World News

By Marc Leras for Reuters Photo: CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP Gisele Pelicot decries "cowardice" of dozens of accused men Suspected abusers claim they were unaware of committing rape Husband admits drugging her, inviting others to rape her Pelicot demands change in way France views rape Warning: This story contains details of sexual violence Gisele Pelicot, subjected to mass rape organised by her husband over 10 years, on Tuesday condemned the cowardice of the dozens of men accused of abusing her who claim they didn't realise it was rape, adding France's patriarchal society must change. Dominique Pelicot, her husband, has admitted to drugging his wife, 71, and inviting strangers to their house to rape her while she was unconscious, in a trial that has attracted worldwide attention and tur...

By Kate Sullivan and Alexandra Skores, CNN Sean Duffy questions Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell during his testimony in Washington, DC on July 18, 2018. Photo: Mary F. Calvert/Reuters via CNN Newsource President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday he has selected former congressman and recent Fox Business co-host Sean Duffy to serve as the next secretary of the Department of Transportation. Duffy served in the US House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019, representing Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District. He most recently was co-host of Fox Business' "The Bottom Line," after first joining Fox News as a contributor in 2020. Duffy's last day as a Fox News employee was Monday, a network spokesperson confirmed to CNN. Wednesday marked his last day appearing on Fox Business, and...

By James Pomfret and Jessie Pang for Reuters Benny Tai - dubbed the 'mastermind' of the activists' plans - at the time of his arrest in 2021. Photo: AFP / Vernon Yuen / NurPhoto Hong Kong's High Court has jailed 45 pro-democracy activists for up to 10 years following a landmark national security trial that has damaged the city's once feisty democracy movement and drawn criticism from the US and other countries. A total of 47 pro-democracy activists were arrested and charged in 2021 with conspiracy to commit subversion under a Beijing-imposed national security law which carried sentences of up to life in prison. Benny Tai, a former legal scholar identified in the judgement as a "mastermind" of the activists' plans, was sentenced on Tuesday (local time) to 10 years in jail, the longest...

Pakistan Army soldiers stand guard in anticipation of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's supporters and activists amid the ongoing protests in Islamabad on 6 October 2024 (file image). Photo: AFP / FAROOQ NAEEM Eight soldiers were killed and seven police officers have been kidnapped in separate attacks in northwest Pakistan, police and intelligence officials say. A Monday clash resulted in the deaths of "eight soldiers" and "nine militants" in the Tirah area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, an intelligence officer said on condition of anonymity. The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) claimed responsibility. In a separate attack in the province, "seven police officers were kidnapped" at a checkpoint, said a senior police official, also speaking anonymously. "The assailants also seized the weapons be...

A truck carrying humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip drives at the Kerem Shalom (Karm Abu Salem) border crossing between southern Israel and Gaza, on 30 May 2024. Photo: AFP / Jack Guez By Reuters Nearly 100 trucks carrying food for Palestinians were violently looted on 16 November after entering Gaza in one of the worst aid losses during 13 months of war in the enclave, where hunger is deepening, two UN agencies have told Reuters. The convoy transporting food provided by UN agencies UNRWA and the World Food Programme was instructed by Israel to depart at short notice via an unfamiliar route from Kerem Shalom border crossing, said Louise Wateridge, UNRWA Senior Emergency Officer. Ninety-eight of the 109 trucks in the convoy were raided and some of the transporters were injured during th...

By Joshua Boscaini for ABC Alan Jones, left, with lawyer Chris Murphy alongside. Photo: ABC News / Keana Naughton Veteran broadcaster Alan Jones's lawyer has criticised a senior police officer and confirmed his client will defend himself against historical indecent assault and sexual touching charges. On Monday, NSW police executed a search warrant at the 83-year-old's Sydney harbourside home and charged him with 24 offences involving eight alleged victims spanning two decades. The charges included 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault, nine counts of assault with act of indecency, two counts of sexually touching another person without consent and two counts of common assault. NSW police said he knew some of the alleged victims personally and professionally, and the youngest compl...

By Dietrich Knauth for Reuters Alex Jones has been forced to sell his assets to pay a US$1.5 billion defamation bill for the families of those killed in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Photo: AFP / Getty Images A losing bidder connected to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones challenged on Monday the Onion's purchase of Jones' Infowars website, saying the Onion won a rigged bankruptcy auction and offered half as much cash as its bid. First American United Companies, which is affiliated with Jones' dietary supplements businesses, asked US bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston to disqualify the bid by the Onion, a parody news site, and name its own US$3.5 million (NZ$5.9m) bid as the winner. Jones was forced to auction his assets, including Infowars, in bankruptcy,...

By Tom Balmforth, Max Hunder, Lili Bayer, Reuters Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky , centre, visits the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region. Photo: AFP / Handout / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service The US decision to authorise long-range Ukrainian strikes could help Kyiv defend the foothold in Russia's Kursk region that it seized as leverage in any war talks, but may come too late to change the course of the war, analysts said. Two months before leaving office, President Joe Biden lifted some restrictions that have blocked Kyiv from using US-supplied weapons for strikes deeper into Russian territory, in a major policy change, Reuters reported on Sunday. Military analysts said the impact on the battlefield, where Ukraine has been on the back foot for m...

By Isabella Ross for the ABC Alan Jones confronted by Channel 9 news after more of his controversial comments last week made fresh headlines. Photo: screenshot / Nine News For decades, veteran broadcaster Alan Jones was the loudest voice in Australian radio. The shock jock dominated Sydney's airwaves for more than 35 years - interviewing eight prime ministers, numerous premiers and MPs. He is best-known for his breakfast show on Sydney radio station 2GB, a position he held until May 2020. During his career, Jones challenged and breached the media regulator's standards well over a dozen times. Despite being considered a controversial talkback radio host by some, Jones won over audiences repeatedly in the ratings and turned his morning show into one of the most listened-to programmes i...

The movie Jaws is based on the 1974 novel. Photo: Wikimedia Commons By Petria Ladgrove and Belinda Smith, ABC Dahhh dum. Dahhh dum. The ominous theme music in the 1975 movie Jaws invoked terror in cinemas, and nearly half a century later, those two notes still signify the presence of a lurking menace. The Steven Spielberg thriller, based on the 1974 novel of the same name, told the story of the hunt for a gigantic, bloodthirsty, rogue shark that attacked numerous swimmers at a fictional beach resort in the US over a summer. To portray the aquatic antagonist, Spielberg used real shots of South Australian sharks alongside three specially built animatronic sharks dubbed "Bruce", reportedly named after Spielberg's lawyer. Each mechanical shark sported rows of fearsome pointed teeth in its m...