World News

By Ben Makori, Reuters Former One Direction band members Harry Styles and Niall Horan leave after attending the funeral service of the late One Direction singer Liam Payne. Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP The former members of boy band One Direction were among the mourners at the funeral of their band mate Liam Payne, just over a month after he died aged 31. Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson joined Payne's family and friends for the private church service in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, north west of London. The mother of Payne's son, Cheryl Tweedy. Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP The father of one was found dead after he fell from his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, triggering an outpouring of grief from fans around the world. The singer's coffin arrived at the church i...

By Tom Balmforth and Olena Harmash, Reuters File photo. An Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missile fired in South Korea during a South Korea-US military exercise in 2022. Photo: AFP / South Korean Defence Ministry Ukraine used US ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory, taking advantage of newly granted permission from the outgoing Biden administration on the war's 1000th day. Russia said its forces shot down five of six of the missiles, which were fired at a military facility in the Bryansk region. Debris of one hit the facility, starting a fire that was swiftly put out and caused no casualties or damage, it said. Ukraine said it had struck a Russian arms depot around 110 km inside Russia in an attack that caused secondary explosions. The Ukrainian military did not publicl...

File photo. Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a lowering of the threshold for a nuclear strike. Photo: ALEXANDER KAZAKOV / AFP Russian President Vladimir Putin has lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks, as Moscow says Ukraine struck deep inside Russia with US-made ATACMS missiles. Putin approved the change days after two US officials and a source familiar with the decision said on Sunday that US President Joe Biden's administration allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike deep into Russia. Russia had been warning the West for months that if Washington allowed Ukraine to fire US, British and French missiles deep into Russia, Moscow would consider those NATO members to be directly involved in the war in Ukrain...

By Melissa Brown, Syan Vallance and South-East Asia correspondent Lauren Day, ABC Holly Bowles's family say they are in a state of disbelief about what has happened. Photo: Facebook The parents of two Melbourne 19-year-olds are at their bedsides in separate Thai hospitals as the women fight for their lives after drinking tainted alcohol. Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones were staying at a backpacker hostel in Vang Vieng, a popular party town north of the Laotian capital, Vientiane. According to the owner of the Nana Hostel, they had been out drinking at a nearby bar last Tuesday night and, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, were taken to a hospital in Vientiane after falling ill. It is understood at least two Danish women in their 20s have died, and at least 10 have fallen ill afte...

By Guy Faulconbridge, Reuters US President-elect Trump has vowed to swiftly end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Photo: AFP Vladimir Putin is open to discussing a Ukraine ceasefire deal with Donald Trump but rules out making any major territorial concessions and insists Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO, five sources with knowledge of Kremlin thinking told Reuters. US President-elect Trump, who has vowed to swiftly end the conflict, is returning to the White House at a time of Russian ascendancy. Moscow controls a chunk of Ukraine about the size of the American state of Virginia and is advancing at the fastest pace since the early days of the 2022 invasion. In the first detailed reporting of what President Putin would accept in any deal brokered by Trump, the five current a...

A view from Mount Arapiles in Victoria. File pic Photo: ROB FRANCIS / AFP Recreational climbers were the first to respond after a 69-year-old rock climber died in a fall at Mount Arapiles in western Victoria, Australia. The New Zealand woman fell as she scaled the final section of a climb called Eskimo Nell. Mount Arapiles is a renowned rock climbing destination attracting outdoor climbers from across the world. Emergency services were called around 3:30pm on Tuesday afternoon to Centenary Park Access Road. Climbing veteran Zorba Parer heard a cry and went to help. He free climbed 80 metres without a harness and rope and was the first person to reach the woman, while two other climbers followed him. Another two climbers went to the top to drop a rappel line and abseiled down 30 metres. ...

Climate Change Minister Simon Watts is attending the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone New Zealand has chipped in $10 million to a global fund to help pay for losses suffered by poorer countries because of climate change. Climate Change Minister Simon Watts made the announcement at the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan on Wednesday. The loss and damage fund was set up at last year's meeting in UAE, to help developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change. In a statement, the minister said it was a high priority for the government to address damage that went "beyond the limits of adaptation", including from extreme weather events and sea level rise. "We want this global fund to deliver effective support to the people in the mo...

Navy Commodore Andrew Brown is in charge of the operation. Photo: RNZ/ Susana Lei'ataua The Navy is confident a robust plan is in place to handle any leaks as the operation to remove fuel from the HMNZS Manawanui begins. Two New Zealand salvage companies are preparing to remove fuel and other pollutants from the vessel that is 30 metres under water after sinking off the coast of Samoa in October. The ship went down after hitting a reef in a marine reserve off the island of Upolu. Seventy-five crew and passengers were rescued after being forced to abandon ship. HMNZS Manawanui shortly before it sank in October. Photo: Supplied / Profile Boats Manawanui has nearly 1000 tonnes of automotive gas oil that has diesel-like qualities on board. Officials estimate up to 200,000 litres of f...

By Luc Cohen for Reuters Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on 6 November 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: CHIP SOMODEVILLA / Getty Images via AFP Prosecutors request schedule to litigate Trump's case dismissal Trump's lawyers say case would impede ability to govern Trump faced additional state and federal charges in 2023 Trump spokesperson: 'a total and definitive victory' for Trump Prosecutors who secured Donald Trump's conviction over a hush money payment to a porn star opposed on Tuesday his stated hope to have the case dismissed now that he is president-elect and asked a judge to set a schedule to litigate the matter. Trump, 78, had been scheduled to be se...

Photo: no such thing as fish Ten years ago, four self-described dorks gathered around a microphone to share interesting facts that they had learnt that week. They started as Stephen Fry's elves, digging up facts for his show QI and found they had plenty of tidbits leftover such as the origin of hedges, or wombat poo, or how many times smartphone users touch their phones each day - answer 2617. These tasty leftovers became a hit podcast No Such Thing As A Fish which has notched up more than 500 episodes, half a billion downloads and spawned a sold-out world tour that is currently in New Zealand. Podcasting fact fans Dan Schreiber and Anna Ptaszynski told RNZ's Afternoons, the "secret sauce" of the show is uncovering the kind of facts we love to share at the pub. "Everyone loves it at the...