Latest news with #Newsroom
The Hill
5 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Speaker Johnson: Newsom ‘ought to be tarred and feathered'
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said that California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) should be 'tarred and feathered' for how he has responded to the violent protests in Los Angeles, while declining to say whether he agreed that the governor should face legal consequences. His comment came in response to a question at a press conference about President Trump endorsing the idea of his border czar Tom Homan coming to arrest Newsom. 'I'm not going to give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested, but he ought to be tarred and feathered, I'll say that,' Johnson responded. He went on to criticize Newsom's objection to Trump deploying the National Guard to quell the anti-immigration enforcement protests. Newsom said he is suing the Trump administration, arguing he illegally federalized the National Guard to respond to the protesters. 'He's standing in the way of the administration and the carrying out of federal law. He is applauding the bad guys and standing in the way of the good guys,' Johnson said of Newsom. 'He's a participant, an accomplice, in our federal law enforcement agents being not just disrespected, but assaulted. This is a serious problem.' Johnson said of the lawsuit: 'What a joke. Do your job, man, that's what I tell Gavin Newsom. Do your job. Stop working on your rebranding, and be a governor.' Trump had endorsed the idea of Homan arresting the sitting governor on Monday. 'Gavin Newsom is daring Tom Homan to come and arrest him,' Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked Trump. 'Should he do it?' Trump responded: 'I would do it if I were Tom.' Newsroom called the comment an 'unmistakable step toward authoritarianism' in response to Trump in a post on X. In Washington, though, Republicans are largely rallying around the administration's actions and confrontation with local Democratic leaders over protest response. Johnson played video of the violence and destruction in pockets of Los Angeles in a closed-door meeting with House Republicans on Tuesday morning, according to a source. White House Press Secretary Karolina Leavitt was a guest speaker at that morning meeting and also pushed the administration's posture on the protest response.
Newsroom
20 hours ago
- Business
- Newsroom
The electricity evangelist spreading the solar message
Mike Casey is an electricity evangelist, spreading the word from his fossil-fuel-free cherry orchard in Cromwell. He's the CEO of Rewiring Aotearoa, which has just released two reports – the first is a machine count of all the household items people could (and, the organisation says, should) convert to electricity; the second is a policy manifesto which sets out 59 ways to move towards an electrical utopia. In a political world where climate change issues don't appear to have a high priority, Rewiring Aotearoa's efforts could have fallen on deaf ears. However, says Newsroom senior political reporter and climate change writer Marc Daalder, the new Energy Minister Simon Watts has confirmed he's open to adopting the policy marked as the most important – making electrification loans accessible to everyone. The idea would be to use the high credit ratings of councils to leverage low-interest loans to install home solar panels. Daalder says such a scheme wouldn't put the debt on council balance sheets, and it would mean the Government wouldn't have to put up much money to do it either. 'Central government would only have to stump up for the set-up costs which would be two to six million dollars, so for someone like Simon Watts who really does want to see a deployment of solar, it's a great cost-of-living policy because it helps people reduce their energy bills, and that's one of the big growing aspects of our household bills at the moment.' Daalder says not directly having to subsidise solar but still giving the industry a big boost is pretty appealing for the Government. It doesn't need to plough billions into it because it's being consumer-driven and the economic case for the change is transparent as it is – there are just smaller failures around financing. He says it's fair to say this Government doesn't have a great record on climate policy. 'I think that Rewiring [Aotearoa] has done a good job of finding a niche where actually maybe there can be some progress from the Government.' And he detects a change of heart in coalition politicians over what some of them have described as 'woke' or 'left-wing' technologies, particularly after it was revealed that solar energy mitigated about $20 million in damages and losses after the toppling of a power pylon that causes outages to 88,000 Northland homes last year. 'I think having Simon Watts as the energy minister makes a big difference as well. There was a sense in the sector that Simeon Brown, the previous energy minster, was somewhat ideologically opposed to some of these clean and green technologies … although, even that sounded like it was starting to shift as the benefits became apparent.' Mike Casey says the Machine Count project was a case of 'you can't change what you can't measure'. The report bridges the gap between big, complicated climate policy that's hard to understand, and the sort of discussions people have in their homes – should they buy an electric lawn mower to replace the old one, or when is it best to get an EV, or put solar on the roof. If Kiwi households upgraded six million of the most easily electrifiable machines, they'd save the country about $8 million a day. And ditching those fossil-powered gadgets and old cars would slash 7.5 million tonnes off carbon emissions each year. Some things are too hard to go after. Getting farmers to swap out their tractors, or unglue people's hands from their barbeques, or get rid of their jet skis just yet is off the immediate agenda. 'When you're talking about electrification, especially with a reasonably traditional Kiwi bloke, then the immediate thing that the conversation moves to is 'I've got no option to electrify my 200 horsepower diesel tractor', or 'electrification of international aviation is still a long way away',' says Casey. 'So it's really important to quantify … you know we've 10 million machines in New Zealand … 8.5 million of them, the technology exists within New Zealand to electrify them right now. A million of them, the technology exists somewhere in the world but for whatever reason they're difficult for us to electrify. And there's about 700,000 machines in New Zealand that the technology just doesn't exist to electrify yet. 'And it's a way of breaking that conversation open to make it less about the 200 hp tractors and more about all the small machines that exist in the home where there's a significant economic and emissions opportunity for our country.' One of the big changes is likely to be gas cookers, both because the price of gas is going up as the resource gets more scarce, and because the toxins released when cooking with gas inside can be dangerous for children. But Casey is quick to point out they're not going after the 1,316,620 gas barbecues in the country – not only are electric versions not really up to speed yet, but they're not used often enough for it to be a priority. 'The other thing we've learnt in this whole electrification discussion is that we don't really want to look at banning things or removing things because it actually creates an allergic reaction from a certain section of society which is unproductive for the overall electrification message.' Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
Newsroom
5 days ago
- Newsroom
Boy in the Water, The Detail win national podcast awards
The Boy in the Water won best true crime podcast and The Detail won best news and current affairs podcast, for the second consecutive year, at the 2025 radio and podcast awards. Held annually, the awards recognise excellence in all areas of commercial and non-commercial radio broadcasting and podcasting. Winning best true crime podcast is another accolade for Newsroom's investigations editor Melanie Reid, producer Bonnie Sumner and editor Dave Filoiali'i. The team also won best podcast and best investigation at last year's Voyager Media Awards. The Boy in the Water examines events surrounding the death of a young boy in the southern town of Gore. Lachie Jones was found floating face-up in the town's oxidation pond by a police dog and its handler in January 2019. He was deemed to have died by accidental drowning but Reid's investigations have spotlighted serious deficiencies in multiple police investigations and the autopsy performed on the three-and-a-half-year-old. Melanie Reid with Lachie's father Paul Jones at the Gore oxidation ponds. Photo: Grant Findlay The podcast has had more than three and a half million downloads and is about to enter its fourth season on Newsroom's podcast channel, Delve. Reid and her team will be in Invercargill on Friday June 13 when Coroner Alexander Ho releases his findings from the inquest he held last year. 'It is great to win this category and have our team recognised for the hard work that has gone into the series. For us, The Boy in the Water is about trying to answer the unanswered questions – it's about system failure, shoddy police work and the dynamics of life in a small town like Gore,' says Reid. The Detail, produced by Newsroom for RNZ, beat a strong field to win best news and current affairs podcast. The Detail team of Amanda Gillies, Gwen McClure, Davina Zimmer, Alexia Russell and Sharon Brettkelly. Photo: Supplied The other finalists were Kim Hill wants to know for RNZ, Front Page for NZ Herald and another Newsroom podcast, Fractured – also produced by Melanie Reid and Bonnie Sumner. The Detail team of Sharon Brettkelly, Amanda Gillies, Alexia Russell, Gwen McClure and Davina Zimmer produce six podcasts a week that are published on multiple platforms including Newsroom, RNZ, Apple and Spotify. The podcast looks at the story behind the big stories making news. Producer Alexia Russell says 'we aim to speak to the person in New Zealand who knows the most about the issue we are looking at; or the journalist who has covered it at length and can offer an over-arching and unbiased view. A comment we received last week, that The Detail was a young person's introduction to good journalism, made us very happy. 'Our hope is that we can contribute to raising the news IQ in Aotearoa.' The Detail's entry included episodes on the sinking of the NZ Navy vessel Manawanui, the growth of controversial Chinese online retailer Temu and a look back at the impact TV3 News had over its 35 years of broadcasting. Both of Newsroom's award winning podcasts are supported by funding from NZ on Air. In May, Newsroom's Jonathan Milne won the Voyager Media Awards honour for best original podcast for his international investigation Powder Keg, with Mike Wesley Smith. He was also named business journalist of the year. In other awards: In the same way it has dominated the commercial ratings, Newstalk ZB had a strong night – winning Station of the Year for the fifth consecutive time. Niva Retimanu won best newsreader and the station's drivetime host, Heather du Plessis Allan won the coveted Sir Paul Holmes Broadcaster of the Year award. RNZ's Alexa Cook won best news journalist and Kate Green won best new talent – journalist. RNZ podcasts took out the honours for best society and culture (Nellie's Baby), and science and culture (Our Changing World). The public broadcaster also won best news story, best documentary for The Last voyage of the Rainbow Warrior and best children's programme for Suzy Cato's Suzy and Friends in a POD-cast and best daily or weekly factual feature for Our Changing World. Best local station went to More FM, Northland and independent station of the year was won by Radio Tarana.
The Spinoff
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
Jacinda Ardern steps back into the global spotlight
As the former PM's memoir hits shelves, Penguin is hoping her enduring star power can turn A Different Kind of Power into a bestseller, writes Catherine McGregor in today's extract from The Bulletin. A different kind of memoir Jacinda Ardern's long-anticipated autobiography, A Different Kind of Power, is officially released today. Framed as a deeply personal account rather than a political exposé, the memoir chronicles Ardern's rise from small-town Morrinsville to global leadership – and her abrupt, self-authored exit from the world stage. The book's launch has been accompanied by a major international publicity push. Ardern has appeared on CBS's Sunday Morning show, sat down for a reflective interview with The Guardian, and featured on the mega-popular The Rest is Politics podcast. At home, she's been interviewed by Seven Sharp's Hilary Barry and the NZ Herald's Kim Knight, among others. The media blitz is not just about selling copies, but reinforcing Ardern's core message: that kindness, empathy and even self-doubt have a place in leadership. More personal warmth than political revelation Early reviews suggest that A Different Kind of Power offers plenty of feeling but not a lot of drama. Frances Stead Sellers of The Washington Post (paywalled) praises the memoir as a 'clear and compelling case for compassion' that suffers at times from 'its author's earnestness', while The Post's editor Tracy Watkins describes the book as emotionally resonant but light on backroom revelations – especially when it comes to a post-mortem on pandemic decision-making. 'If, like me, you're looking for fresh insights, or signs of regret over some of the decisions her government made, you may be disappointed,' Watkins writes. Newsroom's Steve Braunias, in the most deeply read and incisive review so far, is more generous. Like other reviewers, he comments on Ardern's sometimes cloying focus on empathy throughout the book – but also highlights a 'pitiless' nine-page section on a certain New Zealand politician. 'Ardern introduces him to an American public who had hitherto never heard of the vainglorious sap and parades him as the villain of A Different Kind of Power,' he writes. Today is probably a very bad day to be former Labour leader David Cunliffe. A big bet for Penguin Commercially, A Different Kind of Power is a major gamble. According to a fascinating story, again by Steve Braunias at Newsroom, Penguin is rumoured to have paid Ardern an advance of $1.5 million, meaning the book will need to sell at least 140,000 copies globally to break even. Publishing experts believe it's possible, particularly with Australian rights in play and a high-profile North American book tour scheduled. Braunias speaks to writer and book editor Paula Morris, who points out that the advance may also include Ardern's upcoming children's book, Mum's Busy Work, due out in September, which will make earning it back a far easier task. Comparisons are already being drawn to Spare by Prince Harry, which reportedly required 500,000 print sales to recover its costs. As with Harry, Ardern is a polarising figure, and that may well help drive both publicity and sales. (As an aside, Newsroom is the place to be for Ardern-book completists this week, with not one but three reviews scheduled, from Braunias, Janet Wilson and Tim Murphy.) Not the first Ardern book, and not the last word This isn't the first time Ardern's life has been turned into reading material. Jacinda Ardern: A New Kind of Leader by The Spinoff's own Madeleine Chapman was a bestseller, as was Michelle Duff's Jacinda Ardern: The Story Behind An Extraordinary Leader, which in 2019 inspired the bizarre #TurnArdern campaign. The Covid-era tome Jacinda Ardern: Leading with Empathy earned a withering review from Toby Manhire, who said that 'it was written by two authors trying hard to tell the story of a country without visiting it'. At the time, Ardern said it was 'awkward' to have her life story told via unauthorised biography – perhaps she was thinking about her own authorised version even then. Ardern's book won't be the last word, either. Her story has also been told in Prime Minister, a feature documentary about Ardern's time in office, co-directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsey Utz. While no NZ release date has been confirmed, it will play in this year's NZ International Film Festival. Outside of the NZIFF programmers, few people here have yet seen the film, but a close reading of the trailer by The Spinoff's Alex Casey reveals mic drop, teary moments, and many obligatory Aotearoa-landscape drone shots.
Newsroom
02-06-2025
- Business
- Newsroom
Diamonds and their pearls moment
Diamonds are having a pearls moment. Once upon a time pearls were the world's most valuable jewellery item – their extreme rarity making them the way to display wealth to the world. But in the early 1900s Japanese pearl famers worked out how to culture them and for the first time, a string of round pearls became affordable and obtainable. Now, lab-grown diamonds, indistinguishable from mined diamonds, are flooding onto the market, at a tenth of the price of those that came out of the earth. But before you rush out to buy a ring that will give you more bang for your buck, think again – the price of yellow gold has risen so much that if you want your sparkler set in a gold band, it could well have cancelled out your savings. 'We've had big movements in diamond prices, in both mined and lab diamonds, over the past five years,' says Newsroom business reporter Alice Peacock. 'A lot of jewellers, a lot of retailers have been getting into the lab space, and manufacturing of lab diamonds has increased a lot over the past decade. They've been around for a few decades but have really taken off in popularity over the last 10 years. 'There's a bit of confused terminology around what lab diamonds are, but they are real diamonds. The chemical and the physical makeup of them is exactly the same. Essentially you can't tell the difference. I think people have different ideas about the ethics of them, but again that's a bit of a murky area.' The split between customers who want a lab or a mined diamond varies greatly between outlets, but Peacock says Michael Hill Jeweller told her it's still lower than 50 percent. In its Canadian and Australian stores however, the demand is higher. In the US demand is soaring. Zoë and Morgan is a bespoke jeweller in Auckland. If you look at the company's website you will see side by side two rings, a two-carat lab diamond for $6,000, and a mined diamond of 1.01 carats for $16,700. Zoë Williams is the co-owner of Zoë and Morgan, a bespoke jeweller in Auckland. Photo: Alexia Russell Zoë Williams is the co-owner, and says at the moment more than half of her customers are opting for a lab-grown diamond – but it's a really changeable situation. She tells The Detail that many customers come in who don't know what lab diamonds are, or who think they're fake. 'It's been fun just to be able to chat about the different processes … obviously the way diamonds have been extracted through history is really horrible.' However the increasing popularity of lab diamonds has forced the 'natural' diamond industry to improve their game, with more ethical operations, and giving back to the communities they're taken from. Williams explains how jewellers can trace the origins of mined stones using the code each one comes with. 'In modern times, all of those mining processes have had to become much more ethically minded to come up to speed with how we should be treating our humans in the world. 'And that's a fantastic thing. That's what I personally quite like about the lab diamonds coming onto the market, is it's …. caused the other side of the industry to really tidy up their act and to really become a lot more responsible. And within all of these things there's pros and cons … but I do feel like we've made some great advances in the last few years.' But lab-grown diamonds aren't spotless when it comes to sustainability – it takes an immense amount of energy to make them and there are nasty chemicals involved. Williams says the diamond market is also no longer just about engagement rings, but people are buying them to mark special moments in their lives – from the 21-year-old who's celebrating getting a job, to someone who's not waiting for someone to give them a diamond, to those who've made it to 40 and are happy with where they are in life. They might not be quite the investment they used to be sold as, but Williams questions if that really matters. 'Sometimes I like the idea that it doesn't stand up financially, but it holds an incredible story, and it holds a lot of personal value, and I think that's really important as well.' Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
