New Zealand

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China, Russia and Iran are engaged in foreign interference in New Zealand, intelligence agency says

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — China, Iran and Russia are engaged in foreign interference in New Zealand, the nation’s domestic intelligence agency said Friday after making its threat assessment report public for the first time.

https://apnews.com/article/new-zealand-foreign-interference-china-russia-iran-acde6a04bbd1437cde06980a588b3cff?

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Inquiry finds 200,000 people were abused in care in New Zealand over decades in ‘national disgrace’

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s independent inquiry into decades of abuse of children and vulnerable adults released a blistering final report Wednesday finding the country’s state agencies and churches failed to prevent, stop or admit to the mistreatment of those in their care.

https://apnews.com/article/new-zealand-abuse-catholic-church-foster-care-8205b789d5271ea4633edada19f860ae?

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A Māori king who urged racial unity in New Zealand is laid to rest and a new queen rises

NGĀRUAWĀHIA, New Zealand (AP) — They came in the thousands in the freezing dawn, parking cars far away and winding down rural roads on foot, children riding on their shoulders. They arrived in mourning black with crowns of ferns and kawakawa leaves, bone carvings or wedges of deep green pounamu -– New Zealand jade -– resting on their chests.

https://apnews.com/article/maori-king-queen-zealand-ngawai-tuheitia-funeral-39e90f1feecf70690c01f55ae46c2f46?

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The owners of a New Zealand volcano that erupted in 2019, killing 22 people, appeal their conviction

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The owners of an island volcano in New Zealand that erupted in 2019, killing 22 people, launched an appeal on Tuesday against their criminal conviction for violating safety laws, arguing that tour operators — rather than their company — were responsible for the safety of visitors to Whakaari, also known as White Island.

https://apnews.com/article/whakaari-white-island-zealand-volcano-eruption-appeal-5c44fbbf2e57804b4d10a6d246961aec?

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New Zealand’s leader formally apologizes to survivors of abuse in state and church care

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made a “formal and unreserved” apology in Parliament on Tuesday for the widespread abuse, torture and neglect of hundreds of thousands of children and vulnerable adults in care.

https://apnews.com/article/child-abuse-care-zealand-state-faith-foster-294b014a126cb8c067e1da16a94f4cc7?

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Tens of thousands crowd New Zealand’s Parliament grounds in support of Māori rights

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — As tens of thousands crowded the streets in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, on Tuesday, the throng of people, flags aloft, had the air of a festival or a parade rather than a protest.

https://apnews.com/article/maori-protest-hikoi-treaty-waitangi-principles-54d5a5345815bed2c2a12687d4f6b625?

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How a cookie tin lottery at New Zealand's Parliament helps decide what becomes law

Under the scrutiny of a black-robed official and before a hushed audience, a decorative cookie tin rattles like a bingo drum. Inside: the future of New Zealand ’s laws. The ceremonial lottery at Parliament, where bills are drawn randomly from what’s known as “the biscuit tin” in local parlance, is a way to ensure every New Zealand legislator has the chance to advance a proposed law, no matter how unpopular their bid. Read more.

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New Zealand Parliament suspends 3 Māori Party lawmakers who performed haka protest

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand legislators voted Thursday to enact record suspensions from Parliament for three lawmakers who performed a Māori haka to protest a proposed law.

https://apnews.com/article/new-zealand-maori-haka-protest-parliament-9909f1f18649bc887dcc27e9985f63ec?