World News

"Raw-dogging" is where passengers spend long hours mid-air just staring straight ahead. Photo: 123RF By Lucy Hooker of BBC Last week, Damion Bailey posted on Instagram that he had just achieved his "personal best" - a 13-and-a-half hour flight between Shanghai and Dallas without any in-flight entertainment, films, books or music. "It's quite tough, honestly," the 34-year-old from Miami, Florida tells BBC News. But he keeps doing it. Bailey is part of a new travel trend, known as "raw-dogging", where passengers spend long hours mid-air just staring straight ahead. The longer you do it, the tougher you have apparently proven yourself to be. "Just raw-dogged it, 15 hour flight to Melbourne," boasts Australian music producer Torren Foot on TikTok, blinking hard as if to stay awake. "No musi...

First published on Lucy Lawless and Kevin Sorbo. Photo: Acorn TV / AFP / Getty Images The Kiwi actress called out her former co-star after he made a remark about US Vice-President Kamala Harris' heritage in a social media post. New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless has butted heads with former Hercules co-star Kevin Sorbo after the 65-year-old said online that United States Vice-President Kamala Harris should "say the N-word" to prove she is black to voters. Sorbo questioned the identity of the Democratic presidential nominee in a post on X, writing: "If Kamala really is black, have her say the N-word, let the people decide for themselves". Sorbo's post went viral, accumulating over 98,000 likes and nearly 10,000 retweets. He has since pinned it to the top of his profile...

Donald Trump at a presidential campaign rally. (File photo) Photo: Spencer Platt / Getty Images / AFP By Kanishka Singh and Nathan Layne for Reuters The campaign of Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump says some of its internal communications have been hacked and blames the Iranian government, citing past hostilities between Trump and Iran without providing direct evidence. The campaign statement came shortly after news website Politico revealed it began receiving emails in July from an anonymous source offering authentic documents from inside Trump's operation, including a report about running mate JD Vance's "potential vulnerabilities". "These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election ...

Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz wave to supporters at a campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on 7 August. Photo: AFP "They're weird." With that simple diss - as well as an overall more streamlined message - Vice-President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign has shifted the conversation away from the weaknesses of her boss, President Joe Biden, and shone a spotlight on her opponent, Donald Trump. The change of tone was on full display at rallies this week, where she appeared with her new vice-presidential pick, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. With Beyonce's 'Freedom' as their soundtrack, the pair made the case that they were out to protect American freedoms while their "weird" Republican opponents, Trump and his running mate JD Vance, threatened to take ...

An aerial view of the wreckage of a plane that crashed with 62 people on board in Vinhedo, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Photo: AFP By Sebastian Rocandio for Reuters Work was underway on Saturday by Brazilian authorities in recovering the remains of passengers on a plane [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/524718/plane-crash-in-brazil-kills-all-61-on-board that crashed on Friday in the town of Vinhedo], near Sao Paulo, killing all 62 people on board. At least 31 bodies had been recovered by 1pm local time on Saturday, the Sao Paulo state government said. The bodies of the pilot and co-pilot were identified, said Dario Pacheco, mayor of Vinhedo. All the bodies are being moved to Sao Paulo's police morgue. A Venezuelan man and Portuguese woman are among the dead, state civil defence official Rob...

An elderly man sits amid the rubble inside a school used as a temporary shelter for displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, after it was hit by an Israeli strike. Photo: AFP By Nidal al-Mughrabi for Reuters An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City school compound housing displaced Palestinian families killed around 100 people, says the Gaza Civil Emergency Service, while Israel said the toll was inflated and 19 militants were among the dead. Video from the site showed body parts scattered around and more bodies being carried away and covered in blankets on the floor. Empty food tins lay in a puddle of blood, and burnt mattresses and a child's doll lay among the debris. In another video, men prayed over a dozen body bags laid out on the ground of the Tabeen school complex. The territory's Civil ...

By Dawn Chmielewski, Lisa Richwine and Danielle Broadway, Reuters Dancers performing onstage for 'Moana 2' at the Walt Disney Studios Presentation during CinemaCon 2024. Photo: Gabe Ginsberg / Getty Images via AFP Walt Disney, which reclaimed the top of the summer box office with Pixar animation's Inside Out 2 and Marvel's raunchy Deadpool & Wolverine, opened its D23 fan convention today with a live performance from the anticipated animated film Moana 2. Dwayne Johnson, a featured star who was joined by Auli'i Cravahlo and Hawaiian dancers, told the 12,000 attendees that in reprising his role as Maui, he would once again be singing, "in keys that don't exist." The film will reach theaters on 27 November. Director James Cameron took the stage, along with Avatar stars Zoe Saldana...

Palestinians check the damage in another school used as a refuge by displaced Palestinians after it was hit by a Israeli strike, in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City on 8 August 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. Photo: OMAR AL-QATTAA / AFP Palestinians check the damage in another school used as a refuge by displaced Palestinians after it was hit by a Israeli strike, in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City on 8 August 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (file photo) Gaza's Hamas-controlled civil defence agency says dozens of people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a shelter in a school in Gaza City. Israel's military said it had struck the location on Saturday, describing its target a...

By Jaroslav Lukiv and James Waterhouse, BBC News An image released by the Kursk Region Governor shows damage in the town of Sudzha on 6 August 2024, caused by shelling from Ukranian forces in Russia's Kursk Region. Photo: AFP / Governor of Kursk Region Ukrainian troops remained in Russia's western Kursk region on Friday night, as its surprise cross-border offensive into Russia came to the end of a fourth day. The Russian defence ministry said it was "continuing to repel" Ukraine's military, which it claimed had lost more than 280 personnel in the past 24 hours - a figure that has not been independently verified. Reports suggest that Ukrainian troops are operating more than 10km inside Russia - the deepest cross-border advance by Kyiv since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of U...

Textile experts say it is best to hand-wash a woollen jumper. Photo: 123RF By Anna Chisholm, ABC News Do you have a woollen jumper you've been giving a precautionary whiff before throwing back on again? It is often tempting, and even advised, to outsource cleaning to the local dry cleaner. It can help you dodge the risk of shrinking your jumper, but it can also be expensive. Senior textile conservator at Artlab Australia, Kristin Phillips, said woollen jumpers will "last indefinitely" if you look after them. "You just have to be careful," she said. How to wash your wool Use wool-specific detergent. Most garments have a care label that you can refer to for specific instructions, as well as information about the fabric's composition. When it comes to wool, Phillips said "anything that's v...