McDonald's says its main feedback from customers is how popular the promotion has been. Photo: 123rf A lack of transparency and questionable prize value might be turning some people off McDonald's Monopoly promotion, one marketing expert says. McDonald's has been running the Monopoly game for 10 years. It offers customers tickets when they buy certain items, which can win instant prizes or be saved for "collect to win" prizes. But some customers have complained that the prizes are not as generous as they first appear. For example, a Mixbook $20 voucher can't be used with any other discount on the photobook site, which is currently offering a sale of up to 50 percent off. Three months of membership to Amazon Prime, for which there are 400,000 prizes available, requires people not to alre...

Takeaways and local eateries defy cost-of-living challenges

23Sep

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Business

Takeaways and local eateries defy cost-of-living challenges

Local eateries and takeaway businesses were bucking the trend, the Restaurant Association said, Photo: 123rf Takeaways and local eateries are bucking the downward trend as the cost of living crisis causes a big fall in revenue for restaurants. A report by the Restaurant Association revealed 76 percent of its members had worse or significantly worse profitability compared to the same period last year. The takeaway sector, however, showed a 4.2 percent increase in year-on-year sales during the second quarter of 2024. Other businesses to defy the odds were neighbournood eateries with 24 percent of respondents stating income was on par with or up on the previous year. Annual sales revenue of was $15.7 billion for the year ending March, a 5.8 percent increase on the previous year. The Associ...

‘Battle of reckoning’: Hezbollah, Israel exchange heavy fire in ‘new phase’ of fighting

23Sep

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World News

‘Battle of reckoning’: Hezbollah, Israel exchange heavy fire in ‘new phase’ of fighting

By Timour Azhari and Miro Maman, Reuters The coffins of Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah Radwan Forces commander, and Mahmoud Hamad, another Hezbollah commander, both killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building are driven through the streets of the southern suburb of Dahiyeh in Beirut, Lebanon. Photo: OLIVER MARSDEN / AFP Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told mourners at the funeral of one of the group's commanders killed last week in Beirut: "We have entered a new phase, the title of which is the open-ended battle of reckoning." Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said operations would continue until it was safe for evacuated people on his side of the border to return - also setting the stage for a long conflict as Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to fight on until a ceas...

Tower renews reinsurance package | RNZ News

22Sep

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Business

Tower renews reinsurance package | RNZ News

Tower Insurance bulding at 45 Queen Street, Auckland Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook New Zealand insurance company Tower has renewed its reinsurance package with increased cover at lower cost for the coming year. The company said it had secured cover for all its major businesses for home, motor, boat and commercial for its New Zealand and Pacific customers at favourable rates. "Tower's focus on risk-based pricing combined with our dynamic rating ability helped us secure favourable terms for our FY25 (financial year) reinsurance," chief financial officer Paul Johnston said. "We've further strengthened relationships with global reinsurers, with several agreeing to new multi-year arrangements, which provides greater long-term certainty of reinsurance costs and catastrophe excesses." Reinsurance is t...

Fletcher Building looks to raise $700 million

22Sep

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Business

Fletcher Building looks to raise $700 million

Fletcher Building chief executive Andrew Reding. Photo: Supplied Fletcher Building has announced it will raise $700 million to pay back debt and improve it's financial stability. The troubled building products and construction company is struggling with poor demand as house sales are down. It is looking to raise $282m from investment funds and $418m from current shareholders. It went into a trading halt on the stock exchange to do so. In addition to money raising Fletcher Building plans to cut around $180m in costs to better the books. Shares in the company were $2.40 each on Monday morning, a 13 percent discount from market close on Friday. Source link

Waldorf Astoria Seychelles review: it’s the perfect couples’ hotel – I should know, I got engaged there

22Sep

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Life Style

Waldorf Astoria Seychelles review: it’s the perfect couples’ hotel – I should know, I got engaged there

As I walked in, I spotted a giant hollow rock on the beach filled with ice and a bottle of champagne. Yogi handed me a flower crown and a white bouquet, both of which she’d handmade herself, yet still, the bridal nod was lost on me. Surprised and a little confused by what I thought was an incredibly sweet but unnecessarily extravangant send-off by the hotel staff — there were two deck chairs, a blanket with pillows and two champagne flutes placed next to a tray of canapes, and our names were written between hearts in the sand — I turned to my boyfriend, expecting an equally puzzled look on his face. Instead, he was down on one knee holding a dark blue box with a shiny, princess cut trilogy ring inside. The sky was pink and purple, and the crashing sounds of the waves had eased in time for...

NZ councils’ debt levels weigh on creditworthiness of Asia-Pacific region

22Sep

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Business

NZ councils’ debt levels weigh on creditworthiness of Asia-Pacific region

Photo: AFP / JEAN-MARC BARRERE New Zealand's increasingly indebted local and regional governments (LRGs) have eroded the overall creditworthiness of the Asia-Pacific region. A report by S&P Global Ratings said Australia and New Zealand's higher inward migration rates, compared with other countries in Asia-Pacific, was adding pressure to infrastructure deficits. "LRGs in New Zealand also face the additional burden because of weaker operating accounts and substantial increases in capital expenditure, including national water reforms and disaster-related reconstruction efforts," it said. "This infrastructure push is resulting in higher debt levels and interest costs, which is weighing on the liquidity coverages of several LRGs. "This follows our revision of the trend of the New Zealand ...