World News

NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon meets with China's President, Xi Jinping in Lima. Photo: Pool / Chris Skelton China has raised its concerns about New Zealand being potentially involved in the intelligence and security pact AUKUS directly with the prime minister. The issue was put on the table when President Xi Jinping and Christopher Luxon met in Peru on Saturday (local time) in what was their first face-to-face bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Lima. The AUKUS defence technology partnership will deliver nuclear-powered submarines to Australia next decade - New Zealand has already ruled out joining that part of the arrangement. However, the grouping of Australia, the US and the UK is looking to expand to new partners for what it calls 'Pillar Two'. Rather than...

By Saurabh Sharma, Reuters Emergency personnel work at the scene of a fire that killed 10 newborns in Jhansi city, India, on November 15, 2024. Photo: CNN News 18 Warning: This story contains details about the deaths of children. Ten newborn babies died from burns and suffocation after a fire swept through a neonatal intensive care unit in northern India, a government official said on Saturday. The blaze broke out late on Friday at the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College in Jhansi district about 285km southwest of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state. Emergency responders rescued 38 newborns from the ward, which housed 49 infants at the time of the incident, state Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said. "Seventeen of the injured are receiving treatment in different wings and ...

By Meg Tirrell and Katherine Dillinger, CNN Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Libertarian National Convention on May 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. Photo: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images / AFP President Donald Trump's pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr for secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services "is an extraordinarily bad choice for the health of the American people", Dr Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, warned Thursday. "I was worried we could go low but not this low," Dr. Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean of the Emory School of Medicine & Grady Health System, wrote of the pick. Although Trump signalled in the runup to the election that he planned to let the vaccine sceptic "go wild" on health, f...

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L), Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (centre) and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) pose for a family photo during COP29, 12 November, 2024. Photo: AFP / Alexander Nemenov Analysis - Every day this week, COP29 has managed to spark international headlines for all the wrong reasons. First, the eight-hour agenda fight over what, actually, diplomats will spend time negotiating this year. Then on Tuesday the President of Azerbaijan, which is hosting COP29 in the capital Baku, called oil and gas a "gift of God" and denounced "fake news" media for reporting on human rights abuses. President Aliyev doubled down the next day, denouncing France's colonial "crimes" in the Pacific, prompting an announcement on Thursday that the Fr...

The birth rate in China, which has a population of 1.4 billion, hit a record low last year. Photo: Rodrigo M. Nunes President Xi Jinping is calling for more efforts to maintain China's fertility levels and population size, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday, as the country grapples with the fallout of an ageing population. The legal system overseeing population and reproduction matters should be improved to help strengthen demographics, Xinhua cited Xi as saying in an article to be published in the official journal of the Chinese Communist Party on Saturday. The birth rate in China, which has a population of 1.4 billion, hit a record low last year, and fellow Asian giant India has outpaced it to become the world's most populous nation. China's ageing population is burdening its...

Christopher Luxon has been warmly welcomed by China's President in Lima on the sidelines of the APEC Summit. It is the first time Xi Jinping and Luxon have met, with the meeting scheduled for 30 minutes. In his opening remarks, President Xi acknowledged the sound and steady growth between China and New Zealand and commended Luxon for his efforts building the relationship since he took office a year ago. He also said China was ready to work together with New Zealand to create more firsts. President Xi noted Luxon had visited China many times in his previous life before politics. NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon meets with China's President, Xi Jinping in Lima. Photo: Pool / Chris Skelton "Since taking office as the Prime Minister you have attached importance to New Zealand's relati...

US House of Representatives speaker Mike Johnson. Photo: AFP / Drew Angerer US House of Representatives speaker Mike Johnson said that a congressional ethics panel should not release a report examining allegations of sexual misconduct against Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for US attorney general. Lawmakers of both parties on the Senate Judiciary Committee have said they want to see the unreleased House Ethics Committee report on Gaetz, as part of a Senate confirmation process for cabinet nominees that would start next year with public hearings. "I'm going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report, because that is not the way we do things in the House," Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters in the US Capitol on Friday (local time). G...

A ball of fire erupts as an Israeli strike hits a building in Beirut's southern Ghobeiri neighbourhood on 15 November 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. Photo: AFP Hezbollah is considering a US-Israeli ceasefire proposal, sources told CNN, as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group intensify. The US ambassador to Lebanon, Lisa Johnson, relayed the proposal to the Lebanese government on Thursday night (local time), a Lebanese official familiar with the discussions told CNN. Authorities are "optimistic" that Hezbollah will agree to the terms of the agreement and expect to submit an official response to the latest proposal next Monday, the official said. "Diplomatic efforts are on fire now," the source said. Israel launche...

Ireland lock Joe McCarthy reacts after scoring a try against Argentina. Photo: AFP Ireland survived a fierce second-half comeback from Argentina to narrowly defeat the Pumas 22-19 in Dublin and just about bounce back from last week's disappointing loss to New Zealand. Ireland led 22-9 at halftime after ruthlessly punishing an early Argentina yellow card with two tries in the first seven minutes from Jack Crowley and Mack Hansen. Joe McCarthy added a third after Tomas Albornoz had kept the visitors in touch. A very different Argentina side emerged after the break with Juan Cruz Mallia slicing the hosts open and Albornoz cutting the lead to just three points before Ireland composed themselves, in no small part thanks to an impressive debut off the bench from 21-year-old flyhalf Sam Prende...

Malcolm X, 1964. Photo: Unsplash / Library of Congress / Ed Ford The family of militant civil rights leader Malcolm X has filed a NZ$170 million (US$100 million) lawsuit that accuses law enforcement agencies of allowing his murder to be carried out almost 60 years ago. The lawsuit, brought by Malcolm X's daughter Ilyasah Shabazz and other family members, alleges the FBI, CIA and New York Police Department concealed evidence they had known of the plot to kill him but did nothing to stop it. "We believe that they all conspired to assassinate Malcolm X, one of the greatest thought leaders of the 20th century," Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney who is representing the family, said at a press conference. The wrongful-death lawsuit was announced at a memorial centre on the site in New York ...