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A beloved Lower Hutt hot chocolate challenge this year features an entirely sustainable creation, complete with an edible, compostable cup. The Sweet As Hutt’s Hot Chocolate Challenge returns today for its seventh year, featuring…

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

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Former US President Donald Trump has announced he is filing suits against three of the country's biggest tech companies: Facebook, Twitter and Google, as well as their CEOs.

Mr Trump said on Wednesday (early Thursday morning AEST) he was serving as lead plaintiff in the class-action suits, claiming he has been wrongfully censored by the companies.

"We're demanding an end to the shadow-banning, a stop to the silencing and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing and canceling that you know so well," Mr Trump said at a news conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf course.

READ MORE: Trump Organisation, CFO plead not guilty to tax crime charges

The suits were filed in US District Court for Florida's southern district.

Mr Trump was suspended from Twitter and Facebook after his followers stormed the Capitol building on January 6. The companies cited concerns that he would incite further violence.

Currently, he can no longer post on either platform.

Nonetheless, Mr Trump has continued to spread lies about the 2020 election, baselessly claiming that he won, even though state and local election officials, his own attorney general and numerous judges, including some he appointed, have said there is no evidence of the mass voter fraud he alleges.

Under Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, internet companies are generally exempt from liability for the material that users post.

The law, which provides a legal "safe harbor" for internet companies, also allows social media platforms to moderate their services by removing posts that, for instance, are obscene or violate the services' own standards, so long as they are acting in "good faith."

But Mr Trump and other politicians have long argued that Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms have abused that protection and should lose their immunity — or at least have to earn it by satisfying requirements set by the government.

Facebook, Google and Twitter have all declined comment.

Gunmen have assassinated Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and wounded his wife in their home, inflicting more chaos on the unstable Caribbean country that was already enduring an escalation of gang violence, anti-government protests and a recent surge in coronavirus infections.

Claude Joseph, the interim Prime Minister, confirmed the killing and said the police and military were in control of security in Haiti, where a history of dictatorship and political upheaval have long stymied the consolidation of democratic rule.

"The country's security situation is under the control of the National Police of Haiti and the Armed Forces of Haiti," Mr Joseph said in a statement from his office.

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"Democracy and the republic will win."

Mr Joseph said police had been deployed to the National Palace and the upscale community of Petionville and would be sent to other areas.

He condemned the assassination as a "hateful, inhumane and barbaric act" and said some of the attackers spoke in Spanish but offered no further explanation.

While the streets of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, were quiet on Wednesday morning, some people ransacked businesses in one area.

Former President Michel Martelly, whom Moïse succeeded, said he was praying for first lady Martine Moïse, calling the assassination "a hard blow for our country and for Haitian democracy, which is struggling to find its way."

A resident who lives near the president's home said she heard the attack.

"I thought there was an earthquake, there was so much shooting," said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she feared for her life.

"The President had problems with many people, but this is not how we expected him to die. This is something I wouldn't wish on any Haitian."

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The White House described the attack as "horrific" and "tragic" and said it was still gathering information on what happened.

US President Joe Biden would be briefed later in the day by his national security team, spokesperson Jen Psaki said during an interview on MSNBC.

"The message to the people of Haiti is this is a tragic tragedy," she during a previously scheduled interview on CNN.

"And we stand ready and stand by them to provide any assistance that's needed."

Haiti's economic, political and social woes have deepened recently, with gang violence spiking heavily in Port-au-Prince, inflation spiralling and food and fuel becoming scarcer at times in a country where 60 per cent of the population makes less than US$2 ($2.66) a day.

These troubles come as Haiti still tries to recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew that struck in 2016.

The country appears to be heading for fresh uncertainty ahead of planned general elections later this year.

Mr Moïse, 53, had been ruling by decree for more than a year after the country failed to hold elections.

Opposition leaders have accused him of seeking to increase his power, including approving a decree that limited the powers of a court that audits government contracts and another that created an intelligence agency that answers only to the president.

In recent months, they demanded he step down, arguing that his term legally ended in February 2021.

Mr Moïse and supporters maintained his term began when he took office in early 2017, following a chaotic election that forced the appointment of a provisional president to serve during a year-long gap.

Haiti was scheduled to hold general elections later this year.

The US Embassy in Haiti said it was restricting US staff to its compounds and that the embassy would be closed on Wednesday because of ''an ongoing security situation.''

The cost of renting a house in Australia has hit record highs as the nation's economy booms in an apparent recovery from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Domain's Rent Report, released today, shows the national median price to rent a house is now at an all-time high of $477 per week.

Canberra remains the most expensive city in the country for house renters, recording an eye-watering median price of $630 a week.

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That's a $30 per week quarterly increase and the strongest pace of annual growth for the nation's capital since 2007.

Curiously, Darwin is now the second most expensive city in which to rent a house, recording an unbelievable median asking price of $593 a week – a 20.9 per cent increase in just one year.

Despite being the most expensive city to purchase a house, Sydney is relatively more affordable to rent, coming in as Australia's third most expensive city with a median of $550 a week.

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Sydney's median asking price for a free-standing home ticked just $10 a week higher in 12 months.

The situation in Melbourne is just as curious. While known as the second most expensive city in Australia to buy, Melbourne is the most affordable city in which to rent a house.

The median weekly asking price is now $430 – right on par with Adelaide.

While it is the first time Melbourne has been ranked as the most affordable, $430 a week marks a six-year high for Adelaide.

READ MORE: Less than one per cent of rentals affordable for people on welfare

Australia's Median Weekly Asking Rent for Houses

*Domain Rent Report, June Quarter 2021

Thousands of visa applications that have been in limbo for the past 12 months have been canned as Immigration New Zealand is unable to process them due to legal reasons.The agency’s border and visa operations general manager Nicola…