world news

From the Archives, 1895: Oscar Wilde arrested in London

The glittering life of playwright Oscar Wilde came undone when his attempt to prosecute the Marquess of Queensberry for libel resulted in his own arrest for "gross indecency".




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Pitting the states against the nation is accelerating the US crisis

Donald Trump has in recent days turned the war against COVID-19 into a war against the states, in a desperate effort to shirk responsibility for his pandemic denialism.




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'We will meet again': The Queen invokes war during historic coronavirus broadcast

The rare address from Windsor Castle was filmed by a lone cameraman dressed in full-body protective equipment.




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Community spirit shattered by the sound of helicopters

At 8pm, applause rings out from our neighbours' balconies, punctuating the night. It's a new tradition, but when the applause dies down, the jarring reality of our situation is brought home.




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Coronavirus death toll surges to more than 10,000 in the US

Forecasts showed 3000 people a day will soon be dying from the virus in the United States as New York Governor expresses optimism for the tide may be turning.




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Trump's 'off the rails' coronavirus briefings test America's patience

As the televisual equivalent of a mood ring, the White House briefings are extremely useful. As a vehicle for delivering information, not so much.




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New Zealand Health Minister demoted after breaking lockdown for beach trip

Minister said he recalled the beach trip only after attracting public scrutiny for a mountain bike ride.




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Police recover body of Kennedy family member in bay

After an exhaustive search, the body of one of Bobby Kennedy's granddaughters was found in seven metres of water. Her son is still missing.




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Austria, Denmark first in Europe to announce easing of lockdowns

Austria has seen three consecutive days in which the number of COVID-19 recoveries has exceeded the number of new cases.




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'A civic catastrophe': Wisconsin elections go ahead despite pandemic

The sight of voters waiting in long lines to cast ballots during a pandemic and poll workers wearing HAZMAT suits stunned many Americans.




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Prisoner swap collapses threatening to upend US-Taliban peace deal

The Taliban said it would no longer participate in "fruitless meetings". Some 5000 Taliban prisoners were to be swapped for 1000 Afghan personnel.




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WHO responds to Trump criticism, warns of 'many more body bags'

The World Health Organisation's Director General said countries should avoid politicising the virus issue "if you don't want to have many more body bags".




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The 11 most logical picks for Joe Biden's vice-president, ranked

We already know one thing about that pick: It would be a woman, as Biden pledged in a recent debate.




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Australia withdraws ambassador to Indonesia because of COVID-19 fears

The Australian government has taken the extraordinary step of withdrawing its ambassador to Indonesia for health reasons.




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Coronavirus economy is already hurting Trump's re-election chances, economists say

Still, it's an open question whether the economy will ultimately doom Trump in November. One election model still predicts a Trump victory by a wide margin.




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Organised effort helping drive 5G coronavirus conspiracy theory

One Qatar-based researcher analysed 22,000 recent interactions on Twitter and found a large number of accounts displayed "inauthentic activity."




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Johnson's hospitalisation exposes potential flaw in the British system

There is now a leadership vacuum in Britain at a time when some of the most important decisions in the nation’s history will need to be made.




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This is how America's coronavirus response went wrong

Rather than affirming American exceptionalism, the pandemic has fed into a narrative of American decline. 




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New York City is digging trenches to bury the coronavirus dead

Typically, some 25 bodies are interred each week on Hart Island. Now they are burying that many each day.




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Pandemic power grab: crackdown sparks worries for human rights

COVIDCon will explore how "tyranny sparked and is exploiting the novel coronavirus pandemic to crack down on civil liberties."




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Boris Johnson 'able to do short walks' but UK Prime Minister's recovery only just beginning

Johnson's father Stanley said his son's illness "got the whole country to realise this is a serious event".




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Joe Biden, nearly invisible during pandemic, has plenty to smile about

The 77-year old is never going to be an electrifying nominee, but Joe Biden has a lot to feel good about seven months out from election day.




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'Forgotten Australians' leave Wuhan after three months in lockdown

The passengers on the plane from Shanghai to Sydney are worried about the travellers from Europe and the United States.




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Blaring sirens and empty streets: New York City life grinds to a halt

The city that never sleeps is unconscious, and the sirens are relentless.




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Julian Assange 'fathered two children' while holed up in embassy

The claims have been made as the WikiLeaks founder's legal team seeks his release from a London prison.




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Ship's smooth passage represents a favour repaid

Relieved Australian cruise passengers flown home from Uruguay might care to reflect on another humanitarian act nearly 50 years ago.




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Blue skies amid darkness, India transforms under lockdown

In its desperate attempt to flatten the curve, India is flattening something else: its notorious air pollution.




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Abortion providers ask Supreme Court to intervene after Texas ban

The urgent intervention was sought after appeal courts twice ruled that special coronavirus laws meant only women who might not be able to receive an abortion before the state's 22-week limit could receive a waiver.




world news

A population the same as Australia's but a fraction of the coronavirus cases

Taiwan has recorded 385 cases of COVID-19 to Australia's 6314. It began scrutinising and quarantining passengers on flights from Wuhan and Guangdong in December, implemented travel bans on China and introduced strict social-distancing measures in January.




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'Jenny from Invercargill': Family proud of nurse thanked by British PM

Boris Johnson publicly thanked "Jenny from Invercargill" for staying by his side during his hospitalisation for COVID-19, when things "could have gone either way".




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Trump retweets call to fire Anthony Fauci after the coronavirus expert says quicker response 'could have saved lives'

President Donald Trump retweeted a call to fire his top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci Sunday evening, amid mounting criticism of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic.




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Chinese authorities' latest wildlife trade outrage is mindbogglingly reckless

China's government is putting on a show of sending aid to countries suffering from COVID-19, but undermining efforts to control the source of further pandemics.




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Kim Jong-un raises sister's profile with North Korean Politburo post

Part emissary, part personal assistant, Kim Yo-jong was reinstated to her position as an alternate Politburo member of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.




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Networks flee Trump briefing as he wheels out 'propaganda' video

Trump's decision to air the selectively edited video clips led major US television networks to quickly cut away from his daily coronavirus briefing. 




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Experts defend New Zealand's strict lockdown rules in face of criticism

As the number of new coronavirus cases drop, a group of academics said the government's lockdown plan is out of proportion with the health risks posed by virus.




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'We don't have a king': Trump, governors in epic power struggle

The toxic partisanship and gridlock that have defined recent American politics are re-emerging with vengeance amid the coronavirus pandemic.




world news

More needed from Biden than not being Trump

Joe Biden is going to have to offer US voters inspiration If he is to derail a candidate as adept at media manipulation as Donald Trump.




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COVID-19 took my beloved mother, but in every way she is greater than this virus

There's a thought that really distresses me as I grieve for my 87-year-old mother.




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'This means the world to me': Barack Obama endorses Joe Biden

In his 12-minute video statement, Obama did not mention Donald Trump by name, but delivered a scathing denunciation of the Republican Party.




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'My child won't be a lab rat!': Danish parents threaten to boycott end of school lockdown

Parents say there are too many unknowns about COVID-19 for it to be safe to expose their children to the risk of contagion.




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Trump fundraisers embrace anti-China message in pitch for donations

The appeal reflects an increased effort by the Trump campaign to use US-China relations as a campaign issue against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.




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Cambodia is using coronavirus as an excuse for human rights abuse

Legislation ostensibly designed to contain the pandemic is being used to crack down on those who dare to question the government's authority.




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China vows equal treatment for Africans after McDonald's apology

McDonald's said it had closed a restaurant in Guangzhou for diversity and inclusion training after an investigation confirmed social media reports it was barring "black people".




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Massive waves slam Wellington's coast

Emergency services were called to the south coast on Wednesday, as waves of up to five metres caused flooding and damage from Owhiro Bay to Island Bay.




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Bill Gates, in rebuke of Trump, calls WHO funding cut 'as dangerous as it sounds'

The Microsoft co-founder said halting funding for the World Health Organisation during a world health crisis was "as dangerous as it sounds".




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Countries rally behind WHO after Trump suspends payments

While Trump's criticism of the WHO is being shared by others, US allies disagreed with a suspension of payments.




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'Banana republic': Trump threatens to unilaterally suspend Congress

The President's remarkable threat - which came on the day US recorded its highest number of coronavirus deaths - drew immediate criticism from constitutional experts.




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After 10 days of hell, take it from me: you don't want to catch this virus

I did not think I was going to die but it absolutely felt like the virus was trying hard to kill me. I've never been so sick, or scared.




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‘Eerily quiet’: Qantas pilot flies Australians home in near-empty skies

While the route is familiar, the Qantas pilot of a flight bringing Australians in the UK home said he had never seen the skies so "eerily quiet."




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Readers angered by Donald Trump's 'propaganda' briefing

The story about TV networks cutting away from the US President's press briefing generated the most online discussion with our readers this week.