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Everything you need to know about the world today, curated by 95bFM and VICE NZ.South Auckland Residents Go Blind Waiting for Eye Appointments
Some South Auckland residents are going blind due to increased wait times for eye appointments. The number of patients visiting the Counties Manukau DHB eye clinic has soared, from 18,000 to 50,000 annually in recent years. Counties Manukau head of Ophthalmology Simon Dean says the backlog of appointments puts huge pressure on their services. Dean says wait times in the area are much longer than the nearby Auckland DHBs which have received considerable investment in eye services.Strikes loom as nursing negotiations in deadlock
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation and District Health Boards have failed to agree on a revised pay settlement offer for nurses. Negotiations ended at 7 pm yesterday evening and the Employment Relations Authority has now been asked to step in. If the deadlock continues, nurses will strike on July 5th and again on July 12th. If the strike goes ahead it will be the first nurse's strike in 30 years and is expected to involve around 27,000 nurses.Defence Force to Retrieve NZ Soldier Remains from Asia
The Defence Force will start the process of returning the remains of 28 people from cemeteries in Malaysia and Singapore back to New Zealand next week. This includes 27 soldiers who served during the Vietnam War and the Malaya Emergency, and an Air Force Officer. They are scheduled to arrive back in New Zealand on August 21st, where they will be handed back to their families in Auckland. The remains of 36 military and their dependants altogether are to be returned this year.Huge Gorge Slip Blocks Gisborne-Bay of Plenty Road
A large slip in the Waioeka Gorge has blocked the road connecting Gisborne to the Bay of Plenty. The slip has added hours of travel time for motorists who are having to drive up East Cape Instead. Around 7000 cubic metres of stone is currently blocking the road, and a similar slip took 9 days to clear last year. Opotiki Mayor John Forbes says road closures like these can hinder access to medical treatment for people. He says the gorge road is important and should be in a condition where slips only result in a few hours of closure.Zero Fees Policy Not Working, says Uni Rep
A representative from New Zealand Universities says the zero fees policy is not increasing student numbers. Figures show that student numbers have increased by only 0.3 percent this year. Universities New Zealand says Tertiary Education Commission statistics show that student enrolments in April were only 0.3 higher than April last year. Universities New chairperson Stuart McCutcheon says the fees free policy did not work, only enticed a "hypothetical" student who was turned off by the first year of fees, and would not have encouraged students from poor families to attend university. However, the Education Ministry had predicted that university enrolments would drop slightly this year.New Turkish President Assumes Post with Increased Power
Newly elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is assuming extensive executive powers following a landslide victory on Sunday. The changes include increased power for the President, a weakened parliament, and terminating the role of Prime Minister. These changes were approved in a controversial referendum held last year. Defeated opposition candidate Muharrem Ince calls the incoming system a "one-man rule". Erdogan gained 53 percent of the vote, while Ince polled at 31 percent.Birds Suffer in Rotterdam Harbour Oil Spill
An oil tanker in Rotterdam has ruptured, spilling 220 tonnes of oil into the harbour. The spill has left hundreds of geese, cormorants, and gulls covered in oil and needing urgent attention. Volunteers have flocked to the area in order to help transfer any affected wildlife to local shelters. At least 800 birds have been contaminated over a 10 kilometre radius.Mexican Police Suspected of Murder
The entire police force of a town in Mexico is suspected of being involved in the murder of a mayoral candidate. Fernando Juarez, who was representing the Party of the Democratic Revolution for the mayorship in Ocampo, was shot dead on Thursday. Mexican federal forces arrested all 27 police officers on Sunday, after they stopped agents from detaining local public security secretary Oscar Gonzalez Garcia, who was accused of involvement. Mexico will have an election next Sunday to choose a new president and senators. More than 100 politicians have been killed across the country ahead of the election.Zimbabwe President Calls for Peace
Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa has called for peace after escaping an explosion during an election campaign rally on Saturday. 49 people, including Vice-President Kembo Mohadi, were injured in the blast. President Mnangagwa says the attack would not derail the election in July. Main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa said on Twitter that violence must have no place in Zimbabwean politics. The forthcoming election is the first one since former President Robert Mugabe was forced out of power after 37 years last November.Italy and Malta Refuse to Take Migrants Stranded at Sea
Hundreds of Migrants are stranded at sea for a fifth day as Italy and Malta refuse to give them docking approval. One of the ships, owned by a German NGO, has 234 people on board from Africa, with four children under the age of three. Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini says he wants to foreign charities to stop rescuing migrants. The Mayor of Barcelona has offered assistance but the city is considered too far away and seas are rough for the vessels to pass through.Californian Democrat Calls for Public Confrontation over Immigration
A Democratic lawmaker has urged her supporters to confront officials publicly over immigration policy. California Representative Maxine Waters told her supporters in a rally they should tell anybody from the Trump administration in public they are not welcome anymore, anywhere. This follows protests which drove Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen away from a Mexican restaurant, while a restaurant also refused to serve White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. US President Donald Trump called Waters "an extraordinarily low IQ person" and claims she called for harm to his supporters.Additional reporting by Ben Webber, Jean Bell, Justin Wong.
LOCAL NEWS
Some South Auckland residents are going blind due to increased wait times for eye appointments. The number of patients visiting the Counties Manukau DHB eye clinic has soared, from 18,000 to 50,000 annually in recent years. Counties Manukau head of Ophthalmology Simon Dean says the backlog of appointments puts huge pressure on their services. Dean says wait times in the area are much longer than the nearby Auckland DHBs which have received considerable investment in eye services.Strikes loom as nursing negotiations in deadlock
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation and District Health Boards have failed to agree on a revised pay settlement offer for nurses. Negotiations ended at 7 pm yesterday evening and the Employment Relations Authority has now been asked to step in. If the deadlock continues, nurses will strike on July 5th and again on July 12th. If the strike goes ahead it will be the first nurse's strike in 30 years and is expected to involve around 27,000 nurses.
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The Defence Force will start the process of returning the remains of 28 people from cemeteries in Malaysia and Singapore back to New Zealand next week. This includes 27 soldiers who served during the Vietnam War and the Malaya Emergency, and an Air Force Officer. They are scheduled to arrive back in New Zealand on August 21st, where they will be handed back to their families in Auckland. The remains of 36 military and their dependants altogether are to be returned this year.Huge Gorge Slip Blocks Gisborne-Bay of Plenty Road
A large slip in the Waioeka Gorge has blocked the road connecting Gisborne to the Bay of Plenty. The slip has added hours of travel time for motorists who are having to drive up East Cape Instead. Around 7000 cubic metres of stone is currently blocking the road, and a similar slip took 9 days to clear last year. Opotiki Mayor John Forbes says road closures like these can hinder access to medical treatment for people. He says the gorge road is important and should be in a condition where slips only result in a few hours of closure.Zero Fees Policy Not Working, says Uni Rep
A representative from New Zealand Universities says the zero fees policy is not increasing student numbers. Figures show that student numbers have increased by only 0.3 percent this year. Universities New Zealand says Tertiary Education Commission statistics show that student enrolments in April were only 0.3 higher than April last year. Universities New chairperson Stuart McCutcheon says the fees free policy did not work, only enticed a "hypothetical" student who was turned off by the first year of fees, and would not have encouraged students from poor families to attend university. However, the Education Ministry had predicted that university enrolments would drop slightly this year.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Newly elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is assuming extensive executive powers following a landslide victory on Sunday. The changes include increased power for the President, a weakened parliament, and terminating the role of Prime Minister. These changes were approved in a controversial referendum held last year. Defeated opposition candidate Muharrem Ince calls the incoming system a "one-man rule". Erdogan gained 53 percent of the vote, while Ince polled at 31 percent.Birds Suffer in Rotterdam Harbour Oil Spill
An oil tanker in Rotterdam has ruptured, spilling 220 tonnes of oil into the harbour. The spill has left hundreds of geese, cormorants, and gulls covered in oil and needing urgent attention. Volunteers have flocked to the area in order to help transfer any affected wildlife to local shelters. At least 800 birds have been contaminated over a 10 kilometre radius.Mexican Police Suspected of Murder
The entire police force of a town in Mexico is suspected of being involved in the murder of a mayoral candidate. Fernando Juarez, who was representing the Party of the Democratic Revolution for the mayorship in Ocampo, was shot dead on Thursday. Mexican federal forces arrested all 27 police officers on Sunday, after they stopped agents from detaining local public security secretary Oscar Gonzalez Garcia, who was accused of involvement. Mexico will have an election next Sunday to choose a new president and senators. More than 100 politicians have been killed across the country ahead of the election.Zimbabwe President Calls for Peace
Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa has called for peace after escaping an explosion during an election campaign rally on Saturday. 49 people, including Vice-President Kembo Mohadi, were injured in the blast. President Mnangagwa says the attack would not derail the election in July. Main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa said on Twitter that violence must have no place in Zimbabwean politics. The forthcoming election is the first one since former President Robert Mugabe was forced out of power after 37 years last November.Italy and Malta Refuse to Take Migrants Stranded at Sea
Hundreds of Migrants are stranded at sea for a fifth day as Italy and Malta refuse to give them docking approval. One of the ships, owned by a German NGO, has 234 people on board from Africa, with four children under the age of three. Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini says he wants to foreign charities to stop rescuing migrants. The Mayor of Barcelona has offered assistance but the city is considered too far away and seas are rough for the vessels to pass through.Californian Democrat Calls for Public Confrontation over Immigration
A Democratic lawmaker has urged her supporters to confront officials publicly over immigration policy. California Representative Maxine Waters told her supporters in a rally they should tell anybody from the Trump administration in public they are not welcome anymore, anywhere. This follows protests which drove Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen away from a Mexican restaurant, while a restaurant also refused to serve White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. US President Donald Trump called Waters "an extraordinarily low IQ person" and claims she called for harm to his supporters.Additional reporting by Ben Webber, Jean Bell, Justin Wong.