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Phillip Mehrtens was kidnapped in February 2023. Photo: Facebook Rebels in Indonesia's West Papua region have proposed the terms of release for the New Zealand pilot taken hostage almost 18 months ago. The armed faction of the West Papua National Liberation Army kidnapped Phillip Merhtens in February last year after he landed a small commercial plane in a remote, mountainous area. The group has tried to use Mehrtens to broker independence from Indonesia. It is now asking the New Zealand government, including the police and army, to escort the pilot and for local and international journalists to be involved in the release process. Both Foreign Affairs and the minister's office say they are aware of the proposed plan. In a statement, they say their focus remains on securing a peaceful res...

Sergio Perez crashed at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Photo: Screengrab / Formula1 Sergio Perez's father was stable in hospital in Mexico City after he collapsed at home following the Red Bull Formula One driver's heavy crash in Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, local media reported on Tuesday. A statement from the Scuderia Perez race organisation said Antonio Perez Garibay, 65, would remain under close medical supervision for several days. "Everything happened after the accident," the Mediotiempo website quoted him saying from the hospital. "It may be that the shock of the accident triggered it. They are already checking my heart to see why I fainted." Photo: PHOTOSPORT Perez and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz were battling for third place in Baku when they collided and ended up in the wall, w...

Virgin Australia was forced to reinstate the cabin crew member following a ruling by the country's Fair Work Commission. Photo: 123RF/ Ryan Fletcher An Australian airline which fired a staffer after a Grindr hookup while on 'fatigue leave' probably would not have taken such action if he was married and straight, an employment law expert says. Virgin Australia was forced to reinstate the cabin crew member, Dylan Macnish, following a ruling by the country's Fair Work Commission. Macnish was dismissed after the airline obtained hotel CCTV footage and room swipe card records, the Guardian reported, after he had asked for a roster change due to fatigue. During a stressful shift the previous day, he had been urinated on by a passenger suffering a suspected stroke. Early the next morning, Macn...

By Gram Slattery, Reuters Donald Trump. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP The head of the Secret Service told Donald Trump in a private meeting that significant new security arrangements will be needed if he wants to keep playing golf, The New York Times reported on Tuesday. Trump asked Ronald Rowe, the Secret Service's acting director, in a meeting on Monday whether it was safe for him to continue playing, the newspaper said. Rowe said the Secret Service views the golf course at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland as easier to secure because it is a military course. That meeting occurred a day after the Secret Service thwarted a second apparent assassination attempt on Trump in less than two months. On Sunday, Secret Service agents fired on Ryan Wesley Routh, the apparent would-be assas...