https://www.scmp.com/rss/500312/feed A gunman opened fire at two Christchurch mosques on March 15, 2019, killing 50 people in a live-streamed terror attack. The attacker, who identified himself as Brenton Tarrant, is a 28-year-old Australian self-described fascist and white supremacist who reportedly published a racist manifesto on social media before the mass shootings. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday received one of New Zealand’s highest honours for her service leading the country through a mass shooting and coronavirus pandemic. Ardern was made a Dame Grand Companion, the second-highest honour in New Zealand, as part of King Charles’ Birthday Honours. It means people will now call her Dame Jacinda. Royal honorees are typically chosen twice a year in New Zealand by the prime minister and signed off by Charles, the British king who is also... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3222932/new-zealands-ex-pm-jacinda-ardern-given-top-royal-honour-service-during-shooting-and-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3222932/new-zealands-ex-pm-jacinda-ardern-given-top-royal-honour-service-during-shooting-and-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jun 2023 23:24:07 +0000 Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who led her country through a devastating mass shooting, will be temporarily joining Harvard University later this year, Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf said. Ardern, a global icon of the left and an inspiration to women around the world, has been appointed to dual fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School. She will serve as the 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and a Hauser Leader in the school’s Centre for Public Leadership... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3218448/ex-new-zealand-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-join-harvard?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3218448/ex-new-zealand-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-join-harvard?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Apr 2023 10:21:37 +0000 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern praised US President Joe Biden on Tuesday for his efforts to build Indo-Pacific economic and security alliances that are widely seen as an effort to counter China’s influence in the region. Speaking just before her meeting with Biden in Washington, Ardern also touted a Pacific Rim trade pact that Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump abandoned more than five years ago. “I … wanted just to acknowledge your leadership in bringing to the table the Indo-Pacific... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3179925/new-zealand-pm-ardern-praises-biden-us-efforts-indo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3179925/new-zealand-pm-ardern-praises-biden-us-efforts-indo?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 May 2022 21:59:25 +0000 The lingering injuries from being shot nine times did not stop Temel Atacocugu from completing a two-week walk and bike ride for peace on Tuesday, the third anniversary of a gunman’s slaughter of 51 Muslim worshippers. Temel set out to retrace the gunman’s 360-kilometre drive from Dunedin to the two Christchurch mosques where he carried out his attack. “I wanted to fix this damage,” Temel said. “Because three years ago, he started that journey with hate.” Temel, 47, said he wanted to bless the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3170497/shot-9-times-new-zealand-mosque-survivor-walks-peace-3rd?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3170497/shot-9-times-new-zealand-mosque-survivor-walks-peace-3rd?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Mar 2022 05:31:08 +0000 New Zealand police on Friday shot and killed a “violent extremist” known to the police, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, after he stabbed and wounded at least six people in a supermarket. The attacker, a Sri Lankan national who had been in New Zealand for 10 years, was inspired by the militant group Islamic State and was being “monitored constantly”, Ardern said. “A violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack on innocent New Zealanders,” Ardern told a briefing. “He obviously was a... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3147448/sri-lankan-extremist-shot-and-killed-after-new-zealand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3147448/sri-lankan-extremist-shot-and-killed-after-new-zealand?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Sep 2021 06:03:19 +0000 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday criticised a planned movie about her response to the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks as poorly timed and focused on the wrong subject. The US-backed film They Are Us has sparked an intense backlash among New Zealand Muslims, with community leaders slamming the project for pushing a “white saviour” narrative. Ardern said the attacks – when a white supremacist gunman ran amok at two mosques during Friday prayers, killing 51 and seriously... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3137200/new-zealand-pm-jacinda-ardern-criticises-planned-film?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3137200/new-zealand-pm-jacinda-ardern-criticises-planned-film?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jun 2021 05:42:58 +0000 It wasn’t so long ago that New Zealand officially did away with a law designed to exclude the ethnic Chinese community. The government in 1944 axed the Chinese Immigration Act, a measure established in 1881 at the height of anti-Chinese sentiment that saw restrictions including a poll tax of £10 – later raised to £100 (worth about US$14,000 today) – levelled on ethnic Chinese entering New Zealand. They were also denied naturalisation rights and kept out of welfare or pension schemes, among other... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3127249/new-zealand-chinese-global-rise-anti-asian-hate-painful-reminder?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3127249/new-zealand-chinese-global-rise-anti-asian-hate-painful-reminder?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Mar 2021 20:30:11 +0000 The horrendous mass murders in New Zealand on March 15 2019 had a strong link with Australia. The New Zealand royal commission into the attacks found the Australian perpetrator had long subscribed to violent right-wing Islamophobia and had taken this with him to New Zealand. In fact, Muslim communities in New Zealand had reported threats and violence for years, including suspicious behaviour at one of the mosques targeted in Christchurch. After the Christchurch attack, we surveyed mosques in... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3125466/graffiti-arson-death-threats-australia-violence-against-mosques?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3125466/graffiti-arson-death-threats-australia-violence-against-mosques?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Mar 2021 00:00:14 +0000 The worst ever terrorist attack by an Australian didn’t take place in Australia, but it was very much made in Australia. The Australian man who shot dead 51 people and injured 40 in Christchurch in 2019 had arrived in New Zealand two years earlier, fully radicalised and consumed with hate. He had been expressing racist hatred from his youth, and from the age of 14 was active on extremist chat forums like the notorious 4Chan. In his 20s he travelled extensively overseas, developing his white... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3121028/tackle-far-right-extremism-australia-needs-clamp-down-ecosystem?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3121028/tackle-far-right-extremism-australia-needs-clamp-down-ecosystem?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Feb 2021 21:00:17 +0000 The detention of a Protestant Christian teenage boy in Singapore who allegedly plotted terror attacks at two mosques has raised concerns of the danger of Western-style far-right extremism in Southeast Asia, where previously, attention had largely been focused on radicalisation affecting its Muslim communities. The 16-year-old, who is of Indian ethnicity, was arrested in December. He was said by authorities last week to have been inspired by the 2019 shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3120789/far-right-vs-islamists-vicious-circle-extremism-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3120789/far-right-vs-islamists-vicious-circle-extremism-southeast-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Feb 2021 04:30:14 +0000 The 16-year-old Singaporean who had made plans to attack Muslims in the city state will get a hearing under the Internal Security Act (ISA), rather than be tried in open court, as making the details of the teenager’s motives public may run the risk of deepening religious divides. It was also important to intervene early via the ISA instead of waiting for him to carry out an attack before detaining him, said Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam. Shanmugam was speaking to the media on Thursday... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3119642/no-open-court-trial-singapore-youth-who-planned-attack?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3119642/no-open-court-trial-singapore-youth-who-planned-attack?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Jan 2021 10:13:38 +0000 A teenager in Singapore was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in December last year after he was found to have made “detailed plans” and preparations to attack Muslims at two mosques with a machete. The secondary school student, the youngest person to be detained under the ISA for terrorism-related activities, hatched a plan to attack the Assyafaah Mosque and Yusof Ishak Mosque in the northern suburb of Woodlands, said the Internal Security Department (ISD) on Wednesday. The boy is... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3119494/singapore-boy-influenced-christchurch-attacker-made?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3119494/singapore-boy-influenced-christchurch-attacker-made?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Jan 2021 11:14:27 +0000 A comprehensive report into last year’s Christchurch mosque shootings in which 51 Muslim worshippers were slaughtered sheds new light on how the gunman was able to elude detection by authorities as he planned out his attack. The nearly 800-page Royal Commission of Inquiry report released on Tuesday shows that the attacker, Brenton Tarrant, kept a low profile and told nobody of his plans. It concludes that despite the shortcomings of various agencies, there were no clear signs the attack was... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3113009/new-zealand-mosque-attacker-laid-low-avoid-detection-inquiry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3113009/new-zealand-mosque-attacker-laid-low-avoid-detection-inquiry?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Dec 2020 06:25:07 +0000 An interview by investigators with an Australian white supremacist who last year killed dozens of mosque worshippers in New Zealand will be suppressed for 30 years for national security reasons, said the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch terrorist attack on Saturday. Evidence given by New Zealand ministers and public sector bosses will also be sealed for three decades, said commissioners Sir William Young and Jacqui Caine. Full publication of the evidence could provide a “how-to... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3111747/new-zealand-mosque-attack-evidence-will-be-suppressed-30?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3111747/new-zealand-mosque-attack-evidence-will-be-suppressed-30?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Nov 2020 03:33:27 +0000 Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s centre-left Labour Party won a landslide victory in New Zealand’s general election on Saturday as voters rewarded her for a decisive response to Covid-19. The mandate means Ardern, 40, could form the first single-party government in decades, and face the challenge of delivering on the progressive transformation she promised but failed to deliver in her first term, where Labour shared power with a nationalist party. “This is a historic shift,” said political... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3105945/jacinda-arderns-labour-party-sweeps-new-zealand-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3105945/jacinda-arderns-labour-party-sweeps-new-zealand-election?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Oct 2020 09:46:26 +0000 Covid-19 should bring the self-realisation to all of humanity that we are one and indivisible. If one of us falls ill, we all eventually suffer. We must learn this spiritual lesson of life, instead of pointing fingers at one another for being disease carriers. Covid-19 made the world fall ill. It has collapsed the felt surety of existence and the trust in our governments. For those of us who believe in the future and see it bright, we need to learn from Covid-19, and become more aware that there... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3100160/covid-19-wake-call-humanity-come-together-one?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3100160/covid-19-wake-call-humanity-come-together-one?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Sep 2020 23:15:10 +0000 Only twice before in New Zealand have prosecutors asked courts to lock someone up and throw away the key. The judges refused both times, declining to rule out rehabilitation of a double child-killer and a double woman-killer. On Thursday, a High Court justice could not find even that faint prospect of redemption for the Christchurch mosque killer. Australian Brenton Tarrant, 29, became the first person in New Zealand given the maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole for the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3099419/even-new-zealand-must-be-eternally-vigilant?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3099419/even-new-zealand-must-be-eternally-vigilant?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Aug 2020 15:22:56 +0000 New Zealand mosque gunman Brenton Tarrant was on Thursday sentenced to life without parole over the attacks that killed 51 Muslim worshippers last year, after survivors demanded he remain behind bars “until his last gasp”. Tarrant, 29, has faced a four-day sentencing in Christchurch – the scene of his deadly rampage on March 15, 2019 – with more than 90 witnesses providing harrowing testimony of the horrors inflicted in New Zealand’s worst terror attack. The Australian white supremacist admitted... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3099013/unprecedented-sentence-demanded-christchurch-mosque-shooter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3099013/unprecedented-sentence-demanded-christchurch-mosque-shooter?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Aug 2020 23:32:19 +0000 A white supremacist who killed 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand last year watched without emotion on Monday as relatives of his victims recounted the horror of a massacre which prosecutors said he carefully planned to cause maximum carnage. Australian national Brenton Tarrant, 29, has pleaded guilty to 51 murders, 40 attempted murders and one charge of committing a terrorist act during the shooting rampage in the city of Christchurch which he livestreamed on Facebook. The shooter spent... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3098528/new-zealand-mosque-shooter-spent-years-preparing-christchurch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3098528/new-zealand-mosque-shooter-spent-years-preparing-christchurch?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Aug 2020 02:01:58 +0000 When Aya Al-Umari faces her brother’s killer in the dock, she intends to tell him that his hatred stole away her best friend, her guardian, her hero. That she still wants to pick up the phone and tell her brother all about her day, because he’s the only one who would understand. Al-Umari is one of more than 60 survivors and family members who this week in court will confront the white supremacist who committed the worst atrocity in New Zealand’s modern history, when he slaughtered 51 worshippers... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3098491/family-survivors-face-christchurch-mosque-gunman-his?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3098491/family-survivors-face-christchurch-mosque-gunman-his?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Aug 2020 06:21:11 +0000 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern kicked off her Labour Party’s election campaign on Saturday riding high in the opinion polls after a successful response to the coronavirus outbreak. Ardern’s popularity as preferred prime minister – often referred to as “Jacindamania” – topped 60 per cent in the latest surveys following her leadership through the Christchurch mosque attacks, the White Island volcanic eruption and the pandemic. Before the virus forced New Zealand to seal its borders, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3096589/new-zealand-pm-jacinda-ardern-begins-re-election-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3096589/new-zealand-pm-jacinda-ardern-begins-re-election-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Aug 2020 06:53:00 +0000 A far-right Norwegian man was jailed for 21 years on Thursday for the racially motivated murder of his Chinese-born stepsister and attempting to kill worshippers in a mosque shooting spree. Philip Manshaus expressed strong anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim views before last year’s attack and was unrepentant at trial. Manshaus, now 22 years old, shot and killed Johanne Zhangjia Ihle-Hansen, 17, in their family home, later explaining he believed the adopted daughter of his father’s spouse posed a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3088651/far-right-norwegian-gunman-jailed-21-years-after-killing-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3088651/far-right-norwegian-gunman-jailed-21-years-after-killing-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jun 2020 10:36:07 +0000 An Australian far-right extremist charged with murdering 51 Muslim worshippers in last year’s mass shooting at two New Zealand mosques unexpectedly flipped his plea to guilty on Thursday. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Muslim community expressed relief at the surprise decision, which removes the need for a lengthy trial that authorities feared would be used to spout neo-Nazi propaganda. Self-avowed white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, 29, had previously denied 51 charges of murder, 40 of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3077018/new-zealand-mosque-shooter-backtracks-pleads-guilty-all?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3077018/new-zealand-mosque-shooter-backtracks-pleads-guilty-all?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2020 23:05:55 +0000 In the hours after the Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15 last year, I wrote that I hoped New Zealand would finally stop believing it was immune to far-right extremist violence. Twelve months later, I am not sure enough has changed. I’ve researched far-right extremism for decades – and I would argue it remains a high-level threat in New Zealand, not just overseas. My assessment is that there are about 60 to 70 groups and somewhere between 150 and 300 core right-wing activists in New... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3074737/far-right-extremism-still-alive-new-zealand-year-after-mosque?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3074737/far-right-extremism-still-alive-new-zealand-year-after-mosque?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2020 21:00:28 +0000 Undergraduate Monica Baey was the top newsmaker of 2019 for young Singaporeans, according to an independent pollster’s survey of 1,000 people on the key events and personalities of the year. The survey, conducted earlier this month by Blackbox Research, found 23 per cent of Singaporeans aged between 15 and 25 said Baey was their “top newsmaker” in 2019, ahead of the country’s prime-minister-in-waiting, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat. Baey, a National University of Singapore student, took... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3042997/monica-baeys-metoo-story-hong-kong-protests-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3042997/monica-baeys-metoo-story-hong-kong-protests-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Dec 2019 09:31:07 +0000 Saudi Arabia has accused the Australian government of racism and of supporting anti-Islamic terrorists like the alleged Christchurch shooter, in an extraordinary dispute that has erupted at the United Nations. Earlier this week, Australia led a coalition of countries condemning Saudi Arabia over a raft of human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Australia’s ambassador to the UN, Sally Mansfield, delivered a statement... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3030286/saudi-arabia-accuses-australia-sympathising-christchurch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3030286/saudi-arabia-accuses-australia-sympathising-christchurch?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Sep 2019 06:57:16 +0000 A day after New Zealand officials apologised for mistakenly allowing an accused terrorist to send a “hateful” letter containing a white supremacist call to arms, the Corrections Department on Thursday admitted two other objectionable letters should have been withheld. Corrections said a second letter by mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant containing objectionable content was not caught by mail vetting staff, while a third by Philip Arps – a white supremacist jailed for sharing the mosque shooting... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3022995/new-zealand-review-laws-after-second-letter-sent-jail?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3022995/new-zealand-review-laws-after-second-letter-sent-jail?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Aug 2019 16:00:12 +0000 New Zealand prison officials on Wednesday admitted they made a mistake by allowing an accused terrorist to send a letter that contained language that would be construed by white supremacists as a call to arms. The six-page letter from Brenton Tarrant, accused of attacking two Christchurch mosques, was posted this week on the website 4chan, which has become notorious as a place for white supremacists to publicise their views. And it comes at a sensitive time, with other alleged killers from El... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3022831/new-zealand-officials-admit-overlooking-letter-sent-white?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3022831/new-zealand-officials-admit-overlooking-letter-sent-white?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Aug 2019 16:00:06 +0000 A 65-year-old former Pakistani military officer is being credited with thwarting an attack at a mosque in Norway, after he tackled a heavily armed gunman who allegedly stormed into the house of worship with the intention of carrying out a mass shooting motivated by hatred of Muslims. Mohammad Rafiq said he threw the suspect to the ground after the gunman entered the al-Noor Islamic Centre in Baerum near the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Saturday, before the two other men inside the mosque rushed... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3022518/norway-mosque-shooting-how-unarmed-65-year-old-mohammad-rafiq?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3022518/norway-mosque-shooting-how-unarmed-65-year-old-mohammad-rafiq?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Aug 2019 21:06:26 +0000 The man accused of shooting dead 51 Muslim worshippers in the Christchurch mosque attacks in March smiled on Friday as his lawyers entered not guilty pleas to multiple murder and terrorism charges. Brenton Tarrant’s barrister told Christchurch High Court his client was pleading not guilty to all charges, prompting anger from survivors and relatives of those killed in the March 15 attacks. The self-proclaimed white supremacist appeared in court via audiovisual link from a maximum-security prison... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3014443/accused-shooter-christchurch-mosque-attacks-left-51-dead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3014443/accused-shooter-christchurch-mosque-attacks-left-51-dead?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Jun 2019 22:50:46 +0000 The horrific live streaming onto Facebook and viral video of the massacre at two Christchurch mosques have galvanised efforts by governments around the world to hold internet companies accountable for what is published on their platforms. Australian lawmakers, for example, have passed a law to punish tech giants such as Facebook and Twitter if they fail to remove inappropriate material expeditiously. Not surprisingly, New Zealand is also at the forefront, jointly unveiling a non-binding... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3011381/unity-needed-over-christchurch-call?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3011381/unity-needed-over-christchurch-call?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 May 2019 13:27:57 +0000 The New Zealand terror attack, in which a white supremacist slaughtered 51 Muslims, is to be turned into a feature film, its producer said on Wednesday, in an announcement that prompted a Christchurch Muslim group to raise concerns over the “dignity and privacy” of its community. The project, to be called Hello Brother, will be about a family of refugees that flees Afghanistan for the safety of Christchurch, only to get caught up in the carnage, Egyptian producer Moez Masoud told Variety... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3010392/too-soon-new-zealand-terror-attack-be-turned-feature-film?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3010392/too-soon-new-zealand-terror-attack-be-turned-feature-film?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 May 2019 16:03:20 +0000 If Industry 4.0 is about how every device and industry is now connected, “Terrorism 4.0” is about how we are all now connected in a battlefield that looks to span the entire globe. This does not mean we are all soldiers in that war; it merely means we are all in the line of fire. Where terrorism was once predominantly about relatively localised violence in pursuit of relatively localised goals, it now does not seem to matter where the victims are located, as long as they fit a broad profile. If... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3009354/line-fire-how-terrorism-links-world-internet-age?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3009354/line-fire-how-terrorism-links-world-internet-age?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 May 2019 00:30:11 +0000 A US Army veteran planned to detonate improvised explosive devices at several Southern California locations to cause “mass casualties” in a terror plot thwarted by law enforcement officials. Mark Stevens Domingo, 26 of Reseda, in the San Fernando Valley, was arrested on Friday night after he took delivery of what he thought was a live bomb from an undercover law enforcement officer posing as bomb maker. He was charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists. According a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3008200/us-army-veteran-mark-stevens-domingo-arrested?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3008200/us-army-veteran-mark-stevens-domingo-arrested?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Apr 2019 21:17:53 +0000 In the 1990s, I travelled regularly to Sri Lanka, mostly for work. Back then, the insurgency of the Tamil Tigers was in full swing and the island was enduring terrible carnage. Bus and train stations, places of worship, commercial flights and even the central bank were attacked during this period. I visited Colombo soon after the central bank bombing in 1996. I stayed at what was at the time considered the best hotel in town – the Hilton – and was surprised to see what lax security was in place... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3007635/after-sri-lanka-bombings-security-screenings-could-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3007635/after-sri-lanka-bombings-security-screenings-could-be?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Apr 2019 19:00:09 +0000 New Zealand and France will bring together global leaders at a Paris summit next month aimed at stopping social media being used to organise and promote terrorism, the countries’ leaders announced on Wednesday. Political leaders and tech company executives have been called to a meeting – to be co-chaired by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron – in Paris on May 15. They will be asked to commit to a pledge called the “Christchurch Call” designed to... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3007420/new-zealand-france-join-forces-combat-extremism-social-media?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3007420/new-zealand-france-join-forces-combat-extremism-social-media?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Apr 2019 03:33:26 +0000 New Zealand police on Wednesday ended the routine arming of frontline officers as the terrorism threat level was lowered a month after the Christchurch mosques massacre. Police and security agencies reduced the threat level from high to medium, meaning authorities judge that another attack, violent criminal behaviour, or violent protest remains “feasible” rather than “very likely”. The level is still higher than it was before the March 15 attacks, when the threat was deemed to be “low”. Prime... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3006595/new-zealand-disarms-police-terror-threat-level-lowered-month?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3006595/new-zealand-disarms-police-terror-threat-level-lowered-month?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Apr 2019 10:59:41 +0000 Six people appeared in a New Zealand court on Monday on charges they illegally redistributed the video a gunman live-streamed as he shot worshippers at two mosques last month. Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O’Driscoll denied bail to businessman Philip Arps and an 18-year-old suspect who both were taken into custody in March. The four others are not in custody. The charge of supplying or distributing objectionable material carries a penalty of up to 14 years imprisonment. Arps, 44, is... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3006209/six-face-court-sharing-footage-images-new-zealand-mosque?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3006209/six-face-court-sharing-footage-images-new-zealand-mosque?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Apr 2019 07:27:22 +0000 New Zealand’s official privacy watchdog on Monday slammed Facebook as “morally bankrupt” and suggested his country follow neighbouring Australia’s lead by making laws that could jail executives over live-streamed violence such as the Christchurch terror attack. Privacy Commissioner John Edwards has been critical of Facebook’s response to a gunman using the platform to live-stream part of the massacre that left 50 Muslim worshippers dead and wounded another 50 others at two mosques on March... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3005260/new-zealand-privacy-official-slams-facebook-pathological?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3005260/new-zealand-privacy-official-slams-facebook-pathological?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:08:02 +0000 A New Zealand judge on Friday ordered the accused Christchurch mosque gunman to undergo a mental health assessment to determine if he is fit to face trial for the murder of 50 Muslim worshippers. Alleged attacker Brenton Tarrant is facing 50 murder and 39 attempted murder charges over the March 15 attacks on two mosques, which shocked the world and rattled normally peaceful New Zealand. The 28-year-old Australian will be seen by two health assessors to determine “whether he is fit to stand trial... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3004763/christchurch-massacre-suspect-appears-court-faces?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3004763/christchurch-massacre-suspect-appears-court-faces?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Apr 2019 23:58:24 +0000 New Zealand’s image as a welcoming, inclusive country seems to have emerged largely unscathed from the mass shootings in Christchurch last month, but visa statistics reveal that the current government is beginning to fulfil its election promise of reducing the number of new long-term migrants. The official target for residency approvals was set at 45,000 just under two years ago, yet figures from Immigration New Zealand show that such approvals have declined by about 30 per cent since... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3004725/new-zealand-one-most-diverse-countries-earth-it-quietly-closing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3004725/new-zealand-one-most-diverse-countries-earth-it-quietly-closing?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Apr 2019 23:00:12 +0000 The suspected New Zealand mosque gunman sent money to a French far-right group and once bought a ticket to Bavaria’s “fairy tale castle”, German police said Thursday. The Federal Criminal Police Office confirmed that it briefed German lawmakers Wednesday on its investigation into ties the alleged Christchurch mosque attacker had to Germany. The closed-door briefing included information German police had about money that the suspect, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, transferred to the Generation... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3004761/germany-says-new-zealand-mosque-massacre-suspect-brenton-tarrant?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3004761/germany-says-new-zealand-mosque-massacre-suspect-brenton-tarrant?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Apr 2019 22:33:40 +0000 The All Blacks Sevens will be the first New Zealand national team to play a major tournament since the Christchurch shootings when they compete at this weekend’s Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens – and coach Clark Laidlaw said the best way to honour the victims was to play their hearts out. Laidlaw said the New Zealand players have talked about the March 15 shootings when a gunman killed 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch. “Obviously, it’s been a tough time in New Zealand, the way the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/hk-sevens/article/3004519/christchurch-shootings-all-blacks-sevens-keep-emotions-check?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/hk-sevens/article/3004519/christchurch-shootings-all-blacks-sevens-keep-emotions-check?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Apr 2019 10:04:38 +0000 Weeks before a gunman killed 50 Muslims in Christchurch, a man had threatened to burn copies of the Koran outside New Zealand mosques, in what community leaders said was the latest in a long list of threatening behaviour against religious minorities. Police said they warned a 38-year-old man over the incident, which was unrelated to the Christchurch attack, but could not say if it was part of a pattern. That’s because, unlike many Western countries including the United Kingdom and the United... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3004026/new-zealand-doesnt-record-hate-crimes-will-christchurch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3004026/new-zealand-doesnt-record-hate-crimes-will-christchurch?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Mar 2019 10:10:12 +0000 Being a regular visitor to your amazing city and follower of your paper, I was shocked to read Soumya Shankar’s article (“White nationalism finds a kindred spirit. In India”, March 24). History being my forte, I will respond to some of the baseless claims made by the writer. “Hindu nationalists are far more experienced at cultivating Islamophobia”: right from the time when the Moors overran Spain in the 8th century, there has been conflict between Muslims and Christians, which worsened when... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3003828/christians-have-far-longer-history-islamophobia-hindu-nationalists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3003828/christians-have-far-longer-history-islamophobia-hindu-nationalists?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Mar 2019 10:00:12 +0000 Thousands stood in silence in a Christchurch park on Friday as the names of 50 people shot dead in two mosques were read out at a national memorial service, with speakers calling for the legacy of the tragedy to be a kinder, more tolerant New Zealand. Dozens of representatives of governments from around the world joined New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the remembrance service in Hagley Park, near the Al Noor mosque where more than 40 of the victims were killed by a suspected white... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3003753/christchurch-mosque-victims-names-read-out-silent-crowd-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3003753/christchurch-mosque-victims-names-read-out-silent-crowd-new?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Mar 2019 01:57:48 +0000 Sadly, unlike William Han’s article of March 17 (“Christchurch shooting: racism in New Zealand isn’t new”) much of New Zealand media coverage after the horrific attacks in Christchurch has been riddled with denials of New Zealand’s home-grown xenophobia and Islamophobia, represented by the New Zealand First political party. For many years Winston Peters has kept himself in power with anti-Asian and Islamophobic mockery. Another NZ First politician, Richard Prosser, mocked Muslims and called for... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3003471/new-zealand-should-change-its-racist-politicians-not-just-its-laws?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3003471/new-zealand-should-change-its-racist-politicians-not-just-its-laws?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Mar 2019 11:01:56 +0000 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday welcomed Facebook’s move to curb support for white nationalism on its platforms but said more needed to be done in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks. The social media giant has unveiled tougher guidelines on hate speech for Facebook and Instagram, ruling that white nationalism and white separatism are both linked to organised hate groups and will be banned. When making the announcement, the California-based company did not... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3003615/after-christchurch-massacre-jacinda-ardern-insists-facebook?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3003615/after-christchurch-massacre-jacinda-ardern-insists-facebook?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Mar 2019 04:56:25 +0000 Austria’s government said Wednesday it would disband a far-right group linked to the alleged New Zealand mosque attacker if investigators determined it was a terrorist group. Officers on Monday raided the flat of Martin Sellner, leader of the Identitarian Movement Austria (IBOe), after it emerged that he had received a €1,500 (US$1,700) donation from suspected Christchurch gunman Brenton Tarrant. The government on Wednesday confirmed there was a financial link between the two men. “We are now... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3003548/austria-vows-disband-far-right-group-if-proved-have-ties-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3003548/austria-vows-disband-far-right-group-if-proved-have-ties-new?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Mar 2019 13:02:02 +0000 New Zealand’s intelligence minister said Wednesday he was allowing spy agencies to carry out “intrusive” activities following the Christchurch mosque shootings that claimed 50 lives. The government this week ordered a judicial inquiry into whether the South Pacific nation’s intelligence services could have prevented the March 15 attack amid criticism the white supremacist gunman went unnoticed as they were too focused on Muslim extremists. Andrew Little – the minister responsible for the GCSB... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3003410/new-zealand-approves-intrusive-spy-operations-after-mosque?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3003410/new-zealand-approves-intrusive-spy-operations-after-mosque?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Mar 2019 23:33:00 +0000