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Visitors Paremata-Plimmerton beat Wainuiomata 19-12 in a tough fixture at William Jones Park on Saturday in their Smith & Wilson Cup match in the last round of the 2026 Swindale Shield. It was always tight and it came down to who could take their chances. Paremata-Plimmerton did just that, while also coming up with three...

The National Museum Cardiff in Wales may close for much-needed repair work, according to a workers’ union claim that it is in early discussions about a temporary closure in the wake of work last year to address what the institution’s director general described as the building’s “deteriorating condition.” As reported by the BBC, “The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said it understands that Amgueddfa Cymru, which runs the site, is ‘considering the possibility’ of temporary closure but that ‘no final decisions have been made.’” The union told the BBC that the talks related to “the impact on staff, the protection of collections and the future operation of the museum” after rumors on social media led to questions about the museum’s future. In a statement, Amgueddfa Cymru chief executive Jane Richardson described maintenance on the building as “an ongoing challenge.” A press release issued by the group said a design team has been appointed...

This week, the United States marks its 250th birthday, arguably no closer to agreeing on how that story should be told—or who gets to tell it. Under the second Trump administration, museums have become one of the clearest arenas for that struggle. These are places where America’s myth of exceptionalism collides with its lived reality: a contested memory of race, class, and political ambition. As the unfolding case of the Smithsonian attests, museum leaders occupy a pivotal position in American public life, balancing obligations to historical truth, institutional stakeholders, and the communities whose record they are entrusted to keep.   Against this backdrop, the California African American Museum (CAAM) celebrates its 50th anniversary, offering a blueprint for how museums can hold fast to their mission, regardless of what gathers at their periphery. Chartered by the State of California in 1977, CAAM is widely considered the nation’s first state-sup...

Health experts gathered at Fale Pasifika for the Te Poutoko Ora a Kiwa Health Research Symposium 2026. Photo: Yvonne Falealili Gladys Hartson | Senior Journalist “You need models that are actually being designed around the realities of Pacific women and Pacific communities. You need to understand the geography, culture, family, workforce constraints and the reality of daily life that they have.” Gynaecological Oncologist Dr Ai Ling Tan  The importance of Pacific research and science, women’s and mental health, the climate crisis and the use of AI tools in healthcare were among the topics discussed at Waipapa Taumata Rau Auckland University’s Fale Pasifika this week. The topics were part of the Te Poutoko Ora a Kiwa, Centre for Pacific and Global Health Research Symposium 2026 attended by leading health professionals, academics and researchers fr...

Above: Petone were awarded the Harper Lock Shield late on Sunday after the competition was declared closed after the last round was unable to go ahead on Saturday after extreme weather late last week. PHOTO: Petone Rugby Monday morning edition – updates expected later in the day: Four weeks until the end of the Wellington...

Four panels of an interconnected painting by Norman Rockwell have gone on public view for the first time at the headquarters for the White House Historical Association, a “non-profit, non-partisan organization” a short walk from its namesake in Washington, D.C. The work ran under the headline “So You Want to See the President!” in the Saturday Evening Post after it had been commissioned by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s press secretary Stephen Early in 1943. As reported by Artnet News , “After publication, Rockwell gave the paintings to Early, but following the press officer’s untimely death in 1951, they went to his daughter and were later lent to the White House between 1978 and 2022, becoming an ever presence in the West Wing.” Last year, three years after the loan had ceased, the painting changed hands by way of Heritage Auctions for $7.25 million in a “sale [that] followed a bitter ownership dispute and cast the painting as an emblem of both Amer...