World News

By Luc Cohen for Reuters New York City Mayor Eric Adams (front) with his lawyer Alex Spiro who spoke to media on 26 September 2024. Photo: Getty via AFP New York City Mayor Eric Adams has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of accepting bribes and illegal campaign contributions from Turkish nationals, as the Democrat resists mounting calls from within his own party to resign. Adams, 64, entered the plea before US Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker at his first appearance in the case in Manhattan federal court. He wore a dark blue suit with a purple dotted tie, and stared straight ahead as Parker explained the five felony counts he faces, including bribery and wire fraud. "I am not guilty, your honour," Adams said when Parker asked for his plea. His lawyer, Alex Spiro, said he would ...

The activists threw soup at the painting in a London gallery, then glued themselves to the wall. Photo: Supplied / Twitter Two climate activists from Just Stop Oil who threw soup at Vincent van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' painting in London's National Gallery were on Friday jailed for criminal damage. Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, threw tins of Heinz tomato soup on the artwork in October 2022, before glueing themselves to the wall below the painting. The soup caused up to 10,000 pounds (NZ$21,120) worth of damage to the frame, prosecutors said, though the painting - which was behind a protective screen - was unharmed and went back on display later the same day. The pair pleaded not guilty but were convicted after a trial at London's Southwark Crown Court, where Plummer was sentenced...

By Sakura Murakami, John Geddie and Tim Kelly, Reuters Shigeru Ishiba (centre), former secretary-general of LDP, smiles after winning Japan's Liberal Democratic Party presidential election by runoff vote in Tokyo on 27 September. Photo: AFP/ Yomiuri Shimbun - Takuya Matsumoto Ruling party picks Ishiba to replace PM Kishida Veteran succeeds in fifth and final leadership bid Lone wolf popular with public, has enemies in LDP Former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba is set to become Japan's prime minister after winning a closely fought contest on Friday in his fifth - and what he called final - attempt to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The 67-year-old political veteran prevailed over hard-line nationalist Sanae Takaichi in a run-off vote in what was one of the most un...

West Sumatra in Indonesia. (File image) Photo: SUPPLIED / AFP / ADRIANA ADIE At least 15 people have died in the collapse of an illegal gold mine in Indonesia's province of West Sumatra, following a landslide caused by heavy rains, an official said on Friday, while rescuers are scrambling to locate seven missing. Small-scale and illegal mining has often caused accidents in Indonesia, where mineral resources are located in remote areas in conditions difficult for authorities to regulate. The illegal gold mine in the district of Solok collapsed after a landslide on Thursday evening due to heavy rain, said Irwan Efendi, the head of the provincial disaster agency. Rescuers must trek eight hours to get to the site, which is inaccessible by road, Irwan told Reuters, adding, "The victims are t...

Former first lady Melania Trump joins Republican presidential nominee, former US president Donald Trump on stage after he officially accepted the Republican presidential nomination on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on 18 July 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Andrew Harnik / Getty Images via AFP The failed assassination attempts of former US president Donald Trump have been described by his wife as "miracles". Former US first lady Melania Trump gave a sit-down interview to Fox News ahead of the release of her memoir, Melania. "I believe it was the time that I tell my story and the truth because a lot of misinformation and falsehoods written about me and I want to put the record straight and people can learn some things that were never discuss...

Nick Ward wears goggles to protect his eyes against the wind as he walks past a capsized boat being washed against the ashore, in St. Petersburg Florida, as Hurricane Helene lies offshore, on 26 September. Photo: AFP/ Getty - Joe Raedle Evacuation orders have been issued for some parts of coastal Florida ahead of the arrival of the potentially deadly Hurricane Helene. Authorities in the area are pleading with people to take precautions and move from dangerous areas, as winds could reach more than 209km/h, and seawater pushed inland by the storm could reach 6.1 metres in some places - as high as a two-story building. The storm was already causing damage and flooding in some areas while offshore, on the evening of Thursday 26 September, Florida time (about midday Friday NZ time). Here's w...

By Karl Puschmann* Opinion -The clue is right there in the title. Ellen DeGeneres' new comedy special is called For Your Approval and throughout its 70-minute run time it becomes obvious that the cancelled comic doesn't just want our approval, she needs it in the same way that we need oxygen. But are we prepared to give it? Not you or I personally, but rather 'we' the amorphous collective blob of opinion and judgement that cancelled the once-beloved comic and chatshow host three years ago and now have to decide if we deem this act of self-flagellation worthy of absolution. Ellen DeGeneres doesn't offer is a wholehearted and sincere apology for being mean in For Your Approval. Photo: Netflix Or if we don't. But the real questions posed by For Your Approval aren't whether or not we'r...

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 This story contains details that may may upset some readers US hip hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs' arrest on sex trafficking charges and various sexual assault lawsuits has put the spotlight on those he associated with and had ties to, including celebrities who attended his famous 'White Parties', most of whom have remained quiet since his scandal. The 54-year-old rapper was arrested in New York this month, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami. What is going on with Sean 'Diddy' Combs? The father of seven has continuously denied criminal wrongdoing a...

By Lewis Jackson, Reuters Defence Minister Judith Collins said and naval vessels from New Zealand and Australia sailed through the sensitive strait on Wednesday. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Naval vessels from New Zealand and Australia sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, according to a statement from New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins on Thursday. The two ships sailed through the sensitive strait from 2pm local time on Wednesday in what Collins described as a routine activity consistent with international law. "The New Zealand Defence Force conducts all activities in accordance with international law and best practice," she said. It was the first time a New Zealand naval ship had passed through the strait since 2017, she added in a statement. A Japanese newspaper...

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has condemned countries' "abuse of the veto" at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He also used his speech to announce New Zealand would campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council for the 2039-2040 term. Aotearoa was voted onto the Security Council in 2014 after a 10-year campaign, serving two years in 2015 and 2016. In Friday's speech, Peters spoke about New Zealand's history with the UN, concerns about "abuse of the veto", Russia's war on Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza. He began by reflecting on the creation of the UN Charter in San Francisco after World War II, saying New Zealand's concerns about the veto could be traced that far back. "Forged in the immediate aftermath of that war, then-New Zealand prime minister Peter Fraser ...