New Zealand’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom has been removed from his role after publicly questioning US President Donald Trump’s grasp of history – remarks that have rendered his position “untenable” in the eyes of New Zealand’s government. At a public Chatham House event in London this week, high commissioner Phil Goff asked a…

A man in California has been charged with nabbing about $25,000 of Lego in two state counties, according to officials. Michael Ivory Fletcher, 32, is accused of stealing the Lego products from Target stores in Walnut Creek and San Ramon between 15 August 2024 and 15 February 2025, according to the Contra Costa district attorney’s…

The mega-hit Broadway musical Hamilton is pulling out of plans to perform at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington next year, citing Donald Trump’s shakeup of the art institution’s leadership. “Our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed…

The death of a 20-year-old Southern University student in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is being investigated by local law enforcement as a possible act of fraternity hazing, school authorities confirmed to the Associated Press on Wednesday. Caleb Wilson, who died on 27 February, was a mechanical engineering junior at Southern University and A&M College and a…

A fundraising event at the Melbourne headquarters of Macquarie Bank featuring Peter Dutton and several Liberal MPs was cancelled at the last minute on Wednesday night without explanation, as a major storm bore down on the opposition leader’s home state. On Wednesday, the Australian Financial Review published a story claiming Peter Dutton left what he…

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall early on Saturday morning, after the system “spun around on itself” and briefly stalled before resuming its predicted path to the populated south-east Queensland coast. The 3.8 million residents of urban areas between the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast had been asked to hunker down in…

Firing squads could become Idaho’s primary execution method under a bill headed to the governor’s desk this week. The Idaho senate passed the bill on Wednesday, and if signed by governor Brad Little, it will take effect next year. Currently, the firing squad serves as Idaho’s backup execution method if state corrections officials are unable…

An environmental group is to take legal action against Ofwat, the water regulator, accusing it of unlawfully making customers pay for decades of neglect by the water industry. River Action will file the legal claim this month, arguing that bill rises for customers that have been approved by the regulator could be used to fix…

Hundreds of diplomats at the state department and US Agency for International Development have written to the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, protesting against the dismantling of USAid, saying it undermines US leadership and security and leaves power vacuums for China and Russia to fill. In a cable expected to be filed with the department’s…