World News

By Rachel More and Matthias Williams, Reuters German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, left, has fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner, right, for opposing his plan to suspend the debt brake again Photo: Abdulhamid Hosbas / Anadolu Agency via AFP Awkward three-way coalition fell apart after years of infighting Chancellor wants confidence vote in January, elections in March Opposition conservatives say country cannot wait that long Crisis comes with economy in dumps, Trump return looming Germany's opposition conservatives urged Chancellor Olaf Scholz to allow a vote of confidence immediately and hold elections in January, the day after his rocky three-way coalition collapsed and plunged the country into political chaos. The coalition fell apart on Thursday (NZT) when years of tensions re...

By Tom Bateman and Mariko Katsumura, Reuters The first snowfall near the summit of Mount Fuji is observed above Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures on 7 November. Photo: AFP / Masahiro Sugimoto Japan's revered Mount Fuji finally regained an iconic snowcap on Thursday, setting a record for the slowest snowfall in 130 years, the meteorological agency said. The mountain reached the annual milestone on Oct. 5 last year, making this year's snowcap the latest to form since 1894, when the phenomenon was first recorded. Staff of the Kofu observatory office, which declares the news every year, saw some snow near the 3776-metre summit of the country's tallest volcano on Thursday morning (Thursday night NZT), the office said. The "first snowfall" on Fuji is defined as the point when all or part ...

By Alexandra Ulmer, Gram Slattery for Reuters Donald Trump delivers his victory speech on US Election Day. Photo: JIM WATSON In the weeks after Vice President Kamala Harris's rapid ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket, Donald Trump's allies and advisers urged him to stay on message. Polls showed Americans trusted the former Republican president more on the economy and immigration than Harris. All he needed to do, they reasoned, was stick to those issues. He didn't. In the final months of the presidential campaign, Trump did it his way: diverging from prepared remarks, resorting to personal attacks, spouting anti-immigrant rhetoric, threatening retribution against rivals and ignoring advice from allies to stay focused on the issues. As Trump sealed the presidential election, win...

By Holmes Lybrand, CNN Photo: Nick Monro/RNZ The ripple effect of Donald Trump's election victory is already being felt in Washington, DC, where some defendants charged in the Capitol riot of 6 January, 2021, could soon be pardoned by the incoming president, who has promised as much. One rioter wasted no time in citing Trump's victory to try and stave off a hearing in his case, saying he's "expected" to receive clemency. "Throughout his campaign, President-elect Trump made multiple clemency promises to the 6 January defendants, particularly to those who were nonviolent participants," lawyers for Christopher Carnell wrote in a court filing Thursday. "Mr. Carnell, who was an 18 year old nonviolent entrant into the Capitol on January 6, is expecting to be relieved of the criminal prose...

Donald Trump's stunning victory in the US presidential election has been greeted with tears, anxiety, joy and elation on the streets of the nation's capital Washington DC this morning. The win over Kamala Harris makes Donald Trump just the second President to win a second term after previously losing. Trump supporters spoken to by RNZ in Washington DC were ecstatic about the win saying a new Trump presidency would bring about the change that the country desperately needed. Trump was promising to tighten the border to stop the flow of illegal immigration, introduce import tariffs to help protect the economy from cheaper foreign imports, and end the war in Ukraine. "I feel great about it... I think people underestimate that there's silent majority that comes out on election night for Trump,"...

By Stephen Collinson, CNN Republican presidential nominee, former US president Donald Trump arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Centre on 6 November 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: CHIP SOMODEVILLA / Getty Images via AFP Analysis - Donald Trump believes presidents have almost absolute power. In his second term, there will be few political or legal restraints to check him. The president-elect's sweeping victory over Vice President Kamala Harris suddenly turned the theoretical notion that he will indulge his autocratic instincts into a genuine possibility. When Trump returns to the White House in January as one of the most powerful presidents in history, he will be able to take advantage of his own filleting of guardrails during his fir...

Black ball-shaped debris washed ashore on Sydney beaches this week. Photo: Supplied / Randwick City Council Facebook The black balls which shut down beaches in Sydney last month and stumped authorities are "disgusting" lumps of human faeces, drugs and PFAS chemicals, according to detailed analysis by researchers. Initial reports suggested they were made of tar and could have come from an oil spill or waste from a ship, but a plethora of tests have revealed they are more similar to "fatbergs", commonly found in sewage systems. University of NSW chemistry professor Jon Beves had the unfortunate job of analysing the smelly balls and said they also contained cooking oils, diesel or fuel and recreational drugs, including THC and methamphetamine. "They're consistent with human-generated waste...

By Eric Bradner and Alison Main for CNN JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance at an election night event with Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: JIM WATSON / AFP Just two years after winning his first run for political office, Ohio Senator JD Vance is set to become vice president - ushering a new generation into power and offering a potential glimpse at the Republican Party's future after President-elect Donald Trump's second term ends. Vance, 40, was the first millennial on a major party's presidential ticket and will become the third-youngest vice president in American history. He is also a former Trump critic whose political evolution, culminating in him becoming the president-elect's running mate, showcases how Trump has taken over the GOP and reshaped it in his own imag...

Donald Trump on election night. Photo: JIM WATSON American voters have spoken, and they decided to rehire Donald Trump as president of the United States. But he won't take office until 20 January, 2025, and there are multiple things that will happen between now and then. Throughout November, December and January, there will be a transition between the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden and the incoming Trump administration. The transition has been complicated by Trump blowing through multiple deadlines in that process, which is laid out in law. Trump faces sentencing for his felony conviction, plus many other question marks Before he became president-elect, Trump became a convicted felon this year. A jury in New York found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business recor...

By Maani Truu, ABC News Photo: 123RF Australian children and teenagers under the age of 16 could soon be banned from using social media after Labor announced it would back the higher cut-off limit. The government had previously committed to introducing the legislation that would get kids off social media by the end of the year, but earlier suggested it would not announce a specific cut-off age until after a trial of verification technology. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also confirmed on Thursday that the proposed legislation would not include grandfathering arrangements - meaning young people already on social media would not be exempt - nor would it allow for exemptions due to parental consent. A virtual national cabinet meeting will be held on Friday to discuss the changes, where...