World News

By Will Dunham, Reuters The white dwarf star shown in this illustration is one of several that an international team of astronomers has been studying. Photo: MARK GARLICK/ SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRA / AFP The first rocky planet ever spotted orbiting a burned out star called a white dwarf offers a glimpse of what may be in store for Earth billions of years from now - showing it is possible our planet might survive the death of the sun, albeit as a cold and desolate outpost in space. The planet, with a mass about 1.9 times that of Earth, is orbiting the white dwarf about 4200 light-years away from our solar system near the bulge at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, according to a study using data from Hawaii-based telescopes. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, about 9.5 t...

By Rich McKay, Brendan O'Brien, Andrew Hay for Reuters This image obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows Hurricane Helene on 26 September 26, 2024. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP Driving rain flooded roadways and closed down airports in Florida as an intensifying Hurricane Helene marched toward the state's panhandle region, bringing the threat of a potentially deadly storm surge to much of the coastline. The storm became a major Category 3 hurricane on Thursday afternoon with sustained winds near 193km/h, the National Hurricane Center said, and was expected to continue gaining power. Helene was forecast to make landfall in the evening in Florida's Big Bend region, possibly as a Category 4 storm with sustained winds in excess of 209km/h. Officials pleaded...

By Steve Holland, Patricia Zengerle and Trevor Hunnicutt, Reuters With months left in office, President Joe Biden made a major commitment to Ukraine. Photo: AFP US President Joe Biden announced more than US$8 billion (NZ$12.9b) in military assistance for Ukraine on Friday to help Kyiv repel Russian invaders, using a visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky to make a major commitment. The aid includes the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 130 km. The medium-range missile gives Ukraine a major upgrade to the weapons it is using to strike Russian forces, allowing the Ukrainians to do it at safer distances. The bomb, capable of striking targets with high accuracy, is to be dropped from fighter jets. Biden will not announc...

Vladimir Putin is warning Russia may use nuclear weapons in conflict. Photo: AFP / Pool US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Russian President Vladimir Putin's warning to the West about nuclear weapons use irresponsible and poorly timed, as world leaders gathered in New York for the UN General Assembly. "It's totally irresponsible," Blinken said in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday. "I think many in the world have spoken clearly about that when he's been rattling the nuclear sabre - including China, in the past. So I would just say especially to do that now, while the world's gathered... talking about the need for more disarmament, non-proliferation." Putin warned the West on Wednesday that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it was struck with conventional missiles, as the US ...

By Timour Azhari and James Mackenzie, Reuters Israel is pressing ahead with strikes that have killed hundreds in Lebanon. Photo: RABIH DAHER/AFP Israel rejected global calls on Friday for a ceasefire with the Hezbollah movement, defying its biggest ally the US and pressing ahead with strikes that have killed hundreds in Lebanon and heightened fears of an all-out regional war. An Israeli warplane struck the edges of the capital Beirut, killing two people and wounding 15, including a woman in critical condition, Lebanon's health ministry said. That took deaths from hits overnight and during Thursday local time to 28. The strike killed the head of one of Hezbollah's air force units, Mohammad Surur, two security sources said, the latest senior Hezbollah commander to be targeted in days o...

By Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel New York City mayor Eric Adams talks to the press outside Gracie Mansion, the official residence, after he was indicted on federal criminal charges. Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP US prosecutors have charged New York City mayor Eric Adams with accepting illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel from Turkish nationals seeking to influence him, capping an investigation that has sent the largest US city's government into turmoil. In a 57-page indictment, prosecutors laid out an alleged scheme stretching back to 2014 that helped to underwrite Adams' 2021 mayoral campaign and showered him with free rooms at opulent hotels and meals at high-end restaurants. In return, Adams pressured city officials to allow the country's new 36-storey consulate to op...

Bystanders and reporters look at the destruction in a street under a residential building whose top two floors were hit by an Israeli strike in the Ghobeiri area of Beirut's southern suburbs. Photo: AFP Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Thursday rejected proposals from the United States and France calling for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had not responded but told the army to keep up its operation. "There will be no ceasefire in the north," Katz said on the social media platform X. "We will continue to fight against the Hezbollah terrorist organization with all our strength until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes." Netanyahu, who left Israel on Thursday to address the United Nations, issued a ...

This handout taken and released on 21 September 2024 by the Cartenz Peace Task Force shows New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens (left), who was snatched by rebels in Indonesia's restive region of Papua in February last year, following his release at a press conference in Timika. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP West Papua advocates are concerned Indonesia will launch a military assault in Nduga province, putting thousands of innocent lives at risk, now that New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has been released. But the Indonesian government say it is a "baseless accusation". Mehrtens was held captive for almost 600 days by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) in Nduga province. The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) vice-president Octovianus Mote is asking the New Zealand gov...

By Rosie Leishman* Afghan journalist Zahra Joya Photo: Zahra Joya/supplied The Taliban has introduced laws further restricting women's rights in Afghanistan, but an Afghan journalist in exile says they don't feel new. And she hopes New Zealand will do more. Three years on from the US withdrawal in Afghanistan and the Taliban's return to rule, journalist Zahra Joya said the new law banning women from raising their voices in public "doesn't feel new". Under the Taliban women in public must also be covered from head to toe and most cover their faces, leaving only their eyes visible. There were also restrictions for behaviour in their own homes. "It is a serious time for the international community and those who believe in human rights, women's rights, any of those basic values," Joya sa...

By Rich McKay, Brendan O'Brien and Andrew Hay, Reuters View of flooded houses in the coastal town of Guanimar, in Artemisa province, southwest of Havana, after the passage of Hurricane Helene on 25 September 2024. Photo: AFP / YAMIL LAGE Florida braced for the arrival of Hurricane Helene on Thursday, forecast to be a powerful Category 4 storm when it smashes into the state's panhandle. Officials issued dire warnings, pleading with residents in coastal areas along the hurricane's path to evacuate ahead of catastrophic winds and a potentially deadly storm surge, the wall of seawater pushed on land by hurricane-force winds, that could rise to 20 feet (6.1 metres) in some spots. "This is not a survivable event for those in coastal or low-lying areas," said Jared Miller, the sheriff of Wa...