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President Masoud Pezeshkian has expressed condolences to the victims' families. (File image) Photo: AFP / Atta Kenare A gas explosion in a coal mine in Iran's South Khorasan Province killed at least 28 people and injured 17, state television said on Sunday, with 24 people still missing. The accident was caused by a methane gas explosion in two blocks of the mine run by the Madanjoo company, state TV said. There were 69 workers in the blocks at the time of the explosion, it said. "Seventeen injured people were transported to the hospital and 24 people are still missing," state TV said, citing the head of Iran's Red Crescent. The explosion occurred at 9pm local time on Saturday (6am Sunday NZT), state media said. President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed condolences to the victims' families. ...

Liv Schmidt Photo: Liv Schmidt/Instagram A TikTok influencer who amassed 700,000 followers on the social media app had her account taken down recently over fears her content could encourage disordered eating. The Wall Street Journal profiled Liv Schmidt, a New York-based social media influencer, earlier this week detailing her often-controversial advice regarding body weight and image. The publication's questions to TikTok ahead of publishing the story triggered the platform to shut down Schmidt's profile over concerns her posts promoted disordered eating and an unhealthy body image. Here is a breakdown of the controversy. Who is Liv Schmidt? Schmidt is a model and social media influencer who is, well, very slim. Her Instagram profile, which was not taken down and had about 70,000 follo...

​ Phillip Mehrtens, left, with former acting Bupati of Nduga regency, Edison Gwijangge, in the helicopter on his release from captivity. Photo: Mehrtens family / Supplied The family of freed New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens say they are "extremely grateful and relieved" he has been released and will soon be reunited with them. Local police announced on Saturday the New Zealand pilot had been freed after more than one and a half years in captivity in West Papua, Indonesia. The armed faction of the West Papua National Liberation Army kidnapped Mehrtens in February 2023 after he landed a small commercial plane in a remote, mountainous area. Arriving in the capital Jakarta late on Saturday, Mehrtens was put in the care of New Zealand government representatives, Indonesian senior cabine...

Firefighters watch as flames and smoke move through a valley in the Forest Ranch area of Butte County as the Park Fire continues to burn near Chico, California. Photo: AFP / Josh Edelson A California firefighter has been arrested and accused of setting five blazes in the state's wine country, even as his fellow firefighters battle flames that have consumed almost a million acres and forced thousands of evacuations in the state this year. Robert Matthew Hernandez, a 38-year-old fire apparatus engineer of Healdsburg, California, was arrested on suspicion of arson. He was accused of setting five fires between 15 August and 14 September while off-duty, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, said in a news release. "I am appalled to learn one of our employees...

By Michel Rose and Mathieu Rosemain, Reuters Prime Minister of France Michel Barnier. Photo: AFP / Hans Lucas / Amaury Cornu Lawmaker Antoine Armand named finance minister Jean-Noel Barrot promoted to foreign minister Hard-right Bruno Retailleau becomes interior minister France unveiled a new government that aims to strike a fine balance between right-wingers and centrists, as Prime Minister Michel Barnier hopes to break political deadlock following snap elections that delivered a hung parliament. After 2 1/2 months of political uncertainty since centrist President Emmanuel Macron's surprise decision to call early elections, Barnier has put together a cabinet he hopes will find cross-party support in the fragmented parliament. With few political heavyweights, his team includes ...

Indonesia's new president Prabowo Subianto will be sworn in on 20 October. Photo: AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana It is a relief New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens was freed before Indonesia's new president took power, West Papua Action Aotearoa spokesperson Catherine Delahunty says. Indonesia's new president Prabowo Subianto will be sworn in on 20 October. Mehrtens was released after 19 months in captivity in West Papua, Indonesia, on Saturday. The armed faction of the West Papua National Liberation Army kidnapped Merhtens in February 2023 after he landed a small commercial plane in a remote, mountainous area. New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens following his release at a press conference in Timika. Photo: HANDOUT Delahunty, a former Green MP, said previous negotiations had stumbled and i...

Rescuers sift through the rubble at the scene of an Israeli strike that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs. Photo: AFP Hezbollah says 16 members killed, including two senior leaders Israel says group's military chain severely damaged Strike escalates long-running Israel-Hezbollah conflict Rescue workers in Beirut searched for people still missing in rubble after an Israeli airstrike targeting Hezbollah commanders killed at least 37 people in a suburb of the Lebanese capital, according to authorities. Hezbollah, a powerful Iran-backed group, said that 16 members including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and another commander, Ahmed Wahbi, were among those killed in the deadliest strike in nearly a year of conflict with Israel. Israel's army said it hit an underground gathering of Aqil an...

By Esther Linder, ABC Photo: AFP PHOTO / Israel Defense Forces (IDF) As Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a televised address in Beirut on Thursday, a booming sound like thunder cracked several times through the Lebanese capital. Nasrallah was speaking to condemn Israel for allegedly carrying out remotely detonated device attacks on Hezbollah's members, killing 37 and injuring thousands including civilians. But the noise heard by Beirut residents wasn't thunder, and it has become terrifyingly familiar - a sonic boom caused by Israeli warplanes. What is a sonic boom? A sonic boom occurs when an aircraft travels equal to or faster than the speed of sound (approximately 343 metres per second, or 1 kilometre in 2.91 seconds). It sounds like a huge crash of thunder or a cannon going...