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News of Zealand

News of Zealand: Millions of Facebook Users' Data Harvested via Quiz

Plus the Greens give up their question time, and calls for NZ intervention in West Papua.
Image: Shutterstock.com

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

LOCAL

Deceptive Facebook Quiz Allowed Researchers to Take Data From Millions of Users
Fond of the Facebook quiz? Your data and that of your friends could have been harvested and sold to political groups. A new investigation reveals 50 million Facebook profiles were harvested by the data analytics team who worked with Trump and Brexit - and then used to target political campaigns and predict their voting behaviour. A whistleblower from data analysis company Cambridge Analytica says the company used personal information taken without authorisation in 2014 to help build a system predicting voters' preferences. Christopher Wylie, who previously worked with a Cambridge University academic to get the data, told the Observer: “We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people’s profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons. That was the basis the entire company was built on.” The data was harvested from both users and their friends who used "thisisyourdigitallife", a quiz app which claimed to be a psychology tool.

Green Party Hands Question Time to National
The Green Party have handed over most of their primary questions to the opposition during question time in parliament. The deal gives the National party an additional 42 questions this year. Greens co-leader James Shaw says the deal with National was to limit the number of "patsy" questions from their own MPs and support parties, and allow the opposition to hold the government to account. The National party was putting emphasis on environmental policy and the Greens were happy to co-operate on those issues, he said. National party leader Simon Bridges says he appreciates the move but it should not be looked into as a partnership with the Green party.

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Struggle to Increase Number of Early Childhood Teachers
Sector leaders have told the government that they will have trouble meeting its goals of increasing the number of qualified early childhood teachers in New Zealand. The Labour government's election policy was to increase the number of qualified staff in early childhood centres from 50 percent to 80 percent. However, many early childhood centres across New Zealand are struggling to meet the current 50 percent requirement. Chief Executive of Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand says teachers need better pay, as childhood teachers are paid much lower than primary and secondary teachers with the same qualifications.

National Party Signs Unsuspecting Petitioners Up to Mailing List
The National Party has had to apologise after signing up potentially thousands of people to their mailing list. Some people who signed either of two petitions, one against stopping flights to Kāpiti airport and another to save Lumsden Maternity Centre in Southland, started receiving National Party emails. According to Radio New Zealand, both petitions are sponsored by the National party but neither petition states that signee's email addresses would be added to National's mailing database. Some people added to the list expressed their disappointment online. One woman said,"I signed the petition to support a local project, not for my email address to be used for another political purpose." A National Party spokesperson told RNZ that those affected have been removed from their mailing list.

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Calls for New Zealand Action on Political Crackdown in West Papua
Indonesian President Joko Windodo is visiting New Zealand today, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wants to talk about trade relations between both countries. In the meantime, in the eastward province of West Papua, political activists are facing a political crackdown by the Indonesian authorities. Maire Leadbeather, from West Papua Action Auckland group, says that Jacinda Ardern should take action on the matter. Leadbeather told 95bFM reporter Ulysse Bellier, “The best thing she could do would be to follow the lead of the Pacific Island nations who have been taking up the issue of what’s happening in West Papua. Our government? Silent.” Vanuatu and other Pacific nations supported the West Papuans’ political rights last September at the United Nations general assembly

Yachties stuck at sea for another night
Two people stuck on their yacht, caught in rough conditions off the Northland coast will likely face another night at sea after four failed rescue attempts. The sailors made the distress call to the Coastguard at 6 pm yesterday. But with swells of up to five metres, the conditions have been unsafe for the stranded yachties to be rescued. Coast Guard Northern region spokesperson Georgia Smith says "Coastguard radio is continuing to liaise with the two people on board - they are incredibly tired and exhausted from the ordeal, but otherwise well."

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Auckland Council report withheld from the media
A study conducted on moving the imported car trade away from Auckland was withheld from the media by the council for five months. The report conducted by Auckland Council investment limited which was requested by RNZ on the July 28 last year. Emails exchanged within the council discuss how the report could be withheld to manage its release. Auckland Council Investment stated ‘commercial interests’ of the ports as a reason for the report to be withheld. The report was finally released three days before the Christmas break. Auckland Mayor Phil Goff criticised the report’s approach and disagrees with the findings, believing that the cost and losses from moving the car trade would outweigh the benefit of $1 billion dollars.

INTERNATIONAL

Turkish Forces Seize Syrian City, Taking Down Kurdish Statue
Turkish backed armed forces have taken over the Syrian Kurdish city of Afrin, taking down a statue of a Kurdish figure and raising new flags in the city centre. The two-month Turkish operation aimed to remove the border region of Kurdistan from a militia deemed a terrorist group by Turkey. The president of Turkey says "most of the terrorists have fled with their tails behind their legs". There are rumours of a Turkish counter-attack, and the co-chair of the Afrin executive council says "the war against Turkey has reached a new stage".

Putin Wins Election by a Landslide
Vladimir Putin has secured an expected victory and has won the Russian presidential election. Putin will lead the country for another six years after a Russian state exit poll gave him 73.9 percent of the vote. The main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, was excluded from the race because of a fraud conviction that he condemned as politically motivated. The scale of Putin's victory shows an increase in support of the leader since the last election in 2012, where he won 64 percent of votes.

Somali Clans Make Peace Treaty to End Revenge Killings
Two rival Somali clans have agreed to a harsh peace treaty that aims to end the cycle of revenge killings in the Sanaag region of Somalia. Anyone found guilty of conducting a revenge vendetta will now face the death sentence. The army and police can also shoot anyone with an armed weapon in a communal area who refuses to hand over the weapon. Last year there were 23 killed and 65 injured due to tensions between clans over livestock and land in the Sanaag region. MP Ahmed Bahir Mahmood says he hopes the harsh measures will work in putting an end to the tensions.

Russia and the UK Both Refuse Connection to Spy Poisoning
Both Russia and the UK refuse to take responsibility for the attack on an ex-spy and his daughter. UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has dismissed an allegation by Russia's EU ambassador, Vladimir Chizhov, that a UK research laboratory could be the source of the nerve agent. Johnson says that Russia has been stockpiling the nerve toxin over the last decade and that Russia's response to the incident was not that "of a country that really believes itself to be innocent". Over the next two weeks the nerve agent used in the attack will be tested by chemical weapons specialists from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Additional reporting by Jemima Huston and Damian Rowe