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The 26-year-old Manhattan shooting suspect appeared in a Pennsylvania court for a hearing on whether to extradite him to New York to face murder charges there. Luigi Mangione shouted "it's truly unjust" and "an insult to the American people" as he was led into court on Tuesday (local time). He is accused of gunning down UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson in the streets of Manhattan. He added: "It's lived experience!". Mangione was arrested in Altoona on Monday at a McDonald's restaurant following a five-day manhunt. Police had been trying to retrace his movements in Pennsylvania over the past few days, as well as whether he was helped by an accomplice before or after the brazen shooting, CNN reported. He had been spotted at the McDonald's by an employee who thought he looked like the gu...

By Issy Ronald for CNN US rapper Jay-Z, pop star Beyonce and their daughter Blue Ivy Carter at the world premiere of Mufasa: The Lion King the day after being charged for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old. Photo: LISA O'CONNOR / AFP Jay-Z and Beyoncé have made a rare red carpet appearance at the Los Angeles premiere of Mufasa: The Lion King alongside their daughter Blue Ivy Carter, a day after the rapper and businessman denied allegations he sexually assaulted a teen in 2000 with Sean "Diddy" Combs. In videos posted on YouTube by E!News, the chart-topping rapper and singer cheered on their 12-year-old daughter, who stars in the movie, before posing for photos alongside her, as well as with Beyoncé's mother Tina Knowles. Blue Ivy voices Kiara, the daughter of Simba and Nala (voiced ...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at court. Photo: AFP / Menahem Kahana Prime minister says he can testify and lead country at the same time Netanyahu denies charges he sought favourable news coverage Trial highlights divisions in Israel at time of regional turmoil Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the witness stand for the first time in his long-running corruption trial, saying he was being hounded for his hawkish security policies. Netanyahu, 75, is Israel's first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime. He is testifying at the same time Israel is engaged in a war in Gaza and facing possible new threats posed by regional turmoil, including in Syria. Last week judges ruled that Netanyahu, indicted in 2019, must testify three times a week, for...

By James Mackenzie and Suleiman Al-Khalidi for Reuters Israel is tightening its hold along the line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. (file photo) Photo: AFP Israel has ordered its forces to create a "sterile defence zone" in southern Syria that would be enforced without a permanent Israeli presence as it tightens its hold along the line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Defence Minister Israel Katz says. He gave no details but said the zone, would "prevent the establishment and organization of terror in Syria". "We will not allow this, we will not allow threats to the state of Israel," he said on Tuesday in a statement following a visit to a naval base in the northern Israeli port of Haifa. Earlier, a military spokesperson said Israeli troops ...

Syrian NZers gather in Wellington to celebrate the toppling of the Assad regime. Photo: RNZ / Kate Green Syrian New Zealanders and their loved ones gathered in Waitangi Park on Wellington's waterfront on Monday to celebrate the end of a decades-long dictatorship. Rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, ending his family's five decade regime after more than 13 years of civil war. Shaymaa Arif was among the crowd of about 200 in Wellington. She is Sirian Iraqi, and her family immigrated to New Zealand in 1997, but friends and extended family remain in Syria. She said one of her uncles had spent time in prison, but that was not uncommon. "Every single Syrian you talk to here probably has a family member who has been arrested and detained for God knows what reason by the Syrian r...

The 26-year-old named as a "strong person of interest" in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson has made his first court appearance. Luigi Mangione was ordered held without bail and did not enter a plea when he appeared in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, CNN reported. He faces five charges, including one felony count of forgery and one felony count of carrying a firearm without a licence, according to the criminal complaint. Mangione was arrested after a McDonald's employee recognised him in Pennsylvania. He was reportedly acting suspiciously, had firearms and fraudulent items - believed to be fake IDs - on his person. He was also found with a suppressor "consistent with the weapon used in the murder". His next court appearance will be on 23 December in Pennsylvania ...

Abbie Humphries and Karl Sundgren on their wedding day. Photo: Supplied A woman who was snatched from an English hospital ward when she was a baby by a woman posing as a nurse, but who later shifted to New Zealand, has died of a brain tumour aged 30. Abbie Humphries was taken from her cot at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham in July 1994 when she was just three hours old, The Sun reported. She had walked into Karen Humphries' room and taken Abbie from her father Roger's arms, saying the baby had to have a hearing test, the AFP reported. Police found her just over a fortnight later in the Nottingham suburb of Wollaton - not far from the hospital. They had been tipped off that a former dental nurse called Julie Kelley, 22 at the time, who had been pregnant and was expecting a boy, ...

By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard, Reuters Sun Li-fang (C), spokesperson of Taiwan's Defence Ministry, speaks to the media at an airforce base during an inspection of the troops as part of Taiwan's annual Han Kuang military drills in Hualien on 23 July 2024. Photo: AFP / Sam Yeh China has deployed its largest navy fleet in regional waters in nearly three decades, posing a threat to Taiwan that is more pronounced than previous Chinese war games, the Taiwanese defence ministry have said. Speaking in Taipei, defence ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang said the scale of the current Chinese naval deployment in an area running from the southern Japanese islands down into the South China Sea was the largest since China held war games around Taiwan ahead of 1996 Taiwanese presidential elections. ...

By Jessica Riga, ABC Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on 6 November 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: CHIP SOMODEVILLA / Getty Images via AFP Time magazine's shortlist for their annual Person of the Year honour features royalty, political power players and podcasting chart-toppers. Catherine, Princess of Wales, is among the 10 figures selected by the publication, along with US president elect-Donald Trump, who was bestowed with the title back in 2016. Since 1927, Time magazine has named a person, group or concept that it argues "had the biggest impact - for good or for ill - on the world over the previous 12 months". Last year, superstar Taylor Swift was named T...

Smoke billows on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus following Israeli airstrikes on December 9, 2024. Photo: AFP / Aaref Watad A war monitor said on Tuesday that Israel had "destroyed the most important military sites in Syria" with a flurry of air strikes since the fall of president Bashar al-Assad's government. Israel, which borders Syria, sent troops into a buffer zone on the east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights after Assad's fall, in what Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described as a "limited and temporary step" for "security reasons". This picture taken from the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights shows smoke billowing above the Syrian Governorate of Quneitra during Israeli bombardment, on December 9, 2024. Photo: AFP / Jalaa Marey It has also carried out "about 250 ai...