World News

British singer Liam Payne performing at the HUGO label show in a hall in the Wriezener Karree. Photo: JENS KALAENE / dpa Picture-Alliance via AFP Pop star Liam Payne had multiple drugs including crack cocaine and methamphetamine in his system when he fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Argentina, according to initial toxicology reports cited by US media on Monday. The British singer and former One Direction member died last week at the age of 31, after plunging from a third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires. ABC News and TMZ said a cocktail of drugs called "pink cocaine" - containing methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA - had been found during a partial autopsy, citing anonymous sources familiar with the preliminary tests. Crack cocaine and benzodiazepine were also listed. An "improv...

By Tom Balmforth and Alexander Tanas, Reuters President Maia Sandu said on Monday (local time) Moldovans had won a "first battle in a difficult fight" for their future, a day after a slim majority of 50.46 percent backed EU accession in a referendum that was clouded by allegations of Russia-backed meddling. The EU flag waves close to the Moldovan Parliament building. Photo: Sergei Gapon / AFP The knife-edge finish was a shock for supporters of Sandu, who had hoped the vote would deliver a firm message of intent to bring the ex-Soviet agricultural economy into the European Union by 2030 and leave Moscow's orbit for good. "The people of Moldova have spoken: Our EU future will now be anchored in the constitution. We fought fairly in an unfair fight - and we won," Sandu wrote on X. The r...

Photo: Serge Tenani / Hans Lucas via AFP Three years after Meta shut down facial recognition software on Facebook amid a groundswell of privacy and regulator pushback, the social media giant said it is testing the service again as part of a crackdown on "celeb bait" scams. Meta said it will enroll about 50,000 public figures in a trial which involves automatically comparing their Facebook profile photos with images used in suspected scam advertisements. If the images match and Meta believes the ad are scams, it will block them. The celebrities will be notified of their enrollment and can opt out if they do not want to participate, the company said. The company plans to roll out the trial globally from December, excluding some large jurisdictions where it does not have regulatory clearanc...

By Tessa Flemming for the ABC As the name suggests, the breed closely resembles the controversial American XL Bully dog in its stocky build. Photo: Facebook / Bullycats Wrinkly with stumpy legs and a little bit ugly - the "XL Bully cat" is the latest cat crossbreed to take the internet by storm for its looks (or lack thereof). But the breed proliferation in the US and now the UK has led to fresh outrage about how designer trends and selective breeding could be harming our pets. What is a XL Bully cat? As the name suggests, the breed closely resembles the controversial American XL Bully dog in its stocky build - which was banned in England earlier this year. The XL Bully cat, also known as a Bambino, is bred by mixing the mutant gene that causes hairlessness in Sphynx cats with the ge...

Photo: AFP Movie and television studio Alcon Entertainment has sued Tesla and Warner Bros Discovery over claims they used images tied to the film 'Blade Runner 2049' to promote Tesla's new autonomous cybercab. Alcon's California federal lawsuit alleged violations of US copyright law and accused Tesla of "false endorsement" for suggesting a relationship between Alcon and the Elon Musk-owned electric vehicle maker. "Any prudent brand considering any Tesla partnership has to take Musk's massively amplified, highly politicised, capricious and arbitrary behavior, which sometimes veers into hate speech, into account," the lawsuit said. Tesla and Warner Bros did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Warner Bros was Alcon's distributor for 'Blade Runner 2049', which won two 2018 Acad...

By Jonathan Stempel, Reuters Sean "Diddy" Combs has been hit with seven new sexual abuse lawsuits, as his lawyers asked the judge overseeing the music mogul's criminal sex trafficking case for a gag order against Combs' accusers and their lawyers. Sean "Diddy" Combs poses during the MTV Video Music Awards, 2023. Photo: Angela Weiss / AFP The civil lawsuits were made public on Sunday and Monday (local time) by four men and three women over alleged misconduct in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas dating to 2000 but mainly in 2022, the accusers' lawyer Tony Buzbee said on Facebook. Some lawsuits said unidentified celebrities also assaulted Combs' accusers. Combs, 54, faces least two dozen civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct, including 13 from Buzbee's firm. Combs has denie...

Theo Spierings. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook The former high-profile and controversial head of dairy co-operative Fonterra, Theo Spierings, has died. A brief statement issued through a consultancy he worked for said Spierings had died over the weekend in the Netherlands after a brief illness. "His legacy, and the impact he had on those he worked with and who knew him, will be remembered fondly." "At this difficult time, Theo's family has requested privacy. They appreciate the outpouring of love and support from around the world during this sad time." Spierings was involved in many high-profile moments for the company. Photo: RNZ Spierings, a 30-year veteran of the dairy industry in Europe and New Zealand, had returned to Holland after his resignation from Fonterra in 2018. He was appoint...

A non-contact version of rugby is hoping to stem the number of people leaving the sport over head injury concerns. Photo: Joseph Johnson England's Rugby Football Union (RFU) has announced plans to introduce a non-contact version of the game in schools with the aim of halting a decline in youth participation. An independent review commissioned by the national governing body "found evidence of decline in a number of schools with strong rugby traditions - driven by concern about injury and a widespread view amongst schools not playing rugby that it is a difficult game to introduce". Head injuries have become a major issue within the sport in recent years, with a group of former players currently involved in legal action against World Rugby and other governing bodies. The individuals allege...

By Riley Stuart, ABC British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has praised King Charles III, saying he was doing a "fantastic job", after the monarch was heckled by independent senator Lidia Thorpe. Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe disrupts proceedings as Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla attend a reception at Parliament House, 21 October, 2024. Photo: Lukas Coch / ABC Senator Thorpe's protest, which involved her shouting at the royal, who had just delivered a speech at an event in Canberra, made global headlines. The Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman yelled "you are not our king" and "this is not your land" at the king before striding towards the stage in The Great Hall at Parliament House and continuing: "You committed genocide against our people. Give us our land ...

A Met Police officer. Photo: 123RF By Sam Tobin, Reuters A British police officer has been acquitted of the murder of a Black man he shot dead in London two years ago, an incident that led to large protests and anger among the capital's Black community. Martyn Blake, 40, had pleaded "not guilty" to the murder of Chris Kaba, who was unarmed and died from a single gunshot to the head in south London on 5 September, 2022. Blake had shot Kaba through the windscreen after he tried to drive his car, which had been linked to a reported shooting the previous evening, away from police vehicles that had boxed him in. The head of London's Metropolitan police force, Mark Rowley, said Blake had made a split-second decision. "Any fatal use of force understandably prompts huge concern among communitie...