World News

An Indonesian police spokesperson holds up a photo of Glen Malcolm Conning in a video. Photo: Indonesian Police / Supplied The family of the New Zealand helicopter pilot who was killed in the Indonesian region of Papua say he was the most caring and loving husband and dad. Glen Malcolm Conning, 50, was killed by a pro-independence group known as Free Papua Organisation (OPM) when rebels rounded up those on board the helicopter, including four passengers, after they landed in an isolated area in the Central Papua province. The passengers are reported to be safe. In a statement released on Tuesday by Natasha Conning on behalf of his family, they say he is truly loved by his family and friends, who he cherished spending time with when he wasn't flying or being in the outdoors. "Our hearts ...

For more than 100 years, swimming in the Seine had been banned due to concerns over what the water could do to human health. Now Olympic athletes are swimming in it and falling sick. Photo: RNZ / Quin Tauetau News of athletes falling sick after swimming in the River Seine comes as no surprise to Parisians; the city locals know the water is filthy, and they have been trying to warn us since well before the Olympics began. Test results published less than two months before the swimming competitions were scheduled to be held revealed elevated levels of bacteria in the river. Despite a mammoth cleanup effort costing upwards of NZ$2.3 billion (€1.3 billion), it is clear the river is not clean enough to swim in. RNZ unpacks the filthy history of the River Seine. Why swim in the Seine at all? ...

By Holly Richardson, Conor Byrne and Romy Stephens, ABC News File image. Photo: AFP / DAVID GRAY Human remains have been found inside a crocodile that wildlife officers euthanased in far north Queensland. Police say Newcastle man David Hogbin, 40, was with family members when he fell into the Annan River near Cooktown and failed to resurface on Saturday. A spokeswoman for Sonic Healthcare Australia said Dr Hogbin would be missed by colleagues. "We are deeply saddened by the news of this tragic event," she said. "This is a very challenging time for our team." Dr Hogbin has worked at several medical centres in New South Wales. His biography at Jewells Medical Centre, 13km south-west of Newcastle, said Dr Hogbin was a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners after...

An emotional Shaun Johnson fronted media on Tuesday at Go Media Mt Smart Stadium, saying that it had been a "draining 24 hours" since he made his decision to retire at the end of this season. "A lot went into yesterday," Johnson said. "But it feels good knowing that I've made the decision, a little bit like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders. To be able to come out and say it, announce it the way I wanted to. "Departures can be forced sometimes. So for me to have control over this, knowing that there was something there for me (an offer to stay on) next year, but I've made the decision not to." Johnson will hang up the boots after 11 seasons at the Warriors, as well as a 44-game stint at the Sharks from 2019-21. He guided the side to their last grand final appearance in his first year...

A man looks at an electronic quotation board displaying stock prices of Nikkei 225 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on August 6, 2024. Tokyo stocks bounced back in early trade on August 6 following a historic selloff on worries over the US economy and a stronger yen. Photo: AFP / KAZUHIRO NOGI Japanese stocks rebounded sharply in early trade on Tuesday, after their biggest single day rout since the 1987 Black Monday sell-off in the previous session. The Nikkei rallied 8.1 percent at 34,004.22 as of 0026 GMT, while the broader Topix was up 8.57 percent. The Nikkei plunged 12.4 percent on Monday in its worst performance since the October 1987 crash, as investors were shaken by last week's plunge in global stock markets, US recession risks and worries investments funded by a cheap yen ...

The discontinued heartburn drug Zantac. Photo: 123rf / © Terry Putman 2016 By Brendan Pierson, Reuters GSK won the latest trial over claims that discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, as a jury on Monday found that the drug was not responsible for an Illinois woman's illness, a company spokesperson said. Carrie Joiner had alleged in her lawsuit in state court in Chicago that she developed colorectal cancer from a carcinogenic contaminant called NDMA found in the once-blockuster drug. A lawyer for Joiner did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Zantac was sold at different times by GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim. First approved by US regulators in 1983, it became the world's best-selling medicine in 1988 and one of the first to top $1 billion in annu...

By Nandita Bose and Andrea Shalal, Reuters Vice President Kamala Harris speaking at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s 60th International Biennial Boule at George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on 31 July, 2024. Photo: Reginald Mathalone / NurPhoto / AFP Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has narrowed her search for a vice presidential running mate to two finalists, Governors Tim Walz of Minnesota and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, three sources with knowledge of the matter say. Harris, the US vice president is expected to announce her selection by Tuesday (local time), ahead of her first scheduled public appearance with her running mate that evening at Temple University in Philadelphia. In a message to supporters late on Monday, Harris said she had yet to...

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Photo: AFP / Getty Images North America US share markets posted heavy losses on fears the American economy is headed for recession. When markets closed at 8am (NZT), the broader S&P 500 index fell 3 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 2.6 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 3.4 percent. Earlier, the Nasdaq opened 6.3 percent lower, but clawed back some of the losses after data showed US services sector activity rebounding in July. On Monday Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down 12.4 percent, a blow to the world's fourth largest economy. The recession fears come after a US jobs report last week showed the world's biggest economy added significantly fewer jobs than analysts were expecting, at a time of high interes...

By Anna Levy, Hilary Harper and Amber Tripp for ABC Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance. Photo: AFP / Alex Wong "Childless cat ladies unite!" It's a catch-cry appearing on social media, emblazoned across T-shirts and headlining think pieces from commentators across the political spectrum. It's even galvanising Taylor Swift fans. This full-throated retaliation is a response to 2021 comments by the Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance. Donald Trump has chosen Vance - a senator from Ohio - to be his running mate for November's US election. During a recently resurfaced interview on Fox News, Vance described high-profile Democrats as "childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the coun...

Olivia McTaggart (L), Imogen Ayris (C) and Eliza McCartney celebrate together after qualifying for the Women's Pole Vault Final at Stade de France during the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo: Simon Stacpoole / www.photosport.nz Eliza McCartney eased into the final of the Olympic pole vault for a second time but for two of her New Zealand team mates they admit they're lucky to be joining her. All three New Zealand athletes knew what was ahead of them during the qualification round on a warm Monday morning in Paris. The qualification standard was set at 4.70 metres. Two pole vault pits would be running side by side and at least the top 12 best performed athletes would be through to the final two days later. All was going to plan until the bar was lifted to 4.55m. Olivia McTaggart competes i...