All you need to know about the world this morning, curated by 95bFM and VICE NZ.
LOCAL NEWS
Silver Scroll Longlist Released (and It’s Bloody Good Too)
The finalists for the 2017 Silver Scroll Awards have been announced. Widely considered the most prestigious award in New Zealand Music, the Silver Scroll recognises outstanding achievement in songwriting.
Cut Off Your Hands were among the 20 artists nominated, for their song “Hate Somebody”.
Lead vocalist Nick Johnston told 95bFM that this is an exciting accolade for the band, who haven’t been as present in the New Zealand music scene in the past few years.
“We’ve just released a couple of songs, and we’ve got a few more songs to come, so it’s nice that something we’ve done coming back is something which people have thought is good enough for this.”
Kiwi singer-songwriter Lydia Cole is also in the Silver Scroll longlist for her song “Sober”.
Speaking to 95bFM from Berlin, Cole said she was relieved to hear the good news.
“I think there’s something in the song that people connected with that was beyond the accessible pop thing that you usually attribute to a successful single.”
Other songs nominated include “Little Did She Know” by SWIDT, “Horizon” by Aldous Harding, and “Lucky Girl” by Fazerdaze.
APRA members can now vote for the top five from the long list of 20, with the winner to be announced in a ceremony in Dunedin on September 28.
See the full long-list here.
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Wild Weather Causes Chaos
The wild weather which has felled power lines and closed roads across the South Island overnight is expected to continue it’s path up the North Island today.
Metservice said the storm is a “significant weather event”, with ferry services in the capital being cancelled this morning and and heavy snow expected to fall across the Central Plateau.
Aucklanders can look forward to chilly temperatures, possible thunder, and heavy showers, and the potential of hail in the evening.
Showers and cold temperatures are expected to continue for the remainder of the week, but should clear in time for the weekend.
Huge Climate Database Compiled By Kiwi Scientist
A New Zealand scientist has helped compile a colossal database which aims to shed light on changes in climate over the past 2000 years.
Released by the scientific journal Nature, PAGES-2k information examined a range of sources, including tree rings, corals and glacial ice.
GNS Science and Victoria University researcher Nancy Bertler provided data from the Ross Sea region.
Bertler said she now has access to a playground of high-quality information which she could not previously use.
It’s hoped the database will be used to assist policy-makers around the world.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The Donald’s “Witch Hunt” Claims Rejected
Donald Trump’s pick for head of the FBI, Christopher Wray, rejected the President’s allegations that the probe into Russian election meddling is a “witch hunt”.
In a senate hearing, Wray said he was “very committed to supporting” special counsel Director Robert Mueller.
On Wednesday, Trump tweeted that the investigation “is the greatest Witch Hunt in political history. Sad!”
Giant Iceberg Breaks Off Antarctica
Satellite images have confirmed an enormous iceberg has broken away from Antarctica and is now adrift at sea.
The iceberg—which is twice the size of Luxembourg—separated from the West Antarctic Ice Shelf sometime between Monday and Wednesday this week.
According to scientists, this is one of the largest icebergs in recorded history, estimated to weigh one trillion tonnes.
While break-offs like this occur naturally, the process is believed to have been accelerated by global warming, which has increased global air temperature by one degree over the past 200 years.
Brazil’s Former President Is Going To Jail
Brazil’s former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has been sentenced to prison after being convicted of corruption.
Lula was convicted of accepting $1.5 million in bribes, bringing many of the country’s politicians down with him.
He has been sentenced to nine-and-a-half years, after numerous corruption scandals rocked the South American country.
The two-term president previously rose from poverty to take Brazil’s highest office, and was once labelled by Barack Obama as the most popular president on earth.
Reporting by Adam Jacobson, Katie Doyle, Jack Marshall and Ximena Smith.
