World News

Trump claimed he and Willie Brown talked about Kamala Harris. Photo: CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP San Francisco's former mayor Willie Brown has dismissed as "fiction" Donald Trump's story that they once endured a scary helicopter trip together. The former president said on Thursday that he and Brown "went down" in a helicopter together and Brown was "a little concerned". "We thought maybe this was the end," Trump said. "We were in a helicopter... and there was an emergency landing. This was not a pleasant landing." Brown, 90, told US media he had never shared a helicopter with Trump, adding: "I don't think I'd want to ride on the same helicopter with him". Trump, 78, appeared to be confusing Brown with Jerry Brown, California's former governor, wi...

Photo: ALAIN JOCARD / AFP Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec may have gone viral for his calm and casual demeanour at the Paris Olympics but what he was feeling inside was quite the opposite. Dikec's nonchalant pose, with his non-shooting hand casually tucked into his pocket, sparked a flurry of memes on social media as he won silver alongside Sevval Ilayda Tarhan in the mixed team 10-metre air pistol event. But the 51-year-old said: "At that moment, everyone says I seemed very calm, but actually, storms were raging inside me. The celebration that keeps on giving #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/KBX8WJBMKS— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 7, 2024 "I think my shooting pose represented the Olympic spirit very well: the fair play, simplicity, clarity and naturalness. That's why it got so mu...

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby. Photo: ANNA MONEYMAKER The Biden administration will not allow "extremists," including in Israel, to push Gaza ceasefire talks off course, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday and accused Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of making false claims. Kirby said that Smotrich's claims that a ceasefire deal would be a surrender to Hamas or that hostages should not be exchanged for prisoners are "dead wrong," and said the minister was misleading the Israeli public. The United States and its allies have been trying to arrange a ceasefire-for-hostages deal for months but have consistently run into obstacles from both Israel and Hamas. US officials believed the latest proposal is the closest the parties ...

Photo: AFP / MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL By Ione Wells and Robert Plummer of BBC A plane has crashed in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, killing all 61 people on board. The twin-engine turboprop was flying from Cascavel in the southern state of Paraná to Guarulhos airport in São Paulo city when it came down in the town of Vinhedo, Voepass airline says. Footage circulating on social media shows a plane descending vertically, spiralling as it falls. The ATR 72-500 was carrying 57 passengers and four crew. Local authorities say there were no survivors. BREAKING: Voepass Flight 2283, a large passenger plane, crashes in Vinhedo, Brazil pic.twitter.com/wmpJLVYbB3— BNO News (@BNONews) August 9, 2024 Brazil's President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, expressed solidarity with the families and friends of...

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (right) with local member Bob Katter (left), a vocal proponent of a "zonal" tax system. Photo: X / Peter Dutton In short: Peter Dutton says he sees a "moral argument" why people in the regions should pay less tax than people in cities because of their higher cost of living. The existing Zone Tax Offset offers a regional tax discount of up to $1,173, but Mr Dutton said he was open to considering options for reform. What's next? Tax experts doubt any change to regional tax arrangements would survive a constitutional challenge. There is a "moral argument" that people who live and work in the regions should pay less tax than city dwellers, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says. Dutton made the comments at an appearance in Mount Isa alongside local member Bob...

Photo: SCOTT OLSON By Rachel Looker of BBC A woman has died after becoming trapped in a conveyor belt in a baggage area at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Larry Langford, a spokesperson for the Chicago Fire Department, told local media the woman was "entangled in the conveyor belt system used to move baggage" in one of the airport's non-public baggage rooms. Police gave the woman's age as 57 but did not release her name. The US Department of Labor told local media that the woman was not an airport employee. The Chicago Fire Department responded to a call around 07:30 local time to an unresponsive female pinned to machinery used to move baggage. The woman was found in a baggage area in Terminal 5 of the airport, which is used for international flights. Policy say the woman was see...

The prime minister said the government had not received any reports of major damage. Photo: 123RF A magnitude-5.3 earthquake hit Tokyo and eastern parts of Japan on Friday evening (local time), the government said, a day after it issued the first-ever advisory about the risk of a huge earthquake in the west of the country. Although damage to the areas closest to the epicentre was not immediately clear, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government had not received any reports of major damage, speaking at his Tokyo office shortly after the quake. The quake's epicentre was in the Kanagawa prefecture south next to the capital, at a depth of 10km, Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Kanagawa does not lie within the western zone along the Pacific coast known as the Nankai Trough, whic...

By Ione Wells and Robert Plummer of BBC A plane has crashed in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, killing all 62 people on board. The twin-engine turboprop plane was flying from Cascavel in the southern state of Paraná to the main airport in São Paulo city when it came down in the town of Vinhedo, the Voepass airline said. Footage circulating on social media showed a plane descending vertically, spiralling as it fell. BREAKING: Voepass Flight 2283, a large passenger plane, crashes in Vinhedo, Brazil pic.twitter.com/wmpJLVYbB3— BNO News (@BNONews) August 9, 2024 The plane was carrying 58 passengers and four crew. Local authorities said there were no survivors. Authorities said the plane landed on a residential building. Brazil's GloboNews television network showed pictures of a large are...

Photo: AFP/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV Lydia Ko has stormed to the front of the pack in the women's individual golf tournament at the Paris Olympics, tied first equal with Morgane Metraux of Switzerland. The last round of the golf will start about 10.30pm on Saturday NZ time. Fresh from claiming gold in the women's kayak fours on Thursday, Dame Lisa Carrington and Alicia Hoskin nabbed another gold in the women's 500m kayak doubles overnight. Cyclists Bryony Botha and Emily Shearman finished 8th in the women's madison final. On Saturday, cyclists Ellesse Andrews and Shaane Fulton are starting the 1/16 sprint finals at about 5.10am after setting New Zealand records during their qualifiers and winning their first head-to-head races. Artistic swimming duo Eva Morris and Nina Brown are competing at th...

By Paul Sandle, Reuters Huw Edwards pleaded guilty in July to making indecent pictures of children. Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP Britain's BBC says Huw Edwards, its former news anchor who pleaded guilty in July to making indecent pictures of children, should return the salary he was paid after his arrest in November, adding he had not been up front about the charges. Edwards was the BBC's highest paid journalist and top news presenter until he quit in April, receiving an yearly salary of up to £479,999 (NZ$1.02 million), according to its annual report. He had not been on screen since last July following allegations he had paid a young person for sexually explicit photos, something which was unconnected to the criminal charges. The board of the BBC, which is funded by a fee paid by televi...