NZ leader faces hurdles:

Last Thursday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the high-profile interviews she’d be doing this week in New York, where she’s attending the UN General Assembly. Among her appearances: the Today show, the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. She also exchanged tweets with the singer Rihanna about the importance of investing in education.

But by Thursday afternoon, Ardern was appearing somber at a hastily called news conference in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital. She was firing a lawmaker from her ministerial role following an altercation the lawmaker had with a staff member that some people say turned physical.

In the year since she took office, Ardern, 38, has enjoyed unprecedented global attention for a leader from this nation of fewer than 5 million people. Yet at home, she’s faced political pressure as she tries to keep control of a coalition government that sometimes threatens to come apart.

Internationally, Ardern in many ways offers a counterpoint to President Donald Trump: She is young, liberal and espouses an empathetic approach to leadership. She’s also pushed the boundaries for women by becoming just the second world leader in modern times to give birth while in office. (AP)