World News

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff wave as they depart from Philadelphia International Airport on 6 August, 2024. Photo: Brendan Smialowski / POOL / AFP Vice-President Kamala Harris has had to speedily re-introduce herself to US voters, who are now having to size her up as a potential commander-in-chief, instead of Joe Biden's deputy. And during the biggest moment of Harris's career so far - the Democratic convention in Chicago - they will also get to know the family members who will stand beside her, as well as those who helped her get there. Unlike her rival Donald Trump, Harris has only been married once and was a step-parent. Here are the members of her big, modern family. Doug Emhoff, husband Harris met her now-husband, Los Angeles entertain...

Junior doctors in India hold placards in a government hospital, calling for justice for a doctor who was raped and killed, and demanding safety in the hospital, on 11 August. Photo: AFP/ Sudipta Das Hospitals and clinics across India are turning away all patients except emergency cases on Saturday as medical professionals start a 24-hour shutdown to protest the brutal rape and murder of a doctor in the eastern city of Kolkata. More than one million doctors were expected to join the strike, paralysing medical services across the world's most populous nation. Hospitals said faculty staff from medical colleges had been pressed into service for emergency cases. The strike, which began at 6am local time (0030 GMT), cut off access to elective medical procedures and out-patient consultations, ...

This satellite image obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Ernesto on 16 August, 2024. Photo: NOAA / GOES / AFP Hurricane Ernesto churned towards Bermuda on Friday as a Category 2 storm packing powerful winds and likely to produce life-threatening flooding and storm surges in the British island territory. Ernesto, centred about 205km south-southwest of the archipelago at 5pm Atlantic Standard Time, was producing sustained winds of up to 155km/h and had the potential to drop up to 230mm of rain, the US National Hurricane Center said. The centre of Ernesto was expected to pass near or over Bermuda on Saturday morning, making conditions ripe for storm surges and flash flooding by the afternoon. "Folks, be under no illusion. This storm is the real...

Travellers at Heathrow Airport. Photo: 123RF Hundreds of border force staff at Britain's biggest airport, Heathrow, will strike from 31 August to 3 September - a peak travel period for hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers. The four-day strike by 650 members of the PCS union will be followed by more than two weeks of industrial action, border force staff union PCS said in a statement on Friday. The strike will coincide with the end of Britain's school summer holidays when the airport to the west of London usually has one of its busiest periods. PCS said staff would work to rule and refuse to work overtime until 22 September. They blamed the industrial action on a long-running dispute over changes to terms and conditions including new inflexible rosters. "We know our strike action is li...

Actor Robin Padilla. Photo: JAM STA ROSA / AFP A senator in the Philippines has come under fire online after he asked in parliament whether husbands have "sexual rights" to their wives. Robin Padilla, a former actor, posed the query to a prominent human rights lawyer, who was invited as a resource person to a hearing on sexual harassment in the entertainment industry. He also asks what husbands should do if they are "in the mood" and their wives are not - to which lawyer Lorna Kapunan replies that they can "watch Netflix". Padilla, one of the country's most popular celebrities, ran for office in 2022 where he emerged as the country's top senatorial candidate. Padilla, who was leading a Senate probe into complaints of sexual harrassments and abuse in the media industry, made the comments...

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris Photo: Reginald Mathalone / NurPhoto / AFP Kamala Harris has outlined proposals to cut taxes for most Americans, ban "price gouging" by grocers and build more affordable housing on Friday as part of the "opportunity economy" she plans to pursue if she wins the White House. In her first major economy-focused speech as the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris pledged to introduce a new child tax credit of as much as US$6000 (NZ$9900) for families with infants, cut taxes for families with kids and lower prescription drug costs. The vice president also called for the construction of 3 million new housing units over four years and a tax incentive for home builders who build homes for first-time buyers. Harris told supporters at a rally in Nort...

By Harold Isaac, Reuters Haitian police patrol near Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 12 August. There have been several major prison breaks in the country this year. Photo: AFP/ Clarens Siffroy A prison break in the Haitian city of Saint-Marc left 12 inmates dead on Friday, Mayor Myriam Fievre said, the third such incident in Haiti in recent months amid a protracted humanitarian crisis fueled by gang violence. State Prosecutor Venson Francois said the situation on Friday afternoon was under control at the prison, which housed around 540 inmates, but the local population should remain vigilant and watch for escapees. "The situation is under control but the results are catastrophic. All the cops' dormitories have burnt down. The archives have burn...

By Peter Eisler and Ned Parker for Reuters Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP When US congressman Tom Rice voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the mob that stormed the US Capitol in January 2021, it was the beginning of the end of his political career. Angry calls and emails - including three death threats - flooded the South Carolina Republican's office. The next year, as Rice ran for a sixth term, a sheriff's deputy often guarded him at public events. Trump backed Rice's foe in the party's primary election. At a rally, the ex-president warned voters that the congressman "partnered with the Democrats to stab the Republican Party and, frankly, to stab our country in the back." Rice got crushed in the primary. Today, the one-time ...

The robbery took place in Paris' 7th arrondissement where the famous Eiffel Tower is also located. Photo: 123RF A New Zealand diplomat was reportedly tied up and hit in the face with the butt of a pistol during an armed robbery in Paris. The city's prosecutor's office confirmed the diplomat was the victim of the robbery on Thursday evening, the New York Times reported. The assailants reportedly fled in a vehicle with stolen licence plates and Parisian authorities did not say whether they had identified a suspect in the case. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed to RNZ there had been "a security incident involving a New Zealand Embassy staff member in Paris". "The embassy is supporting the staff member involved and is cooperating with French authorities." The diplomat was ...

By Bhanvi Satija and Jennifer Rigby, Reuters Mpox virus particles. Photo: SERGII IAREMENKO/SCIENCE PHOTO L The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Friday (local time) raised its risk level for mpox, a day after global health officials confirmed the first infection with a new strain of the virus outside Africa, in Sweden. The EU public health body's head said there will be more imported cases of the new mpox strain in Europe in the coming weeks, though the risk of sustained transmission remains low. The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency, its highest form of alert, following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that had spread to neighbouring countries. The global health body is due to host an...