World News

By Ben Blanchard and Bernard Orr A street flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on 25 July 2024. Photo: AFP Typhoon Gaemi swept through northern Taiwan on Thursday, killing two people, triggering flooding and sinking a freighter before barrelling west across the Taiwan Strait towards China where it is expected to dump more torrential rain. Gaemi made landfall around midnight local time on the north-eastern coast of Taiwan in Yilan county. It is the strongest typhoon to hit the island in eight years and was packing gusts of up to 227km/h before weakening, according to the Central Weather Administration. As of 12.15pm (0415 GMT), Gaemi was in the Taiwan Strait and heading toward Fuzhou in China's Fujian province. Gaemi would be the biggest typhoon to hit China's eastern seaboa...

By Karl Puschmann Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in a scene from 'Deadpool & Wolverine.' Photo: Jay Maidment We're used to superheroes saving the day. But who rushes to rescue them in their hour of need? It's a question Disney has been wrestling with ever since Avengers: Endgame triumphantly wrapped up the decade-long box office dominance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in 2019. Endgame didn't just represent the conclusion of the MCU's ambitious and revolutionary 10-year, three-phase storyline. The film also acted as the endpoint of the wider public's interest in spandex-clad superbeings. It may be the second-highest-grossing film of all time but every Marvel movie since has been a box office disappointment or a bonafide flop. One exception to the ...

A case against Roundup weedkiller's manufacturers has been dismissed. Photo: AFP An Australian judge on Thursday dismissed a class action lawsuit claiming Bayer's Roundup weedkiller can cause a type of blood cancer, a boost for the company which is grappling with a slew of similar cases in the United States. Justice Michael Lee of Australia's Federal Court ruled that on the balance of probabilities, there was insufficient evidence to conclude that Roundup can cause non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL). "It is not proven in this proceeding on a balance of probabilities... that throughout the relevant period use of, and or exposure to Roundup products increased an individual's risk of developing NHL," Lee said. The German pharmaceutical and chemicals company has maintained that Roundup, a glyphosa...

By Annabelle Liang, BBC News Part of the MT Terra Nova oil tanker is seen after sinking off Manila Bay. Photo: Supplied/Philippine Coast Guard A tanker carrying close to 1.5 million litres of industrial fuel has capsized and sank off the Philippine capital on Thursday, causing an oil spill, officials say. Sixteen crew members of the Philippine-flagged MT Terra Nova have been rescued while one remains missing, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said. Bautista said an oil spill has been detected but strong winds and high waves were hampering the authorities' response. The incident comes a day after Typhoon Gaemi intensified seasonal monsoon rains, submerging large swathes of Metro Manila and its suburbs in deep floods. Gaemi has made landfall in Taiwan, leaving three people killed...

By James Pearson, Reuters The outage happened because CrowdStrike's Falcon contained a fault that forced computers running Microsoft's Windows operating system to crash and show the "Blue Screen of Death". Photo: SEM VAN DER WAL / AFP A software bug in CrowdStrike's quality-control system caused the software update that crashed computers globally last week, the US firm said on Wednesday (local time), as losses mount following the outage which disrupted services from aviation to banking. The extent of the damage from the botched update is still being assessed. On Saturday, Microsoft said about 8.5 million Windows devices had been affected, and the US House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee has sent a letter to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz asking him to testify. The financ...

Photo: 123RF China is considering a request to fund an extension of the Honiara International airport runway, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele says. Manele, who has just returned from China, revealed this on Thursday, saying the project was requested by the Solomon Islands government and Beijing is considering it. Manele said it would enable larger long-haul aircrafts to land at the Honiara International Airport and enhance Solomon Islands' trade with China. In-Depth Solomons reported that the airport's upgrade and modern terminal buildings have been largely funded by the Japanese government over the last 20 years. Manele said they had secured a number of trade deals with China during their state visit, the outlet reported. He said China was Solomon Islands largest trading ...

By Anthony Zurcher, BBC News US President Joe Biden concludes his address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House on July 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. Photo: POOL / Getty Images via AFP Analysis - This was Joe Biden's first chance to define how he will be judged by history. In a rare televised address from the Oval Office on Wednesday night (local time), he spoke of his accomplishments. He spoke of his humble roots. He sang the praises of the American people. He said the future of American democracy lies in their hands. What he didn't do, despite saying he would always level with Americans, was provide a direct explanation for the biggest question of the day. He didn't say why he has become the first incumbent president to abandon a re-election bid, just a few months bef...

A number of young athletes have taken to TikTok to share their experiences behind the scenes at the Paris 2024 Olympics Photo: RNZ / Quin Tauetau A baguette making workshop, free arcade games and and reviews of the infamous cardboard beds - young athletes are letting us into life at the Olympic Village. The infamous cardboard beds Canoeist Sofia Reinoso showed what the twin size, 'anti-intimacy' beds are made of, lifting up her mattress to reveal a thin structure of cardboard blocks, before jumping on the bed repeatedly to zero bounce-back. The beds are said to support the body for a restful sleep and act as a deterrent for anything other than sleeping. The official Olympics TikTok boasted their comfort, saying the beds are made with adjustable firmness and size - but not everyone's fou...

US President Joe Biden has told Americans it is time to pass the torch to a new generation - but he has also pledged to push for reform of the Supreme Court. Speaking from the Oval Office in his first speech since announcing he would not stand for re-eelection, he said the time is now for fresh voices. He warned there is no place in America for political violence after the shooting of former president Donald Trump. And he pledged to keep working in the few months left of his presidency to advocate for changes to the Supreme Court, one of the key arms of American government. Biden gave no details but sources in Washington have said he is keen to set term limits for justices and set up ethics rules. The Court is currently conservative leaning with six of the nine Justices appointed by Republ...

By Bernd Debusmann Jr, BBC News, White House US President Joe Biden will tell Americans it's time to "pass the torch to a new generation" in a televised address from the White House explaining his historic decision to step aside as the Democratic candidate in this November's election. The Oval Office address marks his first public remarks since the 21 July announcement, which paved the way for Vice-President Kamala Harris to become the presumptive nominee. Biden will also say his decision to withdraw "is the best way to unite our nation" ahead of November's election. Biden is also expected to lay out his plans to "finish the job for the American people" before the end of his term in January next year. Harris, who earlier this week secured the support of a majority of Democratic delegates...