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West Australian writer Tim Winton braves a barbaric and blistering future in his epic new novel 'Juice'. Photo: Supplied Global warming isn't futuristic, says Tim Winton - it's here already. The "terrifying feeling" of being under the sun at 50 degrees Celsius is something the Australian writer and climate activist knows from personal experience. "We're not built to live like that and we won't. I'm afraid most of us won't live like that." In his epic new novel Juice, the 64-year-old drops his readers into a dystopian desert culture where chaos reigns and life is cheap. "Let's just hold our noses and go into this world for a while and see how it feels and see if there's anything we might learn from it," he tells RNZ's Saturday Morning. For Winton, writing Juice was a way of synthesising...

Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond. Photo: AFP Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has died at 69, according to statements from Scotland's main political parties and UK media reports. Salmond was taken ill while in North Macedonia, collapsing after delivering a speech on Saturday, according to British media reports. "I will never be able to thank Alex for all his lessons, advice, guidance, mentorship, love and friendship and for everything he did for Scotland. For many years he was the father of the nation and for several years he has been a father-like figure to me. "All of our thoughts are with all of the family and everyone across Scotland who are in mourning," the general secretary of Alex Salmond's Alba Party Chris McEleny said on Saturday. British Prime Minister K...

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Photo: AFP / Sergey Guneev / Sputnik Russia has confirmed that Donald Trump sent the Kremlin sample Covid-19 tests in the early days of the pandemic, after revelations in veteran journalist Bob Woodward's new book raised further questions about the former US president's relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The Trump administration "sent us several samples of test kits," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, broadly supporting Woodward's claim. His intervention comes after Trump denied the claims, telling ABC News they were "false". Legendary reporter Woodward wrote in War that Trump "secretly sent Putin a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid test machines for his personal use". "Please don't tell anybody you sent these...

By Jeff Mason, Reuters US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she arrives at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 9 September 2024. Photo: JIM WATSON / AFP Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, released a letter from her doctor on Saturday (US time) that pronounced her in good health and fit for high office, in an effort to draw a contrast with her counterpart, Donald Trump. In a memo distributed by the White House, the vice president's physician, Joshua Simmons, said Harris's most recent physical exam in April was "unremarkable", that she maintains an active lifestyle and "very healthy diet" despite a busy schedule, suffers from seasonal allergies and sporadic hives, does not use tob...