Tag: CNN

New Zealand's newly-elected government smoke ban

NZ Ditches Smoking Ban To Fund Tax Cuts

By LokMarg

New Zealand’s newly-elected government has reversed a ground-breaking smoking ban initially aimed at saving lives and preventing youth from taking up smoking, CNN reported.

The move has sparked outrage among public health officials and anti-tobacco groups, who are dismayed by the decision to abandon the ban to finance tax cuts.

Enacted a year ago, the anti-smoking law prohibited the sale of tobacco to individuals born on or after January 1, 2009, with implementation scheduled for July 2024, accompanied by severe penalties, including fines up to NZD 150,000 (NZD 96,000) for violations, as reported by CNN.

Prime Minister Chris Luxon, from the conservative National Party, now leading a coalition with the populist New Zealand First party and the libertarian ACT New Zealand party, justified the reversal, citing disagreement with certain aspects of the policy and expressing concerns about a potential surge in the black market for tobacco. Luxon emphasised that his administration is committed to reducing tobacco use, pointing to declining smoking rates in the country.

In conversation with CNN affiliate Radio New Zealand, Luxon said his government would continue education programmes and “encourage people to take up vapes as a cessation tool.”

The initial smoking ban in New Zealand received global acclaim from public health officials. Despite the recent policy reversal, the British government reaffirmed its commitment to phasing out smoking for new generations.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis disclosed that the measures would be revoked before March 2024, with revenue generated from cigarette sales redirected towards tax cuts. Smoking, a global cause of over eight million deaths annually, according to the World Health Organisation, remains a pervasive issue, with one in four people worldwide using tobacco.

While smoking rates in New Zealand were already among the world’s lowest and declining, the decision to rescind the ban drew sharp criticism from public health officials and anti-tobacco groups.

Former health minister Ayeshea Verrall told CNN affiliate Radio New Zealand that reversing the ban “flew in the face” of the previous government and would set the country back a long way.

“What’s going on here is that we had a set of measures that would have substantially reduced smoking, was modelled to save 80,000 lives and they’ve (the new government) have reversed it – and they’re doing it just to fund tax cuts,” Verrall said.

Health Coalition Aotearoa (HCA), an anti-smoking group, expressed disappointment, stating that the repeal favoured the tobacco industry at the expense of Kiwi lives.

“This is a major loss for public health, and a huge win for the tobacco industry whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives,” the group said in a statement, adding, “Turning the tide on harmful products that are entrenched in society cannot be done by individuals or even communities. It takes good – and brave – population level policies,” CNN reported. (ANI)

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Palestinian US

Three Palestinian College Students Shot In US

By LokMarg

Three Palestinian college students were shot in Burlington City, Vermont, US on Saturday evening, as reported by CNN.

According to information, the students were walking on Prospect Street after visiting a relative in Burlington for the Thanksgiving holiday when “they were confronted by a white man with a handgun.”

The victims, two of whom are US citizens and one a legal resident, were taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center for medical care, according to a statement issued by the police on Sunday, as reported by CNN.

“Two are stable, while one has sustained much more serious injuries,” the police said in its release.

“Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot,” police said.

Notably, two of the students were wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves, they added.

According to CNN, two students sustained injuries to the torso, while the third suffered injuries to the “lower extremities.”

Authorities said that “there is no additional information to suggest the suspect’s motive.”

Moreover, detectives recovered ballistic evidence from the shooting, which will be submitted to a federal database, according to Burlington police.

Reportedly, the FBI on Sunday said that it was “prepared to investigate” the incident.

According to CNN, the shooter or shooters have not been identified or apprehended yet and the police department is “at the earliest stages of investigating this crime.”

In a joint statement, the victims’ families urged law enforcement to investigate the attack as a hate crime.

“We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice,” they said.

“No family should ever have to endure this pain and agony. Our children are dedicated students who deserve to be able to focus on their studies and building their futures,” they added.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Middle East Understanding issued a statement and identified the victims as Hisham Awartani, a student at Brown University in Rhode Island; Kinnan Abdalhamid, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Tahseen Ahmad, a student at Trinity College in Connecticut, CNN reported.

The incident comes amid the increased tensions and hate crimes in the US in the past few weeks since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, to which Israel retaliated with airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.

Earlier in October, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy was stabbed to death by his family’s landlord in a case, however, the authorities called it a hate crime, according to CNN. (ANI)

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From CNN to NBC News, the US media is witnessing a tough time as a series of outlets have announced layoffs amid the downfall in the economy, and now, Vox Media is the latest company to be added to this list.

US Media Witness Massive Job Cuts

By LokMarg

From CNN to NBC News, the US media is witnessing a tough time as a series of outlets have announced layoffs amid the downfall in the economy, and now, Vox Media is the latest company to be added to this list.

According to CNN, Vox Media, publisher of news websites like Vox and The Verge has announced that it will lay off 7 per cent of its workforce.
Vox media’s chief executive Jim Bankoff said that the 7 per cent layoff would lead to about 130 people losing their jobs which will also have an impact on the multiple teams, including editorial.

Bankoff told staffers that the cuts were “due to the challenging economic environment impacting our business and industry.”

“We are experiencing and expect more of the same economic and financial pressures that others in the media and tech industries have encountered,” Bankoff said in his memo, as per the report in CNN.

The union representing Vox Media employees said it was “furious” over the announcement.

“We’re furious at the way the company has approached these layoffs, and are currently discussing how to best serve those who just lost their jobs,” the union said in a tweet.

Not only Vox media but CNN, NBC News, MSNBC, Gannett and other news media are also laying off their employees.

On November 30, CNN informed its employees that layoffs had commenced, a move which will impact hundreds of staffers at the global news network and mark the deepest cuts to the organization in years.

Chris Licht, who took over as chief executive of the network in May, described the cuts in an all-staff memo as a “gut punch” to the organization and told employees that “it is incredibly hard to say goodbye to any one member of the CNN team, much less many,” CNN reported.

Employees at the company had been anxiously bracing for the layoffs since Licht informed them last month that “unsettling” changes lie ahead.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post is also expected to announce a staff reduction soon. And companies that haven’t laid off staffers have taken strong measures to reduce spending, according to CNN.

Apart from media organisations, big tech companies have announced the laying off of their employees. Google’s parent company Alphabet on Friday joined Big Tech giants Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft in announcing layoffs.

Alphabet said it had made the decision to eliminate 6 percent of its workforce, which translates to approximately 12,000 jobs, reported CNN.

Entertainment giants, such as Warner Bros. Discovery (CNN’s parent company) and Paramount Global, have also trimmed their workforces. (ANI)

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Anti-Hijab Protest In Iran

10 Killed In Anti-Hijab Protest In Iran

By LokMarg

At least 10 people, including children were killed on Friday, in crackdown against anti-hijab protest in Iran by Iranian security forces in the southeast of the country, reported CNN citing a human rights watchdog.

The report further said that Iranian security forces had fired live ammunition at “peaceful protesters from the rooftops of the governor’s office and several other buildings” in the city of Khash in Sistan and Balochistan province.
According to Iranian state media and activists, protests against authorities turned violent on Friday in several cities across southeast Iran, including Khash. One video from the city posted by state media showed plumes of smoke rising from a building.

The group said it was “gravely concerned about further bloodshed amid internet disruptions and reports of authorities bringing more security forces to Khash from Zahedan.”

“Iran’s authorities must immediately rein in security forces. Member states of the UN must immediately raise concerns with Iran’s ambassadors and support the establishment of an independent investigative mechanism by the UN Human Rights Council,” the human rights watchdog said.

A video shared with CNN by the activist outlet IranWire from Khash appears to show several protesters wounded and unconscious on the ground, after loud gunshots rang out in the background.

Meanwhile, the country’s semi-official Fars News Agency posted images on Twitter showing charred cars and damaged buildings, with a caption that blamed the damage on “rioters.”

During Friday’s “unrest in Khash, several people were killed and injured,” Fars said in the tweet.

“The governorate, the building of Jihad Agriculture and several other government buildings, several kiosks and police cars, people’s private cars, and almost all banks were set on fire by rioters,” Fars added.

The violence Friday comes amid nationwide protests against the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish women who died after being detained by morality police in Tehran.

Large-scale demonstrations have also taken place recently in Zahedan, the state capital of Sistan and Balochistan, following the alleged rape of a Baloch girl by the police chief, reported CNN.

The province, neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan, is home to members of the long-oppressed predominantly Sunni Muslim Baloch ethnic minority and has a history of unrest.

Authorities removed the head of police in Zahedan last week, but protests continued and on Thursday, a high ranking Shia cleric was shot dead by masked gunmen in Zahedan, according to state news agency IRNA.

The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations (CCITTA) also tweeted on Friday that at least 16 protesters were killed, and dozens more were injured after Iranian security forces opened fire on protesters in Khash, reported CNN.

However, the death toll cannot be verified. A precise death toll is impossible for those outside Iran’s government to confirm. Numbers vary by opposition groups, international rights organizations, and local journalists. (ANI)

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