Everything you need to know about the world today, curated by 95bFM and VICE NZ.
LOCAL NEWS
Police Mistakenly Seize Legal Hemp
East Coast police have apologised for seizing a legal crop of hemp. On Tuesday, a drug squad raided a property near Ruatoria where industrial hemp was growing for medicinal purposes. The owner of the property held a license from the Ministry of Health and was running operations legally. Hikurangi hemp company spokesperson Manu Caddie says based on police estimates, the crop was worth around $16,000. Caddie said it was a sad irony that the incident took place on the same day the Government announced plans to allow medical cannabis to be grown in New Zealand and with a crop that could have been used in some of the first New Zealand products available to New Zealand patients. A police spokesperson says the police have apologised to the owner and will reimburse him.
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Ministry of Health to Offer Free Mumps Jabs
The Ministry of Health is offering mumps jabs to hundreds of thousands of young Aucklanders following an outbreak of the disease. District Health Boards in Auckland are asking the Ministry for help, following more than 1000 people contracting mumps since the start of the year. Ministry Director of Public Health Caroline McElnay says early next year there are plans to offer vaccinations to children and young adults in the 11 to 29 year age group that are most at risk.
Driver Attack in Melbourne
This morning in Melbourne a car has been driven into pedestrians outside a train station, sending 18 people to hospital. Police say the driver was a 32 year old Australian citizen.The man was known to police and has a history of mental illness. Victoria Police Commander Russell Barrett says the driver’s actions were deliberate but his motivations are unknown.
Port Move a Waste, Says Think-Tank
A prominent think-tank says shifting the ports of Auckland would have little positive impact.
In a report for the Auckland Council, The New Zealand Institute For Economic Research estimated the cost of the move would outweigh the benefit by around $1 billion.
Laurence Kubiak told 95bFM moving the port would have high costs and low benefits. Kubiak said the final destination for imported stock needs to be taken into account. “The demand for these vehicles is going to be based predominantly in Auckland going forward. That’s not going to change if you land them at another port,” Kubiak said. “What that means that we are all have to pay for the cost of trucking those [vehicles] from an alternative port where they are going to be consumed in the end anyway, which is Auckland.”
New Camping in Whanganui
A new freedom camping site is due to be built in Whanganui to help accommodate growing tourist numbers in the area. The ground will be placed on Whanganui’s Anzac Parade and will include a toilet and a campervan dump station. The project is estimated to cost $250,000, with the government to foot half of the bill.
Beneficiaries Stories Taken to Parliament
A book sharing the stories of hundreds of beneficiaries is to be delivered to Parliament. The book is by a group of artists that are appealing for a more compassionate welfare system. The book titled: ‘we are beneficiaries’ was motivated by Metiria Turei speaking out about her life as a beneficiary. Sam Orchard, an artist involved in the project says it’s about sharing what their lives are actually like, instead of the stigma and discrimination that pervades New Zealand. One of the recommendations in the report is cultural competence and empathy training for WINZ staff.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
New Year Surgeries Cancelled in England
Non-urgent surgeries are being cancelled in the new year across hospitals in England. There is often a surge of patients post Christmas with winter illnesses peaking and growing demand in A&E. An emergency panel from the NHS made the decision as a way of giving hospitals space to cope. There isn’t a publicly known figure for the amount of surgeries that will be cut, however it is understood to be 10 percent. This means up to 15,000 operations will not take place in the first 2 weeks of January. The emergency panel is a new group of senior doctors, nurses and managers set up to advise NHS England, the NHS National Emergency Pressure Panel. The decision is their first since being formed.
UN Rejects Trump’s Jerusalem Declaration
The UN has rejected Trump’s declaration recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. At an emergency meeting yesterday, 128 countries approved the non-binding resolution which states that any decisions regarding the status of Jerusalem are “null and void”. 9 countries voted against the measure with another 35 abstaining from voting.This follows Trump threatening to cut financial aid to any countries that support the resolution. US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley says she will be “taking names” of the countries who voted for the resolution.
Paradise Papers Charges Laid
Revelations from the Paradise Papers has led to a criminal complaint against Glencore, the Anglo-Swiss commodities corporation. A watchdog group made up of human rights campaigners has requested a formal investigation into how the multinational came to own a copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Swiss law states that an assessment as well as a formal response is required from the attorney general regarding the complaint. The Paradise Papers leak had revealed that Glencore loaned 45 million dollars to an offshore firm of the diamond businessman Dan Gertler. This was after Gertler was enlisted to help secure a joint agreement with a state controlled mining entity in the DRC.
Myanmar Crisis Continues
Maung Maung Soe, a general from Myanmar, has been sanctioned by the US. The general has been accused of leading an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya people. The crisis in Myanmar has seen 650,000 Rohingya leave the country since August. The persecution of the Rohingya people has occurred for many years, but it came to a head earlier this year when Myanmar’s military launched a counter-insurgency operation targeting militants in Rakhine. The military continues to deny accusations of ethnic cleansing and says they are not targeting civilians. Rohingya who have reached neighbouring country Bangladesh in their hope to flee the violence at home described Burmese troops attacking and burning their villages. The military offensive in Rakhine has been described as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing by the UN.
Cholera Rises in Yemen
The number of recorded cholera cases in Yemen has risen to more than one million. The Three Year War between the Saudi led coalition and the Houthi rebels have left more than 80% of the country without access to basic necessities. The combination of inadequate medical staff and supplies, with a lack of clean water and nutrition means the population is particularly susceptible to the effects of the waterborne disease. According to UN reports, 90% of Yemeni districts are affected, with both sides of the conflict accused of blocking medical transport. Normally with a fatality rate of 0.3%, Cholera is proving more effective due to the conditions of the region.
Additional reporting by Reuben McLaren, Lillian Hanley, Jean Bell
