Massive’s Mini Media Mashup!
Coming to you live from Massive Magazine’s News Department, we have our top ten bite-sized news stories of the week!
People who are at high-risk from Covid-19 may soon be eligible for a second booster vaccination. A roll-out of these second boosters is expected to happen around mid-June. Covid-19 Response Minster Chris Hipkins says, “A booster is important for our most vulnerable as we move into the winter peak. Several hundred thousand people will be eligible, which includes our older population, residents of aged care facilities, disability care facilities aged 16 years and over, and severely immunocompromised people aged 16 years and over and who have received a three-dose primary course and a first booster.”
“Final decisions on the make-up of this group will be made within the next two weeks.”
Australian Labour Party leader, Anthony Albanese, has now been sworn in as Australia’s 31st Prime Minister, replacing Liberal Party leader Scott Morrison. It was the Australian Labour Party’s first electoral win since 2007. This change of government could enhance the relationship between New Zealand and Australia even further, with Jacinda Ardern commenting that our two countries will work “even more closely together”.
Two years after making its first appeal in the High Court, ‘Make It 16’ – a youth-led group advocating for the legal voting age to be brought down to 16 – will now be taking their case to the Supreme Court, the highest court in New Zealand. Make It 16 believes that preventing 16 and 17-year-olds from voting is unjustified age discrimination under the Bill of Rights Act.
Following more than 100 hours of testimony, the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial has now finished its closing arguments. Now, the final verdict is in the hands of seven jurors who must reach a unanimous decision. The jurors must also decide the amount of money Depp or Heard deserve if he or she wins. Johnny sought US$50 million, while Amber asked for $100 million. The jury will meet for further deliberations on 31 May, and we can expect a final verdict to be announced by early June.
The absolute fuckery of American gun laws has once again been brought to light, with a heavily armed 18-year-old gunman killing 19 young children and two teachers, and wounding about seventeen others in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Law enforcement is now being placed under scrutiny as details reveal the gunman was inside the school for about an hour while armed officers held back.
Up to 150 Wellington buildings have been deemed structurally vulnerable and potentially hazardous during an earthquake. The Mātauranga House, home to the Ministry of Education, was one of these 150 buildings which means that over 1,000 staff now have to work from home. The Hutt Hospital’s eight-storey Heretaunga block has also been deemed earthquake prone, as well as Wellington Hospital’s emergency department.
Ukrainian and Western military experts say Russia is suffering heavy losses in the war, with the Russian solider death toll reaching about 30,000, according to Ukraine. In comparison, Soviet losses in nine years of conflict in Afghanistan reach around 15,000. Despite this, battles are still raging in Eastern Ukraine. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Russian forces are “continuing to chew through ground” in the Donbas region, making “slow, but palpable progress”. Russian forces now have control of more than 90 per cent of the Luhansk region in Eastern Ukraine, and have made significant advances in Donetsk and Sievierodonetsk. Kiev has intensified its pleas for longer-range weaponary from the West, to help them fight back in the Donbas region.
Aunty Cindy is currently visiting the United States, where she intended to discuss trade and tourism with US President Joe Biden and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The Texas school shooting, which occurred during her visit, has now reignited the domestic debate over gun control. Jacinda was hosted on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, where the interview began with a reference to the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks. This theme carried over in a series of meetings with high-profile American politicians. Ardern’s most important meetings will take place on Wednesday 1 June, where she will discuss New Zealand’s current partnership with the US, and ways to strengthen it.
New Zealand wine growers have recently launched a petition to get a ‘white wine emoji’, which has already been signed by over forty countries. The petition has a growing 1,000 signatures so far, which will account for some of the submission that New Zealand will take to the Unicode Consortium, the body of approving new emojis on phones, in June.
The Wellington City Council has reached a unanimous decision to go ahead with a 30-year plan for improving and creating green spaces across the city. “We will create two new urban parks – the first on the corner of Taranaki and Fredrick street, enhance 20 existing urban spaces, and double the number of trees to 4000 in the central city over the next 10 years,” says Wellington Mayor Andy Foster. Wellingtonians can expect to see more green walls like the one in Civic Square, street plantings, and planter boxes.