Last thing Gaza relief effort needed

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Keeping track of the news cycle has been a difficult task in the past few days with developments springing up in every direction.

As if they were not experiencing enough devastation, the citizens of Gaza will suffer further with the decision of major powers to withdraw funding from the United Nations Palestinian relief organisation because 12 employees were said to be involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th.

The United States and the United Kingdom have been joined by a group of other nations including Australia.

In the US, the election campaign is hotting up with the two probable major-party nominees Donald Trump and President Joe Biden exchanging insults.

Nikki Haley, who seems on the verge of losing the Republican party nomination to Trump, echoed the opinion of many Americans when she questioned the mental state of Trump, who is 77, and Biden who is four years older. Surveys show that a substantial number of Americans believe that the two men are too old for the rigours of the presidency.

Back in Aotearoa, Act leader David Seymour delivered a state of the nation address in Auckland in which he said New Zealand had become more divided over the Treaty of Waitangi, fuelled by unelected bureaucrats and judges promoting a partnership interpretation.

Seymour was upbeat about passing Act’s Treaty Principles Bill, pointing out that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has made him Associate Minister of Justice with responsibility for the bill.

Interestingly Seymour also made some cutting remarks about previous governments led by Helen Clark, John Key and Jacinda Ardern.

But his main thrust in an interview with RNZ was the party’s plan for a flatter tax system, with the removal of some thresholds and targeted support for people on lower incomes through tax credits.

He says this will leave the whole of society better off in the long run and produce a unified society. Treasury officials have been tasked with investigating Act’s proposal and will report back before May’s Budget.

This comes as Minister of Finance Nicola Willis works on the actual Budget and how to pay for her promised tax cuts.

The world’s largest cruise ship, the Icon of the Seas, set off from Miami with 8000 passengers — adding to concerns about the environmental impacts of such large vessels.

Fake sexually explicit videos of singer Taylor Swift have led experts to criticise the lack of action by lawmakers as artificial intelligence has made it easier to create this sort of thing.