Everything you need to know about the world today, curated by 95bFM and VICE NZ.Storms Wreak Havoc Across the Country
The severe weather overnight wreaked havoc all over the country. Storm Fehi saw many dealing with no power, fallen trees, king tides, and home evacuations, slips and flight cancellations. While a weather watch was announced in Auckland, 150 tourists were left to sleep in their cars overnight between the Franz-Joseph and Fox Glaciers. Andrew Thompson, of Westland Civil Defence says they couldn’t reach the tourists last night and are a priority for teams today.Activist Sued for Asking Lorde to Boycott Israel
The two New Zealanders reportedly being sued for convincing Lorde not to perform in Israel say they have not received any summons. The Law firm Shurat HaDin reported they would be filing a case under Israeli law for boycotting the country. Lawyer from the firm Nitsana Darshan-Leitne says they would be seeking over $20,000 for the mental harm caused to three 17-year-olds due to the shows cancellation. The New Zealand pair say they have not received any formal notification: "As far as we are concerned, this case has no legitimacy," they said.Universities Look to Solve Student Accommodation Issues By Building Their Oewn
Wellington University is looking to ease the rental housing shortage by offering alternative accommodation options beyond first year halls. The University will look to build post-first year housing due to the declining availability of rentals and landlord price-gouging in the saturated market. Victoria University's vice chancellor Grant Guilford says because of ongoing evidence of price gouging they are willing to enter the market with the intent of resetting prices at fairer levels. Massey University says they will also be looking at building more accomodation. Plans are likely to commence this year.Government Launches Inquiry into State Abuse
The Government has announced more details of its inquiry into the historical abuse of children in state care. The initiative—an election promise from Labour—will be a Royal Commission of Inquiry, headed by former Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand. Options for negotiating redress or compensation for victims through the inquiry have been left off the table, although the Inquiry could recommend general changes around settlement process which could result in larger payouts for victims. The inquiry has scope to cover abuses committed between 1950 and 1999.Ravenous Kingfish Released in Storm
Roughly 20,000 “ravenous” kingfish have escaped a 'fortress-like' fish farm in NSW waters due to bad weather. The mature fish escaped their pens after the area that controlled the gate release was damaged in rough seas just last week. The controversial project between Huon Aquaculture and the NSW Department of Primary Industry is a a part of a five year trial but may struggle to stay afloat after losing nearly half of its stock. Kingfish is valued at roughly $35 per kg, putting the total financial loss at just above $2 million. Conservation groups have described the project as a disaster as this could affect the surrounding marine park's ecosystem. Since their early release roughly 3,000 fish have been recaptured but that leave 17,000 fish still swimming about.Kenyan Government Keeps TV Channels off-air
Kenya's high court has suspended the shutdown of three independent news channels following plans to broadcast an improper inauguration for opposition leader Raila Odinga. The decision to cut off the three channels has been suspended for 14 days until the case is heard. An unofficial inauguration took place on Tuesday in a ceremony at Uhuru park which was greeted by thousands of supporters and described as a "peaceful protest". This comes following the 2017 elections which Odinga called rigged and subsequently declared himself the "people's President". Despite the court order, tv channels still remain off-air there the government show no sign of compliance. Affected media companies; Citizen TV, KTN & NTV have lost millions of dollars due to being not able to advertise while off-air.Doping Bans Overturned
A decision has been made to overturn 28 lifelong bans of Russian Winter Olympic games Athletes. The Court of Arbitration for Sport this week overturned the International Olympic Committee bans on the grounds that evidence was insufficient to prove doping had occured during Sochi 2014. 11 other cases' appeals have been upheld, with evidence sufficient enough to establish an anti-doping rule violation. The IOC says the confirmation of the 11 demonstrates the systematic manipulation of the anti doping systems at Sochi, and they are disappointed these were not taken into consideration on the 28 overturned suspensions. The IOC will appeal the cases to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.Canadian National Anthem Ain’t Just For Men
The Canadian senate has backed a move to change the national anthem to use gender neutral terms. A Bill was passed this week to change the words of the English language version of the anthem, and is awaiting Royal assent by the governor general to become law. The move will change the words "In all our sons command" to "In all of us command". Since 'O Canada' was first adopted as the Canadian national anthem in 1980, 12 bills were introduced to change the wording, all failing until now. The French version of the anthem does not have any reference to sons.Nestlé Under Fire for Pushing Baby Formula
Nestlé are under fire for their contradictory advertising and quality of baby formulas internationally. A new report by the Changing Markets Foundation describes Nestlé's advertising as a violation of ethical marketing codes and manipulative of the consumer market. Nestlé's infant formulas in certain markets contain unhealthy ingredients such as sucrose while advertising products as healthy because of the absence of such ingredients in other regions. Campaigns director for the Changing Markets Foundation told the Guardian "If an ingredient is safe and beneficial it should be in all formulas and if it is unhealthy it should not be in any." The use of language likening products to breastmilk was also found to be used by the company despite being prohibited by the World Health Organisation. He says manipulating emotional responses to sell a variety of products is especially unethical when it comes to the health of babies. Nestlé has been subject to boycotts in the past for aggressively marketing its baby formula to communities without clean water supply, jeopardising the health of babies if their mothers opt not to breastfeed.Additional reporting by Reuben McLaren , Ollie Powell and Jenn Tamati
LOCAL NEWS
The severe weather overnight wreaked havoc all over the country. Storm Fehi saw many dealing with no power, fallen trees, king tides, and home evacuations, slips and flight cancellations. While a weather watch was announced in Auckland, 150 tourists were left to sleep in their cars overnight between the Franz-Joseph and Fox Glaciers. Andrew Thompson, of Westland Civil Defence says they couldn’t reach the tourists last night and are a priority for teams today.Activist Sued for Asking Lorde to Boycott Israel
The two New Zealanders reportedly being sued for convincing Lorde not to perform in Israel say they have not received any summons. The Law firm Shurat HaDin reported they would be filing a case under Israeli law for boycotting the country. Lawyer from the firm Nitsana Darshan-Leitne says they would be seeking over $20,000 for the mental harm caused to three 17-year-olds due to the shows cancellation. The New Zealand pair say they have not received any formal notification: "As far as we are concerned, this case has no legitimacy," they said.
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Wellington University is looking to ease the rental housing shortage by offering alternative accommodation options beyond first year halls. The University will look to build post-first year housing due to the declining availability of rentals and landlord price-gouging in the saturated market. Victoria University's vice chancellor Grant Guilford says because of ongoing evidence of price gouging they are willing to enter the market with the intent of resetting prices at fairer levels. Massey University says they will also be looking at building more accomodation. Plans are likely to commence this year.Government Launches Inquiry into State Abuse
The Government has announced more details of its inquiry into the historical abuse of children in state care. The initiative—an election promise from Labour—will be a Royal Commission of Inquiry, headed by former Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand. Options for negotiating redress or compensation for victims through the inquiry have been left off the table, although the Inquiry could recommend general changes around settlement process which could result in larger payouts for victims. The inquiry has scope to cover abuses committed between 1950 and 1999.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Roughly 20,000 “ravenous” kingfish have escaped a 'fortress-like' fish farm in NSW waters due to bad weather. The mature fish escaped their pens after the area that controlled the gate release was damaged in rough seas just last week. The controversial project between Huon Aquaculture and the NSW Department of Primary Industry is a a part of a five year trial but may struggle to stay afloat after losing nearly half of its stock. Kingfish is valued at roughly $35 per kg, putting the total financial loss at just above $2 million. Conservation groups have described the project as a disaster as this could affect the surrounding marine park's ecosystem. Since their early release roughly 3,000 fish have been recaptured but that leave 17,000 fish still swimming about.Kenyan Government Keeps TV Channels off-air
Kenya's high court has suspended the shutdown of three independent news channels following plans to broadcast an improper inauguration for opposition leader Raila Odinga. The decision to cut off the three channels has been suspended for 14 days until the case is heard. An unofficial inauguration took place on Tuesday in a ceremony at Uhuru park which was greeted by thousands of supporters and described as a "peaceful protest". This comes following the 2017 elections which Odinga called rigged and subsequently declared himself the "people's President". Despite the court order, tv channels still remain off-air there the government show no sign of compliance. Affected media companies; Citizen TV, KTN & NTV have lost millions of dollars due to being not able to advertise while off-air.Doping Bans Overturned
A decision has been made to overturn 28 lifelong bans of Russian Winter Olympic games Athletes. The Court of Arbitration for Sport this week overturned the International Olympic Committee bans on the grounds that evidence was insufficient to prove doping had occured during Sochi 2014. 11 other cases' appeals have been upheld, with evidence sufficient enough to establish an anti-doping rule violation. The IOC says the confirmation of the 11 demonstrates the systematic manipulation of the anti doping systems at Sochi, and they are disappointed these were not taken into consideration on the 28 overturned suspensions. The IOC will appeal the cases to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.Canadian National Anthem Ain’t Just For Men
The Canadian senate has backed a move to change the national anthem to use gender neutral terms. A Bill was passed this week to change the words of the English language version of the anthem, and is awaiting Royal assent by the governor general to become law. The move will change the words "In all our sons command" to "In all of us command". Since 'O Canada' was first adopted as the Canadian national anthem in 1980, 12 bills were introduced to change the wording, all failing until now. The French version of the anthem does not have any reference to sons.Nestlé Under Fire for Pushing Baby Formula
Nestlé are under fire for their contradictory advertising and quality of baby formulas internationally. A new report by the Changing Markets Foundation describes Nestlé's advertising as a violation of ethical marketing codes and manipulative of the consumer market. Nestlé's infant formulas in certain markets contain unhealthy ingredients such as sucrose while advertising products as healthy because of the absence of such ingredients in other regions. Campaigns director for the Changing Markets Foundation told the Guardian "If an ingredient is safe and beneficial it should be in all formulas and if it is unhealthy it should not be in any." The use of language likening products to breastmilk was also found to be used by the company despite being prohibited by the World Health Organisation. He says manipulating emotional responses to sell a variety of products is especially unethical when it comes to the health of babies. Nestlé has been subject to boycotts in the past for aggressively marketing its baby formula to communities without clean water supply, jeopardising the health of babies if their mothers opt not to breastfeed.Additional reporting by Reuben McLaren , Ollie Powell and Jenn Tamati