Janna Ezat, whose son Hussein Al-Umari was one of 51 people killed in 2019's Christchurch shooting, came face-to-face with the gunman in court, telling 29-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant, she forgave him. "I have decided to forgive you, Mr Tarrant, because I don’t have hate, I don’t have revenge," she said during victim statements. "The damage is done. Hussein will never be here. I have only one choice: to forgive you."
Category Archives: New Zealand
Jacinda Ardern says 2020 has been ‘frankly terrible’ as Auckland lockdown extended
Masks made mandatory on public transport across New Zealand as coronavirus cases continue to rise
New Zealand’s biggest city will remain in lockdown until midnight on Sunday, the extra four days necessitated by the rising number of Covid-19 cases, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has said.
A total of 101 people have been infected by the outbreak in south Auckland, making it the largest cluster in New Zealand.
Continue reading...Christchurch gunman planned to burn mosques down, New Zealand police say
Court hears that Australian planned to attack a third mosque before he was arrested
A court in New Zealand has heard for the first time an official account of how a terrorist who murdered 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch planned and executed the attacks – and his intentions to burn down both places of worship and attack a third mosque.
The details of the attack were read as a high-security hearing began to decide whether the Australian man will ever leave prison.
Continue reading...OK Chlöe: millennial MP challenges the New Zealand establishment – video
In a momentous year, Aotearoa’s youngest MP vows to radically change the political status quo from within. But behind the ‘OK Boomer’ politician is a committed advocate. Chlöe Swarbrick must weigh up the pressures placed on her versus her innate desire to make a difference.
OK Chlöe is part of the Loading Docs 2020 collection. The films can be viewed online via www.loadingdocs.net
Continue reading...Celebrity cat called Mittens in the running to be New Zealander of the year
Also making the cut are PM Jacinda Ardern and the director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield
A celebrity cat, a hardworking civil servant and the prime minister have all been nominated for this year’s New Zealander of the year award.
“In this extraordinary year, we know that everyone has a hero,” Miriama Kamo, the patron of the awards, said.
Continue reading...‘Devastating impact’: south Auckland’s Pasifika bear brunt of new Covid-19 outbreak
Pacific communities have been hit by New Zealand’s coronavirus resurgence – and the stigma of being at its centre
Most weekdays south Auckland’s Ōtara shopping centre is alive with the blur of brightly coloured lavalava and the cacophony of clashing music thumping out from car loudspeakers.
But this week, in the midst of New Zealand’s second lockdown, the atmosphere is subdued and strained.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: Jacinda Ardern says Trump’s ‘patently wrong’ on New Zealand’s Covid cases
Trump described NZ’s ‘terrible’ surge, despite 90 active cases in country; Ibiza to ban pool parties, as Spain infections surge. Follow the latest
- Trump calls out NZ’s Covid surge, on day it records nine new cases
- Alarm over Covid case rates in 19 European countries
- ‘Unprecedented’: Los Angeles schools to test all 600,000 students
- Australia: hotel quarantine linked to 99% of Victoria’s cases
- Covid-19 climbdowns: the UK government’s U-turns and missteps
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These look like scenes of yesteryear but thousands of people packed out a water park in Wuhan, China, over the weekend as much of the rest of the world remained under lockdown restrictions.
VIDEO: Crowds packed out a water park over the weekend in the central Chinese city of #Wuhan, where the #coronavirus first emerged late last year, keen to party as the city edges back to normal life pic.twitter.com/SJFBmx5sU8
The Philippines’ health ministry confirmed 4,836 novel coronavirus infections, the seventh consecutive day of reporting more than 3,000 daily cases, Reuters reports.
In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases had increased to 169,213, while there were seven additional deaths – bringing the total toll to 2,687.
Continue reading...‘Big surge’: Trump angers New Zealand with coronavirus comments – video
Donald Trump has called out New Zealand for its recent Covid-19 outbreak, saying places once hailed as a success story in the pandemic are now facing a 'big surge' in cases. However, New Zealand's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern said there was 'no comparison' between the situation in her country and that in in the US
- Trump calls out NZ’s Covid surge on day it records nine new cases
- Alarm over Covid case rates in 19 European countries
Worker at New Zealand quarantine hotel tests positive for Covid-19
New case is not linked to main outbreak in Auckland, which has so far infected 69 people
A new case of Covid-19 separate from the main cluster has been confirmed in New Zealand, with the infected person identified as a maintenance worker in a quarantine hotel in Auckland.
On Tuesday, 13 new cases were confirmed, with 12 relating to the Auckland cluster, which now numbers 69 in total.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: Czech Republic reintroducing mask wearing; New Zealand postpones election
Czech Republic sees resurgence of coronavirus infections; India death toll passes 50,000; Japan GDP falls at annual rate of 27.8%
- Global report: Japan hit by biggest GDP fall in 40 years
- New Zealand delays election by month amid Auckland outbreak
- See all our coronavirus coverage
In the UK, the government has performed a juddering u-turn to say that this summer’s exam results will be based on teacher assessment rather than a controversial standardisation model that prompted fury from students who found themselves sharply downgraded on the basis of their schools’ previous performance.
My colleagues Richard Adams and Sally Weale have a write-up here...
Related: A-level and GCSE results in England to be based on teacher assessments in U-turn
Earlier we posted a link to an interesting El Pais piece which noted that in recent months the average age of those newly infected with coronavirus had dropped significantly. If you’re interested in this phenomenon and its consequences more broadly, take a look at this piece by our own Jon Henley from last week:
Unlike during the early months of the crisis in March and April, when older people accounted for the biggest share of cases, in France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium 20 to 39-year-olds now represent up to 40% of new infections...
The challenge for governments and health agencies, experts say, is to prevent the virus from spreading to more vulnerable populations. “There’s no reason to imagine it can be contained to just one age group, without affecting others, Pascal Crépey, an epidemiologist and public health expert, told Le Parisien.
Related: Surge in Covid-19 cases across Europe linked to young people
Continue reading...By delaying the New Zealand election Jacinda Ardern appears magnanimous and conciliatory | Bryce Edwards
Keeping the date while her own party’s polling was sky-high would have looked like self-interest; instead she has been praised for her leadership
At its heart, democracy is about participation. And yet, there have been serious questions about the quality and quantity of public engagement expected in this year’s general election, given the Covid-19 crisis overshadowing everything at the moment in New Zealand. Prime minister Jacinda Ardern has therefore made the right decision to delay the election by a month.
Voter turnout has been trending downwards in recent decades, hitting a low point in 2011 of only 69.6% of eligible voters. It’s plausible that in 2020 it could drop below even this. If the election were still to be held in just a few weeks, as originally scheduled, this would have been especially possible.
Continue reading...Jacinda Ardern postpones New Zealand election due to coronavirus – video
Jacinda Ardern has postponed the New Zealand general election by four weeks, to 17 October, but ruled out delaying it any further, as the country tackles a new outbreak of the coronavirus. The outbreak centres on New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland, after the country had been free of coronavirus cases for 102 days
Continue reading...Island nations have the edge in keeping Covid away – or most do
Nations from New Zealand to Cuba closed borders promptly with strict quarantine rules, but the UK won’t admit its ‘serious mistake’
Island nations have an advantage when it comes to stopping travellers importing disease, be it Covid or other infections.
Seas are usually harder to cross than land, and beaches are easier to police. There are no cross-border towns, and fewer ways to sneak over frontiers.
Continue reading...New Zealand has 69 active Covid cases after 13 more diagnosed
Twelve spread in community while 13th emerged in a quarantined returning traveller, say authorities; PM Ardern due to decide on election
New Zealand on Sunday reported 13 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus for the last 24 hours, as the country’s first outbreak in months continued to grow.
All but one of the new cases were from community transmission and appeared to be linked to a cluster in Auckland where the most recent outbreak started, said Ashley Bloomfield, the New Zealand director general of health. The 13th was a traveller who returned from abroad and was in managed quarantine.
Continue reading...New Zealand lockdown: Everything was normal and then it wasn’t
The international news looked like a terrible movie – but then we were reminded that life can change so much in a short amount of time
There is an added level of anxiety when you live with your stubborn 60-year-old father with underlying health problems. Add a deadly virus to the mix and your anxiety is on the verge of daily tears.
“I’ve been working hard since I was 15,” my dad tells me as he leaves to work the Wednesday morning of lockdown.
Continue reading...Jacinda Ardern extends Auckland coronavirus lockdown by 12 days – video
New Zealand has reported 13 new cases of coronavirus, with two cases emerging from Auckland where the country’s outbreak began. The two cases occurred in the Waikato town of Tokoroa, 125 miles south of New Zealand’s biggest city, and were linked to the Auckland outbreak, bringing the number of cases in the cluster to 29. One person is being treated in hospital.
The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said Auckland would remain in lockdown for an additional 12 days as health workers try to contain the 'perimeter' of the outbreak, the source of which remains a mystery. She said a North Island-wide lockdown was not being considered
Continue reading...New Zealand Covid-19 cases all linked to single cluster, with more cases expected
Cabinet to meet at 3pm to discuss Auckland lockdown as health minister Chris Hipkins says city not yet looking at moving from level three to four
New Zealand is not yet looking at a level 4 lockdown, because the rising number of Covid-19 cases are all related to a single cluster, the health minister has said.
Chris Hipkins told Radio NZ that more than one cluster would have to be circulating for the country to rise to level 4 restrictions, and so far there was no evidence of that, though more cases from the same cluster had emerged overnight.
Continue reading...‘Here we go again’: Auckland fears a long lockdown as coronavirus returns
Shops start stockpiling and charities helping with financial hardship expect flood of calls as PM warns outbreak will get worse
“I’m not afraid because I’m taking precautions,” says Nadeep Singh, a travel agent in Papatoetoe, the South Auckland suburb that has reportedly sparked a return to lockdown and a pivotal change in the country’s battle with the pandemic.
His business was closed to customers but Singh was working “flat out” – alone in his locked office – getting refunds for clients who are now unable to take the trips they had booked with him.
Continue reading...New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern warns Covid-19 cluster will ‘grow before it slows’ – video
New Zealand leader has said Auckland’s Covid-19 outbreak will get worse before it gets better, and warned of extended lockdowns after the country reported the first new cases in 102 days without community transmission. Ardern stressed New Zealand’s approach of going hard early remained their best chance of slowing the spread and urged caution over growing misinformation around coronavirus
Continue reading...‘Bombs can’t kill viruses’: Hawaii faces backlash as international war games approach
As coronavirus case numbers soar, the state prepares to host Rimpac, the world’s largest international maritime military exercise
In a year when the coronavirus has caused multinational war games to be conducted virtually or canceled, the world’s largest international maritime military exercise begins in Hawaii next week.
The Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) war games, which run through the end of August, come as Hawaii struggles to contain community spread of the coronavirus amid what has become the highest reproduction rate in the country.
Continue reading...