World News

By James Oliphant for Reuters Republican JD Vance is Donald Trump's running mate. Photo: AFP / Alex Wong After dodging the issue for weeks, Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance said unequivocally on Wednesday local time he believes false claims that Donald Trump did not lose the 2020 election. Taking questions from reporters at a campaign event in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Vance was again asked if Trump lost to President Joe Biden four years ago. "On the election of 2020, I've answered this question directly a million times. No! I think there are serious problems in 2020," Vance said. "So, did Donald Trump lose the election in 2020? Not by the words that I would use." Trump, the Republican candidate for president in 2024, continues to falsely claim that he lost the 2020 ...

By Pizaro Gozali Idrus, BenarNews Police officers check the area around the Jubi editorial office in Jayapura, Papua, after it was targeted in a Molotov cocktail attack on 16 October 2024. Photo: Benar News / Victor Mambor An attack on the editorial office of Papua-based media outlet Jubi on Wednesday using Molotov cocktails set fire to vehicles but resulted in no casualties, Indonesian police said. The latest targeting of journalists in the Indonesian province has been condemned by human rights groups as a renewed assault on media freedom, after previous attacks remained unsolved by police. Jubi is owned by Victor Mambor, who is a Jayapura-based stringer for BenarNews. Heram Sectoral Police Chief Inspector Bernadus Ick confirmed an investigation is underway. Area residents help p...

By Jesse Hyland for the ABC Hundreds of black balls mysteriously appeared along the shore of Sydney beaches. Photo: Supplied / Randwick City Council Facebook One of Sydney's most popular beaches came under the spotlight this week when hundreds of black balls mysteriously appeared along its shore. The sphere-shaped debris washed up at Coogee Beach on Tuesday, resulting in the beach's closure and an investigation by Randwick City Council and the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). The black balls then surfaced at Clovelly Beach, Gordons Bay and the northern end of Maroubra Beach. The EPA confirmed on Thursday that balls had also been found at Bondi, Bronte, Tamarama, Little Bay, Malabar, Frenchmans and Congong beaches. All beaches will remain closed until further investigation ...

Former President Donald Trump attends a Fox News Town Hall moderated by Harris Faulkner in Cumming, Georgia, on October 15. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource Fox News hosted an all-women town hall with former President Donald Trump, billed as an opportunity for female voters to ask the Republican candidate questions that matter to them. The Georgia town hall, where Trump took questions on reproductive laws, transgender rights and other issues, aired Wednesday morning in the US. But Fox News did not disclose that the female audience it selected for the event was packed with local Republican supporters and the network edited its broadcast to remove some of their vocal advocacy of Trump. The Georgia Federation of Republican Women wrote on its Facebook page that the...

By Brad Brooks for Reuters Erik Menendez (R) and brother Lyle listen to court proceedings during a May 17, 1991 appearance. Photo: Reuters: Lee Celano Relatives of Lyle and Erik Menendez, brothers imprisoned for life for killing their parents more than three decades ago, said on Wednesday local time they were meeting with prosecutors to request the men be freed. Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon said earlier this month that his office was reviewing new evidence that could lead to the release or a new trial of the brothers, who have long said they killed their parents at their Beverly Hills home because of sexual abuse they endured at their hands. "I implore the district attorney's office to end our prolonged suffering and release Lyle and Erik back to our family," said Terr...

The death of Liam Payne, who rose to fame as a singer for one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, One Direction, has left his friends and fans in shock. Local media reported he died after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Argentina. "I am in shock right now. Liam was always so kind to me," American singer Charlie Puth said on Instagram. "He was one of the first major artists I got to work with. I cannot believe he is gone." Paris Hilton wrote on X she was upset hearing the news of his Payne's death. "Sending love and condolences to his family & loved ones. RIP my friend." American singer Corbyn Besson, of band Why Don't We, wrote on X that he looked up to One Direction as a young artist. "You really never know when it's your time to go. remind your friends/family that y...

By Daniel Ziffer, ABC News Industrial designer Liam Hooper has found more job opportunities in Melbourne. Photo: ABC News / Patrick Stone Australia and New Zealand are neighbours, friends and sporting competitors. But they've had vastly different fortunes in the past few years. Staring at a third recession in just two years, Kiwis are moving across the ditch to Australia in substantial numbers, seeking a sunnier economic climate. "The cost of living was just getting out of control," said Alex Cashmore, who moved to Melbourne this year. Alex Cashmore and his wife Taya moved across the ditch this year. Photo: Supplied He and wife Taya bought a house in Auckland as prices peaked in 2021 and just before the official cash rate skyrocketed from 0.25 percent to a peak of 5.5 percent. ...

By Dan Heching, Manuela Castro, Mauricio Torres and Alli Rosenbloom, CNN Liam Payne performs at the Hugo label show in the Halle during Berlin Fashion Week on 3 July, 2019. Photo: AFP / DPA Liam Payne, a former member of boyband One Direction, has died after falling from the window of a hotel in Buenos Aires, according to police there. He was 31. Payne's death occurred on Wednesday at a hotel on Costa Rica Street in the Palermo neighbourhood, according to a statement from police provided to CNN. Buenos Aires police said that personnel from the 14B police station went to the hotel on Wednesday afternoon after receiving a 911 call about an aggressive man who was possibly under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The police's statement did not identify that person as Payne. Payne was see...

By Gregory Krieg and Kate Sullivan, CNN Donald Trump. File photo Photo: AFP Donald Trump has declared himself the "father of IVF", a fertility treatment that has come under threat following the US Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v Wade. It is unclear what precisely the former president meant when he made the comment at a Fox News town hall in battleground Georgia that was billed as focusing on women's issues and had an all-female audience. But he has repeatedly returned to the issue - talking up his support for IVF - on the campaign trail, where he has given a long series of confusing or contradictory answers about his stance on abortion. "We really are the party for IVF," Trump told moderator and Fox News host Harris Faulkner on "The Faulkner Focus." "We want fertilisa...

By Chelsea Bailey and Amanda Musa, CNN Erik Menendez, left, and his brother Lyle listen during a pre-trial hearing on 29 December 1992. Photo: AFP / VINCE BUCCI As the Los Angeles County district attorney weighs new evidence that could see Lyle and Erik Menendez released from prison after more than 30 years, nearly two dozen of their relatives are expected to speak on their behalf at a news conference. In 1996, the Menendez brothers were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty, in their Beverly Hills home. Although they have never denied killing their parents, both men maintained during their trial that they acted in self-defence and suffered years of physical and sexual abuse from their father. Atto...