New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern announces shock resignation - CNA

Featured on the covers of British Vogue and Time magazine, there was a perception that Ardern was more popular abroad than she was at home.

At her peak, she was a domestic force, but her government has been steadily sliding in the polls over the last year.

"It's about time. She's wrecked the economy and food prices have skyrocketed," said Esther Hedges from Cambridge on New Zealand's north island.

"I'm not happy with her and I don't know anyone who is," the 65-year-old added.

Christina Sayer, 38, said Ardern was "the best prime minister we have had".

"I like the type of person she is and she cares about people. I'm sorry to see her go."

The stress of the job has been evident, with Ardern showing a rare lapse of poise last month when she was unwittingly caught calling an opposition politician an "arrogant prick".

New Zealand actor and Hollywood veteran Sam Neill said Ardern was frequently targeted by social media "bullies".

"She deserved so much better," he said in an online statement.

A NEW LEADER 

New Zealand will choose its next prime minister in a general election held on Oct 14, Ardern announced.

She said she would continue to serve as an electorate MP until then.

Her departure leaves a void at the top of the Labour party, with her deputy Grant Robertson swiftly ruling out a tilt at the leadership.

Although recent polls indicate a centre-right coalition will likely win the election, Ardern said that was not the reason for her resignation.

"I am not leaving because I believe we cannot win the next election, but because I believe we can and will," she said.

"I am leaving because with such a privileged job comes a big responsibility. The responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead - and also when you're not."

Ardern was the second prime minister in the world to give birth while in office, after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto in 1990.

She said she was looking forward to spending more time with her daughter Neve, who is due to start school later this year, and finally getting married to her partner, TV personality Clarke Gayford.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led international tributes to Ardern, saying she had "shown the world how to lead with intellect and strength".

"She has demonstrated that empathy and insight are powerful leadership qualities," Albanese said.

The official spokesman for Rishi Sunak said the British leader was "grateful to Prime Minister Ardern and for her friendship and support during his premiership".

"The work between our two countries defending democratic values and supporting Ukraine has been vital in recent months and years," he added.

The US ambassador to New Zealand, Tom Udall, said Ardern was an "incredible world leader".

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2023-01-19 15:26:29Z
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Personal toll, decline in popularity reasons for New Zealand PM Ardern's resignation: Analysts - CNA

Her approach also “marks her apart from some of the populist, strong men who routinely resort to the rhetoric of violence and division and disparagement”, he added.

“Jacinda Ardern has never referred to anybody as an enemy. She has sought to portray and to live a style of politics which is just a little bit more grown up and accommodating, than some of the politics that we see internationally,” said Dr Shaw.

WHO WILL TAKE OVER

The Labour Party will vote for its new leader on Sunday, and the country’s next general election will be held on Oct 14.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Grant Robertson has ruled himself out of the running, despite being seen as the heir apparent.

Dr Shaw said that someone with seniority will step up, suggesting names like Attorney-General David Parker, Minister of Housing Megan Woods, and Police Minister Chris Hipkins, who has fronted New Zealand’s COVID-19 response.

Mr Miller said that a wildcard in the contest would be Justice Minister Kiri Allan.

“She's an indigenous Maori woman. She would be New Zealand's first Maori prime minister, and a woman as well. She is also lesbian. So there will be a lot of firsts there,” he said.

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2023-01-19 09:10:00Z
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Scholz stays silent on battle tanks for Ukraine - CNA

DAVOS: Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday (Jan 18) promised German support for Ukraine for "as long as necessary" but without mentioning tanks, despite international pressure on him to authorise their delivery to Kyiv

European allies have implored the German chancellor to agree to the export of German-made Leopard heavy tanks to help Ukraine repel Russia's invasion.

With the pressure rising, some had expected an announcement during Scholz's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, a day after several EU leaders pushed for a decision at the same event.

But Scholz made no reference to tanks, simply insisting that Germany was "continuously supplying Ukraine with large quantities of arms, in close consultation with our partners".

After the speech, Scholz was asked directly about Germany's continued hesitancy on the issue.

But while listing weapons from Iris-T air defence systems to multiple rocket launchers to Marder armoured vehicles, he pointedly failed to mention the sought-after Leopards.

Instead, he repeated that "we are not just supporting Ukraine with financial means with humanitarian aid but also with a lot of weapons".

"We are never doing something just by ourselves but together with others, especially the United States," he added.

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2023-01-18 20:53:28Z
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Girl killed as convenience store collapses in Vietnam - CNA

HANOI: A 15-year-old girl was killed when a convenience store collapsed in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday (Jan 18), with rescue workers blaming an overload of stock ahead of Lunar New Year.

At least one more person was thought to be trapped inside the two-storey Circle-K shop, state media said, after eight others escaped from the ground floor.

"Paramedics gave the girl CPR in the ambulance as we rushed her to hospital. But we were informed by the hospital that she died," Nguyen Duy Long, head of the southern business hub's ambulance service, told AFP.

Photos of the site showed a large number of soft drinks, milk and other goods in a heap outside the store after they were pulled out by rescue workers searching for victims.

Earlier this month, authorities declared a 10-year-old boy dead after four days trapped in a buried hollow concrete pillar at a construction site in the Mekong Delta's Dong Thap province.

Rescuers have yet to pull up the pillar with the boy's body inside.

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2023-01-18 07:55:00Z
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Children in Indonesia hurt after eating liquid nitrogen-infused snack; health authorities urge vigilance - CNA

JAKARTA: The Indonesian government has urged local health authorities to monitor food establishments and asked parents to be more vigilant after reports that several children were hurt after consuming a type of liquid nitrogen-infused snack.

The snack – known locally as chiki ngebul and often referred to as “dragon’s breath” – is a type of colourful candy that is coated in liquid nitrogen mist.

It has taken social media by storm recently, with children recording themselves eating the snack. They then breathe the liquid nitrogen mist out of their mouths.

There are dozens of videos of people consuming the snack on social media platform TikTok. One video showing the preparation of the snack by a street vendor on the @mistermakan.id TikTok account has been viewed 9.4 million times.

In a statement on Jan 11, Indonesia’s health ministry highlighted the dangers of consuming the snack. It said that the consumption of the snack over an extended period of time may lead to serious health issues.

The ministry warned that the overconsumption of the liquid nitrogen-infused snack may lead to stomach burns, inflammation, cold burns as well as damage to the internal organs.

It added that inhaling the fumes for a prolonged period of time may also lead to severe breathing difficulties.

On Tuesday (Jan 17), The Guardian reported that around 25 children have since been affected after consuming the snack, with two of them hospitalised.

The Indonesian health ministry’s director for environmental health Anas Ma’ruf was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post last Thursday that there have been at least nine confirmed cases of injuries this year after children consumed the snack.

“From the data that we have collected, (the medical issues arising after consuming the snack) only happened in 2022. We cross-checked (our data) from 2021, 2020 and 2019 and there were no reports of it,” said Dr Anas.

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2023-01-18 05:04:54Z
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World must abandon Cold War mentality, China's vice premier tells Davos - CNBC

In a special address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Liu repeatedly called on countries to improve diplomatic ties, "to "firmly safeguard world peace."

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

China's Vice Premier Liu He said Tuesday that the world needs to abandon its Cold War mentality and seek to strengthen international cooperation.

In a special address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Liu repeatedly called on countries to improve diplomatic ties, "to "firmly safeguard world peace."

"We have to abandon the Cold War mentality, try to understand the essence of things from the perspective of material duality, endeavor to build a community with a shared future for mankind, and join hands to respond to global challenges," Liu said, according to a translation. "We believe that an equitable international economic order must be preserved by all of us."

Referencing the WEF "Cooperation in a Fragmented World" theme of this year, Liu said it was imperative for China to open up to the world. He added that Beijing opposed unilateralism and protectionism.

China, which has been sharply criticized for not condemning Russia's nearly year-long war with Ukraine, recently pledged to uphold its "objective and clear stance" on the conflict.

Liu pushed for a global response to the climate crisis and called for more attention on the potential spillover risks to emerging markets, as major central banks hike interest rates.

He separately described China's Covid situation as "steady." Beijing abruptly ended most Covid controls in early December, leading to a surge in infections among the 1.4 billion population.

China is taking steps toward outreach. Earlier on Tuesday, China's commerce ministry said the country's vice premier would soon meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Switzerland. The sit-down, which is set to take place in Zurich on Wednesday, will mark the first face-to-face meeting between Liu and Yellen. The two will discuss how to "strengthen macroeconomic and financial policy coordination," the ministry said.

Late last year, U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled a desire to improve bilateral ties. The rapprochement between the world's two largest economies comes despite simmering tensions over issues such as Taiwan, trade policy and human rights.

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2023-01-17 12:41:37Z
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Immediate action needed to address Malaysia's RM1.5 trillion national debt: PM Anwar - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s national debt has reached RM1.5 trillion (US$350 billion) and immediate action must be taken to address the issue, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday (Jan 17).

He said the figure, which includes liabilities, has already exceeded 80 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and that this has a direct impact on the economy.

He was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times that the figure also suggests that the country’s budget deficit will widen further than the earlier estimate of 5.8 per cent of the GDP for 2022.

“The problem with our debt is it has already touched RM1.2 trillion and if liabilities are included, the debt is RM1.5 trillion,” said Mr Anwar at the 2023 Budget Dialogue at the finance ministry.

In 2018, then-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad revealed that the country was saddled with more than RM1 trillion in debt following the opposition coalition's win in the 2018 General Election. Dr Mahathir then blamed the previous government led by former protege Najib Razak on the issue.

And just last year, former finance minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said that the country’s debt stood at RM1.045 trillion at the end of June 2022. This corresponds with 63.8 per cent of Malaysia’s GDP then.

Mr Anwar was quoted as saying by national news agency Bernama on Tuesday that the economy is still “considered weak”.

“It is also related to international developments, both in terms of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and post-COVID-19, and has yet to show economic strength,” he said.

The finance minister was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times that Malaysians cannot afford to be complacent and living “with a culture of contentment as if there is no problem”.

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2023-01-17 05:32:00Z
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