News with a historical perspective
New Zealand has seen a second day of demonstrations against pandemic restrictions with protesters camping outside the nation’s parliament. Inspired by large anti- vaccine rallies in Canada, hundreds of Kiwis arrived on Tuesday to stage new protests against vaccine mandates and other Covid rules. Protesters adopted the name “Convoy for Freedom” and blocked streets inContinue reading “New Zealand anti-vax protesters inspired by Canada truckers camp outside parliament”
Police raided the home of a controversial anti-government, pro-gun pastor on New Year’s Eve to seize a gun and ammunition after receiving concerns about a person’s wellbeing. Carl Bromley, founder of the Life Connection Missionary Baptist Fellowship in Christchurch, received a voicemail and a letter in his mailbox explaining police had taken his rifle onContinue reading “Police seize rifle, 500 ammunition rounds from controversial Christchurch pastor in New Year’s Eve raid”
More restrictions are coming to more countries as Omicron tightens its grip on Europe. Melissa Duggan on preparations for a second pandemic Christmas.
Today, we’re going to take a closer look at borders and the stories they tell. When we look at a map, the shapes we’re seeing can seem so permanent, but a map is just a snapshot of the Earth at a particular time, and by looking a countries shape (and how it has changed acrossContinue reading “What are the Patterns of Border Conflicts? Crash Course Geography #37”
Pro-Beijing candidates claimed victory in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) election under the new “patriots only” system, per Reuters. Why it matters: This was the first LegCo since Beijing lawmakers passed a sweeping law to ensure only “patriotic” figures can run for positions of power — which U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken called a “denial of democracy.” Voter turnout was the lowestContinue reading “Record low turnout for Hong Kong “patriots only” election”
When Josephine Bartley, a member of the city council in Auckland, New Zealand, heard that a local Covid-19 vaccination clinic had been vandalized early this month, she drove over to survey the damage. After she spoke to the owners and helped them connect with law enforcement officials, she noticed three men loitering near her parking spot. “Some guysContinue reading “American vaccine misinformation and extremism are infiltrating New Zealand”
Australia said on Monday it would delay the reopening of its international border by two weeks after reporting its first cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant. Prime Minister Scott Morrison convened a meeting of his national security committee and said it received advice from Australia’s chief health officer to delay the reopening after the firstContinue reading “Australia delays border reopening as Omicron cases rise”
The Netherlands confirmed 13 cases of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus on Sunday and Australia found two as the countries half a world apart became the latest to detect it in travelers arriving from southern Africa. A raft of curbs being imposed by nations around the world as they scramble to slow theContinue reading “The Netherlands and Australia find the omicron variant as curbs spread”
Kavala has been in prison since late 2017 He denies charges of role in failed coup and mass protests Rights groups say case emblematic of crackdown in Turkey Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he had ordered the foreign ministry to declare 10 ambassadors from Western countries ‘persona non grata’ for calling for theContinue reading “Erdogan says Turkey is set to banish 10 Western ambassadors”
New Zealand has become the first country to pass laws requiring banks, insurers and investment managers to report the impacts of climate change on their business, officials said on Thursday. About 200 of the largest financial firms in New Zealand, including banks with total assets of more than NZ$1 billion ($718.90 million), large insurers andContinue reading “New Zealand passes climate change disclosure laws for financial firms in world first”
Among the Fray 