World News

By Laila Bassam, Reuters An ambulance rushes wounded people to the Beirut Medical Center after pagers used to communicate exploded across Lebanon. Photo: AFP / Anwar Amro Militant group Hezbollah ha s promised to retaliate against Israel after accusing it of detonating pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding thousands of others who included fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary condemned the late afternoon detonation of the pagers - handheld devices that Hezbollah and others in Lebanon use to send messages - as an "Israeli aggression". Hezbollah said Israel would receive "its fair punishment" for the blasts. The Israeli military, which has been engaged in cross-border fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah sinc...

By Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel, Reuters Sean "Diddy" Combs is accused of a decades-long scheme of sex trafficking and racketeering. Photo: MARIA ALEJANDRA CARDONA/AFP Sean "Diddy" Combs used his fame as one of the biggest names in hip-hop to coerce women into engaging in demeaning sex acts as part of a decades-long scheme of sex trafficking and racketeering, according to a three-count federal indictment unsealed on Tuesday. Starting in 2009, Combs used his vast media empire including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment to transport women, as well as male sex workers, across state lines to take part in recorded sexual performances called "Freak Offs" in which the music mogul would watch and masturbate, prosecutors said. Wearing a black T-shirt and grey sweatpants, Combs pleaded ...

Lebanese soldiers stand guard as an ambulance rushes wounded people to a hospital in Beirut after pagers detonated killing at least eight people. Photo: AFP / Anwar Amro At least eight people were killed and nearly 3000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members, including fighters and medics, detonated simultaneously across Lebanon. Here's what we know so far about the pager blasts. When and where did the blasts take place? The detonations started around 3.30pm local time in Lebanon in the country's south, the southern suburbs of Beirut known as Dahiyeh and the eastern Bekaa valley - all Hezbollah strongholds. They lasted for around an hour, with Reuters witnesses and residents of Dahiyeh saying they could still hear explosions at 4.30pm local time. According to security sources and...

By Laila Bassam, Reuters An ambulance rushes wounded people to the Beirut Medical Center after pagers used to communicate exploded across Lebanon. Photo: AFP / Anwar Amro At least eight people were killed and 2750 others including Hezbollah fighters, medics and Iran's envoy to Beirut were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, security sources and the Lebanese health minister said. Lebanon's information minister Ziad Makary said the government condemned the detonation of the pagers as an "Israeli aggression". Hezbollah also blamed Israel for the pager blasts and said it would receive "its fair punishment". The Israeli military declined to comment on Reuters enquiries about the detonations. Read more: A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of an...

By Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel, Reuters Sean "Diddy" Combs is accused of a decades-long scheme of sex trafficking and racketeering. Photo: MARIA ALEJANDRA CARDONA/AFP Sean "Diddy" Combs used his fame as one of the biggest names in hip-hop to coerce women into engaging in demeaning sex acts as part of a decades-long scheme of sex trafficking and racketeering, according to a three-count federal indictment unsealed on Tuesday. Starting in 2009, Combs used his vast media empire including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment to transport women, as well as male sex workers, across state lines to take part in recorded sexual performances called "Freak Offs" in which the music mogul would watch and masturbate, prosecutors said. The 54-year-old rapper and producer was arrested in Manhatt...

Students gather at Auckland University's city campus to rally against Israel's war in Gaza on 1 May 2024. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi A new poll shows a significant number of New Zealanders support recognising Palestine as a state and applying sanctions against Israel. Commissioned by advocacy group Justice for Palestine and conducted by Talbot-Mills, the poll found support for recognising Palestinian statehood and sanctions for Israel was higher among young people. It also showed many people were not sure where they stood. While Israel's embassy questioned the neutrality of the poll, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said it was a matter of "when, not if" for Palestinian statehood - but the main priority for now was a ceasefire. The poll found 40 percent of the 1116 people surveyed suppo...

By Annika Burgess, ABC News In this handout image released on 16 September 2024 by the Martin County Sheriff's Offfice shows Ryan Wesley Routh following his arrest in Martin County, Florida, on 15 September. Photo: AFP PHOTO / MARTIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE With a digital camera, black plastic bag of food, and loaded SKS-style rifle, Ryan Routh arrived at Donald Trump's Palm Beach golf course and waited for almost 12 hours. Court documents have provided details of the allegations against the 58-year-old after the second apparent assassination attempt against the former president. Routh made a brief federal court appearance in Florida on Monday, local time, where he faced two gun charges. The initial criminal counts will allow authorities to keep Routh in custody as the investigation ...

US television host John Oliver has credited his 2024 Emmys win to last year's Bird of the Century winner, the "majestic" pūteketeke. In a video exchange posted to Instagram, Bird of the Year 2024 campaigner and television host Phil Keoghan thanked Oliver "for bringing the birds of New Zealand into the limelight, even to places like to Emmys." "Here at the Emmys 2024 with John Oliver, I've just been contacted by the Prime Minister of New Zealand to make an official thank you ... I'd like to thank you on behalf of all New Zealanders, for the birds that never got recognition," Keoghan - a Dunedin resident who got on board as an advocate for Tūhura Otago Museum's hoiho campaign. All the attention is on the hoiho this year - Dunedin's yellow-eyed penguin and 2024 winner of Bird of the Year - bu...

The rapper was arrested in a Manhattan hotel where he was staying and taken into custody late Monday in the US, his lawyer has confirmed to CNN. Photo: Angela Weiss / AFP Sean "Diddy" Combs has been arrested in a Manhattan hotel where he was staying and taken into custody late Monday in the US, his lawyer has confirmed to CNN. "We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr Combs by the US Attorney's Office," Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Combs, told CNN. He said the musician had been cooperating with the investigation, and relocated to New York last week in anticipation of being charged. His team maintained his innocence, and said he had "nothing to hide". Earlier this year the rapper's homes in Los Angeles and Miami, Florida, were raided a...

This month, gold prices have surged to an all time high of US$2586 (NZ$4179) per ounce. Photo: 123RF Gold prices have hit a record high, with more investors buying the precious metal in anticipation of interest rate cuts in the United States. This month, gold prices have surged to an all time high of US$2586 (NZ$4179) per ounce (28.35g). So far this year gold has risen 26 percent. The US Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates this week, with inflation there generally accepted to be under control. Auckland-based MyGold chief executive Rich Elliott said this had contributed to rising global demand for gold. "We see investors increasingly turn to gold as they expect the [US Federal Reserve] to reduce its benchmark interest rates. Then when interest rates decline, gold becomes mo...