My pick of the news links for Tuesday, June 28
NATO's pivot to confronting China's 'systemic challenge'; The case for fares-free public transport grows; Deeper inside the GIB crisis; David Meates running for Christchurch Mayor; Chris Bishop a dad
TLDR: These are the links to news items, explainers, research reports and twitter threads I found useful over the last day or so, including:
NATO's pivot to confronting China's 'systemic challenge';
the case for fares-free public transport grows;
even deeper inside the GIB crisis;
David Meates running for Christchurch Mayor; and,
Chris Bishop is a dad!
This is meant to be read in conjunction with my daily Dawn Choruses.
In geopolitics, the global economy, markets and business
NATO is considering labelling China a ‘strategic’ or ‘systemic’ challenge in its first restatement of its strategy in over a decade, Reuters reports.
In a sign of robust US factory output, new orders for US capital goods rose 0.5% in May from April, which was above the 0.3% seen in April and in line with economists’ forecasts, Reuters reports.
Australia (pop’n 25.5m) published its 2021 Census yesterday, including that just over 50% of its population labelled themselves as first or second generation migrant Australians and that its population has doubled in the last 50 years.
Scoops and news of note here in Aotearoa-NZ
The United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) has issued a scathing report about the New Zealand Government’s lack of compensation to children tortured at Lake Alice, David Williams reports via Newsroom.
Quinovic has been accused with locking tenants into unwieldy, unfair and unworkable tenancy agreements, Ethan Te Ora reports this morning for Stuff.
Pharmac expects 400,000 flu doses to be unused at end of winter. So why isn’t the flu vaccine free to many more? Hannah Martin asks via Stuff.
Fletcher Building’s GIB is selling for $410 a sheet on Trade Me, Daniel Smith reports for Stuff.
Why didn’t the SFO or the Crown’s prosecution lawyers call Winston Peters to testify in the High Court fraud case over the NZ First Foundation? Matthew Scott and a few others ask that question via Newsroom.
Former Canterbury Health Board CEO David Meates is expected to run for the Christchurch Mayoralty, Tina Law reported for The Press last night.
Victoria University, which is Wellington’s second-largest employer, has backed calls for fares-free public transport, Kate Green reported last night for Stuff.
Sugartree Apartments on Union St in Auckland has issued a breach of body corporate rules notice to the overseas-based apartment owner who let his unit to an Auckland City Mission client, prompting accusations of discrimination against Crockers, who run the body corporate, Lane Nichols reports for NZ Herald.
Useful longer reads and listens
Tom Pullar Strecker has put out a useful explainer via Stuff on last week’s near-thing with electricity supplies, in which Transpower managed to avoid a repeat of last year’s blackouts.
Threads of the day
Profundities, curiosities, spookies and feel-goods
The Craic
Congratulations to Chris Bishop and Jenna Raeburn on the birth of their first child, a boy, Jeremy John Raeburn Bishop, on Sunday.
Ka kite ano
Bernard
Re UNCAT report, does this organisation issue “scathing reports” about all the other child abuse going on in the world? Or do they just focus on countries like NZ where they may actually be heard?. I’m not in anyway condoning anything that happened here BTW, but I’m pretty sure it was written by people driving Tesla’s containing Cobalt mined by 6 year olds!