World News

By Rich Mckay and Andrew Hay, Reuters Parents and students leave the scene after being reunited following a shooting took place at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on 4 September 2024. Photo: AFP Four people were killed in a shooting at a Georgia high school on Wednesday just weeks after classes began, and a suspect was taken into custody, law enforcement officials said. The shooting was the first of the new school year in the United States, and served as a stark reminder to students, teachers and parents of the threat of gun violence in schools and colleges across the nation. The shooting left four dead at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, and nine people were taken to hospitals with injuries, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation posted on X. One suspect was in custo...

China's Ambassador to the Pacific, Qian Bo, takes questions from the media in Tonga. Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Lydia Lewis Last week's Pacific Islands Forum leaders' summit ended dramatically when China demanded the conference communique be changed to eliminate a reference to Taiwan. The document had made a reference to the Forum reaffirming its relations to Taiwan, which has been a development partner since 1992. But the Chinese Ambassador to the Pacific, Qian Bo, was furious and the document was rewritten. RNZ Pacific asked Massey University lecturer in security studies, Dr Anna Powles, what she made of all of this. (The transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.) Anna Powles: I think for a start, it isn't actually surprising the way in which China, through its Special Envoy, Qia...

Ukrainian servicemen wait outside a military educational facility after it was hit by Russian missiles in Poltava, eastern Ukraine. Photo: Patryk Jaraccz / AFP By Olena Harmash, Reuters At least 50 people were killed and 271 wounded when Russia hit a military institute in Ukraine's central town of Poltava with two ballistic missiles on Tuesday, the war's deadliest single attack this year. Photographs posted on social media showed several bodies of young men on the ground covered in dust and debris, with the badly damaged side of a large building behind them. Reuters could not immediately verify the images. "The Russian scum will definitely be held accountable for this strike," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app. He ordered a prompt investigation, saying the...

A 2023 Aukus press conference at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego California. Photo: Jim WATSON / AFP Joining Aukus pillar two could be "key" to New Zealand's continued ability to work with its close allies, a new briefing shows. The Government has said it was pushing ahead with discussions about the possibility of joining the security alliance with Australia, the US and the UK. A briefing showed defence officials have been zeroing in on what joining might mean for law changes and the price of either joining, or staying out. Just this week, an Aukus deal kicked in which eliminated most barriers to defence trade between the US, Australia and the UK, freeing up technology in exchange for the nuclear-powered submarines covered by Aukus Pillar One, and for Pillar Two's sharing of advanced...

Macpherson is now in remission. Photo: FELIX HORHAGER Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson has revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago and is now in remission. Macpherson, who was known as 'The Body' at the peak of her career in the 1980s and '90s, told the Australian Woman's Weekly in an exclusive interview that she learned of the cancer after having a lump removed in 2017. The model, who turned 60 earlier this year, has publised a memoir Elle: Life, Lessons and Learning to Trust Yourself, in which she writes about her holistic approach to wellness and deciding not to follow the advice of her doctor. The Cancer Society of New Zealand is clear that there is no evidence that any type of complimentary or alternative therapy prevents or cures cancer. They say convent...

British singer-songwriter Elton John. Photo: AFP / Angela Weiss Sir Elton John has revealed he has been left with limited vision after recently battling a severe infection. "Over the summer, I've been dealing with a severe eye infection that has unfortunately left me with only limited vision in one eye," the British singer-songwriter posted on Instagram to his fans. "I am healing, but it's an extremely slow process and it will take some time before sight returns to the impacted eye. "I am so grateful for the excellent team of doctors and nurses and my family, who have taken such good care of me over the last several weeks." John, well known for his hits 'Tiny Dancer', 'Rocket Man' and 'Candle In The Wind', said he had been quietly recuperating at home and was positive about his healing ...

Locals in Tebikenikora, a village in the Pacific island nation of Kiribati. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the area in 2011 to discuss villagers’ concerns about the effects of climate change on their low-lying land. Photo: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe Pacific Islanders hoping to flee the consequences of climate change and migrate to Aotearoa currently need to pay $1385 for the visa application, pass a health test, be under 45, and have a job offer. And they must also be lucky enough to have their name drawn from a ballot. World Vision advocacy and research advisor Dr Olivia Yates says Aotearoa's current immigration settings are not suitable for people migrating for climate-related reasons; termed "climate mobility." "Our immigration is set up to cater more for employment pathways tha...

Firefighters carry an injured migrant on a stretcher after the sinking of a migrant boat attempting to cross the English Channel. Photo: Denis Charlet / AFP By Amina Ismail, Reuters At least 12 migrants died after their boat capsized on its way across the Channel to Britain, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said, adding that rescue operations were underway to find two people still missing. In a sign of the severity of the situation, Darmanin said he would travel to the site, near the town of Boulogne-sur-Mer, later in the afternoon. Tackling illegal immigration has been a priority for both the British and French governments. More than 2000 people have arrived in Britain on small boats over the past seven days, according to UK government figures. Last week, French President Emman...

By Jonathan Landay, Reuters Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: ALEXANDER KAZAKOV / AFP Two US researchers say they have identified the probable deployment site in Russia of the 9M370 Burevestnik, a new nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile touted by President Vladimir Putin as "invincible". Putin has said the weapon - dubbed the SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO - has an almost unlimited range and can evade US missile defences. But some Western experts dispute his claims and the Burevestnik's strategic value, saying it will not add capabilities that Moscow does not already have and risks a radiation-spewing mishap. Using images taken on 26 July by Planet Labs, a commercial satellite firm, the two researchers identified a construction project abutting a nuclear warhead storage fac...

In the Marshall Islands, between 1946 and 1958 the United States detonated 67 nuclear tests and the brutal impacts are being felt today. The radiation spread to the US Pacific territory of Guam and while Washington settled a compensation deal with the Marshallese, Guam survivors have never been acknowledged or compensated. Now the remaining cancer survivors are still pleading that that wrong be made right. Sharing their stories for the first time, they want the world to know how it has devastated their lives and their families. Linda Perez has won the battle against cancer twice. But her family and extended family, did not make it. "My sister passed from ovarian cancer. I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. The last two years I was diagnosed with colon cancer," Linda told RNZ Pacific. "My...