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News of Zealand

The News of Zealand: Wednesday 28 June

More problems for Labour's embattled foreign intern programme, on the search for Wellington water supply and Germany takes a step closer to gay marriage.
Andrew Little in an image from his Facebook page.

Everything you need to know about the world this morning, curated by 95bFM and VICE NZ.

NATIONAL

Labour's Intern Saga Continues
Two of the 80 foreign volunteers involved in Labour's Campaign for Change programme may have broken immigration laws.
Labour took control of the programme, run by former Chief of Staff Matt McCarten, when some of the interns complained about the living conditions at Auckland's Awataha Marae.
Since taking over, the party discovered two of the students may not have held the visas required to participate in the programme.
In a statement, the Labour Party said the two interns have now left the programme, with one already having flown home and the other due to leave soon.
Labour leader Andrew Little said the party would launch a "review or an investigation to find out people's levels of involvement, what they knew when and how we got to the point we got to".

Wellington's Urgent Water Woes
Hydro-geologists are hunting for emergency water sources under Wellington, after the city's fragile freshwater supply was exposed following last November's major quake.
The 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake revealed just how reliant Wellington and Porirua are on water brought in from other centres, with pipes crossing over fault lines in multiple places.
Wellington Water is investigating 11 possible sites for water bores in Porirua and Wellington, and 11 stream catchments.
They will also start drilling into the Waiwhetu Aquifer under the harbour, off the northern tip of the Miramar peninsula, later this week.
The project is expected to cost about $12 million, half of which is coming from the government.

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Talks About Next America's Cup Already Underway
With the celebrations still rolling nothing's been confirmed, but victorious Team New Zealand has hinted it wants to hold the next America's Cup in Aotearoa, by 2021. The next questions are where would the teams be based, and who would pay for the development?
Auckland mayor Phil Goff has said that if the event was to be based in Auckland, the bulk of money for the development would need to come from the private sector or central government.
Goff said while the council is happy to cooperate, essential housing and transport infrastructure would remain its spending priority. Goff also added that this could start being looked at once a time frame and options are set in place.
Businesses are also supportive for the future event taking place in Auckland, saying that it will create positive financial outcomes by bringing hundreds of millions of dollars into the city.

INTERNATIONAL

Cyber Attacks Hit Europe Again
Organisations and business' across Europe have been hit by cyber security attacks from a new ransomware.
This comes after the WannaCry malware attacks in May, which exploited a hacking tool developed by the NSA.
Companies hit so far range from Russia's largest oil company, Ukraine's international airport and even aspects of Chernobyl's nuclear power plant were shut down.
Cyber security analysts have said that these types of attacks would not stop as cyber-thieves found them too lucrative, with a South Korean firm paying out 1 million dollars to get their data back.

European Commission Slaps Google with Cool $3.7 Billion Fine
The European Commission has fined Google a record $2.72 billion for allegedly breaching antitrust rules by boosting its own shopping tool in search results. The commission said Google had "stifled competition." The company's senior vice president, Kent Walker, said it would review the decision and consider an appeal.

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Brazilian President Charged with Corruption
Brazil's chief prosecutor charged President Michel Temer for allegedly accepting bribes from meatpacking company JBS. The charges follow the release of an audio recording in which Temer and Joesley Batista, chairman of JBS, may be discussing bribes. The Supreme Court will now decide if Brazil's lower house of parliament should vote on whether Temer should face trial.

British PM Swaps £1 Billion for Power
Prime Minister Theresa May agreed to a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) deal with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to secure enough votes to give the Conservative Party a parliamentary majority. DUP leader Arlene Foster said she welcomed the "new financial support." Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon called it a "grubby, shameless deal."

Mali Al Qaeda Cell Releases Swedish Hostage
A Swedish national held hostage by al Qaeda in Mali for nearly six years has been freed and reunited with his family. Sweden's foreign minister, Margot Wallström, said Johan Gustafsson, 42, was released a few days ago after "several years of efforts" by Swedish and international authorities to free him.

Gay Marriage In The Cards For Germany
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has signaled a change in her stance towards gay marriage.
Speaking at a conference yesterday, Merkel said she was unhappy about the subject being torn on party lines and would like to see it be put forward as a conscience vote.
Germany is one of the few western countries in which same-sex marriage is still not legal. Civil unions were allowed back in 2001.
Coming less than three months away from federal elections, this could see Merkel's conservative party begin to open up to a more diverse range of party coalitions.

Reporting by Jack Marshall, Ally Su'a and Tash Aull-Timbers.