World News

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech in Nouméa on 26 July 2023 Photo: Supplied France has approved a high-level Pacific "fact-finding mission" to New Caledonia to gather information from all sides involved in the ongoing crisis. "We are welcoming a mission of the troika for a fact-finding mission in New Caledonia before the [Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting]," the French Ambassador to the Pacific, Véronique Roger-Lacan, told RNZ Pacific in an exclusive interview on Friday evening. "I gave a letter to the [PIF] secretary general Baron Waqa and Prime Minister Mark Brown, the chair. "It's a good idea. It's important that everyone can assess the situation together with [France]." She said it was important that dialogue continued. "We repeat the fact that these riots were ...

By Friederike Heine, Reuters Taylor Swift's three Eras Tour concerts in Vienna have been cancelled. Photo: AFP / David Gray Authorities in Austria have detained a third suspect in Vienna connected to an alleged plot to strike a Taylor Swift concert in the Austrian capital, the interior ministry said on Friday. The 18-year-old Iraqi national is said to have come from the same circle as the main suspect, a 19-year-old Austrian with North Macedonian roots, according to the ministry. More suspects would be questioned and properties searched as investigators continued to look into the plot, the ministry added. The main suspect, who had vowed loyalty to Islamic State (IS), was planning a lethal assault among the estimated 20,000 "Swiftie" fans set to gather outside Vienna's Ernst Happel St...

The backs of the hands of a patient with mpox, showing a characteristic rash during his recovery phase, pictured in Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo: CDC / IMAGE POINT FR / IMAGE POINT FR / BSIP via AFP Africa's public health agency is set to declare an mpox emergency as early as next week, saying the viral infection's rate of spread is alarming, as a new variant moves across Democratic Republic of Congo's borders. Mpox is transmitted through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. Most cases are mild but it can kill. The new variant, known as Clade Ib and circulating mostly in Congo, appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, as seems to be the case among children. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Directo...

Canada's coach Beverly Priestman. Photo: AFP A Canadian MP has begun the process to bring the leaders of the Canadian women's soccer team and Canada Soccer before its Parliament over the drone spying scandal, according to media reports. Manitoba MP Niki Ashton has put forward a motion to call them before the House of Commons' heritage committee to testify. "This isn't just about what happened at the Olympics," she said in a statement reported by CBC. "It's about Canada's reputation in soccer and in sports. "Canadians need to know the full picture of what happened and how to make sure this never happens again. We are seeking accountability from Team Canada officials and [Canada Soccer]." Canada was at the centre of one of the first scandals of the Paris Olympics when it was revealed a Ca...

Fans of US mega-star Taylor Swift gather in the centre in Vienna, Austria, after her three scheduled concerts were cancelled following the arrest of an Islamic State sympathiser in connection with an attack plot. Photo: ROLAND SCHLAGER/AFP By Ian Youngs, BBC culture reporter and Bethany Bell, BBC News in Vienna Taylor Swift fans came out in force on Vienna's streets to sing her songs and show their defiance, a day after her concerts there were cancelled because of a plot to attack them. Hundreds of Swifties staged an impromptu open-air gathering to overcome the disappointment of not seeing the US superstar on her record-breaking Eras tour. They also said they understood the decision to cancel the stadium shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and were grateful to the police. Austrian a...

By Nadine Yousif, BBC News Photo: AFP ABC News has said it will host the first debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on 10 September. The network confirmed the showdown in a post on X, formerly Twitter, after Trump said on Thursday that he would be open to debating his Democratic rival multiple times before the November election. "We think we should do three debates," Trump said, suggesting two additional debates that he said would be hosted by Fox News and NBC, respectively. Harris confirmed that she will attend the ABC debate while at an event in Michigan on Thursday, and said later that she would be open to additional debates. The network said the debate will be moderated by World News Tonight anchor and managing editor David Muir and ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis...

By Ruma Paul for Reuters Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus (L) is sworn into office to lead Bangladesh's interim government as its chief adviser, days after a student-led uprising ended the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina. Photo: AFP / Munir Uz Zaman Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus took charge of Bangladesh's caretaker government on Thursday, hoping to help heal the country that was convulsed by weeks of violence, forcing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to quit and flee to neighbouring India. Known as the "banker to the poor", Yunus is the pioneer of the global microcredit movement. The Grameen Bank he founded won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for helping lift millions from poverty by providing tiny loans to the rural poor who are too impoverished to gain attention from traditional...

US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump held a press conference at his Palm Beach residence. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP By Nathan Layne and Joseph Ax, Reuters US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said he is willing to debate his Democratic rival Kamala Harris three times in September on different networks, as he tried to win back momentum from the Democratic vice president's newly galvanized campaign. ABC News said on X that it would host a presidential debate on 10 September and that both Trump and Harris had agreed to participate. During a news conference at his Palm Beach, Florida, residence, Trump said he wanted to hold debates on 4 September, 10 September and 25 September, with Fox, ABC and NBC hosting one each. His campaign later clarified that he had mi...

Photo: AFP It's probably a question Kiwis have asked since New Zealand first competed in the Olympics as its own national team in 1908: "But wouldn't New Zealand be winning if we divided the medal tally by population?" Sure enough, that question is in play again. New Zealanders have been Googling the heck out of some variation of "per capita medal tally," according to Google analytics. It provides a very convenient way to vault ourselves to near the top of the medal tally and ahead of that annoyingly talented sibling - Australia. On the Paris Olympics official count, national population size is not a factor. Gold is king. If there is a tie on that number, then silver followed by bronze medals determines a country's place on the ladder. One of the gold medals brought home by the Black ...

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the Pacific is exposed to a wide range of natural hazards. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Hilaire Bule The governments of New Zealand and Australia will assist with the establishment of humanitarian relief warehouses worth almost NZ$50 million across the Pacific The foreign ministers of the two nations, in Suva to attend the Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting, made the announcement on Friday. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the Pacific is exposed to a wide range of natural hazards and other risks - including cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, volcanoes and disease. He said these disasters can lead to immense humanitarian need. "This initiative places Pacific countries at the centre of responses," he said. "It w...