The Bull Ring

𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕒 𝔸𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕟’𝕤 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕣’𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕩𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕪 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕟𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝔸𝕤 𝕚𝕗 𝕨𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕕𝕞𝕚𝕣𝕖 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕒 𝔸𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕟 (𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥) 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤, 𝕒 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕟𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕩𝕚𝕤𝕥 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕪 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘. J acinda Ardern was meeting with her Finnish counterpart Sanna Marin when a (male) reporter asked if they were meeting just because they were both young women leaders. New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern and Finland's Sanna Marin quickly shot down a reporter who asked if their similar age and gender was the reason for their official meeting. https://t.co/HgBhR3g9tg pic.twitter.com/OT2i9A1PBa — CNN (@CNN) December 1, 2022 Watch NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pick apart this repor...

𝔾𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥'𝕤 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕖, 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕒𝕩 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕡, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕥. O fficial figures show a deficit of $2.8 billion for the four months to October, about $270 million below the budget forecast. The tax take was in line with what was forecast, at $36.2 billion, with higher income tax payments offsetting a slight dip in GST and the government's reduction in fuel taxes. . . Overall revenue was also boosted by higher earnings from the emissions trading scheme. Only the media and their Tory masters were predicting worse. "The country is in the very best of hands" - 🤩 https://t.co/p1GshOYNe7 — murray pearce (@pearce_murray) November 30, 2022 Expenses were $500 million above budget, reflecting higher interest ...

ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕧𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕪 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕪 - 𝕃𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕦𝕟𝕧𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕪'𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 "𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕒𝕕𝕧𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣". T e Whatu Ora  is making an application under the Care of Children Act regarding the baby who needs open heart surgery. The appeal has been sparked by two parents' refusal to use vaccinated blood in the procedure to treat their child's severe heart disease. The health agency is asking that the baby be placed under the guardianship of the court before appointing the doctors as agents of the court for medical care, and the parents agents of the court for all other care. . . Little said the parents should consider their ...

  Oath Keepers founder convicted of sedition in US Capitol attack plot Supporters of former US president Donald Trump fight with riot police outside the Capitol building on 6 January 2021 in Washington DC. Photo: AFP By Sarah N. Lynch Stewart Rhodes, founder of the right-wing Oath Keepers militia group, was found guilty on Tuesday of seditious conspiracy for last year's attack on the US Capitol in a failed bid to overturn then-President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss - an important victory for the Justice Department. The verdicts against Rhodes and four co-defendants, after three days of deliberations by the 12-member jury, came in the highest-profile trial so far to emerge from the deadly 6 January, 2021, assault on the US Capitol, with other high-profile trials due to begin next month. Rhodes, a Yale Law School-educated former Army paratrooper and disbarred attorney, was accused by prosecutors during an eight-week trial of fom...

  Three businessmen guilty of political donations deception avoid prison Jonty Dine , Reporter Jonty.Dine@rnz.co.nz Yikun Zhang, and brothers Colin (Shija) and Joe (Hengjia) Zheng, were sentenced to community detention and community work by Justice Gault in the Auckland High Court . Photo: RNZ Three businessmen who made unlawful donations to the National Party have been sentenced to community detention with their past philanthropy taken into account. The trio, Yikun Zhang, and brothers Colin and Joe Zheng, appeared at the High Court in Auckland before Justice Ian Gault today. Justice Gault said the men had lost significant standing in the Chinese community as a result of their crimes. "Professor Clark at the University of Auckland explains mianzi, which is best understood as a Chinese equivalent to the Māori concept of mana. Losing mianzi produces a great sense of shame especially for someone as influential as you." A...

  NZSIS agrees to pay Nicky Hager $66,400 over phone records privacy breach Nicky Hager Photo: Pool / Mark Mitchell/NZ Herald The NZSIS will pay Nicky Hager $66,400 in compensation and legal fees after it illegally took his phone records in 2012. The SIS had suspected Hager was illegally given information by a member of the Defence Force for his 2011 book Other People's Wars - which raised the possibility of civilian casualties in Operation Burnham. It seized two months' worth of his home phone's metadata, aiming to track down the NZDF member. However, in 2019 the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security found the SIS had no reasonable grounds for suspecting espionage, and failed to show the necessary caution for investigating a journalist's source in a free and democratic society. The phone data showed no link between Hager and the suspected NZDF member. It was found to be a breach of Hager's privacy. "Mr H...

𝕃𝕆𝕋𝕆 𝕃𝕦𝕩𝕠𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪'𝕤 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝔽𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕖𝕘𝕘 𝕃𝕦𝕩𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕦𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝟞𝟝 𝕥𝕠 𝟞𝟟. L OTO Luxon has committed to raising the age of superannuation should the party get into power. The party intends to lift the age of eligibility from 65 to 67, despite a  recent report from the Retirement Commission  recommending the age stays the same. The report said the commission had concerns that raising the age might disadvantage manual workers and groups with lower life expectancies, including Māori and Pasifika. . . Luxon said increasing the age would be done gradually and the party was giving people 15-20 years' notice. But it needed to be done, he told  Morning Report. This is a massive blow to those who have physical jobs. Christopher Luxon commits to raising super age https://t.co/Rifi1uQ3CV — Pip (@...

ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕃𝕆𝕋𝕆 𝕃𝕦𝕩𝕠𝕟'𝕤 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕒𝕩𝕡𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕙𝕚𝕞𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 - 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕒𝕩 𝕡𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪'𝕤 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝔽𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕖 𝕖𝕘𝕘 𝕃𝕆𝕋𝕆 𝕃𝕦𝕩𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕤 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕒𝕩𝕡𝕒𝕪𝕖𝕣 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕠𝕝 $𝟜𝟝,𝟘𝟘𝟘 𝕒 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕙𝕚𝕞𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗, 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕙𝕚𝕞𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗. T he National leader says he's "very comfortable" with the arrangement - but his constituents, well they've got other ideas.  Beaming out from a Botany corner is a picture of Luxon's face on his electorate office, an office he owns and rents.  "I'm very comfortable. Parliamentary Services are incredibly comfortable with it," Luxon said. . . You very comfortably heard that right...

  Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison to face censure motion over secret ministries affair Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison. Photo: AFP By political reporter Georgia Hitch The federal government will move a censure motion against former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison over his decision to secretly appoint himself to a number of extra ministries. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Monday that cabinet had agreed to move the motion this week, the final sitting week for the year. As Labor has a majority in the House of Representatives, the motion will pass. Morrison secretly appointed himself to administer several ministries throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, including to the treasury and home affairs portfolios. Late last week, a report into his actions found they were "corrosive" to trust in government. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo: AFP / Wendell Teodoro Albanes...