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Former US President Barack Obama will endorse his longtime political ally Kamala Harris on Tuesday night in a high-profile speech that aims to boost her presidential bid over Republican Donald Trump in November's election. At 63, Obama maintains a legacy that looms large in moments of crisis, including during the messy deliberations that ultimately led President Joe Biden to step out of the race and endorse Harris, 59. A video of Obama and his wife Michelle Obama congratulating Harris in a phone call has been viewed by millions, and top advisers from Obama's 2008 presidential bid have signed on with Harris' campaign. The former president now reaches out to Harris with advice, according to a Harris aide. Nearly eight years after his presidency ended, Obama remains one of the country's most ...

File photo. Jacinda Ardern pictured in 2023. Photo: AFP Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says it's a "real privilege" to attend the US Democratic National Convention. The four-day convention in Chicago is celebrating the official nomination of Vice-President Kamala Harris as presidential candidate in the November election. President Joe Biden was the keynote speaker on the first night, capping a handover to Harris after he was pressured to quit the race last month by party leaders worried the 81-year-old incumbent was too old to win or serve another four years. Harris made a surprise appearance on the first night, drawing cheers from the crowd as she vowed to defeat Republican rival Donald Trump in the election. Ardern will be in the arena when former US President Barack Obama, and ...

Specialist divers launched a fresh search for six people missing since their yacht capsized off the Italian island of Sicily. Photo: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP By Giselda Vagnoni, Reuters Divers scoured the wreck of a luxury yacht off Sicily's coast to find six missing people, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter, following an intense storm that sank the vessel on Tuesday. The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long superyacht, was carrying 22 people and anchored off the port of Porticello when it was hit by the fierce, pre-dawn storm. Fifteen people escaped before it capsized and the body of one person who died was swiftly recovered. That left six passengers unaccounted for - Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah; Judy and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive cha...

Navitalai Tamanitoakula blames the departure of “family values” for the increasing drug use in Fiji. Photo: Caleb Fotheringham Fiji's battling with a hard drugs crisis and people are worried the situation is getting worse. Locals in the capital say the surge in drug use, especially among the youth, is due to a loss of "family values". The drug problem is also causing a rise in new HIV cases. People in Fiji's capital, Suva, are laying the blame squarely on the loss of family values for the nation's meth crisis. Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has pleaded with the public not to even think about trying drugs last month after a video of a young naked women reportedly begging for a hit circled social media. There have also been reports making headlines of users "blasting" or "bluetoothing" ...

By Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance at the party's national convention on Monday night, drawing cheers from the crowd as she vowed to defeat Republican rival Donald Trump in the November election. "Let us fight for the ideals we hold dear and let us always remember, when we fight we win," Harris, the US vice president, said in brief remarks that drew roars from the crowd. She had been expected to appear later with President Joe Biden, the keynote speaker on Monday, the first night of a four-day event in Chicago. Biden's appearance at the start of the four-day event caps a dramatic handover to his No. 2 after he was pressured to quit the race last month by party leaders worried the 81-year-old incumbent was too o...

Former President Donald Trump has posted a fake social media image of pop superstar Taylor Swift. Photo: AFP By Lisa Richwine, Reuters Former President Donald Trump has posted a fake social media image of pop superstar Taylor Swift asking people to vote for him in the November election. A Sunday entry by the Republican candidate on Truth Social showed Swift dressed in red, white and blue with a caption that said "Taylor Swift Wants You To Vote For Donald Trump." "I accept!" Trump wrote. Swift has not publicly endorsed a candidate in the 2024 race but has supported Democrats in the past. The singer backed President Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris in 2020. Harris is set to be formally nominated as the 2024 Democratic candidate at the party's national convention in Chicago this we...

By Andrea Shalal and Bianca Flowers for Reuters A protest to demand reproductive justice, defend the rights of trans and queer people and demand a ceasefire in Gaza on the eve of the Democratic National Convention at the United Centre in Chicago, Illinois, on August 18, 2024. Photo: AFP / Matthew Hatcher Thousands of mostly peaceful pro-Palestinian protesters marched in Chicago on Monday as President Joe Biden arrived for the opening day of the Democratic National Convention, in a show of force against his administration's support for Israel in the Gaza war. After hours of peaceful demonstrations, dozens of protesters broke through part of the perimeter security fence, drawing riot police to the site, a Reuters witness said. The Democratic National Convention security team did not re...

Iran cyber operations targeted the Trump and Harris presidential campaigns according to aUS inquiry. Photo: AFP The United States on Monday accused Iran of launching cyber operations against the campaigns of both US presidential candidates and targeting the American public with influence operations aimed at fanning political discord. "We have observed increasingly aggressive Iranian activity during this election cycle," said a statement by the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which oversees the defense of government computer systems. The statement confirmed charges made earlier this month by the campaign of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump that Iran hacked one of its websites, triggering an FBI...

Former US congressman George Santos gives a statement after a court hearing where he pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP By Jack Queen and Luc Cohen, Reuters Former US Representative George Santos pleaded guilty to fabricating fundraising figures, cementing the downfall of a novice politician who was expelled from Congress last year after a brief, scandal-plagued tenure. Santos, a Republican, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, the latter carrying a mandatory two-year prison sentence. The charges stemmed from inflating fundraising numbers and faking donor names to qualify for financial and logistical support from the Republican party during the 2022 election cycle, when ...

An Italian fire brigade helicopter and Coastguard boats are searching for six people missing after a yacht sank off the coast of Porticello, in Sicily, on August 19, 2024. Photo: AFP / Italian Coastguard Two New Zealanders were on board a luxury yacht that has sunk off the Sicilian capital Palermo in Italy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade says. One person died and six people are missing. Ayla Ronald, a New Zealander working in London as a lawyer survived the capsizing, her father Lin Ronald has confirmed. MFAT has also confirmed a second New Zealander was on board. However, a spokesperson said there was no reason to believe the New Zealanders are among the missing The embassy in Rome was providing consular assistance. The missing include UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his...