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Merryn JohnsFreelance reporter

Merryn Johns is a freelance journalist and magazine editor from Sydney who is based in New York City and joined News Corp’s New York Bureau in 2017. She reports on a variety of subjects and is especially interested in international news, arts, and culture.

@Merryn1

Merryn Johns

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World

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 28: The 2025 Doomsday Clock time is displayed after the time reveal held by The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the United States Institute of Peace on January 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Doomsday Clock, currently the nearest it has been to midnight at 89 seconds, is a symbol for how close humanity is to a âglobal catastropheâ. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Doomsday Clock: This is how close we are to humanity’s destruction

The Doomsday Clock has been set closer to midnight more than ever in its 78-year history. See why and how it can be reversed.

Environment

This handout image provided by US Geological Survey (USGS) on June 7, 2023, shows Kilauea erupting from the Halemaumau summit crater within a closed area of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii. One of the world's most active volcanoes has erupted again, with lava spewing from Kilauea in Hawaii on Wednesday. Footage showed fissures have opened up at the base of a crater on the volcano, which regularly springs to life, with vulcanologists calling the eruption

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts spewing lava 120 feet high

One of the world’s most active volcanoes is erupting with lava plumes as high as 35 metres and officials are warning people to stay clear of the area.

UpdatedWorld

DORAL, FLORIDA - JANUARY 27: President Donald Trump addresses the 2025 Republican Issues Conference at the Trump National Doral Miami on January 27, 2025 in Doral, Florida. The three-day planning session was expected to lay out Trump's ambitious legislative agenda. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by JOE RAEDLE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Judge blocks Trump’s multi-billion dollar funding freeze

Donald Trump’s order to freeze federal grants and loans has been blocked by a US judge, as the president’s latest executive order took aim at the transgender community. Follow updates.

UpdatedWorld

US President Donald Trump, watched by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaks to reporters while in flight on Air Force One en route Joint Base Andrews, on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)

Trump’s bold invite to TikTok stars, influencers

An additional space for “new media voices” has been reserved at the White House, as Donald Trump declares war on traditional media.

UpdatedWorld

Hostages set to be freed from Gaza named

Eleven more hostages will be released in Gaza this week with family members identifying three of the captives. Follow updates.

UpdatedWorld

US President Donald Trump speaks with the press on board Air Force One after departing Las Vegas, Nevada, en route to Miami. Picture: AFP

Nation’s huge backflip after Trump’s trade threat

One nation has given in to Donald Trump’s threat to implement a barrage of tariffs and sanctions in a row over deportation flights. Follow updates.

UpdatedWorld

Displaced Palestinians gather with their belongings near a roadblock on Salah al-Din Street, as they wait to return to their homes in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians begin return to Gaza; Trump’s radical plan

Displaced Palestinians have begun returning to northern Gaza, as two of Donald Trump’s key Middle East allies have reacted to his proposal to ‘clean out’ Gaza. Follow updates.

World