World News

By Adam Plowright, AFP Pete Hegseth is president-elect Donald Trump's nominee for defence secretary. Photo: Getty Images / Brett Carlsen Facing questions about an alleged sexual assault and medieval-themed tattoos linked to extremist groups, Donald Trump's defence secretary nominee Pete Hegseth would struggle to be confirmed for the job under normal circumstances. But these are not normal times in Washington. Hegseth, a Fox News host, was picked by Trump on Tuesday in one of several nominations that wrong-footed even some in his remodeled Republican Party and threw down a challenge to the Senate. To take up the position as head of the Pentagon and oversee 3.4 million employees, Hegseth will require confirmation from the upper house - and Trump is publicly pressuring lawmakers to show...

By Gloria Dickie, Reuters Photo: Biosphoto / Vincent Premel Methane emissions rose faster in past five years than any other period on record Tropics identified as main source of methane surge, driven by wetlands Methane cuts beyond 30 percent pledge may be needed to meet climate goals, scientists warn The world's warming tropical wetlands are releasing more methane than ever before, research shows - an alarming sign that the world's climate goals are slipping further out of reach. A massive surge in wetlands methane - unaccounted for by national emissions plans and undercounted in scientific models - could raise the pressure on governments to make deeper cuts from their fossil fuel and agriculture industries, according to researchers. Wetlands hold huge stores of carbon in the fo...

By Lucia Stein and Rebecca Armitage, ABC News Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, visits the Earthshot Prize Climate Leaders Youth Programme at Rooftop on Bree in Cape Town. Photo: GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / POOL / AFP After a "brutal" year of family health battles, Prince William has used a recent trip abroad to lay out his vision for his future reign. The Prince of Wales was in South Africa to deliver five awards as part of his environmental foundation, The Earthshot Prize, when he unveiled his grand plans for the House of Windsor in a surprisingly candid interview. Dressed casually and sporting a grown-out beard from the summer, the 42-year-old said he hoped to use his role to "do things differently" for a younger generation. "To give you more of an understanding around it, I'm do...

Photo: Bloomsbury Publishers Alan Moore still fears the human race has what it takes to destroy itself. The British author came to prominence in the 1980s with works like Watchmen and V for Vendetta, unusually dark - for the times - comic books and graphic novels that tackled subjects like nuclear annihilation, the Cold War and fascism. Time has not mellowed the New York Times best-selling writer, whose latest book The Great When takes place in a sinister parallel England post-World War II. "I don't think that the nuclear issue has ever gone away - it's just receded in public awareness," Moore told RNZ's Sunday Morning. "We still have all of these things all around the world, and at the moment, we do have the particular issue of which country is going to be the first to put an artificial...

Since the election Musk has added an estimated US$54 billion (NZ$93.5 billion) to his net worth. Photo: ANGELA WEISS / AFP By Isabella Higgins, ABC Elon Musk is the world's richest man and his new proximity to the White House is, for now, making him even wealthier and more powerful. The tech tycoon is believed to have added more than US$54 billion (NZ$93.5 billion) to his net worth since the 5 November election, according to estimates from Forbes magazine. The wealth injection came largely from a surge in the stock price of his companies Tesla and SpaceX after the re-election of Donald Trump. "Mr Musk has made quite the bet by investing millions of dollars in the Trump campaign," Matt Mittelsteadt said, a research fellow at the Mercatus Centre at George Mason University. "Now that Mr Tr...

Donald Trump. Photo: JIM WATSON President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named Chris Wright, the CEO of Denver-based fracking company Liberty Energy, as his pick to be the next secretary of the Department of Energy. Wright will also serve as a member of the newly formed Council of National Energy, which Trump said will consist of all agencies involved in the "permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation" of energy. North Dakota Gov Doug Burgum - Trump's pick for secretary of the Department of the Interior - will be the chairman. "Chris has been a leading technologist and entrepreneur in Energy. He has worked in Nuclear, Solar, Geothermal, and Oil and Gas. Most significantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution tha...

By Mariko Katsumura, Reuters Yamanashi Prefecture, home of the most popular route used by climbers of the 3776m volcano, is set to announce the plan soon. Photo: 123RF Japanese authorities seeking to reduce the carbon footprint and overcrowding at Mount Fuji will propose a trackless, rubber-tyred tram system made by China's CRRC to transport climbers, a person with direct knowledge of the plan said. The new proposal, which has not been previously reported, would replace the original plan to build a light-rail system connecting the base to the fifth hiking station of the popular Yoshida Trail to the top after a local city and other parties, voiced concern over its environmental and cost impact. Yamanashi Prefecture, home of the most popular route used by climbers of the 3776m volcano,...

Biden told Xi that the two leaders have not always agreed but their discussions have been "frank" and "candid." Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/ AFP By Jarrett Renshaw, Lucinda Elliott, Eduardo Baptista and Trevor Hunnicutt, Reuters Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to work with the incoming US administration of President-elect Donald Trump as he held his final talks with outgoing President Joe Biden on key conflicts from cyber crime to trade, Taiwan and Russia. Biden met Xi for about two hours at a hotel where the Chinese leader was staying, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru, for their first talks in seven months. "China's goal of a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship remains unchanged," following the election, Xi said, ackno...

By Steven Jiang and Shawn Deng, CNN The attack, in Yixing, is the latest mass casualty incident to hit China. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Eight people were killed and 17 others injured in a stabbing attack on a college campus in the eastern Chinese city of Yixing on Saturday, police say. "Around 6.30pm on November 16, 2024, a stabbing incident that resulted in casualties occurred at Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in Yixing city, causing 8 deaths and injuring another 17, The suspect was apprehended on the scene," according to a police statement. The statement said that the suspect was a recent graduate and was motivated by "failing [an] exam, not receiving a graduation certificate, and dissatisfaction with internship compensation". An investigation is ongoing. The att...

The plane was circling the area before it crashed and burst into flames, police said. Photo: 123RF Three people have died in a plane crash in Victoria's east. A Victoria Police spokesperson said emergency services were called to reports a small plane had crashed in a paddock near Hayfield-Upper Maffra Road in Tinamba West about 5.45pm on Saturday. They said the plane was circling the area before it crashed and burst into flames. The three people on board - a pilot and two passengers who are yet to be formally identified - died at the scene. Police will prepare a report for the coroner. - ABC News Source link