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News of Zealand

The News of Zealand: Tuesday 27 June

Police spend over 40 percent of their time on family violence, Todd Barclay is under investigation—again—and digging up Salvador Dali's body.
Image via Flickr.

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

LOCAL NEWS

Family Violence Statistics On the Rise In New Zealand
New figures show that frontline police officers are spending 41 percent of their on-duty time responding to family violence. Statistics from the New Zealand Family Violence Clearinghouse have revealed police family violence callouts increased by more than 8,000 in 2016.
Dr Pauline Gulliver from the Clearinghouse said the increase could be a rise in incidents, or a rise in people coming forward.
She added that we nevertheless need better resourcing for specialist family violence services and prevention programmes.

Law Student Sues the Government Over Climate Change
A Hamilton law student is currently suing the government for their lack of action on climate change.
Sarah Thomson began her case against Climate Change Minister Paula Bennett for the government's failure to set emission targets, telling 95bFM that this issue needs to be addressed earlier rather than later to help save future generations from the dangers of climate change.
"It's becoming apparent that things are getting a lot worse… the world's warming faster than we first expected," Thomson said, adding that she believes the government needs to take climate change more seriously than they currently are.

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Police Are Re-Investigating Todd Barclay Allegations
Police announced today they are re-investigating allegations that National MP Todd Barclay intercepted the private communications of Glenys Dickson, a staff member in his Gore electorate office. Barclay has been under intense scrutiny since Newsroom reported last week that Dickson had received "hush money" from the National Party. The MP later admitted giving "misleading" statements to the media.
Assistant Commissioner (Investigations) Richard Chambers said in a statement the investigation is being reopened after an "assessment of a range of information and comment in the public domain over the last week."
Chambers said the process would have thorough oversight from a senior detective and could not put a timeframe on how long it might take.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

US Supreme Court Partly Reinstates Trump Travel Ban
A Supreme Court ruling has partly reinstated US president Donald Trump's travel ban, and is being celebrated by the President as a "victory for national security".
Trump is seeking to place a 90 day ban from six mainly Muslim nations and a 120 day ban on refugees.
In October, the justices will have to decide whether the presidential policy should be upheld.
The Supreme Court said their decision yesterday means the executive order may not be enforced against foreign nationals with relationships to the United States.
The ruling will permit a 120 day ban of all refugees from entering the US to go on full effect.

Bahrain Foreign Minister Changes Stance On Qatar
Bahrain's Foreign Minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, has taken a u-turn on the ongoing Qatar diplomatic crisis.
Khalifa has accused Qatar of creating military escalation when deploying armed vehicles.
This contradicts Khalifa's previous statements, which stated the base had been established to protect regional countries from threats.
Khalifa adds external interference would not solve any problems.
The crisis began when gulf countries abruptly cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar earlier this month, accusing the country of supporting "terrorism".

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Papua New Guinea Heads To The Polls
Papua New Guinea's National Capital District is heading to the polling booths today, amid fears the election will be subverted.
Port Moresby governor Powes Parkop said he is troubled by problems with the electoral roll and polling places.
Parkop has also told media that reports are circulating of illegal ballot paper printing.
The Governor is warning that people invested in illegal activities will attempt to upend the democratic process, and could even bribe officials of the Electoral Commission.

British PM Signs Deal With Northern Ireland DUP
The UK Conservative Party has signed a deal with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), allowing the two parties to govern Britain together.
This comes after the Conservatives lost their majority in the UK general election earlier this month.
The parties have agreed to a "confidence and supply" deal, where the 10 DUP members will vote with the government on confidence votes and to pass budgets.
The deal has come with criticism, with some Conservatives even speaking out against it.
They object to any kind of alliance with the DUP because of some of its views, including opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion.

Amnesty International Pushing For The Release Of Fijian Activist
Human rights organisation Amnesty International is calling for the release of a youth protester detained by police in Fiji.
The young activist walked through downtown Suva yesterday, carrying a banner with the names of victims tortured by the country's security forces on it.
Amnesty's regional director James Gomez said the Fijian authorities should crack down on torture rather than peaceful protests, adding that while Fiji has ratified the UN Convention Against Torture, they have failed to bring their legislation in line with international standards.

Dali's Body Ordered To Be Dug Up
A Spanish judge has ordered for Salvador Dali's body be dug up to get samples for a paternity suit.
It's the latest in a decade-long investigation by Spanish woman Pilar Abel, who says the painter is her father. In 2007, she obtained hair and skin from a death mask of Dali and took a DNA test to see if they were a match, but results were inconclusive.Abel began to investigate her paternity after her mother and grandmother repeatedly told her the surrealist artist was her father.

Reporting by Daniel Walker and Adel Abied.