When Vannessa Savage-Taranaki isn`t eeling, diving, or running after her tamariki, she`s bringing te ao Maori to the international pageant stage. Read...

International wildlife conservationists responsible for bringing a native Guam bird species back from the brink of extinction hope to do the same for more wildlife in the Pacific region. Read...

Twelve months on from the 7 October attacks which led to Israel`s war in Gaza, our international editor says the region is on the edge of something even worse. Read...

The film follows the story of a Samoan teacher struggling after the death of her daughter in the Christchurch earthquakes. Read...

TL;DR: Never miss out on incredible flight deals again — get lifetime access to Matt’s Flights Premium Plan and stay ahead of the airfare game for $79.97 until October 27. We all know that feeling — you find out about a cheap flight right after it’s gone, and suddenly you’ve got a case of serious FOMO. With Matt’s Flights Premium Plan, those days are over. For a one-time payment of $79.97, you’ll get lifetime access to the best flight deals without ever having to search for them. Think of it as your personal flight deal curator. Matt’s Flights sends you hand-picked, ridiculously cheap fares straight to your inbox, so you’re always in the loop when deals drop. Whether you’re planning your next vacation or just keeping an eye out for spontaneous getaways, this subscription makes sure you’re never left wishing you’d booked sooner. And the best part? You only pay once and get access to these deals forever. No more worrying about FOMO — just pack your bags and get ready to travel the world on a budget with this lifetime subscription to a Matt’s Flights Premium Plan for $79.97 through October 27.   Matt’s Flights Premium Plan (Lifetime Subscription) – Save up to 90% on Domestic & International flights – $79.97 See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

Amazon apparently wants to milk Prime Video even further by showing more ads than ever before. According to Ars Technica, Amazon will test how much advertising it can get away with before Prime Video viewers revolt (or even cancel their subscriptions altogether). Kelly Day, Amazon’s Vice President of Prime Video International, told the Financial Times in this paywalled article that Amazon will offer more Prime Video ad slots to advertisers in 2025. Currently, it seems that Prime Video users see an average of 2 to 3.5 minutes of advertising per hour. Day told FT that standard Prime Video currently doesn’t show any ads in the middle of content. That could change come next year. In a statement to Ars Technica, an Amazon spokesperson tried to gloss over the threat of “more” ads for Prime Video customers: “We have not changed our plans to have significantly fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers and to evaluate ad volume to ensure we deliver a great customer experience.” The Financial Times also confirmed that Amazon would be adding “shoppable ads” to Prime Video in 2025, including carousel ads, intermission ads, and brand quiz ads. All of this ad space is meant to target a TV and cinema audience that’s becoming increasingly difficult to reach using traditional advertising methods. Related: What else do I get with Amazon Prime? Ads are invading Amazon Prime Video Amazon increased the number of ads on Prime Video back in February 2024, with movies and TV shows getting two main types of ads: ones for Amazon’s own streaming content in the form of trailers, and one paid for by advertising partners (similar to regular TV commercials). To add insult to injury, some features were silently removed from the standard Prime Video plan and locked behind a paid upgrade that reduces the number of ads for an extra $2.99 per month. Amazon told Ars Technica that Prime Video has 200 million monthly viewers and that the number of subscribers has not fallen dramatically since the company added advertising. In May 2024, less than a tenth of Prime subscribers paid the extra charge for an ad-free subscription. Given that, it’s no surprise that Amazon executives feel bold enough to push more ads on viewers. Not to mention the apparent success of Netflix’s ad-supported plan, showing that we haven’t yet reached the point where enough is enough. How much more can we afford and how many more ads can we stomach? We’ll have to wait and see. Further reading: Oof, when did streaming get so expensive? Read...

Footage appears to show the blasts close to Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport. Read...

Hundreds of mill workers farewelled their workplace for the final time today, as Winstone Pulp International closed the doors on 45 years of operations. Read...

As of October 1, residents in Alabama can no longer access the adult site Pornhub. Due to an age verification law passed by the State legislature in April of this year which was designed to prevent minors from viewing adult content, Pornhub’s parent company Aylo has begun restricting access to its adult sites in protest. Users in certain states are now finding themselves without the ability to visit one of the world’s most popular sites, and Alabama residents are just the latest. This is following a trend that has seen more than half a dozen states lose access to the incredibly popular NSFW site. Similar bans occurred in March of this year when access was blocked to residents in Texas, in June when Indiana, Idaho, and Kansas also lost the ability to visit the site, and most recently in July when Nebraska was hit the ban hammer as well.  Not only is this disruptive for age-appropriate Alabamians who want to access the site, but it also infringes on First Amendment constitutional protections. Fortunately, there’s an easy workaround: using a VPN. Just download and install your preferred VPN, connect to a server in a state that isn’t blocked, and enjoy the content. Below you’ll find my top picks for VPNs to access Pornhub (or other Aylo owned adult content) if you’re in Alabama where access has just been blocked. For even more great services, check out my list of the best VPNs overall. ExpressVPN – Best overall ExpressVPN Read our review ExpressVPN is my overall top pick for VPN. It packs a ton of great features including wide-device support, ad- and tracker-blocking, and plenty of domestic and international servers. It also boasts great speeds, meaning you won’t need to lower your video quality to something that makes it look like the important bits are blurred on purpose. ExpressVPN has one of the widest device support networks as well, so not only will you be able to access Pornhub, you’ll also be able to view the content on any device you wish. NordVPN – Runner-up NordVPN Read our review NordVPN is a close second to ExpressVPN, only losing out due to the fact that it isn’t as intuitive and can be a bit more expensive in the long-term. Those are just minor issues though and shouldn’t take away from NordVPN still being one of the best VPN services on the market. It’s consistently the fastest VPN I’ve ever tested, so you can stream in HD to your heart’s content. Plus, it comes with the most robust package of security features if you’re in need of something more than just privacy. Mullvad – Best for privacy Mullvad Read our review Best Prices Today: $5.37 at Mullvad Depending on what you’re looking for from a VPN, Mullvad might actually be your best option. Not only is it in my top five services for overall speed, it more importantly earns top marks for privacy. Mullvad takes every effort it can to know as little about its users as possible. The service won’t ask for an email address or name and it even accepts payments via mailed cash if you want. Plus, it costs a mere $5 per month regardless of the plan you choose. Proton VPN – Best free VPN ProtonVPN Read our review While I don’t usually recommend that anyone use a free VPN due to their proven security and privacy risks, Proton VPN is one of the exceptions. This service from the well-known Swiss-based Proton brand has a spotless track record for user privacy. It’s also mercifully free of ads. Just like all free VPNs there are limitations, but thankfully Proton VPN keeps them relatively manageable. For no cost whatsoever you’ll get a one-device connection limit and access to five servers located in different countries around the world (including the U.S.). It doesn’t impose any speed or data limitations on these free servers as well—something that’s nearly unheard of with other free VPNs. Read...

Zach Ryan first walked in the doors of the mill 14 years ago, fresh out of high school. Read...