World News

Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert (left) stands with her great-grandson Dov Forman after being appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire following an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, on 31 January, 2023. Photo: AFP / Pool / Andrew Matthews King Charles has paid tribute to the "extraordinary resilience and courage" of Auschwitz survivor Lily Ebert, who has died at the age of 100. Ebert, born in Hungary, was taken in 1944 as a 20-year-old to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, where her mother, younger sister, and brother were sent to the gas chambers. Along with three of her other siblings, she managed to survive. They were freed in 1945 and reunited in Switzerland before eventually heading to Israel. She later settled in London in 1967, where in her later years she became well k...

Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives for the 2018 Met Gala on May 7, 2018, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Photo: AFP / Angela Weiss Musician and producer Sean "Diddy" Combs, who is charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, will go to trial in May 2025. The judge in Combs' federal case set a trial date for May 5, 2025 at a court hearing in New York on Thursday. Combs, who has pleaded not guilty, was present in the courtroom, as were several of his family members. Combs' ankles were shackled, and he was wearing a loose-fitting tan button down shirt and khaki pants. He smiled widely to his family as he was led into the courtroom by a US Marshal, taking a moment to wave toward them sitting in the second row. Prosecutor Emily Jo...

A man makes a call in front of a convenience store's collapsed roof in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Wednesday, October 9. Photo: Eric Hasert/TCPALM/USA Today Network/Imagn Images via CNN Newsource As Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, as a dangerous Category 3 storm - weakening to a Category 1 as it sliced through the state - at least nine tornadoes tore through communities over 100 miles (160km) inland, including three in less than 25 minutes, according to a CNN analysis of National Weather Service warnings. Milton, the third hurricane to hit Florida this year, dumped about 16 inches of rain on St Petersburg, a more than a 1-in-1000 year rainfall event for the area, according to the National Hurricane Center. But residents in St Lucie County faced an entirely differen...

By Hanan Dervisevic of the ABC A mesmerising scene of western toad tadpoles has earned its photographer the coveted title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024. The picture, captured by Canadian Marine Conservation photojournalist Shane Gross, took top honours in this year's Natural History Museum competition. Gross captured the image while snorkelling through carpets of lily pads in Cedar Lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. He swam for several hours, ensuring not to disturb the layers of silt and algae covering the bottom of the lake. Other than the overall victory, this stunning image also earned Gross first place in the Wetlands: The bigger picture category. Grand title winner 2024 Western toad (Anaxyrus boreas) tadpoles among lily pads in a lake on Vancouver Island, Brit...

By Jeff Mason for Reuters Former US president Barack Obama campaigns for US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 10, 2024. Photo: AFP / Ryan Collerd Former president Barack Obama made a passionate case against Donald Trump and in favour of Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday during a rally at a Pittsburgh college campus aimed in part at spurring young people to show up for the 5 November election. Obama has been a vocal supporter of Harris since she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden stepped aside in July following a poor debate performance against Trump, the Republican former president. Obama, whose White House term ended in 2017, is still popular with his party's base. The...

By Susana Lei'ataua and Louise Ternouth in Apia A sign on the Samoa Government building in Apia shows the countdown to CHOGM. Photo: Louise Ternouth The warship HMS Tamar is berthed at the Apia International Port as Samoa prepares for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM). The Royal Navy ship from the United Kingdom is permanently based in the south Pacific and has been patrolling the south coast of Upolu since HMNZS Manawanui ran aground on the Tafitoala Reef on 6 October before catching fire and sinking the following morning. In Apia, there is a giant digital clock on the Fiame Mataafa Faumuina Mulinuu II Building - which houses the government, including the offices of the Prime Minister and her Cabinet - counting down to the start of CHOGM in 10 days. In the coming ...

Hurricane Milton has moved off Florida's east coast, leaving widespread devastation. The death toll has been rising throughout Friday morning (NZT) and 15 people have been reported as killed so far. The full extent of the damage is not yet clear as some areas are not yet accessible due to weather conditions, flooding and debris. Look back over RNZ's updates: Source link

Coal miners and labourers along with the coffins of victims take part in a protest against killings in Duki district of Pakistan's Balochistan province. Photo: FARID KHAN / AFP Unidentified gunmen have lined up miners at a small private coal mine in southwestern Pakistan and shot them, police and media say, killing at least 20 and wounding seven in rising violence in the restive region. The attack early on Friday morning (local time) in the mineral-rich province of Balochistan - which borders Afghanistan and Iran - is the worst in weeks and comes days ahead of the country hosting a summit of the Eurasian group Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. It also comes as Islamabad hosts a delegation from Saudi Arabia that is exploring mining deals in the South Asian country trying to recover from...

By Stefan Armbruster, BenarNews French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson address the UN Decolonization Committee in New York, pictured on 7 October 2024. Photo: UNTV French Polynesia's president and civil society leaders have called on the United Nations to bring France to the negotiating table and set a timetable for the decolonization of the Pacific territory. More than a decade after the archipelago was re-listed for decolonization by the UN General Assembly, France has refused to acknowledge the world's peak diplomatic organization has a legitimate role. France's reputation has taken a battering as an out-of-touch colonial power since deadly violence erupted in New Caledonia in May, sparked by a now abandoned French government attempt to dilute the voting power of indigenous...

By Heloise Vyas for the ABC Children walk in flooded streets in Tampa, Florida. Photo: BRYAN R. SMITH / AFP In the days before its arrival, Hurricane Milton was spoken about as a historic weather event facing Florida in the south-eastern United States. It was set to be the first major storm to make a direct hit on the state's Gulf of Mexico-facing Tampa Bay - a region with a population of more than 3 million - since 1921. Meteorologists sounded the alarm about forthcoming storm surges, life-threatening flooding, and strong winds after Milton intensified from a category one storm to the highest level of five in under a day, warning those in the storm's path remaining in their homes was not an option. Much of the powerful storm surges (an abnormal rise in sea level) feared never materi...