Melody Klein Ovink could drop dead at any moment – and there is nothing New Zealand doctors can do.But the 24-year-old has been given hope by American neurosurgeons who believe they can successfully operate. However, the surgery…

An assortment of weather is forecast for Anzac weekend – with rain and a risk of thunderstorms in the west and mainly fine conditions in the east. Six60 concertgoers in Auckland have been told to expect “a few showers” during the…

Test your brains with the Herald’s morning quiz. Be sure to check back on nzherald.co.nz at 3pm for the afternoon quiz. To challenge yourself with more quizzes, CLICK HERE.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has addressed a global climate summit without committing the country to more ambitious emissions targets.

Mr Morrison's appearance followed the US's headline pledge to reduce 2005 emissions by up to 52 per cent by 2030 and President Joe Biden's call for other countries to act more strongly.

The Prime Minister's speech also came after Canada increased its commitment to a 40 to 50 per cent cut from 2005 emissions by 2030, Brazil's pledge of climate neutrality by 2050, and others.

READ MORE: US president opens with ambitious new climate pledge

Australia's current target is to cut emissions by 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, a goal reportedly described as "insufficient" by the Biden administration on Thursday.

In a short speech, the start of which was impacted by audio issues, Mr Morrison said Australia would "update our long term emissions reduction strategy" later in the year. But he again avoided putting a timeframe on the nation's "pathway to net-zero" or pledge deeper emissions cuts by 2030.

"Our goal is to get there as soon as we possibly can, through technology that enables and transforms our industries, not taxes that eliminate them, and the jobs and livelihoods they support and create, especially in our regions," he said, speaking close to midnight AEST.

"For Australia, it is not a question of if, or even by when for net-zero, but importantly how."

Mr Morrison insisted Australia was on its way to meeting its Paris commitments, plugged the nation's world-leading rooftop solar uptake, and pushed a technology- and industry-led approach to combating climate change.

He specifically name-checked major mining companies and billionaire Andrew Forrest.

"In Australia, our journey to net-zero is being led by world-class pioneering Australian companies like Fortescue, led by Dr Andrew Forrest, Visy, BHP, Rio Tinto, AGL and so many more of all sizes," he said.

"It has also been pioneered by agricultural and marine sectors through soil science and sustainable fisheries. "

READ MORE: Australia pledges tech investment ahead of Biden's climate summit

Mr Morrison spoke of wanting to produce the "cheapest clean hydrogen in the world" for $2/kg before directly addressing Mr Biden to compare Silicon Valley with Australia's planned "hydrogen valleys".

The UN Secretary-General had earlier called for a price on carbon, an end to subsidies for fossil fuel, and the phasing out of coal by 2030 in the wealthiest countries and 2040 everywhere else.

Mr Biden said the US couldn't act alone and called for all countries to act at "a moment of peril but a moment of opportunity."

"No nation can solve this crisis on our own, as I know you all fully understand," he said.

"All of us, all of us and particularly those of us who represent the world's largest economies, we have to step up."

Nine newspapers reported that senior Biden administration officials said Australia could not rely solely on technology to get to net zero emissions by 2050.

"At the moment I think our colleagues in Australia recognise there is going to have to be a shift," the senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, reportedly said during a briefing call.

"It's insufficient to follow the existing trajectory and hope that they will be on a course to deep decarbonisation and getting to net zero emissions by mid-century."

Earlier this week, Mr Morrison pledged more than $1 billion towards hubs for carbon capture and hydrogen technologies and a plan to drive foreign investment in Australian climate tech projects.

"You can always be sure that the commitments Australia makes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are bankable," he said.

"We have proven performance, transparent emissions accounting and transformative technology targets to unlock pathways to net zero. 

"Future generations, my colleagues and excellencies, will thank us not for what we have promised, but what we deliver. 

"And on that score, Australia can always be relied upon."

United States President Joe Biden has called on other major polluters to "step up" on emissions reduction at a climate summit that heard wealthy nations must phase out coal by 2030.

In a move likely to increase pressure on Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to increase Australia's climate change ambitions, Mr Biden pledged the US would cut emissions at least in half from 2005 levels by 2030.

The commitment drew praise from United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres for "walking the talk" and from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the "game-changing announcement".

READ MORE: Why Greta Thunberg's decision to wag school was a 'strike of genius'

Mr Biden said the steps put the US on the road to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 but stressed his country represented less than 50 per cent of global emission.

"No nation can solve this crisis on our own, as I know you all fully understand," he said.

"All of us, all of us and particularly those of us who represent the world's largest economies, we have to step up."

Mr Biden declared to the 40 world leaders that "meeting this moment is about more than preserving our planet". "It's about providing a better future for all of us," he said, calling it "a moment of peril but a moment of opportunity".

"The countries that take decisive action now to create the industries of the future will be the ones that reap the economic benefits of the clean energy boom that's coming," he said.

Mr Guterres wants a global coalition on net-zero emissions by 2050, calling for all countries to submit new and more ambitious mitigation efforts.

The UN Secretary-General called for a price on carbon, an end to subsidies for fossil fuel, and the phasing out of coal by 2030 in the wealthiest countries and 2040 everywhere else.

"We need a green planet but the world is on red alert," he said.

"We are at the verge of the abyss. We must make sure the next step is in the right direction. Leaders everywhere must take action."

Mr Morrison is attending the virtual summit with dozens of other world leaders but has so far resisted pressure to increase Australia's mid-term emissions target.

Mr Morrison, while avoiding setting any ambitious new targets, has also pushed new technology such as hydrogen and carbon capture as key to Australia's plan to address climate change.

He has pledged more than $1 billion this week towards hubs for those two technologies and a plan to drive foreign investment in Australian climate tech projects.

Canada ups pledge, China stands firm

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also upped his country's emissions reduction ambitions, pledging a 40 to 50 per cent cut from 2005 emissions by 2030.

Japan, a heavy user of coal, announced its own new 46 per cent emissions reduction target Thursday as the US and its allies sought to build momentum through the summit.

Korea also pledged to further raise its emissions reduction target and end all public financing for overseas coal-fired power plants. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country is the world's biggest emissions culprit, followed by the United States, did not make any new commitments, instead reaffirming China's goal to reach "peak" CO2 emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060.

"Developed countries need to increase climate ambition and action and make concrete efforts to help developing countries accelerate the transition to green and low carbon development," he said.

India, the world's third-biggest emitter of fossil fuel fumes, has been pressing the United States and other wealthier nations to come through on billions of dollars they've promised to help poorer nations build alternatives to coal plants and energy-sucking power grids.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the US commitment and stressed the need for solidarity with developing countries.

With the pledge from the US and other emissions-cutting announcements, half the world's economy had committed to cutting fossil fuel fumes enough to keep the earth's climate from warming, disastrously, more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, the Biden administration said.

Mr Biden, a Democrat, campaigned partly on a pledge to confront climate change.

He has sketched out some elements of his $2 trillion approach for transforming US transportation systems and electrical grids in his campaign climate plan and in his infrastructure proposals for Congress.

The coronavirus pandemic compelled the summit to play out as a climate telethon-style livestream, limiting opportunities for spontaneous interaction and negotiation. The opening was rife with small technological glitches, including echoes and random beeps and voices.

– with Associated Press

A Campbelltown retiree is refusing to believe she's now $40 million richer after being told she holds one of the two winning entries of tonight's $80 million Powerball jackpot.

The second division one winner, who is in Sydney, has not answered their phone and so may not yet know about their windfall, The Lott says.

The winning numbers of draw 1301 on Thursday, April 22, were 35, 26, 10, 17, 31, 19, and 21. The Powerball was 1.

https://twitter.com/theLott/status/1385184849778987008

READ MORE: NSW couple kept lottery ticket in safe, didn't claim it for eight months

"I don't believe it," the Campbelltown retiree said when she was told by The Lott officials of her win.

"No! No! Wow! I can't believe it.

"My grandson told me earlier this week, 'Grandma's going to win the lotto', and that's why I bought a ticket.

"I'm a bit gobsmacked. I'm in shock. I can't believe it.

"I've been playing for a long time. But you never think this is going to happen to you."

READ MORE: Woman vows to never work another nightshift after winning lotto

The woman, who purchased her entry from Leppington Newsagency on Camden Valley Way, said she would look forward to sharing the prize with her family.

The winning ticket was bought at a NSW Lotteries outlet in the City of Fairfield region, The Lott said.

While it was purchased with a player card, phone calls to the winner have not been answered tonight.

The two new instant millionaires are the fifth and sixth Powerball division one winners of 2021.

In addition to the two division one winners, there were also 2,604,499 prizes won in tonight's draw worth more than $48.71 million in divisions two to nine, The Lott said.

READ MORE: Woman who won $50m lotto prize 'wasn't going to buy a ticket'

There were 43 winners of the second division's $1.3 million prize pool, each entry taking home just over $31,000 each.

The 159 winners of division three are now just over $5100 richer.

After a seven-year engagement, Cassandra Murphy and her fiancé were keen to exchange vows, but after their plans were thwarted by the coronavirus, they were devastated by another hurdle.

The Perth bride-to-be picked out the perfect location in Uluwatu and handed over $24,000 to Bali Weddings and Events to plan her special day.

"We travelled to Bali twice. We met her, I saw a wedding she had done, we trialled food over there – so I knew it was legit and wasn't a scam," Ms Murphy told 9News.

READ MORE: Wedding photographer on the run after scamming couples out of their photos

The first wedding was cancelled last year due to the pandemic. Now Ms Murphy says the wedding planner has gone off the grid with countless emails going undelivered, the Bali offices cleared out and all communication cut off.

"Her Facebook business account is gone, the website is under maintenance all of a sudden and now her personal page is gone," Ms Murphy said.

Ms Murphy posted her predicament on social media and had five other brides come forward with similar circumstances.

READ MORE: Women paid to marry strangers in alleged Queensland visa scam

Bali Weddings and Events is now being investigated by Consumer Protection, who are working alongside other agencies including police.

"We would be very interested in hearing from any consumer who has been affected by this trader," Consumer Protection's Trish Blake told 9News.

"We know during COVID a number of traders have experienced financial hardship."

A renewed search for the remains of missing teenager Hayley Dodd's body has come to an end with police coming up empty-handed.

Specialist crime and forensic officers spent the past three days digging up an old water tank at the rear of the Badgingarra property, about 200 kilometres north of Perth, hoping to locate the 17-year-old's remains.

The property was once occupied by Francis Wark, who was sentenced to 18 years jail last week for Hayley's manslaughter.

https://twitter.com/StampyMichael/status/1385149341757628416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

READ MORE: 'Fresh hope' of uncovering WA teen Hayley Dodd's remains as water tank dug up

It was the longest manslaughter sentence in WA history.

Police had already searched the property and water tank in 2013, but structural issues made it difficult.

"It was always something we weren't comfortable with leaving, but we had to wait for the court process to take its course," WA Police Detective Inspector Quentin Flatman said.

Wark was found not guilty during his first trial in 2013, but last week a judge sentenced him to 18 years jail for Hayley's manslaughter during a second trial.

Fresh evidence during Wark's second trial led investigators back to the location on Tuesday and the water tank and ground underneath it was torn apart in hopes Hayley's remains would be found.

"When he was asked direct questions about that, he was quite flippant in his comments in that he said, 'maybe there's something there, there's probably something there,'" Detective Flatman said.

But today, police confirmed Hayley's remains have not been found and the search will not continue tomorrow.

Hayley was last seen hitchhiking near Wark's property in July 1999.

READ MORE: Police search property connected to Hayley Dodd's killer

While Wark denied having any knowledge of what happened to the teen, a cold case review in 2013 uncovered an earring she was wearing on a seat cover of a car Wark was driving at the time. 

Wark has been behind bars since 2007, first for raping a hitchhiker in Queensland and then while awaiting trial over Hayley's death.

He will be eligible for parole after 16 years but will not be considered for an early release unless he reveals the location of Hayley's body.

At the time of Wark's sentencing, Hayley's mother Margaret said she wanted him to feel remorse over her daughter's death.

"I wanted him to feel it but not a single reaction from him. A heart of stone," Ms Dodd said outside court. 

"My daughter Hayley was a beautiful 17-year-old girl whose only crime was naivety.

"The last two decades have been sheer hell."