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"Raw-dogging" is where passengers spend long hours mid-air just staring straight ahead. Photo: 123RF By Lucy Hooker of BBC Last week, Damion Bailey posted on Instagram that he had just achieved his "personal best" - a 13-and-a-half hour flight between Shanghai and Dallas without any in-flight entertainment, films, books or music. "It's quite tough, honestly," the 34-year-old from Miami, Florida tells BBC News. But he keeps doing it. Bailey is part of a new travel trend, known as "raw-dogging", where passengers spend long hours mid-air just staring straight ahead. The longer you do it, the tougher you have apparently proven yourself to be. "Just raw-dogged it, 15 hour flight to Melbourne," boasts Australian music producer Torren Foot on TikTok, blinking hard as if to stay awake. "No musi...

First published on Lucy Lawless and Kevin Sorbo. Photo: Acorn TV / AFP / Getty Images The Kiwi actress called out her former co-star after he made a remark about US Vice-President Kamala Harris' heritage in a social media post. New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless has butted heads with former Hercules co-star Kevin Sorbo after the 65-year-old said online that United States Vice-President Kamala Harris should "say the N-word" to prove she is black to voters. Sorbo questioned the identity of the Democratic presidential nominee in a post on X, writing: "If Kamala really is black, have her say the N-word, let the people decide for themselves". Sorbo's post went viral, accumulating over 98,000 likes and nearly 10,000 retweets. He has since pinned it to the top of his profile...

Donald Trump at a presidential campaign rally. (File photo) Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images / AFP By Kanishka Singh and Nathan Layne for Reuters The campaign of Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump says some of its internal communications have been hacked and blames the Iranian government, citing past hostilities between Trump and Iran without providing direct evidence. The campaign statement came shortly after news website Politico revealed it began receiving emails in July from an anonymous source offering authentic documents from inside Trump's operation, including a report about running mate JD Vance's "potential vulnerabilities". "These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election ...

Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz wave to supporters at a campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on 7 August. Photo: AFP "They're weird." With that simple diss - as well as an overall more streamlined message - Vice-President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign has shifted the conversation away from the weaknesses of her boss, President Joe Biden, and shone a spotlight on her opponent, Donald Trump. The change of tone was on full display at rallies this week, where she appeared with her new vice-presidential pick, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. With Beyonce's 'Freedom' as their soundtrack, the pair made the case that they were out to protect American freedoms while their "weird" Republican opponents, Trump and his running mate JD Vance, threatened to take ...

An aerial view of the wreckage of a plane that crashed with 62 people on board in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Photo: AFP By Sebastian Rocandio for Reuters Work was underway on Saturday by Brazilian authorities in recovering the remains of passengers on a plane [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/524718/plane-crash-in-brazil-kills-all-61-on-board that crashed on Friday in the town of Vinhedo], near Sao Paulo, killing all 62 people on board. At least 31 bodies had been recovered by 1pm local time on Saturday, the Sao Paulo state government said. The bodies of the pilot and co-pilot were identified, said Dario Pacheco, mayor of Vinhedo. All the bodies are being moved to Sao Paulo's police morgue. A Venezuelan man and Portuguese woman are among the dead, state civil defence official Rob...

An elderly man sits amid the rubble inside a school used as a temporary shelter for displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, after it was hit by an Israeli strike. Photo: AFP By Nidal al-Mughrabi for Reuters An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City school compound housing displaced Palestinian families killed around 100 people, says the Gaza Civil Emergency Service, while Israel said the toll was inflated and 19 militants were among the dead. Video from the site showed body parts scattered around and more bodies being carried away and covered in blankets on the floor. Empty food tins lay in a puddle of blood, and burnt mattresses and a child's doll lay among the debris. In another video, men prayed over a dozen body bags laid out on the ground of the Tabeen school complex. The territory's Civil ...