58 h. ago Three New Zealand MPs suspended for performing haka in parliament

MPs criticise ban saying Māori would not be silenced

Politics

3 d. ago New Zealand MPs who performed haka in parliament given record suspensions

Parliament votes to enact punishment after hours of fraught debate including attitudes towards Māori cultureNew Zealand legislators have voted to enact record parliamentary suspensions for three MPs who performed a Māori haka to protest against a controversial proposed law.Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke received a seven-day ban and the leaders of her political party, Te Pāti Māori (the Māori party), Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, were barred for 21 days. Three days had previously been the longest ban for a New Zealand MP. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago New Zealand Parliament votes for record suspensions of 3 lawmakers who performed Māori haka

New Zealand legislators has voted Thursday to enact record suspensions from Parliament for three lawmakers who performed a Māori haka to protest a proposed law

Politics

5 d. ago Mexican president hails ‘complete success’ after just 13% vote in judicial elections

Claudia Sheinbaum defends decision to put 2,600 judges’ posts to vote despite record low turnoutMexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum has defended the country’s unprecedented judicial elections after just 13% of Mexicans turned out to vote, a record low in a federal election.Roughly 2,600 posts, from local magistrates to supreme court justices, were up for grabs on Sunday, as an entire judicial system was put to the vote for the first time in the world. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago MP bravely holds up naked photo of herself in parliament to show dangers of deepfake technology

A New Zealand MP bravely held up a naked photo of herself in Parliament to highlight the dangers of deepfake technology.

Culture

1 week ago Samoa’s leader seeks an early election after opponents reject her budget

Samoa’s prime minister says she will seek to dissolve Parliament, prompting an early election, after a budget vote failed

Politics

2 w. ago The decorative cookie tin that helps New Zealand make new laws

The quaintly patterned container might seem like a gag, but the ritual selection of bills from it is a serious affair

Society

2 w. ago How a cookie tin lottery at New Zealand's Parliament helps decide what becomes law

In New Zealand’s Parliament, every legislator has the chance to advance a proposed law, no matter how unpopular, thanks to an unusual lottery where bills are selected by random draw from a cookie tin

Politics

2 w. ago How controversy over Maori haka sparked chaos in New Zealand parliament

The haka is a cherished cultural symbol, but this one has ignited a fiery debate

Politics

2 w. ago How uproar over a Māori haka, beloved in New Zealand life, sowed chaos and gridlock in Parliament

The haka, a chanting dance of challenge, is sacred to New Zealand’s Māori people but it’s become a beloved cultural institution among New Zealanders of all races

Politics

3 w. ago Oklahoma high schools to teach 2020 election conspiracy theories as fact

State superintendent Ryan Walters tapped chief of Heritage Foundation, key player behind Project 2025, for curriculum As part of the latest Republican push in red states to promote ideologies sympathetic to Donald Trump, Oklahoma’s new social studies curriculum will ask high school students to identify “discrepancies” in the 2020 election results.The previous standard for studying the 2020 election merely said: “Examine issues related to the election of 2020 and its outcome.” The new version is more expansive: “Identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results by looking at graphs and other information, including the sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends.” Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago New Zealand MPs who performed haka in parliament given unprecedented punishment

Te Pāti Māori co-leaders and youngest member to be temporarily suspended from parliament after performance protesting controversial billThree New Zealand MPs who performed a haka in parliament will be temporarily suspended, in what is believed to be the harshest ever penalty issued to parliamentarians.The co-leaders of Te Pāti Māori (the Māori Party) Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, and the party’s youngest member, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, performed the traditional Māori dance during a vote on the controversial Treaty Principles Bill during its first reading in November. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Māori lawmakers who performed a protest haka receive temporary bans from New Zealand's Parliament

Three New Zealand lawmakers from Te Pāti Māori, the Māori Party, will receive temporary bans from Parliament and severe censure, it was announced Wednesday, over their protest of a proposed law by performing a haka, a chanting dance of challenge, directed at their opponents

Politics