Putin's war crimes multiply. The strategy here is clear – keeping the Dniepr river in flood to protect the Russian's western flank from an amphibious assault, eventually deny drinking water to millions of Ukrainian civilians and ensure that there will be no grain for export this year from the Ukraine. This is not the actions of a reasonable or even sane regime. It is the unhinged and genocidal actions of criminals and totally unjustified by any norm of civilised behaviour.
So let's be clear. Russia is waging a total war on the Ukraine at a level of demented brutality not seen since the darkest days of the second world war. Millions rely on Ukrainian grain for food in the middle east. Putin appears to be prepared to plunge the entire nations of innocents into hunger in order to achieve whatever ruinous, messianic vision he has descended to in his all-encompassing madness.
Putin and his mob of equally psychopathic gangsters who run Russia are determined to keep raising the stakes on the already high crimes they are guilty of, and they are playing for keeps for maximalist war aims. Surely, such behaviour simply makes a wider war inevitable. Poland is engaged in a crash rearmament, ordering staggering amounts of weapons from especially South Korea. Putin can't conquer the Ukraine, his army is too weak now. If he drags on a demented, genocidal assault on the Ukraine for another year then I can't see the likes of Poland staying out forever.
Poland would have to be the "aggressor" if war were to break out between them and Russia. I doubt whether Russia is planning on attacking Poland. It sounds as though the latter are becoming paranoid. Still, arming themselves is good for the arms manufacturers.
There are two Nations that the Poles hate the most Germany & Russia!
Given that Germany is a democracy & both the EU & NATO.
The other Russia is run by a one man raving lunatic who thinks he's the next Russia Tsar who wants to rebuild the Russian/ USSR Imperial.
Who has invaded another country aka Ukraine Violation of Article 51 of the UN Charter,the Lisbon protocol & Budapest memorandum which Russia signed when Ukraine got its independence in 1991. (well Poot's has invaded a few countries as the Russia President btw).
Russia has also now setup shop Belarus with what 100k+ troops & let's not forget the Russian garrison in Kaliningrad Oblast which shares a border with Poland.
Given what Tsar Poot's has said about Poland over the last decade or so & especially in the last 5yrs.
Poles can be almost be forgiven to be a tad on edge atm, given pass history at the way Imperial & USSR Russia has treated Poland especially from post WW1 onwards!
If Russia & Belarus were too be stupid enough to invade Ukrane from Belarus in the forthcoming Russian Offensive? I wouldn't be surprised if Poland goes all in, while telling the EU & NATO to FUCK OFF!
Plus I'm also sure that Poland has & no doubt the EU along with NATO has read the Riot Act to Belarus. That if it facilitates a Russian invasion of Ukraine from its Borders, it will find itself in trouble & that NATO nor the EU will have any Responsibility for Poland's Actions if it chooses to support Ukraine by Invading Belarus!
Poland has not forgotten what Russia has done to Poland & it will never for give them either!!
That should be post WW2. In 1918-1920 Poland waged two sucessful eastern wars: firstly against a short-lived nascent Ukraine Republic that claimed cities like Lvov, (now Lviv), which had 60% Polish-speaking population, a large Jewish population and minority Ukraine population; and secondly against Russian and Ukraine Soviets.
A 1920-1939 map of Poland shows significant areas now in western Ukraine and Belarus were a part of Poland between WW1 and WW2. Polish veterans were given land grants in those regions.
It was touch an go for the Poles at one stage as they were fighting a two front war for their independence against the remains of the Imperial Germany Armed Forces aka the Freikorps & the Bolsheviks in the East while supporting the newly independent Ukraine as well with the idea of reforming the Polish- Ukranian Commonwealth. Which is an interesting story IRT Ukraine in itself btw, but with a tragic ending of a Greek Opera.
The fighting in the East against the Bolsheviks was some of the Bloodiest, where no quarter was given.
"Note there new book is about to be released on this period of Polish History about fighting Lenin's Red Bolsheviks in the East & it sounds like a ripping read btw".
If you think a Albanian or Yugoslavian Blood Feud can be little bit crazy at times?
The Polish & Russia Feud has lasted alot longer & if Russia gives the Poles a half chance/ an excuse? They will be in like Flynn & even God won't help Tsar Poot's!
Yes, but that's what the West is hoping to avoid, by giving Ukraine as much help as possible. Because if Poland goes in, and Russia loses, Putin will try and immolate the world.
It’s in everyone’s interest to get Russia to back off.
Poland "will not take a backward step to Russia"? It certainly does exactly that to Germany, the U.K. and the United States. It's as much of a doormat now as it's ever been.
Robologic, And, like most Soviet satellite states, would do anything to stop the return of a similar overlordship, whether capitalist, fascist, or communist.
RNZ thinks we have an interest in American "news'..or atleast RNZ's limited understanding of what makes American News..that is.."Trump Bad, Shootings and Bad China with its spy balloons"…for anyone here reduced to having RNZ as their only radio news sourse..but with an actual interest in the state of that particular Nation..I would like to share this terrible story…
I suspect on a very slow news day, had this happened in say..India or wherever, RNZ may have reported this story as part of the usuale narrative. about so called third world nations….but we seem to be holding on to the illusion of America being a first World Nation..not to mention our delusions about what that even means…
Yeah..atleast the Democrats, and the rest of us, know how to farm out child labour when its needed..(I was going to say needed for our cheap crap..but then I remember reading this just last week..
I have no idea what RNZ ‘thinks’ or what you’re going on about. You seem to believe that you’re offering some context and balance to the poor Kiwis who need it without even knowing about and/or asking for it. You seem to think that there are people who are ‘reduced’ to only source of information, which clearly is the wrong one, in your mind.
Obviously, it is not a slow news day and RNZ and other NZ MSM sites are understandably dominated by the current event called Gabrielle, which seems to have escaped you.
Your hypotheticals are idle speculation and show your biased thinking, your illusions, and what you think things even mean…
I'm trying to work out how anyone could be reduced to having only RNZ as their radio news.
Surely with communications systems and capitalists all over the place trying to make money out of media the numbers in that boat would be infinitesimal.
Siobhan, I've noticed when scrolling through English-language news sites that the same stories pop up on most. The shrinking number of hard-news on-the-ground journalists inevitably leads to a more homogenous, more limited news reporting. If you shop around, Al Jazeera generates novel Islamic-world news, France 24 reports on North and Central Africa, etc. No one source seems to provide a whole-world news update.
And disaster porn has always been a feature of headline news, hence the preponderance of wildfire/earthquake/flood reporting with little analysis. Also, if I remember from the Ohio train derailment, there's no death toll, only the possibilty if it had occurred in a more populous area.
Amid questions, Biden administration officials have found themselves issuing private assurances there is no evidence they involve extraterrestrial activity, the New York Times reports.
The latest incurious came as US officials were still trying to precisely identify two others objects blown from the sky by F-22 fighter jets over the past two days, and were working to determine whether China was responsible as concerns escalate about what Washington says is Beijing's large-scale aerial surveillance programme.
A precedent now set with the 1st balloon, anything unidentified that flies over North America has to be shot down. Get Mulder and Scully onto it.
Peak insanity. I hope this doesn't impact on the output of global weather forecasting models…..
They can land things on the Moon and Mars, they can bring back manned shuttles to Earth, but they cannot take down a balloon without destroying/losing the evidence?? Have they watched too many movies starring Tom Cruise?
"Centre for Political Research" is one of those innocuous names often favoured by extreme Right astroturfers. They do no more "research" than anyone else who has Google.
Lol. Had a peruse. VERY strange place. Laden with very well known Climate Deniers, Racists,Business vampires, libertarians And, variations…of nutbars (disclaimer…some guests Not so, were maybe allowed a say to show how open they were? )
Was listening to Heather Stupidity-Allan interview her father, Barry Soper, just now.
Three Waters came up (of course) and Soper played an audio clip of a recent exchange between Rawiri Waititi and David Seymour. Waititi accused Seymour of using racist rhetoric. Seymour used the handbook for racists who don't want to appear racist and asks Waititi to say specifically what Seymour has said that is racist.
Waititi demurred. Soper, his daughter, and boomers up and down the country laughed.
If the Maori Party are going to be combative they need to have ready answers when Seymour asks what he has said that is racist.
Rawiri should have held his line, repeated his certainty and shown that the ACT guy's "dive down into the detail"is a technique designed to befuddle the listener. TPM are correct. ACT are duplicitous 🙂
"Jong Khee did not do detail when he accused the Labour Party of backing rapists and murderers."
Actually, he did.
"Key's justification is that the Australian's have supplied him with a list revealing that some of the Kiwi detainees are rapists and murders. Australia's immigration minister has also labelled them the worst sort of criminals. But that contradicts what Davis and others have been claiming about the petty nature of some of the crimes of those who are detained. Key's office later released a list compiled by the Australian government earlier this year to prove his claim, though whether or not it does is a moot point. It showed that as of May there were 34 child sex offenders, 22 murderers and 16 rapists and sex offenders on Australia's hit list, along with 121 Kiwis convicted of assault, 83 with theft, robbery and breaking and entering offences to their name and 64 drug offenders. But that's out of a total 585 New Zealanders who are in the system for visa cancellation. Presumably that leaves 140 or more who are being deported for less serious offences."
“Bless, by linking the Tracy Watkins article your defence of Key and the political right did not turn out how you wanted.”
I don’t know what you mean by ‘how I wanted’. It turned out that John Key did provide detail to justify his comments about the 501’s.
I agree. Seymour asked a simple question that Rawiri couldn't answer because people like Rawiri have become accustomed to spouting racist rhetoric with little fear of being taken to task for their comments.
The question is: should this clown hold the balance of power at election time, I can't see either Labour or National gaining from going into coalition with the Maori Party. National would lose a massive voter base, and Labour would be forced into more Three Waters type sops to accommodate a coalition agreement. The result for either party would probably be a one term tenure before getting the boot.
In practice Seymour is about as Maori as I am which is zero. It hurts actual Maori people to have him claim whakapapa but never ever use it for the good of Maori. In fact his policies actively work against a Maori renaissance, rather amalgamating and diluting Te Ao into a One NZ where cultural identity comes second to the economic power of the individual.
For ACT it's all about locking in those gains of the 17th Century, and more recently here locking in the illicit gains wayward European settlers made in the dead of the night.
For them Maori have the right to exist but in no way should that be at the expense or inconvenience of the very white people who have benefitted from proceedings thus far.
It shouldn't be difficult, but Seymour is a wily politician with 8 years of sharpening rhetoric under his belt, and Waititi is a first term MP
The racism is covert dogwhistling. Calls for one nation. Accusing Māori activists of separatism, apartheid, etc. Extremely dishonest shit.
The problem is what Seymour doesn't say. He talks about equality and opportunity, but his party's sociopathic policies do exactly the opposite.
Seymour is a skilled and amoral liar.
We like to joke about him twerking on TV and looking like Rimmer the hologram, but he’s probably the most dangerous politician in NZ right now. If he gets into government NZ will descend into a “BoJo Britain” level of dysfunction.
I'm glad you mentioned Boris Johnson because I suspect his style is what David Seymour is trying to copy. His 'state of the nation' speech was about European superiority in the 17th Century. Boris Johnson is a gregarious Classics buffoon and Seymour is emulating that.
The problem is what Seymour doesn't say. He talks about equality and opportunity, but his party's sociopathic policies do exactly the opposite. Seymour is a skilled and amoral liar.
So true and this is what I'd like to see the Maori Party and others really highlight. That is the inherent racism of the ACT Party.
At 9am on Monday, MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said the former tropical cyclone system was sitting a couple of hundred kilometres almost directly north of Great Barrier Island.
As of 1pm, Cyclone Gabrielle was sitting about 250km to the north, northeast of Great Barrier Island, MetService meteorologist Peter Little said….
….Cyclone Gabrielle is forecast to continue to take a more southerly course, bringing it down to Great Barrier (just shy of 100km from Auckland), and Coromandel Peninsula on Monday night….
….“We can say with pretty good certainty that [Gabrielle] will come closer to Great Barrier Island today.”
Putin's hypocrisy, continuing their attacks on civilians in Ukraine the Russian Federation does not let up on its attacks on the people of Syria.
Despite the suffering caused by the devastating earthquake Russia uses its veto in the UN to stop the free flow of humanitarian aid into North West Syria. While demanding the sanctions on its ally the genocidal Assad regime be lifted.
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And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
The Cook Islands PM is in Beijing to sign an agreement with China - but the government says he failed to consult with NZ on the matter, as is required. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katinka van de Ven, Alcohol and other drug specialist, UNSW Sydney Fewer young Australians are drinking. And when they do drink, they are drinking less and less often than previous generations at the same age. It’s a trend happening all around the ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacinta Humphrey, Research Fellow in Urban Ecology, RMIT University Golf courses are sometimes seen as harmful to the environment. According to the popular notion, the grass soaks up too much water, is cut too short and sprayed with dangerous chemicals. But in ...
New Zealand has long championed a fair, stable, and resilient global order. As a nation with deep ties to the Pacific and beyond, we cannot afford to be passive in the face of these shifts. ...
Things are going to look a little different this year. Here’s what to expect.Good news, Shortland Street fans: after a well-earned summer holiday, New Zealand’s longest running drama returns to TVNZ2 and TVNZ+ tonight. Ahead of us is a fresh year of living, loving and laughing in the nation’s ...
The poll, conducted between 02 and 04 February, shows National up 2.3 points to 31.9 percent, while Labour has risen 0.4 points from last month to 31.3 percent. ...
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The Cook Islands finds itself in a precarious dance — one between the promises of foreign investments and the integrity of our own sovereignty. As the country sways between partners China and Aotearoa New Zealand, the Cook Islands News asks: “Do we continue to haka with the Taniwha, our constitutional ...
A diplomatic scuffle with the Cook Islands. Plus: What went down at Waitangi. The Cook Islands prime minister, Mark Brown, has provoked the wrath of the New Zealand foreign minister with his decision to head to China to sign a new strategic deal. By failing to consult on the ...
The deputy chairperson of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Michael Connelly, said simply setting targets without "resourcing" them was a pointless exercise, as the number of patients - and their acuity - continuing to grow. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suvradip Maitra, PhD Student, Australian National University Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock Late last year, ChatGPT was used by a Victorian child protection worker to draft documents. In a glaring error, ChatGPT referred to a “doll” used for sexual purposes as an “age-appropriate toy”. ...
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Sick of human reality TV? Alex Casey has found a perfect solution in David Attenborough’s latest. I’m know I’m not alone when I say this: humans are bleaking me out at the moment. Turn on the news for the bleakest updates imaginable. Try to numb the pain with Married at ...
The Director of Public Health is a statutory role providing public health leadership across the Public Health Agency, within the Ministry of Health, and the National Public Health Service within Health NZ. ...
Zachary Forbes, a maths teacher from Whanganui, has started an unusual initiative on videogame streaming service Twitch. Shanti Mathias interviews him. “The people want First Samuel,” says the man who calls himself Brother Zac. Brown hair, headphones on, a wall behind him, he pauses and reflects on the comments he’s ...
Endless New Zealand politicians, including the present government, have pointed to our support for a rules-based international system, says PSNA National Chair John Minto. ...
In January, the reversals to speed limit reductions on the state highway network began. Councils have been asked to reverse all reduced speed limits since 2020 by July. A retired rural healthcare worker found something missing from the conversation – a maths equation she learned in high school. As told ...
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A tragic and completely avoidable scandal.
GIDS ignored children’s histories of sexual abuse
https://twitter.com/hadleyfreeman/status/1624470873527705601?s=46&t=NI8SGvk3IMQ1knONqyaDpQ
And ongoing in many places. And they still don't want to know.
"GIDS ignored children’s histories of sexual abuse"
…and a range of other issues as well.
"Former clinicians at the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids), part of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust in London, have detailed how some “incredibly complex” children were placed on medication after one face-to-face assessment, despite many having a variety of mental health or family background problems.
More than a third of young people referred to the service had moderate to severe autistic traits, compared with fewer than 2 per cent of children in the general population. Some identified not just as a different gender, but a different ethnic background, such as Japanese or Korean. One young person had “three different alter egos, two of whom spoke in an Australian accent”.
It's frightening what has been done to these children.
Fortunately, the USA is beginning to have its whistle blowers also.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11734551/St-Louis-trans-clinic-investigated-harming-600-teens.html?fbclid=IwAR19PDd77gWo0OZWl0MIM0XYH9bYdtZ95YzXXaIgd-KlB8ukzMetUkfWgYE
Horrible. I wonder what the consequences will be on those doctors if the allegations are proven?
Putin's war crimes multiply. The strategy here is clear – keeping the Dniepr river in flood to protect the Russian's western flank from an amphibious assault, eventually deny drinking water to millions of Ukrainian civilians and ensure that there will be no grain for export this year from the Ukraine. This is not the actions of a reasonable or even sane regime. It is the unhinged and genocidal actions of criminals and totally unjustified by any norm of civilised behaviour.
So let's be clear. Russia is waging a total war on the Ukraine at a level of demented brutality not seen since the darkest days of the second world war. Millions rely on Ukrainian grain for food in the middle east. Putin appears to be prepared to plunge the entire nations of innocents into hunger in order to achieve whatever ruinous, messianic vision he has descended to in his all-encompassing madness.
Putin and his mob of equally psychopathic gangsters who run Russia are determined to keep raising the stakes on the already high crimes they are guilty of, and they are playing for keeps for maximalist war aims. Surely, such behaviour simply makes a wider war inevitable. Poland is engaged in a crash rearmament, ordering staggering amounts of weapons from especially South Korea. Putin can't conquer the Ukraine, his army is too weak now. If he drags on a demented, genocidal assault on the Ukraine for another year then I can't see the likes of Poland staying out forever.
Poland will look at what has eventuated in the Ukraine and it will stay out forever (if it has the option).
Poland is preparing for war. It will not take a backward step to Russia. References
Poland would have to be the "aggressor" if war were to break out between them and Russia. I doubt whether Russia is planning on attacking Poland. It sounds as though the latter are becoming paranoid. Still, arming themselves is good for the arms manufacturers.
Are you annoying Polish History?
There are two Nations that the Poles hate the most Germany & Russia!
Given that Germany is a democracy & both the EU & NATO.
The other Russia is run by a one man raving lunatic who thinks he's the next Russia Tsar who wants to rebuild the Russian/ USSR Imperial.
Who has invaded another country aka Ukraine Violation of Article 51 of the UN Charter,the Lisbon protocol & Budapest memorandum which Russia signed when Ukraine got its independence in 1991. (well Poot's has invaded a few countries as the Russia President btw).
Russia has also now setup shop Belarus with what 100k+ troops & let's not forget the Russian garrison in Kaliningrad Oblast which shares a border with Poland.
Given what Tsar Poot's has said about Poland over the last decade or so & especially in the last 5yrs.
Poles can be almost be forgiven to be a tad on edge atm, given pass history at the way Imperial & USSR Russia has treated Poland especially from post WW1 onwards!
If Russia & Belarus were too be stupid enough to invade Ukrane from Belarus in the forthcoming Russian Offensive? I wouldn't be surprised if Poland goes all in, while telling the EU & NATO to FUCK OFF!
Plus I'm also sure that Poland has & no doubt the EU along with NATO has read the Riot Act to Belarus. That if it facilitates a Russian invasion of Ukraine from its Borders, it will find itself in trouble & that NATO nor the EU will have any Responsibility for Poland's Actions if it chooses to support Ukraine by Invading Belarus!
Poland has not forgotten what Russia has done to Poland & it will never for give them either!!
That should be post WW2. In 1918-1920 Poland waged two sucessful eastern wars: firstly against a short-lived nascent Ukraine Republic that claimed cities like Lvov, (now Lviv), which had 60% Polish-speaking population, a large Jewish population and minority Ukraine population; and secondly against Russian and Ukraine Soviets.
A 1920-1939 map of Poland shows significant areas now in western Ukraine and Belarus were a part of Poland between WW1 and WW2. Polish veterans were given land grants in those regions.
It was touch an go for the Poles at one stage as they were fighting a two front war for their independence against the remains of the Imperial Germany Armed Forces aka the Freikorps & the Bolsheviks in the East while supporting the newly independent Ukraine as well with the idea of reforming the Polish- Ukranian Commonwealth. Which is an interesting story IRT Ukraine in itself btw, but with a tragic ending of a Greek Opera.
The fighting in the East against the Bolsheviks was some of the Bloodiest, where no quarter was given.
"Note there new book is about to be released on this period of Polish History about fighting Lenin's Red Bolsheviks in the East & it sounds like a ripping read btw".
If you think a Albanian or Yugoslavian Blood Feud can be little bit crazy at times?
The Polish & Russia Feud has lasted alot longer & if Russia gives the Poles a half chance/ an excuse? They will be in like Flynn & even God won't help Tsar Poot's!
Yes, but that's what the West is hoping to avoid, by giving Ukraine as much help as possible. Because if Poland goes in, and Russia loses, Putin will try and immolate the world.
It’s in everyone’s interest to get Russia to back off.
Yep and that's what some people are forgetting, helping Ukraine defend itself is going to be better than the alternative….
Poland "will not take a backward step to Russia"? It certainly does exactly that to Germany, the U.K. and the United States. It's as much of a doormat now as it's ever been.
.
Poland is a member of NATO because they have a belligerent genocidal madman living next door. Perfectly sensible
And that's just Alexander Lukashenko!
Robologic, And, like most Soviet satellite states, would do anything to stop the return of a similar overlordship, whether capitalist, fascist, or communist.
Prison of the peoples
I'm sorry, but I'm not going near your references link, on my screen its gobbledygook
Poland is a little more circumspect about providing fighter jets than it's gung ho days last year
https://www.rferl.org/a/poland-ukraine-fighter-jets-nato/32266934.html
Pastebin is just a boring copy/paste site for text documents. That particular link was to a list of URLs detailing Poland's military buildup
Interesting opinion piece by Gareth Hughes over whether the Greens should make a serious bid for more electorate seats in 2023.
Noting that there are realistic options in Wellington Central & Rongotai.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/131200840/gareth-hughes-time-for-the-greens-to-ditch-a-key-election-strategy#comments
The fight for the rights of Julian Assange (and all of us) goes on
https://alphaville451.wordpress.com/2023/02/12/night-carnival-for-julian-assange-11-feb-2023/
RNZ thinks we have an interest in American "news'..or atleast RNZ's limited understanding of what makes American News..that is.."Trump Bad, Shootings and Bad China with its spy balloons"…for anyone here reduced to having RNZ as their only radio news sourse..but with an actual interest in the state of that particular Nation..I would like to share this terrible story…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/02/12/east-palestine-ohio-derailment-residents/
Though even the poor old washington post couldn't bring themselves to acknowledge the absolutely illusion shattering irony…
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/11/health/ohio-train-derailment-white-noise/index.html
I suspect on a very slow news day, had this happened in say..India or wherever, RNZ may have reported this story as part of the usuale narrative. about so called third world nations….but we seem to be holding on to the illusion of America being a first World Nation..not to mention our delusions about what that even means…
While we're doing terrible; Republicans in at least four states want to expand permissible child work hours, broaden the types of jobs young workers are permitted to do, and shield employers from liability for injuries, illnesses or workplace fatalities involving very young workers and in another state Republicans are arguing that putting "arbitrary" limits on child marriage interferes with parental rights and religious liberty.
Yeah..atleast the Democrats, and the rest of us, know how to farm out child labour when its needed..(I was going to say needed for our cheap crap..but then I remember reading this just last week..
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/03/child-labour-toxic-leaks-the-price-we-could-pay-for-a-greener-future
Gotta love that Guardian headline.."the price we pay.." LOL
https://www.worldvision.org.nz/getmedia/6904e490-14b7-4fbf-b11e-308ddf99c44a/WVNZ-research-risky-goods-nz-imports/
I have no idea what RNZ ‘thinks’ or what you’re going on about. You seem to believe that you’re offering some context and balance to the poor Kiwis who need it without even knowing about and/or asking for it. You seem to think that there are people who are ‘reduced’ to only source of information, which clearly is the wrong one, in your mind.
Obviously, it is not a slow news day and RNZ and other NZ MSM sites are understandably dominated by the current event called Gabrielle, which seems to have escaped you.
Your hypotheticals are idle speculation and show your biased thinking, your illusions, and what you think things even mean…
Your boring whining sounds familiar.
I'm trying to work out how anyone could be reduced to having only RNZ as their radio news.
Surely with communications systems and capitalists all over the place trying to make money out of media the numbers in that boat would be infinitesimal.
Looks round, sheepishly raises hand.
Its Radio Control or RNZ for me, I don't go near commercial radio unless the cricket commentary is on. I am sure there are more of us…
Siobhan, I've noticed when scrolling through English-language news sites that the same stories pop up on most. The shrinking number of hard-news on-the-ground journalists inevitably leads to a more homogenous, more limited news reporting. If you shop around, Al Jazeera generates novel Islamic-world news, France 24 reports on North and Central Africa, etc. No one source seems to provide a whole-world news update.
And disaster porn has always been a feature of headline news, hence the preponderance of wildfire/earthquake/flood reporting with little analysis. Also, if I remember from the Ohio train derailment, there's no death toll, only the possibilty if it had occurred in a more populous area.
The cost of corruption.
https://twitter.com/WarInUkraineYet/status/1623815342207168512
https://twitter.com/WarInUkraineYet/status/1623815409739726849
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/us-canada/300805292/its-not-aliens-us-officials-quietly-say-after-4th-mystery-object-shot-down
A precedent now set with the 1st balloon, anything unidentified that flies over North America has to be shot down. Get Mulder and Scully onto it.
Peak insanity. I hope this doesn't impact on the output of global weather forecasting models…..
They can land things on the Moon and Mars, they can bring back manned shuttles to Earth, but they cannot take down a balloon without destroying/losing the evidence?? Have they watched too many movies starring Tom Cruise?
Slash Cam – Hikuwai River at Willowflat.
https://www.gdc.govt.nz/environment/river-webcam
Good grief. What next. She gives the weather information in English as well! You will never please these people.
https://twitter.com/KarinMary1/status/1624658544091090944
"Centre for Political Research" is one of those innocuous names often favoured by extreme Right astroturfers. They do no more "research" than anyone else who has Google.
Average age 108.
Lol. Had a peruse. VERY strange place. Laden with very well known Climate Deniers, Racists,Business vampires, libertarians And, variations…of nutbars (disclaimer…some guests Not so, were maybe allowed a say to show how open they were? )
https://www.nzcpr.com/guest-articles-archive/
Did feel my Sanity Warning alert going off..the scale : ).
Had to smile at..an old one from the "iron duke" himself….dooming about the evils of the Minimum wage ! 2009
And, this guy…who knew? 2011
And..escaped. with no urge to vote act. : )
Whangarei and Mercury Bay (Coromandel) getting the worst of Gabrielle so far. Last night was pretty darn windy in Auckland but no massive deluge (yet)
https://twitter.com/MattDyer01/status/1624938686449336320?s=20
https://twitter.com/nzherald/status/1624954476124688390?s=20
The Hikuwai river (Gisborne) is looking ominous. *13* m over its normal level.
River webcam | Gisborne District Council (gdc.govt.nz)
nz centre for political research staff
Set up by ex-Act member. Busy pushing Māori 'apartheit' and evil Jacinda messages
Was listening to Heather Stupidity-Allan interview her father, Barry Soper, just now.
Three Waters came up (of course) and Soper played an audio clip of a recent exchange between Rawiri Waititi and David Seymour. Waititi accused Seymour of using racist rhetoric. Seymour used the handbook for racists who don't want to appear racist and asks Waititi to say specifically what Seymour has said that is racist.
Waititi demurred. Soper, his daughter, and boomers up and down the country laughed.
If the Maori Party are going to be combative they need to have ready answers when Seymour asks what he has said that is racist.
It should not be difficult!
Waititi 'demurred' (in the sense of hesitating), because he made an accusation he couldn't back up. It wasn't a good look.
Edit: the full exchange is https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/02/act-s-david-seymour-rejects-racist-rhetoric-allegations-in-heated-am-clash-with-te-p-ti-m-ori-co-leader-rawiri-waititi.html
Rawiri should have held his line, repeated his certainty and shown that the ACT guy's "dive down into the detail"is a technique designed to befuddle the listener. TPM are correct. ACT are duplicitous 🙂
I would expect someone accusing a parliamentary colleague on national television of racist rhetoric would be able to dive down into the detail.
Jong Khee did not do detail when he accused the Labour Party of backing rapists and murderers.
Even had his diplomatic squad rough up Kelvin Davis, as if a nod to the settler takeover of Maori assets way back when.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/73884590/john-key-sparks-walk-out-after-saying-labour-backs-rapists-and-murderers
Nats are cunts, always will be. ACT are worse.
"Even had his diplomatic squad rough up Kelvin Davis…"
Well that's one side of the story. Here's another:
"It's one thing to have your opponents yelling insults across the House, and quite another to be waylaid by a fellow MP in the corridor and verbally abused. "
"Jong Khee did not do detail when he accused the Labour Party of backing rapists and murderers."
Actually, he did.
"Key's justification is that the Australian's have supplied him with a list revealing that some of the Kiwi detainees are rapists and murders. Australia's immigration minister has also labelled them the worst sort of criminals. But that contradicts what Davis and others have been claiming about the petty nature of some of the crimes of those who are detained. Key's office later released a list compiled by the Australian government earlier this year to prove his claim, though whether or not it does is a moot point. It showed that as of May there were 34 child sex offenders, 22 murderers and 16 rapists and sex offenders on Australia's hit list, along with 121 Kiwis convicted of assault, 83 with theft, robbery and breaking and entering offences to their name and 64 drug offenders. But that's out of a total 585 New Zealanders who are in the system for visa cancellation. Presumably that leaves 140 or more who are being deported for less serious offences."
Key ramps up the politics on Kiwi detainees | Stuff.co.nz
Bless, by linking the Tracy Watkins article your defence of Key and the political right did not turn out how you wanted.
It highlights that the current problems NZ has with retail, ram-raid, and gang related firearms crime is down to one John Keys.
He did meekly provide the pathway for Australian based problems to manifest here. We are now paying that price.
“Bless, by linking the Tracy Watkins article your defence of Key and the political right did not turn out how you wanted.”
I don’t know what you mean by ‘how I wanted’. It turned out that John Key did provide detail to justify his comments about the 501’s.
I agree. Seymour asked a simple question that Rawiri couldn't answer because people like Rawiri have become accustomed to spouting racist rhetoric with little fear of being taken to task for their comments.
The question is: should this clown hold the balance of power at election time, I can't see either Labour or National gaining from going into coalition with the Maori Party. National would lose a massive voter base, and Labour would be forced into more Three Waters type sops to accommodate a coalition agreement. The result for either party would probably be a one term tenure before getting the boot.
You have read my comment so you will be aware I have asked Rawiri Waititi to be more prepared to combat Seymour's Age of Enlightenment points.
These scumbags will do whatever to minimise a similar Maori renaissance because they know the value of what has been taken without permission.
Land owning farmers which NACT represent are terrified the accusation of their multi billion dollar estate might be subject to scrutiny…
…imagine those bloody Maoris having a say in what we can do with NZ land!
A strange comment, considering of their 10 MP's, three are Maori, including the party leader, and the #3 and #6 on the party list.
In practice Seymour is about as Maori as I am which is zero. It hurts actual Maori people to have him claim whakapapa but never ever use it for the good of Maori. In fact his policies actively work against a Maori renaissance, rather amalgamating and diluting Te Ao into a One NZ where cultural identity comes second to the economic power of the individual.
For ACT it's all about locking in those gains of the 17th Century, and more recently here locking in the illicit gains wayward European settlers made in the dead of the night.
For them Maori have the right to exist but in no way should that be at the expense or inconvenience of the very white people who have benefitted from proceedings thus far.
We'll have to agree to disagree. Keep safe wherever you are.
I'm not agreeing to anything, but thanks anyway.
It shouldn't be difficult, but Seymour is a wily politician with 8 years of sharpening rhetoric under his belt, and Waititi is a first term MP
The racism is covert dogwhistling. Calls for one nation. Accusing Māori activists of separatism, apartheid, etc. Extremely dishonest shit.
The problem is what Seymour doesn't say. He talks about equality and opportunity, but his party's sociopathic policies do exactly the opposite.
Seymour is a skilled and amoral liar.
We like to joke about him twerking on TV and looking like Rimmer the hologram, but he’s probably the most dangerous politician in NZ right now. If he gets into government NZ will descend into a “BoJo Britain” level of dysfunction.
I'm glad you mentioned Boris Johnson because I suspect his style is what David Seymour is trying to copy. His 'state of the nation' speech was about European superiority in the 17th Century. Boris Johnson is a gregarious Classics buffoon and Seymour is emulating that.
So true and this is what I'd like to see the Maori Party and others really highlight. That is the inherent racism of the ACT Party.
apartheid
Autocrats of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your….
Oh wait; You have everything to lose.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/government/2023/02/13/world-government-summit-2023-live/
Elon Musk and Egypt's El Sisi among key speakers at the three-day event
For some unstated reason, Basha Al Assad was not able to attend in person.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47483714
No matter. If Assad can't go to the UAE the UAE can go to Assad.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/government/2023/02/12/sheikh-abdullah-bin-zayed-meets-syrian-president-in-damascus/
There is a reason they call it the Great Barrier.
Long may it stand between cyclones and me.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/weather-news/300805400/cyclone-gabrielle-to-reach-closest-point-to-auckland-on-monday-tracking-southeast
Putin's hypocrisy, continuing their attacks on civilians in Ukraine the Russian Federation does not let up on its attacks on the people of Syria.
Despite the suffering caused by the devastating earthquake Russia uses its veto in the UN to stop the free flow of humanitarian aid into North West Syria. While demanding the sanctions on its ally the genocidal Assad regime be lifted.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/syria/2023/02/12/white-helmets-demand-extra-border-crossings-to-allow-earthquake-aid-into-north-west-syria/