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A firefighter at work during a wildfire in Varnavas, north of Athens, on August 12, 2024. Photo: AFP By Christy Cooney for BBC News One person has died as fierce wildfires spread in the suburbs of Athens in Greece on Monday. The body, believed to be that of a woman, was found inside a shop in the town of Vrilissia, northern Athens, a source from the fire service told the BBC. Thousands of people have been evacuated after firefighters warned that homes, businesses and schools were under threat, with fires expected to continue into Tuesday. Fire service spokesman Colonel Vassilios Vathrakogiannis said while there was no longer a single active fire front in the north-eastern Attica region, which includes parts of Athens, there were still "many active localised blazes", mostly around the to...

Photo: RNZ / Quin Tauetau Explainer - A controversial document called "Project 2025" has been making waves in the US presidential race. But what does it really say? RNZ is here to explain it all. Project 2025 is a planning document by a conservative American organisation It outlines sweeping changes to the US government Democrats are using Project 2025 as a campaign tool against former President Donald Trump Trump has claimed he knows nothing about it However, many people closely linked to Trump and the Republican Party were involved in drafting the plan So what is Project 2025? Project 2025 is a proposed "presidential transition project" crafted by the conservative American think tank the Heritage Foundation which they describe as "the conservative movement's unified effort to be...

By Tiffanie Turnball, BBC News Ashlee Good, 38, was among six people killed by Joel Cauchi at Westfield Bondi Junction on 13 April. Photo: Supplied / ABC The partner of a mother killed while saving her baby from a stabbing rampage in a busy Sydney shopping centre has spoken out for the first time, saying the day she died will "never make sense". Ashlee Good, 38, was among six people killed by Joel Cauchi at Westfield Bondi Junction on 13 April. Her daughter Harriet, who was nine-months-old at the time of the attack, was also injured. Australian authorities say the stabbing was "mental health" related, but they believe Cauchi targeted women. Thanking those who had sent donations, Good's partner Dan Flanagan said "the overwhelming support, kindness and generosity" his family had receiv...

Russia's President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on the situation in the Kursk region, 12 August, 2024. Photo: AFP / Pool Ukraine's top commander has said Kyiv's forces control 1000 sq km of Russian territory as they press their biggest cross-border incursion in two-and-a-half years of full-scale war. Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukraine continued to "conduct an offensive operation in the Kursk region" seven days after it began. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had brought war to others and now it was coming back to Russia. But Russian leader Vladimir Putin described the offensive as a "major provocation" and ordered Russian forces to "to kick the enemy out of our territory". A growing number of people have been evacuated from the western Russian region for their...

By Rachel Maher of Joseph Simpkins was killed in a crash near the Perth Airport early on Sunday. Photo: Kalamunda Districts Rugby Union Club / Facebook Rugby communities both in New Zealand and in Australia are mourning the loss of a popular rugby player killed in a car crash. Joseph Simpkins, 28, was killed in a car crash in Perth on early Sunday morning. The Sydney Morning Herald reported Simpkins was driving near Perth Airport on Tonkin Highway when his car crashed into the side of a barrier. Former players, rugby clubs and friends have taken to social media to remember Simpkins, who has been described as a "loyal" friend who will be "greatly missed". Simpkins began his rugby career in New Zealand and later became a renowned figure in the Perth rugby community. H...