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Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown, seen here at the White House in Washington, in 2023.

REUTERS/Leah Millis

China cooks up trouble in the South Pacific

The Cook Islands’ recent entry into a strategic partnership with China has spawned protests in front of Parliament, angered long-time ally New Zealand, and this week, nearly toppled the islands’ government.

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China's President Xi Jinping attends a meeting in Brazil in November 2024.

REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

Tensions between China and the West heat up amid military exercises

Just days after a Chinese naval helicopter nearly collided with a Philippine patrol plane over a contested reef, China’s military started live-fire drills in waterways near Vietnam on Monday and between Australia and New Zealand over the weekend in an “unprecedented” display of firepower.

Beijing’s democratic critics put up their own show of force. On Sunday, France held military exercises with the Philippines and vowed to deepen their defense ties. On Monday, Japan followed suit, forging a security pact with Manila.

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People gather ahead of a march to the parliament in protest of the Treaty Principles Bill, in Wellington, New Zealand, November 19, 2024.

REUTERS/Lucy Craymer

New Zealand rocked by indigenous rights controversy

Over the past few days you might have seen that viral clip of New Zealand lawmakers interrupting a legislative session with a haka -- the foot-stamping, tongue-wagging, eyes-bulging, loud-chanting ceremonial dance of the nation’s indigenous Maori communities.

What was that about? The haka was led by Maori lawmakers opposed to a new bill that would curtail certain special privileges for their community, which has historically suffered discrimination. Thousands of Kiwis have also marched to the capital, Wellington, as part of a broader protest against the bill.

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A satellite image shows smoke rising from the Park Fire in Chico, California, U.S., July 26, 2024.

Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS

Hard Numbers: California burns, Countries push for cease-fire, Meloni makes nice, Japan basks in Olympic glory

350,000: The Park fire in northern California has burned through over 350,000 acres of land — an area larger than New York City — and was just 10% contained as of Sunday. Authorities said the fire was spreading at a rate of 5,000 acres per hour, and police arrested a man who they suspect of having deliberately set the blaze in an act of arson.

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China's top diplomat Wang Yi speaks at a meeting with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa and Park Jin, in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 26, 2023.

Kyodo via Reuters Connect

Hard Numbers: Ukraine and China talk Russia, France prepares for terrorist attempts at Olympics, New Zealand abuse scandal, Hunger expected to spike in Africa

12: Ukraine’s top diplomatmet with China’s foreign minister on Wednesday, signaling that China would like to play a more central role in finding a diplomatic end to the conflict. The talk comes after China’s previous attempt to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, a 12-point plan put forward in 2023, wasquickly dismissed by European leaders for being pro-Russia.

1,000: Ahead of Israel’s opening football match against Mali at the Olympic Games on Wednesday night, around1,000 French police officers formed an “anti-terror perimeter.” The game, along with a match between Ukraine and Iraq, have both been given the designation of high-risk because of their connections to global conflicts.

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Incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaking at the announcement of the new Government in NZ in the Banquet Hall in Parliament Buildings in Wellington, New Zealand, Friday, November 24, 2023.

AAP Image/Mark Coote/REUTERS

Kiwi durry ban goes up in smoke

Angsty teens in New Zealand can breathe wheezy about this news: The country’s plan to ban cigarettes entirely for anyone born after 2008 has been tossed into the ashtray of history, after newly elected Conservative PM Christopher Luxon scrapped the proposal ahead of his swearing-in on Monday.

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Christchurch had a global impact on tech giants: Microsoft's Brad Smith | Global Stage | GZERO Media

Christchurch Call had a global impact on tech giants - Microsoft's Brad Smith

The Christchurch killer livestreamed his heinous crimes, highlighting a macabre threat ensconced within the relatively new field of social media. Extremists could use the technology to get the attention of millions of people — and perhaps even find some incentive for their violence in that fact.

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, in a recent Global Stage livestream, from the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly, says the technology industry set out to ensure extremists could “never again” reach mass audiences during massacres. Tech companies, governments and civil society groups work together on the so-called Content Incident Protocol, a sort of digital emergency response plan.

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Hearing the Christchurch Call | Global Stage | GZERO Media

Hearing the Christchurch Call

After a terrorist attack on a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, was live-streamed on the internet in 2019, the Christchurch Call was launched to counter the increasing weaponization of the internet and to ensure that emerging tech is harnessed for good.

Since its inception, the Christchurch Call has evolved to include more than 120 government and private sector stakeholders. The organization, pioneered by the French and New Zealand governments, will hold its next major summit at the Paris Peace Forum in November.

Dame Jacinda Ardern, former Prime Minister of New Zealand who led the response to the Christchurch attack; Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media; and Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft sat down with CNN’s Rahel Solomon for a Global Stage livestream on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The event was hosted by GZERO Media in partnership with Microsoft.

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