The World Briefly

July 25, 2024

‘From Darkness to Light’

New Zealand

An inquiry concluded Wednesday that over the last 70 years, one in three people receiving care in New Zealand – including children and people with disabilities – was abused, Reuters reported. Prime Minister Christopher Luton acknowledged more than 2,300 survivors who contributed to the probe. He...

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The World Briefly

July 09, 2024

Paying Dues

New Zealand

New Zealand’s conservative coalition government will advance a new bill that will compel digital platforms to compensate media companies for news content, a measure intended to help media companies struggling with falling revenue, Reuters reported. The Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill, introduced by the former Labour...

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The World Briefly

June 03, 2024

The Split

New Zealand

Thousands of people took to the streets of New Zealand over the past week to protest against the center-right government’s policies, which they say are dismantling Indigenous rights, the BBC reported. The demonstrations – known as “hikoi” – took place Thursday in a number of cities,...

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Need to Know

February 28, 2024

Kua takoto te Mānuka

New Zealand

Courses in the Māori language, te reo, are immensely popular in New Zealand, where people of all stripes want to learn how to speak the language of the indigenous people who occupied the islands before they became a British colony in 1840. Waiting lists for...

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The World Briefly

December 06, 2023

The Winds of Change

New Zealand

Thousands hit the streets of New Zealand Tuesday in protest at the new government’s plan to reconsider policies that helped the indigenous Māori community, Al Jazeera reported. Following a call by the Te Pāti Māori party, protesters gathered in front of parliament in Wellington, as well...

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The World Briefly

November 28, 2023

Not Making History

New Zealand

New Zealand’s new government will scrap world-leading legislation to ban smoking for future generations in order to fund tax cuts, a reversal that prompted criticism from health officials and concerns about the well-being of the country’s Indigenous Māori, the Guardian reported Monday. Last year, then-Prime Minister...

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The World Briefly

October 27, 2023

Terror By Céline

New Zealand

Residents of a New Zealand town are demanding authorities stop car drivers from loudly blasting Céline Dion songs late at night as a part of a competition popular among the country’s Indigenous people, Insider reported Thursday. Since November, drivers in Porirua, near the capital Wellington, have...

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The World Briefly

October 16, 2023

Exit Stage Right

New Zealand

New Zealand’s conservative opposition secured a major win in the country’s parliamentary elections Saturday, ending six years of governance by the Labour Party dominated by former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who stepped down earlier this year, the New York Times reported. Results showed that the center-right...

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Need to Know

October 12, 2023

Plus ça Change

New Zealand

The former prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, who served from 2017 through early this year, became a global celebrity after she called for tough firearms laws following a terrorist attack on two mosques in the city of Christchurch, and tough measures to stop...

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The World Briefly

August 31, 2023

Sprinting Ahead

New Zealand

New Zealand is planning to impose a digital service tax on large multinational corporations starting 2025, a move that comes amid delays among nations working to overhaul international tax rules, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new levy will impose a three percent tax on multinationals...

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The World Briefly

May 25, 2023

No Touching!

New Zealand

New Zealanders expressed outrage at a Florida zoo for allowing visitors to pet a kiwi – New Zealand’s national bird – prompting the institution to stop the controversial practice and apologize to the island nation, the Washington Post reported. Earlier this week, more than 10,000 people...

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The World Briefly

April 20, 2023

Closed Season

New Zealand

Organizers of a competition for children to hunt and kill feral cats in New Zealand called off the event this week following a backlash from animal rights groups, the Independent reported Wednesday. The North Canterbury Hunting Competition had initially unveiled a category offering children under 14...

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The World Briefly

January 20, 2023

Bowing Out

New Zealand

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she would resign next month, ahead of an October election that promises to highlight the deepening political and economic challenges facing the country, the New York Times reported Thursday. The progressive leader announced Thursday that she was stepping down...

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The World Briefly

December 14, 2022

Goodbye, Marlboro Man

New Zealand

New Zealand passed a law Tuesday that would impose a lifetime ban on the young from buying cigarettes, a unique plan to phase out tobacco smoking in the country, the Associated Press reported. The bill says that tobacco can never be sold to anyone born after...

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The World Briefly

December 09, 2022

Another Blood Type

New Zealand

A New Zealand court took temporary custody of a six-month-old baby whose parents refused permission for blood transfusions because donors may be vaccinated against Covid-19, Agence France-Presse reported. The case concerns “Baby W,” who needs life-saving heart surgery for a heart disorder known as pulmonary valve...

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Need to Know

November 23, 2022

The Little Country That Could

New Zealand

Few people on Earth enjoy clear night skies. Light pollution obscures the skies over where 80 percent of the planet’s population lives. In New Zealand, however, National Geographic reported, the country is on track to become one of the largest certified so-called “dark sky” territories...

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The World Briefly

November 22, 2022

Wanting a Say

New Zealand

New Zealand’s government will draft a bill to lower the voting age to 16 after the country’s supreme court ruled Monday that the existing age of 18 was discriminatory and breached the human rights of young people, the Guardian reported. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that...

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The World Briefly

October 26, 2022

Tipping the Balance

New Zealand

Women outnumbered men in New Zealand’s parliament for the first time in the country’s history, after a Maori politician was sworn in Tuesday as the newest member of the ruling Labour party, Voice of America reported. Soraya Peke-Mason was sworn in as a replacement for the...

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The World Briefly

October 21, 2022

Unpleasant Smell

New Zealand

Farmers in New Zealand took to the streets of the country’s major cities Thursday to protest against the government’s plans to implement a tax on greenhouse emissions from farm animals, Agence France-Presse reported. Convoys of tractors, SUVs and other farming vehicles disrupted traffic in Wellington and...

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The World Briefly

June 09, 2022

Bovine Disruption

New Zealand

New Zealand is proposing to make farmers pay for the greenhouse gases produced by sheep and cows, becoming the first country to do so, Reuters reported Wednesday. The government released a draft plan that would help reduce emissions from one of New Zealand’s biggest sources of...

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