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By Jackie Luna for Reuters Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, plead guilty to federal tax-related charges. Photo: AP / Matt Rourke Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, has pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in a surprise move that avoids a potentially embarrassing trial weeks before the US presidential election. Biden had been set to stand trial in a Los Angeles federal courthouse on criminal charges of failing to pay US$1.4 million (NZ$2.29m) in taxes while spending lavishly on drugs, sex workers and luxury items. Instead, he pleaded guilty to all nine counts he faced. Judge Mark Scarsi told Biden he faces up to 17 years in prison and up to US$450,000 in penalties. He set sentencing for 16 December. Defendants who plead guilty in criminal cases typically work ou...

By John Wanyama in Eldoret for Reuters Uganda's Rebecca Cheptegei, left, competes in the women's marathon final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on 26 August, 2023. Photo: FERENC ISZA / AFP Warning: This story discusses graphic details of violence against women. Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died, four days after she was doused in petrol and set on fire by her boyfriend in Kenya, in the latest attack on a female athlete in the country. Cheptegei, 33, who competed in the Paris Olympics, suffered burns to more than 75 percent of her body in Sunday's attack, Kenyan and Ugandan media reported. She is the third prominent sportswoman to be killed in Kenya since October 2021. "We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Ch...

The British tech tycoon and six others died when the family's yacht sank off the Italian coast last month. Photo: VesselFinder Initial examinations of four of the people killed when British tech tycoon Mike Lynch's family yacht sank off Sicily last month indicated they had died of suffocation as oxygen ran out on the stricken vessel, judicial sources said on Thursday. Lynch, his daughter Hannah, an onboard cook and four guests died when the Bayesian, a British-flagged 56-metre superyacht, sank during a severe and sudden weather event off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, on 19 August. First results from autopsies on four of the victims - Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda - suggested that they died from suff...

By Jackie Luna for Reuters Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, intends to plead guilty to federal tax-related charges. Photo: AP / Matt Rourke Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, intends to plead guilty to federal tax-related charges, US television networks have reported - a move that would head off a potentially embarrassing trial shortly before the 5 November presidential election. NBC News, Fox News and CNN reported that the younger Biden would plead guilty in federal court in Los Angeles, where the trial was due to begin on Thursday. His lawyers and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He was expected to appear in court at 11am Pacific time (6am NZT). Hunter Biden had previously pleaded not guilty in the criminal case, whi...

By Radhika Anilkumar and Catarina Demony, Reuters Some fans ended up paying more than double for the Oasis tickets. Photo: OLI SCARFF Britain's competition watchdog has launched an investigation into Ticketmaster over the sale of Oasis tickets, including the use of "dynamic pricing" to hike the cost to fans at the last minute. Thousands of fans waited long hours in virtual queues last weekend to get their hands on tickets for the British band's reunion shows next summer, only to find that prices had jumped in a "dynamic pricing" scheme. Many thought they would pay the advertised rate of £148.50 (NZ$320) but ended up paying more than double at £355.20 (NZ$765). The Competition and Markets Authority said on Thursday it was scrutinising whether the sale of Oasis tickets by Ticketmaster,...

By Helen Coster and Gram Slattery, Reuters Photo: AFP Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he will establish a government efficiency commission headed by billionaire supporter Elon Musk if he wins the 5 November election, during a wide-ranging speech in which he laid out his economic vision for the country. The former president has been discussing the idea of a government efficiency commission with aides for weeks, people with knowledge of those conversations have told Reuters. His speech to the New York Economic Club on Thursday, however, was the first time he had publicly endorsed the idea. It was also the first time Trump said that Musk has agreed to head the body. He did not detail precisely how such a commission would operate, besides saying it would develop a pl...