World News

By Michael Kabuni A PNG enumerator collects census data on paper in one of Port Moresby’s largest suburbs, Gerehu on 28 June 2024. Photo: BenarNews / Harlyne Joku Opinion - More than three months behind schedule, millions in new high-tech equipment wasted, and many workers left unpaid, these are the statistical outcomes so far from Papua New Guinea's census. While this case study in PNG administrative failure continues to unfold, ministers are heading overseas to learn about implementing a new counting system to underpin the county's democracy. The 2024 census started late on 16 June, missed the count reporting deadline of 30 June, and in any case included only six questions, failing to meet the benchmark UN census standards, which emphasises reliable data. Without timely and accura...

By Katri Uibu, ABC Australian billionaire Tim Heath survived a kidnapping in Estonia. Photo: Supplied/Yolo Australian billionaire Tim Heath survived a kidnapping attempt by fighting off his alleged abductors who had pretended to be tradies painting the hallway of his apartment building. The Victorian business mogul has been living in Estonia since the early 2000s, setting up one of the country's most successful startups Yolo Group estimated to be worth 814 million euros (NZ$1.49 billion). Heath has made his wealth through launching betting platforms and online casinos that accept cryptocurrency. Prosecutor Lauri Jõgi told the ABC it is alleged more than one foreign national was involved in the attempt to abduct Heath from his home in the capital city of Tallinn on 29 July. He confirm...

King Charles is expected to deliver an address to the 56 member nations at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting's official opening. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was greeted by High Commissioner Si'alei van Toor and Second Secretary Jonathan Lee after the Defence Force 757 successfully completed its journey from Wellington, just in time for a heavy downpour in Apia. Immediately afterwards, Luxon was taken to the headquarters of the Operation Resolution team dealing with the sinking of the navy ship Manawanui. He praised the team's efforts and said it was valuable to be on the ground and speaking to those - including the Samoans providing support - who were pushing ahead with the cleanup and potential salvage of the wreck. Luxon committed to supporting an oceans declaration from ...

Beachfront Fales at Sina PJ resort, Tafitoala Village, Samoa. Photo: RNZ/ Susana Lei'ataua It's a tale of two coastlines. On the north coast of Samoa's island of Upolu, King Charles and Queen Camilla have been welcomed to Apia for the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), with leaders from 56 countries. Their majesties stay at the luxurious Sinalei Resort and Spa at Siumu Village, and the international dignitaries and their delegations are on the P&O cruise ship Pacific Explorer, which is berthed in Apia Harbour while hotel occupancy is maxed in the island capital for the duration of CHOGM. The P&O Pacific Explorer, berthed in Apia Harbour for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Photo: RNZ/ Susana Lei'ataua However, on the idyllic south...

An application has been made to allow the Queen's Building on the royal Balmoral Estate to host weddings and other events. Photo: CC BY-SA 2.0/ Stuart Yates British head of state King Charles III's remote private estate in the Scottish Highlands could become an exclusive location for weddings, if an application to the local council is approved. Documents submitted for consideration next week by the Licensing Board of the local Aberdeenshire Council outline plans to allow "weddings, dinners, meetings and associated events" at the Queen's Building on the royal Balmoral Estate. The Queen's Building lies just north of Balmoral Castle near the estate's office and stables, and was built in the 1980s as staff quarters and a canteen. It was converted last year to accommodate dining for visitors...

By Jeff Zeleny and Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN Beyoncé was expected to appear with Willie Nelson at a rally for Kamala Harris. Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images via CNN Newsource Beyoncé will appear alongside Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally on Friday (US time) in Houston, a person familiar with the planning has told CNN, the first joint appearance with the music icon whose anthem has been the soundtrack of the Harris campaign. The appearance, in which Beyoncé will appear with Willie Nelson, is designed to be one of the biggest closing acts of the campaign. Since the moment Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket, the vice president's team has been working behind the scenes to negotiate a joint appearance before Election Day. Beyoncé's team did not respond to...

By Humeyra Pamuk, Maayan Lubell and Nidal al-Mughrabi, Reuters Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble a day after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburb of Jnah on October 22, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. Photo: IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP Israel's military says it has killed three Hezbollah commanders and some 70 fighters in southern Lebanon in the past 48 hours, a day after confirming it had killed Hashem Safieddine, the militant group's heir apparent leader. "In southern Lebanon, IDF troops continue conducting limited, localised, targeted raids against Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure and operatives," the Israel Defense Force (IDF) said in a statement. "Over the past day, the troops eliminated approximately 70 terrorists in ground and aerial ...

By Kate Holton and Andrew MacAskill, Reuters Former US president Donald Trump speaking at a campaign rally in Georgia in the lead up to the 2024 elections. Photo: Brandon Bell / Getty Images via AFP Donald Trump's campaign has accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party of "blatant foreign interference" in the US presidential election after some volunteers travelled to help campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris. The Republican candidate's camp has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in Washington, and has called for an investigation into what it termed apparently illegal contributions from Labour to the Harris campaign. British political activists had long travelled to the US ahead of elections, with those from the centre-left Labour Party typica...

By Krishn Kaushik and Ethan Wang, Reuters Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit in Russia on 23 October. Photo: AFP/ Pool/ Maxim Shipenkov Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed on Wednesday to boost communication and cooperation between their countries and resolve conflicts to help improve ties that were damaged by a deadly military clash in 2020. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia for their first formal talks in five years, signalling that ties between the Asian giants had begun to recover from the diplomatic rift caused by the clash along their disputed Himalayan frontier. India and China, two of the world's biggest economies, ...

By Maya Gebeily and Maayan Lubell, Reuters US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has again been speaking with leaders in the Middle East. Photo: Nathan Howard / POOL / AFP Israel has launched strikes on the Syrian capital Damascus and a military site near the western city of Homs, the Syrian defence ministry says, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tours the region pushing for a halt to fighting. The Israeli strikes targeted the central Damascus neighbourhood of Kafr Sousa and a military site in the Homs countryside, killing one soldier and injuring seven other people, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry said the strikes caused "material damage", but did not elaborate. Earlier in the day, Syrian state media said explosions were heard in Damascus after Israel struck a r...