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By Tom Balmforth for Reuters Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden in June 2024. Photo: Mandel NGAN / AFP Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky increased pressure on the United States to let Kyiv strike deeper into Russian territory after his representatives met senior US officials in Washington on Saturday. Washington has provided Ukraine with more than US$50 billion (NZ$80bn) worth of military aid since 2022, but has limited the use of its weapons to Ukrainian soil and defensive cross-border operations. "Clearing the Ukrainian sky of Russian guided aerial bombs is a strong step to force Russia to seek an end to the war and a just peace," Zelensky said in his nightly video address. Appealing to the United States, Britain, France and Germany, he said, "We...

By Andrew MacAskill, Reuters An Oasis fan takes a photo at a new mural by Pic.One.Art, of Oasis' Liam and Noel Gallagher on the side of a record store in Manchester, UK, on 27 August, the day the band announced plans to re-form and tour. Photo: AFP/ Paul Ellis High demand sees fans struggle to get tickets Fans complain of website errors, long waits Tickets sell out after 10 hours Tickets for next year's Oasis reunion tour sold out by Saturday evening (UK time), though fans eager to see the band play live for the first time in 16 years complained of technical issues and long online waits that often ended in disappointment. Fans trying to access the three websites selling the tickets - Ticketmaster, See Tickets and Gigsandtours - reported issues, including error messages and being ki...

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Mohammad Salem for Reuters Medics on Saturday administered polio vaccines on children at Nasser Hospital in a symbolic move before the official campaign begins. Photo: Jihad Al-Sharafi / AFP Israeli strikes have killed at least 48 people in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian health authorities said, as clashes took place in central and southern areas of the enclave ahead of the planned start of a polio vaccination campaign. The United Nations is due to start vaccinating some 640,000 children in the territory against polio, relying on daily eight-hour pauses in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in specific areas of the besieged enclave. Yousef Abu Al-Reesh, Gaza's deputy minister of health, said vaccination teams would try to get to as many areas as...

Photo: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP A manslaughter investigation into the sinking of a superyacht that killed seven people will take months if not longer, a New Zealand maritime lawyer says. Italian prosecutors are investigating the captain of the Bayesian, New Zealand citizen James Cutfield, along with two crew members for the crimes of manslaughter and shipwreck after the sinking off the coast of Sicily. Being investigated does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will follow. The owner of the Bayesian, British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, and six other people on board were killed when the British-flagged yacht capsized on 19 August during a storm. While an investigation had begun, Oceanlaw New Zealand partner Karyn van Wijngaarden warned it would not be a short process. Italian Carab...

By Josh Robertson, ABC Hong Kong's powerful Cheng family led by Cheng Yu Tung forged connections with former US President Donald Trump when he faced financial ruin. Photo: AFP / File Hong Kong's powerful Cheng family have wanted a piece of the Australian casino industry for nearly 40 years. Now, through their family-controlled conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, they hold a billion-dollar-plus stake in the Star Brisbane, Australia's most expensive casino venture. It was this quest for an Australian casino that thrust the Chengs into an unwitting role in something more significant: the rise of Donald Trump. An unlikely partnership between the self-promoting New York tycoon and the publicity-shy Hong Kong billionaires was forged decades ago in bids to build casinos in north Queensl...

Elon Musk. Photo: Frederic J. Brown/ AFP By Lisandra Paraguassu, Luana Maria Benedito and Ricardo Brito, Reuters Brazil's telecommunications regulator said on Friday local time it was proceeding to suspend access to Elon Musk's X social network in the country in compliance with an order from a judge who has been locked in a months-long feud with the billionaire investor. The move followed the expiry of a court-imposed deadline for the popular social media platform to name a legal representative in Brazil. Musk has argued that Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes is trying to enforce unjustified censorship, while the judge has insisted that social media needs hate speech regulations. "They're shutting down the #1 source of truth in Brazil," Musk said in a post on X on Friday. They’...