Author: Lucas Bennett

A synthetic stimulant that can be purchased for as little as five dollars and remains legal across much of the United States is being linked to a wave of violent and erratic incidents, with cases rising by nearly 780% in just three years. The drug, known as flakka — or “gravel” in parts of Ohio and Texas, where it resembles the coloured pebbles used in fish tanks — belongs to the same chemical family as bath salts, the synthetic drug that made international headlines several years ago for causing extreme and sometimes fatal behavioural episodes. The key difference is that…

Air New Zealand and Air China are set to begin operating a new route between Beijing and Auckland before the end of the year, following the formalisation of a strategic alliance between the two carriers. The partnership, which received Cabinet approval, was first signalled when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited New Zealand approximately a year ago. It has now been authorised to run until March 2021. Under the arrangement, Air China will operate daily flights on the new Beijing-Auckland service from 10 December, using Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Air New Zealand will place its NZ code on those flights. Separately, Air…

A court order, a Freedom of Information lawsuit, and more than thirteen months of official resistance stood between the public and dashcam footage showing a Chicago police officer firing sixteen shots at a 17-year-old walking away from him on a residential street — and it was only when a judge forced the city’s hand that the full extent of the cover-up began to unravel. Laquan McDonald was shot and killed by officer Jason Van Dyke on the evening of 20 October 2014 on South Pulaski Road. Police had been called to reports of a teenager carrying a knife and breaking…