THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD

The New Zealand Herald, published in Auckland, New Zealand, is a daily newspaper that was founded in 1863. Now owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, it is the most widely circulated newspaper in the country, with a estimated circulation of 144,000 copies. The newspaper is considered to hold a right-centrist editorial line and reprints articles from British right-wing conservative news sources.

Photo of a laptop on an office desk with an empty chair

Work In Progress

Rozena Crossman

Work → In Progress: Where Have All The Workers Gone?

Reams have been written about the shift to remote working. And yet, for many people, the more pressing issue right now isn't where, but how much they work.

After the economic slowdown brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, companies all over the world are taking advantage of loosened lockdowns and progress on the vaccine front to ramp up operations and make up for lost productivity. But the frenetic spurts of the recovery are getting serious pushback: From the rise of the four-day work week to legally punishing overtime, the world is waking up to the importance of a balanced workload.

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G7 Afghan Talks, Paralympics Open, Summoning The Candyman

BBC

Meike Eijsberg, Alessio Perrone and Bertrand Hauger

G7 Afghan Talks, Paralympics Open, Summoning The Candyman

Welcome to Tuesday, where G7 leaders meet to discuss Afghanistan, Kamala Harris accuses China of "coercion" and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games open. Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based media The Initium reports on the pressure still put on unmarried women in Chinese society.

• G7 leaders plan to pledge unity on Taliban recognition: The leaders of the G7 are expected to pledge unity on whether or not to officially recognize or sanction the Taliban, the organization that took over Afghanistan last week. The G7 will meet virtually today to discuss the situation in the Central Asian country.

• COVID-19 update:New Zealand is bracing for its biggest outbreak of the pandemic after it recorded an additional 41 new cases in a day, taking the total to 148. Experts say the cluster could grow to 1,000 and take four to six weeks to eradicate. In Israel, however, there is hope: the country's COVID-19 vaccine booster program shows signs of taming the Delta variant. Officials began administering booster shots — a third dose of the vaccine — to people above 60 on July 30. Meanwhile, after almost a year of emergency use, the U.S. drug regulator, the FDA, granted the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine full approval.

• Haiti desperate for "right" aid: Ten days after the earthquake that struck southern Haiti, more than 2,200 people have died, and at least 30,000 families had to abandon their homes. And yet, many Haitian families are wary of the massive international aid response underway, saying that "the international NGOs do what they want, not what we need."

• Floods linked to climate change: According to new research, the climate crisis made the record-shattering rainfall that caused the floods in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands earlier this summer "up to nine times more likely". The work reinforces the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's report this month that there is "unequivocal" evidence that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the main cause of worsening weather.

• Paralympic Games kick off: The 16th Summer Paralympic Games are beginning in Tokyo today after being delayed for a year due to the pandemic. But the city — the first ever to host two editions of the Paralympic Games — is still grappling with COVID as cases continue to rise.

• Duterte to run as VP in 2022: The President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has agreed to be the ruling party's vice presidential candidate in next year's elections. In the Philippines, the president can only serve one six-year term, but political observers say Duterte's vice-presidential un could be an attempt to hold on to power.

• Dare to summon the Candyman: The trailer for the latest installment in the horror movie series Candyman is out — but there's a catch: to unlock it, you must whisper the killer's name, Candyman, five times in your computer's microphone. Spooky …

"Amatrice, 5 years of nothing," headlines Italian dailyIl Tempo, as it reports on the fifth anniversary of the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that ravaged more than 100 towns of central Italy, killing 300, displacing some 65,000 people and razing the town of Amatrice to the ground. Today, as they witness the fifth Italian prime minister who visits Amatrice in as many years, locals are still waiting for any of the crumbled houses and buildings to be rebuilt.

In China, women still have to fight for their right to be single

Nowadays, Chinese women are gaining higher social status through access to better education. And yet, the traditional norm of "getting married as early as possible" is still popular, albeit women have gained new social powers, Hong Kong-based media The Initium says. The writer argues that societal norms make marriage the only significant relationship for women to be accepted in society. That discriminates women who have not walked down the aisle as being somehow "leftovers".

The issue of single women was also brought up, interestingly, in a 2017 IKEA commercial that aired in China. In the ad, which stirred up more than a bit of controversy on social media, a girl dines with her parents and calls out to her mother, who slams her chopsticks on the spot and turns against her: "Don't call me mom if you don't bring your boyfriend back!" Then, when the girl's boyfriend comes to visit, the girl's parents completely change their attitude and immediately set up a happy and warm home.

In another ad (SK-II's "She Ended Up at the Matchmaking Corner," from 2016) several "leftover women" are shown speaking with their parents. It opens with the parents putting pressure on their unmarried daughters. But in the second half of the commercial, the daughters explain to their parents that they "don't want to get married just for the sake of getting married." In the end, the parents seem to understand, and there's a reconciliation between the generations.

While social norms pressure women to choose between infertility and marriage, some single Chinese women are looking for a third way: single parenthood. A particularly well-known case is Haiyang Ye, CEO of a cosmetics company, who traveled to the United States in 2017 to buy sperm and gave birth to her daughter Doris through artificial insemination. The effort cost her more than $75,000.

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День незалежності

Ukraine celebrates Independence Day ("Den nezalezhnosti") today, 30 years after the country separated from the Soviet Union. Celebrations come amid tensions with Russia after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed yesterday to reclaim areas of its territory that were annexed by Moscow.

We know that Beijing continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make claims to the vast majority of the South China Sea.

— U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said in a speech delivered in Singapore on the first leg of her Southeast Asian tour. She referred to the landmark international legal case the Philippines won over China about its territorial incursions in the South China Sea. Despite the ruling, Chinese coastguards remain present — with Filipino fishermen frequently reporting harassment. Harris also touched on other issues, such as the Afghanistan pullout, which she described as "courageous and right."

Newsletter by Meike Eijsberg, Alessio Perrone and Bertrand Hauger

Democracy (and other things) at work on every continent in the next few months.

THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD

Rozena Crossman

New Zealand To Niger: 8 *Other World Elections That Matter

*Other than Donald Trump's jaw-dropping push for a second term, we will also see Maduro's Venezuela and Myanmar (also) testing the limits of democracy in the coming weeks.

This year's U.S. presidential election is sucking up even more global attention than previous runs for the White House. America's global influence is undeniable, as is the current president's knack for making noise. There is no doubt Worldcrunch and other international media will continue to follow the U.S. campaign until Nov. 3 — but from New Zealand to Ivory Coast to Venezuela, the stakes are equally high at ballot boxes around the world in the coming weeks and months. Here's a rapid-fire glance at eight key global elections that shouldn't be ignored:

NEW ZEALAND

• What: National elections

• When: Oct. 17

• Who: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, leader of the Labour party, is running for reelection.

• Context: After she became the youngest female world leader at the age of 37, Ardern went on to garner international praise for her response to last year's Christchurch terror attack against Muslims, as well as the ongoing efforts to keep New Zealand comparatively safe from COVID-19. Though some have remarked on the relative civility of the New Zealand race in sharp contrast to national elections elsewhere, her main rival, the conservative National Party's Judith Collins, has not held back on attacking Ardern, calling her a "liar" about COVID policies, The New Zealand Herald reports.

• Why It Matters: If Ardern's Labour party scores big on Saturday, some may see a sign for the upcoming U.S. election — finding support for the prime minister's message of ethnic harmony and her hard-and-fast trust in the recommendations of medical experts in responding to the pandemic. But no matter how it goes, Wellington is ways away from Washington.

CHILE

• What: Constitutional referendum

• When: Oct. 25

• Context: This vote follows massive demonstrations last October, as Chile confronts deep economic inequality. Current President, Sebastián Piñera, a member of one of the wealthiest families in the country, is scrambling to boost his low popularity. The current Chilean constitution is a remnant of former dictator Augusto Pinochet, and many feel that it needs to be rewritten to strengthen democracy and clearly outline government spending to redistribute resources.

• Why It Matters: The vote, which was originally scheduled for April 2020 but moved due to the pandemic, is coming ahead of other important votes over the course of the next year, from regional to presidential elections. The timeline leaves room for political uncertainty, as the new constitution may not be finished before a new presidential candidate takes office, and could put aspects of their power into question. Furthermore, America Economia reports that since COVID, Chilean unemployment levels are at their highest in a decade. Conditions could become ripe for unrest in what has been one of Latin America's more politically and economically stable countries in recent years.

GEORGIA

• What: Parliamentary elections

• When: Oct. 31

• Who: The Georgian Dream, the current ruling political party strategically allied with pro-Russian and far-right political organizations; the center-right, populist United National Movement (UNM); and European Georgia, which split from the UNM in 2017.

• Context: Constitutional votes in 2017 and 2018 gave the Georgian parliament significantly more power, as the next president will be decided by an electoral college. There have been reports of the Georgian Dream buying votes in previous elections, and it looks like the election will be heated as physical altercations have already occured between opposing parties, involving the assault of five journalists.

• Why It Matters: Given the recent controversy surrounding corruption and voter fraud during elections in Belarus, the neighboring EU will keep a close eye on this election. Germany has sent 37 observers to monitor the vote, as keeping this former Soviet nation as free as possible from corruption and the sway of Vladimir Putin.

IVORY COAST

• What: Presidential elections

• When: Oct. 31 (first round)

• Who: Current President Alassane Dramane Ouattara, nicknamed "ADO," and three other candidates: former President Henri Konan Bedie, former Prime Minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan, and Kouadio Konan Bertin.

• Context: The announcement of ADO's controversial decision to run for a third term, which is not permitted by the Ivorian constitution, provoked a violent outbreak that led to a dozen deaths. According to Le Monde, while the constitutional council accepted ADO's bid to run, they rejected 41 other contenders — including the popular former President Laurent Gbagbo, whose refusal to admit defeat to ADO in 2010 led to riots that killed some 3,000 people. Of the three other candidates, two have notably weak public support, and the third, Bedie, is a known ally of ADO.

• Why It Matters: Francophone west Africa's biggest economy, the Ivory Coast has seen it's fast-growing market stagnate significantly since COVID hit. Any political instability will only bring the economy farther down, and deter private investment — not to mention play into the hands of the violent extremist organizations plaguing western Africa. The African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the UN have already attempted to send diplomatic delegates to implore for a "peaceful and inclusive" election.

ALGERIA

• What: Constitutional referendum

• When: Nov. 1

• Context: Historic protests last year put an end to two decades of government under president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. In an effort to respond to the protest's demands for more government transparency, a new constitution is being considered that includes limiting presidential rule to two terms and facilitating inquiries into government work. Politicians and activists from various other parties, however, feel there was not enough open debate when drafting the new version. According to Le Point Afrique, many feel the proposed constitution would create an unclear system that is neither presidential nor parliamentary.

• Why It Matters: Algeria is a member of the African Union, which has been plagued by "third-termism," or corrupt presidencies that maintain power past two terms. It is also a member of the Arab League, where many member countries are still wading through the aftermath of the Arab Spring. A new constitution could be the foundation of a strong democracy that could pave the way for other countries in the region looking to push out despots in a nonviolent manner — or it could backfire and deepen political instability. It would be an enormous feat for Algeria as, according to the ex-colonel of the Algerian secret service Mohamed Chafik Mesbah, "Contrary to Western countries, legitimacy in Algeria is acquired after the fact; It is not a prerequisite, but a result."

MYANMAR

• What: General election

• When: Nov. 8

• Who: Over 7,000 candidates for parliamentary, state, and local elections.

• Context: It's only Myanmar's second free election since its transition from military rule, although 25% seats in parliament are reserved for the military. Information on all of the candidates can be found on an app dubbed mVoter 2020, yet the app has been criticized for displaying the race and religion of both the candidates and their parents in a country where over 40% of the population belongs to a minority group.

• Why It Matters: Although the ruling party's Aung San Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, she has since been denounced for turning a bling eye to the continued genocide of the Rohingya, a minority Muslim group. Human Rights Watch is particularly concerned about this election as Rohingya Muslims are largely barred from voting, and the government has a history of legally attacking critics. The country's ethnic and political divides have already posed serious problems for international organizations and companies working within Myanmar.

VENEZUELA

• What: Parliamentary elections

• When: Dec. 6

• Who: More than 14,000 candidates from 100 different political tendencies and representing the 87 electoral districts are running for the 277 seats in Parliament (and as many substitutes deputies).

• Context: Called by President Nicolás Maduro, these elections have been dismissed as "irrelevant" and "fraudulent" by the opposition, which currently controls the majority in Parliament and defies the authority of President Nicolás Maduro. In January 2019, opposition deputy Juan Guaidó proclaimed himself "interim president" of Venezuela, winning the support of the United States and neighboring countries. Back in March, 50,000 electronic voting machines were almost all destroyed during an arson attack claimed by an unknown far right group.

• Why It Matters: In the midst of years-long political and economic turmoil in one of the world's leading oil exporters, the elections are under close scrutiny from the international community, which has in large part indicated that it doesn't recognize the legitimacy of Maduro's rule. The European Union said it couldn't send observers because Maduro notified them too late, while the U.S. has already determined that the election will likely be rigged.

Embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro — Photo: Kremlin.ru

NIGER

• What: Presidential + legislative elections

• When: Dec. 27

• Who: Mohamed Bazoum, the ruling Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism's selected Interior Minister; General Salou Djibo, former head of Niger's military junta, candidate for the Peace-Justice-Progress (PJP) party. The main opposition, Moden Fa Lumana, is also expected to present a candidate but is currently in the middle of legal battle over the party's leadership between Hama Amadou and Noma Oumarou, as reported by Medafrica Times.

• Context: This vote is a very symbolic step towards democratic transition as it marks the first presidential election since term limits have been officially decreed. However, it is also expected to be a rerun of the 2016 election during which current President Mahamadou Issoufou was suspected of actively silencing the opposition by having Hama Amadou arrested over suspicion of child trafficking. According to experts interviewed by AllAfrica, the current Nigerien leader is likely to have a successor already in mind to protect his interests and legacy.

• Why It Matters: Niger is a very active ground for islamist groups and faced an unprecedented number of violent attacks in 2019, causing 271 deaths. Due to battles against Boko Haram and ISIS, Issoufou gained important support from the Western world and became a trusted ally. Meanwhile, the country is the world's fourth largest uranium producer and nations who invest in its mining scene like France and China will be closely watching the results.

A COVID-compliant 'car concert' in Erfurt, Germany on May 23

THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD

Pandemic Blues, The Disconcerting New Concert Experience

Rock hero Dave Grohl, of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame, has described live music performances during the COVID-19 lockdowns as: "unflattering little windows that look like doorbell security footage and sound like Neil Armstrong's distorted transmissions from the moon."

One month later, in some corners of the world, authentic, in-person live music is ready to take the stage again — though with some caveats.

In New Zealand, which this week proudly announced it has no active coronavirus cases, a major concert series Good Vibes 2020 has confirmed its August dates, the New Zealand Herald reported Tuesday.

An earlier event, The Together Again series of small concerts, said attendees would have their body temperature screened and participate in contact tracing.

The Czech Republic, which has managed to keep coronavirus infections among the lowest in Europe, announced Tuesday that events for up to 500 people will now be permitted. If the situation remains favorable, the health minister promised to increase the limit to 1,000 on June 22. "After almost three months of fasting, it is time to return music to Prague," said Michal Filip, owner of Lucerna Music Bar, one of Prague's top music clubs.

That's more like it ... — Photo: Tijs van Leur

Still, many ask about the long-term health of the music industry. Musicians, sound engineers, technicians, promoters and other employees across the globe are losing their jobs due to cancelled cultural events. In the Czech Republic, 250 music clubs are currently on the verge of closing for good.

Indeed, the experience might not be the same as we have known it in pre-coronavirus times. Fears will linger of attending concerts in closely packed indoor venues. Lucerna Music Bar, for example, plans to relocate its music stage to a forest park in Prague, while operators of the club Fléda in the city of Brno are preparing a series of open-air concerts in the courtyard of the medieval Špilberk Castle.

Though it may make for a special summer of outdoor events, the true test may be in the autumn, when the weather turns colder.

Here's Grohl, who is as much a fan as a producer of live music: "I've been lifted and carried to the stage by total strangers for a glorious swan dive back into their sweaty embrace. Arm in arm, I have sung at the top of my lungs with people I may never see again. All to celebrate and share the tangible, communal power of music."

Yes, live rock concerts, the way they're meant to be, are the very opposite of social distancing. Even in countries like New Zealand and the Czech Republic that have been largely spared the worst of coronavirus, that "tangible" power may take time to return.

The elbow bump has been widely used across the world

THE GLOBAL TIMES

Eyebrows, Nods And Elbow Bumps: Handshake Alternatives Around The World

Humans have been greeting each others with handshakes for thousands of years. Are we witnessing the end to pressing the flesh, and giving some skin? "I don't think we should shake hands ever again," declared Dr Anthony Fauci, one of the key members of the US coronavirus task force, in a Wall Street Journal podcast.

So is we must shelve the shake, what should we do when we greet a friend, a colleague or family member? From reviving old traditions to inventing new ways of greetings, alternatives to handshakes are showing up around the world:

In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has encouraged citizens not to use handshakes, hugs or hongi (a traditional noses-pressed Maori greeting) but to perform instead the "east coast wave", even demonstrating it during a press conference, reports The New Zealand Herald. Also known as the "Kahungunu wave" as it is common in Ngāti Kahungunu Maori iwi (tribe), it consists of raising the eyebrows while looking at someone in the eyes, with a subtle upward movement of the head.

In China, a traditional gesture called "zuoyi", bowing with hands folded in front, has made a public comeback in the eastern city of Quzhou. Officials were asked to use this gesture during local plenary sessions, as well as students in 117 schools,The Global Timesreports. This formal custom dates back from China's imperial era thousands of years ago. The country also popularized the "Wuhan shake," or how to say hello with your feet, after an online video went viral.
In many countries, a handshake is also a means to seal a business deal. That is how traders traditionally operate in Garissa County, Kenya, when they sell animals in livestock markets. But Kenyan health officials are now giving them a safer option that doesn't require physical contact: a "stick-shake". The Ministry of Health has published a picture of a health worker demonstrating how to use sticks as a substitute for the traditional handshake at a goat market.

No handshake, use shaka instead — Photo: Brian Schatz

The elbow bump has been widely used across the world and seems to be favored especially by politicians (who are famous hand shakers...or "flesh pressers' as we say in English) , from state officials in Indonesia to European health ministers. Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton even dubbed it the "corona shake".
Hawaiians are used to hugs, kisses or "honi", with foreheads touching. But officials like Hawaii US Senator Brian Schatz have been urging citizens to use the "shaka" to help prevent the virus from spreading, reports local news channel KITV. The gesture, which consists in curling the three middle fingers and extending the thumb and pinky finger, is a symbol of friendship and compassion in the Hawaiian culture and was widely popularized by surfers.

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India

Sadia Rao

Amma Mia! India To New Zealand, The Women In Politics Paradox

-Analysis-

Long before Angela Merkel or even Margaret Thatcher, Indian politics has produced some fearsome female leaders. Indira Gandhi, also known as the "Iron Lady" of India, took office as the first female prime minister of the country in 1966 and returned for another term in 1980. Years after Gandhi's assassination in 1984, her daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi, carried forward both the family and female legacy, and still stands as longstanding president of the Indian National Congress party.

Lesser known abroad, but in some ways perhaps even more influential, was Jayalalithaa, fondly known as Amma ("Mother"), who ruled the huge southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, for nearly two decades until her death in December.

And yet, while these handful of prominent female figures continue to command headlines, the full picture of gender parity in Indian politics is very different. A new global tally of female representation in national parliaments found that only 11.8% of the total number of parliamentarians in India are women. That number is well below the 22% world average, and is topped by such countries as Rwanda, Iraq, Sudan and Somalia. Similar results were found at the state level in India, with only 364 of the 4,128 legislative seats are taken by women.

With a relatively long history of strong female leaders, as well as a law reserving at least one-third of local government seats for women, India should by all measures be doing better on this front. Yet, as The Wirereports, the power of nepotism in Indian politics skews the reality. "Ironically, most of the tickets given to women candidates in reserved constituencies were prompted not by their personal stature, but for their husbands or other male relatives," the Delhi-based news website writes. The situation is even bleaker at national and state levels, where there is no reservation for women.

The final hurdle may be the highest: changing a sexist mentality that persists even when women are in charge.

There are several hurdles to gender parity in Indian politics, "ranging from socio-historic reasons and the inherent masculinity of popular politics to institutional hurdles like family and marriage and the current socio-economic and political policies," write Haris Jamil and Anmolam in The Wire.

India can learn from the different systems developed worldwide to increase female policy makers, such as the "soft quota" system used in New Zealand. France's new ruling party of President Emmanuel Macron imposed gender parity in its list of parliamentary candidates and cabinet ministers.

But the final hurdle may be the highest: changing a sexist mentality that persists even when women are in charge. Only 24 hours after she assumed the New Zealand Labour party's leadership, Jacinda Ardern was asked how she would juggle her career and motherhood. It is the kind of seemingly benign question that undermines the very idea of progress on gender parity.

Better instead to talk about "motherhood" and politics by returning to Jayalalithaa, whose death late last year was the occasion for mass mourning in Tamil Nadu. The people wept for their Amma, who had no children of her own, but was a different kind of mother to 68 million citizens.

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Work → In Progress: Where Have All The Workers Gone?

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G7 Afghan Talks, Paralympics Open, Summoning The Candyman

Welcome to Tuesday, where G7 leaders meet to discuss Afghanistan, Kamala Harris accuses China of "coercion" and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games open. Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based media The Initium reports on the pressure still put on unmarried women in Chinese society.

In China, women still have to fight for their right to be single

День незалежності

New Zealand To Niger: 8 *Other World Elections That Matter

*Other than Donald Trump's jaw-dropping push for a second term, we will also see Maduro's Venezuela and Myanmar (also) testing the limits of democracy in the coming weeks.

Pandemic Blues, The Disconcerting New Concert Experience

Eyebrows, Nods And Elbow Bumps: Handshake Alternatives Around The World

Amma Mia! India To New Zealand, The Women In Politics Paradox

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Work → In Progress: Where Have All The Workers Gone?

HAIL THE 4-DAY WEEK

IS OVERTIME OVER?

EMPTY SEATS

KEY HELP WANTED

OUT OF OFFICE

ODD JOB

BUMP IT UP

G7 Afghan Talks, Paralympics Open, Summoning The Candyman

Welcome to Tuesday, where G7 leaders meet to discuss Afghanistan, Kamala Harris accuses China of "coercion" and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games open. Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based media The Initium reports on the pressure still put on unmarried women in Chinese society.

In China, women still have to fight for their right to be single

День незалежності

New Zealand To Niger: 8 *Other World Elections That Matter

*Other than Donald Trump's jaw-dropping push for a second term, we will also see Maduro's Venezuela and Myanmar (also) testing the limits of democracy in the coming weeks.

Pandemic Blues, The Disconcerting New Concert Experience

Eyebrows, Nods And Elbow Bumps: Handshake Alternatives Around The World

Amma Mia! India To New Zealand, The Women In Politics Paradox

News for the international mind.

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