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An email to vaccinators said their names were found on a document on a US site in January. (An earlier version of the below story has been amended to clarify not all 12,000 people affected by the breach were vaccinators.) A nurse says she will be looking over her shoulder for years after her name was published online in an unauthorised leak of Te Whatu Ora data. At least 12,000 people, most of them vaccinators, had personal information released online after the breach, and the woman is one of those who were notified by Te Whatu Ora that her name...

The Expose reported last week that an administrator who had been overseeing New Zealand’s Covid vaccine database had come forward as a whistleblower. The whistleblower, Barry Young had disclosed that data had shown a concerning proportion of individuals had died shortly after receiving a Covid vaccine. Days following this disclosure, journalist Liz Gunn reported that Young had been raided by the police on Sunday, and now, according to James Freeman on radio station TNT, he could face up to 7 years in prison. The Disclosure. Barry Young worked as a data administrator on a project at the Te Whatu Ora,...

A New Zealand high school maths teacher has had his teaching license cancelled for refusing to call his Year 10 student by her preferred name and pronouns. The New Zealand teaching council’s Complaints Assessment Committee charged the teacher with serious misconduct for not calling the student by a male name and he/him pronouns, a charge the teacher denies. “I have been accused of serious misconduct and deny this charge,” he wrote in his submission to the Teacher’s Tribunal (pdf). “On the contrary, I believe I would be guilty of serious misconduct and child abuse if I was to call the...

World New Zealand hostel fire kills at least 6 in fire chief's "worst nightmare" May 15, 2023 / 9:57 PM / CBS/AP A fire ripped through a hostel in New Zealand's capital overnight, killing at least six people and forcing others to flee the four-story building in their pajamas in what a fire chief on Tuesday called his "worst nightmare." Fifty-two people in the Loafers Lodge hostel in Wellington had been accounted for, but firefighters were still looking for others, said Wellington Fire and Emergency District Manager Nick Pyatt. He said they were called to the hostel at about 12:30...

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday that she will step down, saying she no longer had “enough in the tank” after a premiership defined by her response to a series of crises. Ardern, 42, has become a global progressive icon since her election in 2017 and won praise for her handling of the nation’s worst mass shooting and the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. But her approval ratings have plummeted at home, jeopardizing her re-election prospects and intensifying the vitriolic abuse she has experienced throughout her time in office. “With such a privileged role comes responsibility — the...

Analysts say China's leader Xi Jinping has set the legal basis for an expansion of the Chinese military's role in other countries, just weeks after Beijing signed a security pact with Solomon Islands. With little published detail, Mr Xi's government declared he had signed off on a set of new trial outlines that allowed for Chinese "armed forces operations" that were not war. Chairman Xi, as he is widely known in China in reference to his position as chairman of the Central Military Commission, signed off on 59 articles, according to state media, but they were not published. Instead, government...

A Chinese defense spokesperson on Thursday urged some Australian politicians to correct their "China threat" ideology and avoid further damage to China-Australia military relations. Regarding the development of another country as a security threat, some people in Australia have created and spread groundless fear, said Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, at a regular press conference in response to recent statements from some Australian politicians. "Their actions will not only undermine regional security and stability, but also compromise their own images as well," Tan said. The military cooperation among the United States, Britain and Australia in highly...

Scott Morrison says China building a military base on Solomon Islands would be the "red line" for Australia and the United States, but did not say how Australia would respond if it happened. Key points: Mr Morrison says Australia will not have Chinese naval bases "on our doorstep" Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce says Solomon Islands is risking its sovereignty by signing the security deal with China Labor's Penny Wong has all but confirmed more foreign aid spending in the Pacific if the party is elected There are concerns about a recently signed security agreement between China and Solomon Islands and...

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared on Sunday that a Chinese military base on the Solomon Islands would be an unacceptable 'red line', without adding how Canberra would retaliate, media reports said. Morrison's government and the US are scrambling to respond to a recently-signed security deal between the islands and Beijing, which they consider an 'aggressive' move, RT reported. 'Working together with our partners in New Zealand and of course the United States, I share the same red line that the United States has when it comes to these issues,' Morrison said. 'We won't be having Chinese military naval bases...

A Chinese politics specialist has called the deal between the Solomon Islands and China a "game-changer" saying New Zealand could be cut-off US military support. A leaked draft of the agreement, which was verified by the Australian government, said Chinese warships would be permitted to dock on the islands and that Beijing could send security forces "to assist in maintaining social order". The agreement is sparking concern China will look to throw its military weight around in the region.

New Zealand’s leader voiced concern Monday over a draft security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands that, if approved, could see Beijing establish a military base in the South Pacific. In addition, Australia’s prime minister reiterated his nation’s concern about the planned agreement that was leaked online last week. The security pact would allow Beijing to set up military bases and deploy troops in the Pacific island nation, “marking the start of a much sharper military competition than anything we’ve seen in the region for decades,” said David Capie, director of the Centre for Strategic Studies at the Victoria...

Authorities in New Zealand say they shot and killed an Islamic terrorist on Friday afternoon, within 60 seconds of when he started stabbing people at a supermarket. Of the six people stabbed, three were in critical condition, one was serious and two were in moderate condition, according to outlet Stuff New Zealand. The man, a Sri Lankan national, was a known ISIS supporter and was being followed around the clock, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, identifying the incident as a terror attack.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — One of New Zealand’s most well-known businessmen pleaded guilty Thursday to possessing child sex abuse images, including some of children as young as 2. Ron Brierley’s pleas on three charges in an Australian court have sparked a rarely invoked procedure to strip him of the knighthood he received more than 30 years ago. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was initiating a forfeiture process for the honor, which requires approval from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. Brierley faces a maximum 10 years in prison when he is sentenced. He was caught with some images...

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern extended a lockdown in the country's biggest city on Friday in response to the first national coronavirus outbreak in months, sticking with a "go early, go hard" approach she said has proven effective. Ardern said genomic testing has shown the latest outbreak is a different strain to the original outbreak in New Zealand earlier in the year, suggesting it was new to the country. The New Zealand leader said lockdown measures in Auckland, home to about 1.7 million people, and social distancing measures across the country that were imposed on Wednesday would remain in...

New Zealand Police Minister Stuart Nash announced this week that more than 32,000 prohibited weapons have been returned to the government since collections began in mid-July. Some estimates put the number of newly-banned military-style semi-automatic rifles in the country at up to 175,000. This would suggest a compliance rate, so far, as low as 18 percent, 16 weeks into the buyback program. With seven weeks left to go until the amnesty period ends, if the current rate of return holds, the New Zealand government is on track to collect around 50,000 prohibited weapons pursuant to the buyback. That would impute...

he rank odor from the end of the hallway had become too strong to ignore. For nearly two months, it was faint enough that nobody at the University of Canterbury realized that a young man was dead, and decomposing, in his own room. Students left campus for two weeks of vacation, and returned, and still no one noticed anything. But on Monday, police finally made it to the Sonoda dorm at the suburban campus outside Christchurch, New Zealand, where authorities discovered the body of a first-year student, local media reported. The student's father, who could not reach the young man...

Kiwis are standing by their guns. Citizens of New Zealand are reportedly resisting the sweeping ban on semi-automatic firearms thrust upon them by an emotional parliament last April. The Washington Post’s article is predictably poorly-titled: “New Zealand is trying to buy back the military-style weapons it banned in April. It’s not so easy.” Firstly, no entity can buy “back” something which it never owned before. The government has never owned these firearms which it seeks to steal from their rightful owners. They are merely offering a bribe to those who comply. Secondly, none of the guns are “military-style.” Being black...

American gun owners have once again been reminded that the ultimate goal of U.S. gun control advocates is firearms bans and confiscation. Since the heinous terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, American anti-gun politicians, activists, and media outlets have offered their full-throated support for the New Zealand government’s efforts to ban and confiscate firearms from law-abiding gun owners.~~~~~SNIP~~~~~~Failed 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted her support for Ardern’s confiscations measures, stating, “Under @jacindaardern's leadership, New Zealand has banned assault rifles and military-style semi-automatic weapons just six days after the Christchurch mosque attacks. Public servants didn't stop at offering thoughts...

Full Title: NEW ZEALAND GUN OWNERS ARE VOLUNTARILY HANDING OVER SEMIAUTOMATIC RIFLES TO POLICE: 'WE DON'T NEED THESE IN OUR COUNTRY'Since Friday's deadly attack at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, gun owners have been turning up at local police stations seeking to have their own semiautomatic rifles—the weapon believed to have been used in the shootings—destroyed. In the days since the attacks, which saw 50 people killed and dozens more injured, a number of gun owners in New Zealand have gone on social media to encourage others to follow in their footsteps. They want them to hand over their...

Dev Patel's movie Hotel Mumbai has been pulled from New Zealand cinemas in the wake of the recent attacks at a mosque in Christchurch. Starring the Oscar-nominated actor, along with Armie Hammer, Anupam Kher and Jason Isaacs in pivotal roles, Hotel Mumbai is based on the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks which left more than 160 people dead. It displays the story of Taj Hotel staff that risked their lives to keep the guests and other people safe during one of the darkest days for the financial capital of India. According to a report by NZ Herald, Icon Film Distribution released...