Turkish police said they had arrested a Syrian national who was planning retaliation for New Zealand mosque attack
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has cast doubt on a possible plot to target Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli despite the arrest of a man with suspected links to Islamic State by Turkish police.
The suspect, a Syrian national, was arrested after a police operation in Osmaniye and was among several Isis members detained.
Continue reading...Nation known for its natural beauty is under pressure with extinctions, polluted rivers and blighted lakes
A report on the state of New Zealand’s environment has painted a bleak picture of catastrophic biodiversity loss, polluted waterways and the destructive rise of the dairy industry and urban sprawl.
Environment Aotearoa is the first major environmental report in four years, and was compiled using data from Statistics New Zealand and the environment ministry.
Continue reading...Supermarkets are struggling with supply as the nation’s hen flock decreases and demand for eggs soars
New Zealand is in the grip of an egg shortage as the industry undergoes a massive period of disruption while it transitions to free-range farming.
The shortage has also been caused by an increased appetite for eggs, with New Zealanders consuming 230 eggs per person last year, compared with 200 per person a decade ago.
Continue reading...New Zealand prime minister unhappy that details of Lousia Akavi’s abduction were made public by the aid agency
The revelation that a New Zealand nurse has been detained in Syria for five years has prompted tensions between the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the New Zealand government, with the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, criticising the aid agency for releasing details of the woman’s abduction.
On Monday the New York Times, in conjunction with the ICRC, revealed that New Zealander Louisa Akavi, 63, had been abducted along with two Syrian colleagues on 13 October 2013.
Continue reading...Total number of gatherings in Auckland reduced from 84 to 26 in wake of mosque shootings
More than 50 Anzac events and parades have been cut in New Zealand’s largest city at the request of police, as the country’s terror risk remains high in the wake of the deadly Christchurch mosque attacks.
Police have asked Auckland Returned Serviceman’s Associations (RSA) to “consolidate” their events, with the total number reduced from 84 last year to 26 this year, allowing officers to better protect large crowds in attendance.
Continue reading...John Edwards calls out social media giant after Christchurch attack for refusing to accept responsibility for harm
New Zealand’s privacy commissioner has lashed out at social media giant Facebook in the wake of the Christchurch attacks, calling the company “morally bankrupt pathological liars”.
The commissioner used his personal Twitter page to lambast the social network, which has also drawn the ire of prime minister Jacinda Ardern for hosting a livestream of the attacks that left 50 dead, which was then copied and shared all over the internet.
Continue reading...In the wake of New Zealand’s worst terror attack, the prime minister talks frankly about the aftermath, global scrutiny and how a nation heals
“I’ll show you something,” says Jacinda Ardern. We are sitting on sofas in her office on the ninth floor of the Beehive, the circular building that houses the New Zealand government in Wellington. It is just 10 days since a terrorist attack in Christchurch took the lives of 50 people at prayer. Outside, the flags are at half-mast. Two police officers stand by the glass doors, cradling semi-automatic weapons. Up on the ninth floor, the early morning sun scythes in through panoramic windows, the harbour just visible in the distance. In the reception area, a staffer’s preschooler son buzzes back and forth on a bike.
I have been asking Ardern about her immediate response to the attack, which from the outset put a clear emphasis on inclusivity and solidarity. Succinctly, steelily, the prime minister framed what had happened in her own terms. It felt very deliberate: was it?
Continue reading...Senior home affairs official says no major changes planned to ‘scientifically calibrated’ focus on terrorism after attack
Australian security agencies had no information to suggest the man accused of the Christchurch mosque massacre should be placed on a watchlist or prevented from leaving the country, a Senate committee has heard.
However, there were no major changes being made to Australia’s “scientifically calibrated” focus on different types of terrorism, the home affairs department secretary, Michael Pezzullo, said.
Continue reading...Jacinda Ardern and Scott Morrison among estimated 20,000 attending national remembrance service near site of attacks
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern was greeted with a standing ovation as she took the stage to address a crowd of thousands gathered at Hagley Park for a nationwide remembrance service in honour of 50 people killed in the country’s worst terrorist attack.
Related: With respect: how Jacinda Ardern showed the world what a leader should be
Continue reading...Is New Zealand’s civilised response to the Christchurch massacre just down to good stewardship, or is there something else going on?
To the rest of the world, New Zealand’s reaction to the Christchurch massacre has been extraordinary. The killing of 50 people at Friday prayers in two mosques by a white, right-wing Australian has united, rather than divided, this small country and galvanised a parliament that has been prevaricating on gun reform for 30 years into action.
Much of that response has been down to the leadership of Jacinda Ardern. But even there, the public reception has been remarkable.
Continue reading...State of emergency declared in South Island after severe downpour that washed away bridge
A woman has been found dead in New Zealand following a severe downpour that washed away a bridge and prompted a state of emergency in the South Island.
Police on Wednesday said the elderly woman’s body had washed up on a riverbank north of the town of Hokitika, in the West Coast region.
Continue reading...Home of far-right ‘Identitarian’ raided after he received a large donation from a person sharing the same surname as Christchurch suspect
Austria’s chancellor called Tuesday for authorities to “ruthlessly” investigate possible ties between an Austrian nationalist group and the alleged Christchurch mosque gunman, after it emerged that a prominent far-right activist had received a donation in the suspected shooter’s name.
Martin Sellner, head of the Identitarian Movement of Austria, said on social media that police searched his apartment Monday and seized electronic devices after he received a “disproportionately high donation” from a person named Tarrant the same surname as the suspected Christchurch shooter.
Continue reading...Prime minister says the country’s highest form of investigation is appropriate for ‘matters of the gravest public importance’
New Zealand’s prime minister has announced a top-level inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the massacre of 50 people in two Christchurch mosques.
Jacinda Ardern said the country’s highest form of investigation, a royal commission of inquiry, was appropriate for “matters of the gravest public importance”.
Continue reading...David Shanks says document ‘deliberately constructed to inspire murder and terrorism’, as more than 1,000 New Zealanders register to hand in guns
New Zealand’s chief censor has banned a document shared by the man allegedly responsible for killing 50 people in two Christchurch mosques.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people so far have opted to hand in their weapons following a ban on assault rifles and military-style semi-automatics (MSSAs).
Continue reading...Leaders and worshippers escorted through cordon by police as life begins to return to normal
Muslim community leaders and worshippers have been escorted back to one of two mosques targeted in the New Zealand terror attack.
Two groups were taken through the cordon to Masjid Al Noor on Saturday morning, accompanied by a delegation of dignitaries. They received a briefing from officers on the street before being led to the front door where the shooting rampage that killed 50 began.
Continue reading...Vigils and silences held as country remembers the victims of the mosque shooting
Continue reading...Imam Gamal Fouda tells thousands that events leading to last week’s massacre ‘did not come overnight’
An imam who survived the terror attack at Al Noor mosque has declared New Zealand “unbreakable” in a sermon attended by thousands in Christchurch on Friday and called on world leaders eliminate hate speech, saying the massacre “did not come overnight”.
Speaking from a temporary stage set up in Hagley Park opposite the mosque, which is still surrounded by police tape a week after the attack, Imam Gamal Fouda said that in attempting to spread hate, the gunman who killed 50 people and injured 42 had instead sparked love and compassion.
Continue reading...New Zealand has banned military-style semi-automatic guns and assault rifles under tough new laws following the attacks on two Christchurch mosques. The changes, announced on Thursday by the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, also include a gun buyback scheme. The gun-law changes were effective immediately.
Continue reading...Jacinda Ardern asked New Zealand to remember the names of the victims of the Christchurch shooting, not that of the perpetrator. Here are their stories
Continue reading...Muslim associations have expressed despair that no one in government heeded their warnings about a rise in racism and violence
As the alleged killer sits in an isolated, maximum security jail cell on the outskirts of Christchurch, many people in New Zealand are wondering how an alt-right extremist who allegedly amassed an arsenal of military grade weapons went undetected for so long.
Holed up in a wooden bungalow in the seaside town of Dunedin, the alleged shooter was an active member of the local gun club and pumped weights at a South Dunedin gym. He was quiet, but not reclusive, and appears to have made no effort to hide his obsession with military grade weaponry.
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