World News

By political reporter Tom Crowley for the ABC The tax, which could also apply to Apple and Microsoft, would be applied to the platforms' Australian revenue. Photo: Victor Okhrimets / 123RF Facebook, Google and TikTok will be forced to fund Australian journalism, even if they do not host it, under a federal government plan to impose a new tax aimed at encouraging the tech platforms to establish funding agreements with news organisations. The tax, which could also apply to Apple and Microsoft, would be applied to the platforms' Australian revenue, but can be reduced to zero if they sign agreements similar to those Google and Meta (the owner of Facebook) signed in 2021, including with the ABC. The expiration of those agreements, and Meta's threat not to renew them, made the government r...

By Dietrich Knauth for Reuters Alex Jones declared bankruptcy in 2022 after being forced to pay over $1bn to the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims, whom he defamed. Photo: AFP A US bankruptcy judge has stopped the parody news site the Onion from buying conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars website, ruling that a bankruptcy auction did not result in the best possible bids. Christopher Lopez rejected Jones' claims that the auction was plagued by "collusion" at the end of a two-day hearing in Houston. But he said the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee who ran the auction made "a good-faith error" by quickly asking for final offers for Infowars instead of encouraging more back-and-forth bidding between the Onion and a company affiliated with Jones' supplement-selling businesses,...

By Simon Lewis and Matt Spetalnick for Reuters US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has visited the Middle East several times this year, hoping to broker a truce in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Photo: AFP / Pool US President Joe Biden's top aides are heading to the Middle East seeking to advance efforts to reach an elusive Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal and help ensure a smooth transition in Syria following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to visit Jordan and Turkey, while US national security adviser Jake Sullivan planned stops in Israel, Qatar and Egypt in coming days, US officials said. The high-level tours could help shape Biden's legacy in the turbulent Middle East in the final weeks of his term before former President Donald Trump return...

By Joseph Ax, Rich McKay and Brad Brooks for Reuters Luigi Mangione is escorted from the Blair County Court House in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, after an extradition hearing on Tuesday. Photo: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters via CNN Newsource In the days since Luigi Mangione was charged with murder for gunning down a top health insurance executive, more than a thousand donations have poured into an online fundraiser for his legal defence, with messages supporting him and even celebrating the crime. In New York, "Wanted" posters with the faces of chief executives have appeared on walls. Websites are selling Mangione merchandise, including hats with "CEO Hunter" printed across a bullseye. And some social media users have swooned over his smile and six-pack abs. Mangione has been charged with mu...

By Steve Contorno and Kristen Holmes for CNN Donald Trump signals to the crowd after an attempted assassination at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in 2024. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP Donald Trump once publicly speculated that Time would never name him the news magazine's "Person of the Year." Now, the honour will be bestowed on him twice. Time will name Trump as this year's choice on Thursday, recognising the president-elect as the individual or group deemed to have wielded the greatest influence on global affairs "for good or for ill." To celebrate the unveiling of the magazine cover, Trump will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Trump sat for a wide-ranging interview with the magazine last month. Time decl...

By Dalia Faheid, Michelle Watson, Bonney Kapp, John Miller and Dakin Andone, CNN The 3D-printed gun that healthcare CEO killing suspect Luigi Mangione had when he was arrested this week in Pennsylvania matches three shell casings found at the crime scene in Midtown Manhattan, the New York Police Department commissioner said Wednesday, as authorities continue to investigate the motive for the killing. Also, Mangione's fingerprints match those investigators found on items near the scene of the December 4 assassination of the UnitedHealthcare chief, Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a public event. Three 9 mm shell casings from the crime scene had the words "delay," "deny" and "depose" written across them, one word per bullet, NYPD's Chief Detective Joseph Kenny has said. Police have been l...

Chinese president Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump Photo: AFP US President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month, CBS News reported on Wednesday, citing multiple sources. According to the CBS report, Trump invited Xi in early November, shortly after the election, sources said, but it was not clear whether he has accepted the invitation. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately comment. In addition to Xi, the president-elect's team has raised the possibility of hosting other leaders at the Capitol on 20 January (US time). Hungary's far-right leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has a warm relationship with Trump and visited him at Mar-a-Lago this week, is "still considering" whether to...

Photo: CNN Newsource By Emma Tucker and Celina Tebor, CNN Hannah Kobayashi "has been found safe," her family said Wednesday, more than a week after police declared her voluntarily missing amid fears she may have been abducted. "We are incredibly relieved and grateful that Hannah has been found safe," Kobayashi's sister, Sydni, and mother, Brandi Yee, said. "This past month has been an unimaginable ordeal for our family, and we kindly ask for privacy as we take the time to heal and process everything we have been through." The statement was posted on X by the family's lawyer, Sara Azari. Hannah Kobayashi arrived at Los Angeles International Airport from Maui on November 8, but did not board her connecting flight to New York, her sister previously told CNN. The family last heard from the 3...

By Petria Ladgrove, Ann Jones and Belinda Smith for ABC Radio's What the Duck?! Lionesses prefer brunettes, which means Scar was more attractive than his older brother Mufasa. Photo: Janette Hill / Robert Harding RF / robertharding via AFP For many millennials, the 1994 Disney coming-of-age classic The Lion King formed an integral part of our childhood. We gasped as the king of the Pride Lands, Mufasa, tragically died, trampled under the hooves of stampeding wildebeest. We wept as his heartbroken son and heir Simba left his home range, then cheered as he dethroned his villainous uncle Scar and took his rightful place as king. The movie was also a massive box office hit. It was the highest-grossing animated film of the 1990s, with its opening weekend drawing 10 million people in the U...

By Evan Perez and Holmes Lybrand for CNN Chris Wrap will step down as FBI director before Donald Trump takes office, despite having still three years remaining on his 10-year term. Photo: AFP FBI Director Chris Wray will resign at the end of the Biden administration, the agency says, as it becomes clear he would be forced out by President-elect Donald Trump. Trump, who originally nominated Wray after firing the previous FBI director, previously announced he will nominate Kash Patel for the role, although Wray still had three years remaining on his 10-year term. Patel has been meeting with senators to build support for a confirmation vote next year. Wray had wrestled with whether or not to resign given Trump's stated desire to replace him, sources say, and wants to facilitate an order...