World News

By Lianne Kolirin for CNN Florence Pugh at the 2024 Academy Awards. Photo: AFP / Frederic J. Brown Hollywood star Florence Pugh has revealed that a surprise diagnosis led her to have her eggs frozen aged 27. Now 28, the British-born actress has opened up about suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis - both of which can affect fertility - in an episode of the SHE MD podcast, released Tuesday. Pugh, star of hits like Oppenheimer, Dune: Part Two and Little Women, said: "I had a bit of a worry last summer and I just wanted to go and get things checked out, and then we ended up finding out information that I probably wouldn't have known until I started having kids in another five years." The podcast is hosted by influencer Mary Alice Haney and gynaecological surg...

By Luc Cohen, Reuters US producer-musician Sean "Diddy" Combs poses during a music awards ceremony on 12 September, 2023, in New Jersey. Photo: Angela Weiss / AFP Rapper and producer seeks release on $50 million bond Prosecutors say Combs may tamper with witnesses Combs has pleaded not guilty, called sexual activity consensual There is no risk Sean 'Diddy Combs will act violently if he is released from jail, a defence lawyer says, asking a judge to release the music mogul from a Brooklyn jail on bail. The case was being presented on Friday (US EST), after Combs had been held for 10 weeks, ahead of his 5 May trial on sex-trafficking charges. Combs' lawyers this month proposed a $50 million bail package backed by his $48m Florida mansion. It also called for Combs to be monitored a...

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Photo: AFP / ALBERTO PIZZOLI, ABIR SULTAN By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Hussam al-Masri, Reuters Gazans see little hope that International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Israeli leaders will slow down the onslaught on the Palestinian territory, where medics say at least 24 people were killed in fresh Israeli military strikes. In Gaza City in the north, an Israeli strike on a house in Shejaia killed eight people, medics said. Three others were killed in a strike near a bakery and a fisherman was killed as he set out to sea. In the central and southern areas, 12 people were killed in three separate Israeli air strikes. Meanwhile, Israeli forces...

By Luc Cohen, Reuters US President-elect Donald Trump should not have his ability to carry out his presidential duties compromised by the 'hush money' legal cases against him, his lawyers say. Photo: AFP / ANGELA WEISS Trump was convicted in May of 34 felony counts Judge formally delays sentencing Trump Donald Trump may seek dismissal of the criminal case in which he was convicted in May of 34 felony counts involving hush money paid to a porn star, a judge ruled on Friday, while also indefinitely delaying Trump's sentencing in light of his victory in the 5 November US presidential election. The sentencing had been scheduled to take place next Tuesday. Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office this week asked New York state Supreme Court Justice Juan Mercha...

A UNIFIL vehicle drives through Beirut as part of a UN peacekeeping convoy. Photo: AFP / PATRICK BAZ Four UN peacekeepers from Italy were wounded by rockets in Lebanon fired by Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, Italian officials said. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed "deep indignation and concern" over "new attacks suffered by the Italian headquarters of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) in southern Lebanon" on Friday. "These attacks are unacceptable," she said in a statement, calling on "the parties on the ground to guarantee, at all times, the safety of UNIFIL soldiers and to collaborate to quickly identify those responsible". Meloni did not attribute blame but Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the rockets were "fired by Hezbollah" and called on bo...

By Lauren Day in Bangkok Australians Holly Bowles and her friend Bianca Jones have died in a suspected mass methanol poisoning. Photo: Facebook While paying tribute to Melbourne teenager Bianca Jones, who died of methanol poisoning on a holiday in Laos earlier this week, the prime minister called it "every parent's worst fear". But really, it is every Australians'. A fear and a realisation that it could have been any one of us. A nation of travellers, a nation of drinkers, a nation in a neighbourhood of lax alcohol regulation. No-one felt this more than those who have survived methanol poisoning before, those lucky few who lived to tell just how terrifying it is. 'I feel guilty that I got off so lucky' Perth man Bailey Chalmers has been watching with a heavy heart the news of the mas...

Holly Bowles. Photo: Facebook A second Melbourne teenager has died following a mass methanol poisoning incident in Laos, bringing the confirmed death toll to six. In a statement on Friday evening the family of Holly Bowles, 19, said she had died after she had been on life support in a Bangkok hospital. "It is with broken hearts and we are so sad to say that our beautiful girl Holly is now at peace," a statement from the family said. "We find comfort and solace in knowing that Holly bought so much joy and happiness to so many people." Her death is linked to the mass methanol poisoning incident in the Laotian tourist town of Vang Vieng that also claimed the life of Bowles's friend, 19-year-old Bianca Jones. British woman Simone White, two Danish women and an American man have also died. T...

Bianca Jones Photo: Facebook The owner of a backpacker hostel where two young Australians were staying before they fell violently ill from methanol poisoning has been detained by police for questioning in Laos. The death toll from the suspected mass methanol poisoning event now stands at five, including 19-year-old Melbourne woman Bianca Jones. A 28-year-old British woman, two Danish women and an American man have also died. A New Zealander is believed to have also been affected. Jones's friend Holly Bowles remains on life support in a Thai hospital. The ABC has now confirmed that the owner of the Nana Backpacker Hostel where the Australians were staying and where they started their night with free drinks has been detained for questioning by police in Laos. The hostel had earlier told t...

By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN Wisconsin man Ryan Borgwardt is accused of faking his own death and fleeing to Eastern Europe. Photo: Supplied / Green Lake County Sheriff's Department Ryan Borgwardt, a Wisconsin kayaker accused of faking his own drowning and fleeing the country, is alive somewhere in Eastern Europe and has been talking to investigators, officials said. But it is still unclear whether he will ever return home to his wife and three children. ' "Great news: we know that he's alive and well," Green Lake County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Matthew L. Vande Kolk said Thursday. "The bad news is, we do not know where, exactly, Ryan is and he has not yet decided to return home." The 44-year-old was reported missing on 12 August after failing to return home from a fishing trip on Gre...

By Sarah N. Lynch and Daniel Trotta, Reuters US President-elect Donald Trump tapped Pam Bondi, a staunch ally who helped defend the ex-leader against impeachment and joined lawyers who sought to overturn President Joe Biden's election, as US attorney general nominee. Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP US President-elect Donald Trump said on he would nominate former Florida Attorney General and loyalist Pam Bondi to be US Attorney General, moving swiftly to replace his former nominee Matt Gaetz after the embattled former congressman withdrew from consideration. Gaetz was the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe into allegations of having sex with an underage 17-year-old girl and illicit drug use. He has denied wrongdoing. Bondi, 59, was the top law enforcement officer of the country's thir...