The Bull Ring

  Chinese censorship, surveillance found at Australian universities - rights group High numbers of Chinese students at Australian universities have created an environment of self-censorship with lecturers avoiding criticism of Beijing and Chinese students staying silent in fear of harassment, Human Rights Watch says. Report author Sophie McNeill says an online course removed references to the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 (File image). Photo: Unsplash / Miguel Henriques Some parents in mainland China had been questioned by Chinese police about the activities of students in Australia and Hong Kong police had questioned a returning student about pro-democracy activities, the group said in a report released on Wednesday. Self-censorship has worsened as universities have adopted online courses during the Covid-19 pandemic, with Chinese students joining class from behind China's "Great Firewall" system of internet censorship, th...

𝔽𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤, 𝕗𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 '𝕞𝕚𝕕𝕕𝕝𝕖-𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕕𝕦𝕕𝕖𝕤' 𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕤𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕟 ℕℤ ℍ𝕒𝕝𝕗 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕂𝕚𝕨𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕧𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕒𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕡𝕚𝕖𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕨𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕖𝕓𝕦𝕟𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟, 𝕒 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕧𝕖𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕. And that might be because many of us are more likely to trust information we get from friends and family than the news media. The Chief Censor's office surveyed more than 2300 Kiwis, and found one in five Kiwis believe in at least three high-profile examples of misinformation about topics including COVID-19, QAnon and even the Christchurch terror attack. "We expect that people will have misinformation narratives that make sense to them; this is what these kinds of conspiracies or narratives are designed to do," said Kate Hannah, a research fellow at the University of Auckland who specialises in disinformation. . . C...

𝟝𝟘 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕒𝕩 𝕔𝕦𝕥𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕗𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟, 𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕔𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕕𝕪 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕋𝕒𝕩 𝕔𝕦𝕥𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕕𝕣𝕒𝕨𝕟 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕨𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕦𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 "𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟" 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕛𝕠𝕓𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕖𝕝𝕤𝕖. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕒 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕕𝕪 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕠𝕟 𝕊𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝔼𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕔𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝟝𝟘 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕒𝕩 𝕔𝕦𝕥𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕡 — 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕙. The new paper, by David Hope of the London School of Economics and Julian Limberg of King's College London, examines 18 developed countries — from Australia to the United States — over a 50-year period from 1965 to 2015. The study compared countries that passed t...

𝔽𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥 ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕦𝕣𝕔𝕙 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕢𝕦𝕖 𝕒𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕪 𝕕𝕖𝕓𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕔𝕙 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕤 𝔸𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕪 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕕𝕖𝕓𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕔𝕙 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕤, 𝔸𝕝 ℕ𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕢𝕦𝕖 (𝔸𝕟-ℕ𝕦𝕣 𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕛𝕚𝕕) 𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖. Police have received three separate reports relating to the Christchurch mosque in the past fortnight; incidents a senior minister describes as "serious". The matters were reported to police either at or from a representative of Al Noor Mosque, Canterbury metro area commander superintendent Lane Todd said. He said all three reports were being "actively followed up". They are not connected to one another. Federation of Islamic Associations chair Abdur Razzaq is responsible for one of the reports after he drew police attention to an offensive image on the online f...

ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗-𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕣 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤 𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕒𝕤 𝕒 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣, 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕤𝕢𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 – 𝕓𝕠𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕟 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. He says the party leadership “deserve everything that’s come to them” after self-inflicted “brand destruction” over the past couple of years. The comments will put more pressure on party leader  Judith Collins who is already facing internal scrutiny  over the  resignations of former MP Nick Smith , and the current MP for Bay of Plenty, short-lived party leader  Todd Muller . They will also pile pressure on current party President Peter Goodfellow. Finlayson, who served as a  National Party MP from 2008 to 2019 ...

ℍ𝕖𝕣𝕣 ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕞 𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕔𝕦𝕤 𝕡𝕦𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕠𝕕𝕕 𝕄𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕣 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. 𝕃𝕦𝕩𝕠𝕟 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕣𝕦𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕦𝕥 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕓𝕚𝕕. 𝕆𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝔽𝕦𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕙𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕪 ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕙𝕖'𝕤 𝕡𝕦𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕔𝕦𝕤 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕠𝕕𝕕 𝕄𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕓𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 𝕗𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕄ℙ 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕒. Collins' MPs seem to have got the message for now but leadership hopeful Christopher Luxon still isn't ruling out a tilt at her job. Leaks from National's caucus have been cauterised, made clear by effectively ousting Muller for leaking.  "I don't think leaking is the right thing to do and the leader has made that clear," former leader Simon Bridges said on Tuesday.  But Collins won...

ℙ𝕗𝕚𝕫𝕖𝕣, 𝕄𝕠𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒 𝕧𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥 ℂ𝕆𝕍𝕀𝔻-𝟙𝟡 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤: 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕕𝕪 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕓𝕪 ℙ𝕗𝕚𝕫𝕖𝕣-𝔹𝕚𝕠ℕ𝕋𝕖𝕔𝕙 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒 𝕤𝕖𝕥 𝕠𝕗𝕗 𝕒 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕦𝕟𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕪 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕣𝕦𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤, 𝕤𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕. The findings add to growing evidence that most people immunised with the mRNA vaccines may not need boosters, so long as the virus and its variants do not evolve much beyond their current forms – which is not guaranteed. People who recovered from COVID-19 before being vaccinated may not need boosters even if the virus does make a significant transformation. “It’s a good sign for how durable our immunity is from this vaccine,” said Ali Ellebedy, an immunologist at Washington University in St Louis who led the study, which was published in the...