World News

By Alexander Ratz and Sarah Marsh, Reuters Police officers stand by a frequently used route by migrants across the German-Polish border near Forst, eastern Germany on 11 October 2023, during a patrol near the border with Poland. Germany will extend temporary controls to all of its borders to crack down on irregular migration into the country, a government source told AFP on 9 September 2024. Photo: JENS SCHLUETER / AFP Germany's government announced plans to impose tighter controls at all of the country's land borders in what it called an attempt to tackle irregular migration and protect the public from threats such as Islamist extremism. The controls within what is normally a wide area of free movement - the European Schengen zone - will start on 16 September and initially last for ...

By Eric Beech and Lisa Richwine, Reuters Photo: ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein had emergency heart surgery on Monday after experiencing chest pains the previous evening at a New York City jail, ABC News reported, citing unnamed sources. Weinstein, 72, is due in court this week where prosecutors had been presenting evidence to a New York grand jury as they work to secure a new indictment against him on sex crimes charges, ABC reported. Weinstein, who has denied having any non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone, was found guilty on rape charges in February 2020. The New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction in April, finding Weinstein did not get a fair trial because a judge improperly allowed testimony by accusers he was not formally c...

By Michael Holden, Reuters Kate, Britain's Princess of Wales, said she had finished her course of preventative chemotherapy for cancer, saying the treatment had given her a new perspective and made her grateful for "simply loving and being loved". Kate, 42, wife of heir-to-the-throne Prince William, had major abdominal surgery in January which revealed the presence of cancer and has been undergoing treatment since then. In a personal message accompanying an intimate video of her with her husband and their three young children, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Princes George, 11, and Louis, 6, Kate said she would be carrying out a handful of public engagements later this year. But she cautioned her path to full recovery would be long, and her focus was to remain cancer free. Catherine, Princ...

By Jessica Black, ABC A baby was badly injured in at attack in a Brisbane park, Australian police say. (file photo) Photo: AFP/ ABC Far North - Isaac Egan This story contains details of harm to a child, that may upset some readers. A foreign national alleged to have poured boiling coffee on a baby boy in a Brisbane park fled the country as little as 12 hours before investigators could confirm his identity, Australian police say. Nine-month-old baby Luka was seriously burned in the attack at Stones Corner on 27 August as he sat with his mum on a picnic rug, with another mother and her baby. He has since undergone multiple surgeries. On Monday, police said the 33-year-old man accused of the crime was in New South Wales on 28 August, and flew out of Sydney airport on 31 August. Detectiv...

Damaged buildings and debris after Typhoon Yagi hit Ha Long, in Vietnam, on 8 September. Photo: AFP/ Nhac Nguyen Typhoon Yagi, Asia's most powerful storm this year, left dozens dead in northern Vietnam and widespread damage as it churned westwards, preliminary government estimates showed on Monday, while the weather agency warned of more floods and landslides. Thirty-five people have died and 24 are missing, mostly because of landslides and floods triggered by the typhoon, Vietnam's disaster management agency said. The typhoon made landfall on Saturday on Vietnam's northeastern coast, home to large manufacturing operations of domestic and foreign companies, and was downgraded to a tropical depression on Sunday by the meteorological agency. It cut power to millions of households and comp...

By Joshua McElwee, Reuters Pope Francis takes part in a meeting with Catholic faithful of the diocese of Vanimo in front of Holy Cross Cathedral in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, on 8 September 2024. Photo: TIZIANA FABI / AFP Pope Francis flew deep into the jungle of the Southwestern Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea on Sunday to visit Catholics living in one of the most remote areas of the world and deliver medical supplies and other aid. Travelling 1000 km in a C-130 cargo aircraft provided by the Royal Australian Air Force, Francis arrived with a small entourage in Vanimo, a township of some 12,000 people in the northwestern corner of PNG's main island, with no running water and scarce electricity. The 87-year-old pope brought hundreds of kilograms of items to help support the ...

Indonesian sisters living in East Timor walk on the Esplanade of Taci Tolu, where Pope Francis will lead a mass, ahead of his visit in Dili on 7 September 2024. Photo: YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP By Kate Lamb, Reuters When Pope Francis touches down in the East Timorese capital of Dili this week he will be landing in a totally different nation to the one visited by his predecessor. The last papal visit to Dili was in 1989, when Pope John Paul II arrived in territory then occupied by Indonesia, gifting East Timor's fledgling independence movement an historic boost and rare prominence on the global stage. "It was an opportunity for us to express our right to fight for our liberation," recalled Father Francisco Barreto, who was among the crowd when protesters unfurled banners calling for independ...

Damaged buildings and debris after Typhoon Yagi hit Ha Long, in Vietnam, on 8 September. Photo: AFP/ Nhac Nguyen Typhoon Yagi and the landslides and floods it triggered have killed at least 24 people and injured another 299 in northern Vietnam, the government said, as authorities on Monday warned of more flooding. The typhoon was Asia's most powerful storm this year and made landfall on the country's northeastern coast on Saturday. It has disrupted power supplies and telecommunications in several parts of the country, mostly in Quang Ninh and Haiphong, the government said in a statement issued late on Sunday. The weather agency on Monday warned of more floods and landslides, noting that rainfall ranged between 208mm and 433mm in several parts of the region over the past 24 hours. "Flood...

By Joseph Ax, Rich McKay and Gabriella Borter, Reuters Traffic stopped in the US on Interstate 75 on 7 September, during an 'active shooter incident' near London, Kentucky. Photo: AFP/ Mount Vernon Fire Department Joseph Couch named as suspect, rifle found near his car Laurel County public schools cancel classes on Monday Five people injured, 12 vehicles struck by bullets A US man suspected of opening fire on cars travelling along Interstate 75 in rural Kentucky was at large on Sunday night after a day-long manhunt by multiple law enforcement agencies through rugged, wooded terrain. Kentucky State Police were leading the manhunt for suspect Joseph Couch, 32, whom police identified after finding a vehicle registered to him and an AR-style rifle near the shooting site, about 12.9km ...

Manshika Prasad (middle) has had her throne restored after ‘the real Miss Universe Fiji’, runner-up Nadine Roberts (left) was handed it instead. Photo: Asvin Singh Fiji's first Miss Universe beauty pageant in more than 40 years has been "tainted" by ugly accusations, a New Zealand judge at the contest says. Manshika Prasad, a 24-year-old MBA student, was adorned with her tiara and winner's sash on stage at Fiji's Pearl Resort and Spa last week. Days later, after she had celebrated winning the chance to represent Fiji at the international beauty pageant in Mexico in November, everything changed. Prasad celebrated her win with a photoshoot on a boat around the sparkling waters of the South Pacific island nation. Photo: Asvin Singh Over the weekend, a press release from Miss Universe...