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By Steve Holland, Reuters Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump doesn't think impeachment charges would be filed if he fired Jack Smith. Photo: AFP / JIM WATSON Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said that if elected he would fire the federal prosecutor leading the criminal probes into his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office. Former president Trump, asked during an interview whether he would pardon himself or fire Special Counsel Jack Smith, said: "It's so easy. I would fire him within two seconds." US Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 appointed Smith to the special counsel role, one meant to give him independence in leading the politically charged investigations into T...

Vladimir Putin Photo: ALEXANDER KAZAKOV / AFP Putin says mutual defence clause is Russia's business Putin says the West escalated the Ukraine war Putin says any deal to end war must reflect reality on ground President Vladimir Putin did not deny US claims that North Korea had sent troops to Russia but said it is up to Moscow how to run its mutual defence clause with Pyongyang and accused the West of escalating the Ukraine war. The United States said that it had seen evidence that North Korea has sent 3000 troops to Russia for possible deployment in Ukraine, a move that the West is casting as a significant escalation of the Ukraine war. Asked by a reporter about satellite imagery showing North Korean troop movements, Putin said: "Images are a serious thing. If there are images, the...

Erik and Lyle Menendez have spent 34 years in prison. Photo: AFP / VINCE BUCCI A Los Angeles prosecutor said he is asking the court to resentence Erik and Lyle Menendez after they have spent 34 years in prison for the shotgun murder of their parents, the Associated Press reported, after new evidence emerged indicating they were sexually abused by their father for years. Los Angeles county district attorney George Gascon was due to announced his decision at a press conference on Friday. The AP, citing an official with knowledge of the decision, said Gascon would recommend to a judge that the brothers be resentenced. They are both serving life in prison without parole for the 1989 murders. The Menendez brothers, now 56 and 53, were convicted after the second of two highly publicised trial...

First published on By Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato professor of law* Police seized 35 firearms and 15,000 rounds of ammunition from a New Lynn property in Auckland last week. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police The current inquest into the worshippers killed in the Christchurch mosque attacks has been examining gun laws at the time of the 2019 atrocities, and how lax controls helped the terrorist acquire his weapons. Inevitably, it has also put the spotlight on the coalition government's proposed changes to the Arms Act, and how changes to licence vetting procedures and regulation might affect public safety. Firearms control is a complex and contentious issue - but New Zealand can learn from other countries' experience. It may surprise many, but one such coun...

By Brad Brooks, Reuters Quarter Pounders are marked as unavailable and 'Back Soon' in the Drive Thru lane at a McDonald's restaurant on 22 October 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo: Mario Tama / Getty Images via AFP US fast-food chains are pulling fresh onions out of their menu items after the vegetable was named as the likely source of an E. coli outbreak at McDonald's restaurants that has sickened 49 people and killed one. Restaurant Brands International, parent of McDonald's rival Burger King, and Yum Brands said they were removing fresh onions from menu items. Roughly 5 percent of Burger King locations have removed onions from the menu, a Burger King spokesperson said in a statement. McDonald's said on Thursday that Taylor Farms was the supplier of the sliced onions that have been r...