World News

Beetlejuice is back after more than 30 years. Photo: Warner Bros. By Velvet Winter of the ABC It's showtime! Decades after cult film Beetlejuice exploded onto our screens, the 'Juice' is loose once again with the sequel: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. For the uninitiated, Beetlejuice is set in a world where homes are haunted by ghosts, the afterlife exists (and is cartoonishly gory), and all the grottiest parts are rolled into one ghoul - Beetlejuice (well, technically, Betelgeuse). He's a self-professed "bio-exorcist", a pro at ridding houses of pesky humans so the ghosts that inhabit them can get a bit of peace and quiet. Back in 1988 when the original film was released, director Tim Burton was still the relatively new kid on the block, having only just hit success with his first feature fi...

The cast of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Jessi Ngatikaura, Jennifer Affleck, Mayci Neeley, Taylor Frankie Paul, Mikayla Matthews, Layla Taylor and Demi Engemann. Photo: Disney+ / Fred Hayes Two years ago, a group of rule-breaking Mormon influencers became embroiled in a swinging sex scandal that captivated TikTok - and made international headlines. Mormon influencer Taylor Frankie Paul was at the centre of the controversy, after revealing on livestream that she and her husband, Tate Paul, were getting divorced after "soft-swinging" with her friend group - referring to being intimate outside their marriage, with restrictions. The revelation sent shockwaves through #MomTok, a TikTok community known for sharing content related to motherhood and family life, and implicated seven of Fra...

By Jackie Luna for Reuters Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, plead guilty to federal tax-related charges. Photo: AP / Matt Rourke Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, has pleaded guilty to federal tax charges in a surprise move that avoids a potentially embarrassing trial weeks before the US presidential election. Biden had been set to stand trial in a Los Angeles federal courthouse on criminal charges of failing to pay US$1.4 million (NZ$2.29m) in taxes while spending lavishly on drugs, sex workers and luxury items. Instead, he pleaded guilty to all nine counts he faced. Judge Mark Scarsi told Biden he faces up to 17 years in prison and up to US$450,000 in penalties. He set sentencing for 16 December. Defendants who plead guilty in criminal cases typically work ou...

By John Wanyama in Eldoret for Reuters Uganda's Rebecca Cheptegei, left, competes in the women's marathon final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on 26 August, 2023. Photo: FERENC ISZA / AFP Warning: This story discusses graphic details of violence against women. Ugandan Olympic marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died, four days after she was doused in petrol and set on fire by her boyfriend in Kenya, in the latest attack on a female athlete in the country. Cheptegei, 33, who competed in the Paris Olympics, suffered burns to more than 75 percent of her body in Sunday's attack, Kenyan and Ugandan media reported. She is the third prominent sportswoman to be killed in Kenya since October 2021. "We have learnt of the sad passing on of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Ch...

The British tech tycoon and six others died when the family's yacht sank off the Italian coast last month. Photo: VesselFinder Initial examinations of four of the people killed when British tech tycoon Mike Lynch's family yacht sank off Sicily last month indicated they had died of suffocation as oxygen ran out on the stricken vessel, judicial sources said on Thursday. Lynch, his daughter Hannah, an onboard cook and four guests died when the Bayesian, a British-flagged 56-metre superyacht, sank during a severe and sudden weather event off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, on 19 August. First results from autopsies on four of the victims - Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy, lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda - suggested that they died from suff...

By Jackie Luna for Reuters Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, intends to plead guilty to federal tax-related charges. Photo: AP / Matt Rourke Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, intends to plead guilty to federal tax-related charges, US television networks have reported - a move that would head off a potentially embarrassing trial shortly before the 5 November presidential election. NBC News, Fox News and CNN reported that the younger Biden would plead guilty in federal court in Los Angeles, where the trial was due to begin on Thursday. His lawyers and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He was expected to appear in court at 11am Pacific time (6am NZT). Hunter Biden had previously pleaded not guilty in the criminal case, whi...

By Radhika Anilkumar and Catarina Demony, Reuters Some fans ended up paying more than double for the Oasis tickets. Photo: OLI SCARFF Britain's competition watchdog has launched an investigation into Ticketmaster over the sale of Oasis tickets, including the use of "dynamic pricing" to hike the cost to fans at the last minute. Thousands of fans waited long hours in virtual queues last weekend to get their hands on tickets for the British band's reunion shows next summer, only to find that prices had jumped in a "dynamic pricing" scheme. Many thought they would pay the advertised rate of £148.50 (NZ$320) but ended up paying more than double at £355.20 (NZ$765). The Competition and Markets Authority said on Thursday it was scrutinising whether the sale of Oasis tickets by Ticketmaster,...

By Helen Coster and Gram Slattery, Reuters Photo: AFP Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he will establish a government efficiency commission headed by billionaire supporter Elon Musk if he wins the 5 November election, during a wide-ranging speech in which he laid out his economic vision for the country. The former president has been discussing the idea of a government efficiency commission with aides for weeks, people with knowledge of those conversations have told Reuters. His speech to the New York Economic Club on Thursday, however, was the first time he had publicly endorsed the idea. It was also the first time Trump said that Musk has agreed to head the body. He did not detail precisely how such a commission would operate, besides saying it would develop a pl...

Harvey Weinstein in court in Los Angeles. Photo: AFP / Pool British prosecutors said on Thursday (local time) they had discontinued indecent assault charges against former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein after concluding there was no realistic chance of securing a conviction. When it authorised charges against Weinstein two years ago, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said the alleged assault had taken place in August 1996 in London, with police adding the accusation had involved a woman now aged in her 50s. "Following a review of the evidence in this case, the CPS has decided to discontinue criminal proceedings against Harvey Weinstein," said Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS' Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division. "The CPS has a duty to keep all cases under continuous revie...

By Elizabeth Pineau and Ingrid Melander, Reuters Michel Barnier, a conservative politician, led talks with Britain over its exit from the European Union. Photo: AFP French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Michel Barnier, the European Union's former Brexit negotiator, as his new prime minister on Thursday (local time), after weeks of drawn out talks following an inconclusive snap election. Barnier, aged 73, led the EU's talks with Britain over its exit from the bloc from 2016-2021. Prior to that, the conservative politician held roles in various French governments and was also EU Commissioner. Macron had considered a string of potential prime ministers in recent weeks, none of which mustered enough support to guarantee a stable government, and there is no guarantee Barnier's govern...