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Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has condemned countries' "abuse of the veto" at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He also used his speech to announce New Zealand would campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council for the 2039-2040 term. Aotearoa was voted onto the Security Council in 2014 after a 10-year campaign, serving two years in 2015 and 2016. In Friday's speech, Peters spoke about New Zealand's history with the UN, concerns about "abuse of the veto", Russia's war on Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza. He began by reflecting on the creation of the UN Charter in San Francisco after World War II, saying New Zealand's concerns about the veto could be traced that far back. "Forged in the immediate aftermath of that war, then-New Zealand prime minister Peter Fraser ...

By Will Dunham, Reuters The white dwarf star shown in this illustration is one of several that an international team of astronomers has been studying. Photo: MARK GARLICK/ SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRA / AFP The first rocky planet ever spotted orbiting a burned out star called a white dwarf offers a glimpse of what may be in store for Earth billions of years from now - showing it is possible our planet might survive the death of the sun, albeit as a cold and desolate outpost in space. The planet, with a mass about 1.9 times that of Earth, is orbiting the white dwarf about 4200 light-years away from our solar system near the bulge at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, according to a study using data from Hawaii-based telescopes. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, about 9.5 t...

By Rich McKay, Brendan O'Brien, Andrew Hay for Reuters This image obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Helene on 26 September 26, 2024. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP Driving rain flooded roadways and closed down airports in Florida as an intensifying Hurricane Helene marched toward the state's panhandle region, bringing the threat of a potentially deadly storm surge to much of the coastline. The storm became a major Category 3 hurricane on Thursday afternoon with sustained winds near 193km/h, the National Hurricane Center said, and was expected to continue gaining power. Helene was forecast to make landfall in the evening in Florida's Big Bend region, possibly as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds in excess of 209km/h. Officials pleaded...

By Steve Holland, Patricia Zengerle and Trevor Hunnicutt, Reuters With months left in office, President Joe Biden made a major commitment to Ukraine. Photo: AFP US President Joe Biden announced more than US$8 billion (NZ$12.9b) in military assistance for Ukraine on Friday to help Kyiv repel Russian invaders, using a visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky to make a major commitment. The aid includes the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 130 km. The medium-range missile gives Ukraine a major upgrade to the weapons it is using to strike Russian forces, allowing the Ukrainians to do it at safer distances. The bomb, capable of striking targets with high accuracy, is to be dropped from fighter jets. Biden will not announc...

Vladimir Putin is warning Russia may use nuclear weapons in conflict. Photo: AFP / Pool US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Russian President Vladimir Putin's warning to the West about nuclear weapons use irresponsible and poorly timed, as world leaders gathered in New York for the UN General Assembly. "It's totally irresponsible," Blinken said in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday. "I think many in the world have spoken clearly about that when he's been rattling the nuclear sabre - including China, in the past. So I would just say especially to do that now, while the world's gathered... talking about the need for more disarmament, non-proliferation." Putin warned the West on Wednesday that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it was struck with conventional missiles, as the US ...

By Timour Azhari and James Mackenzie, Reuters Israel is pressing ahead with strikes that have killed hundreds in Lebanon. Photo: RABIH DAHER/AFP Israel rejected global calls on Friday for a ceasefire with the Hezbollah movement, defying its biggest ally the US and pressing ahead with strikes that have killed hundreds in Lebanon and heightened fears of an all-out regional war. An Israeli warplane struck the edges of the capital Beirut, killing two people and wounding 15, including a woman in critical condition, Lebanon's health ministry said. That took deaths from hits overnight and during Thursday local time to 28. The strike killed the head of one of Hezbollah's air force units, Mohammad Surur, two security sources said, the latest senior Hezbollah commander to be targeted in days o...