New Zealand acting PM fat-shames fellow MP in parliament

NEW ZEALAND - On his last day as acting prime minister of New Zealand, Winston Peters has once again kicked a hornet’s nest, this time by fat-shaming a colleague in the middle of a parliamentary debate. Peters, who is leader of the New Zealand First party and deputy prime minister until Thursday when Jacinda Ardern returns from maternity leave, called on the Speaker of the House to “throw fatty out” of parliament. It seems Peters, who is a controversial figure, was speaking about the opposition National party’s Gerry Brownlee, the shadow leader of the House. His comment came during a tense debate in parliament. Jeering from the benches was so loud that the Speaker said he could not hear what Tracey Martin, a New Zealand First MP, was saying. “Opposition members’ barracking is coming through my mics, I’m first of all going to have the shadow leader of the House withdraw and apologies.” Peters, has not shied away from controversy while he has been acting prime minister. Most notably he took a swipe at Australia last week, accusing it of “copying” the New Zealand flag and telling Australia to come up with its own one. He also raised eyebrows shortly before taking over the prime ministership when he sued the heads of his own government’s departments after details of his superannuation overpayment were last year leaked to media. (The Gaurdian) SWEDEN - Police in Sweden are hunting for jewel thieves who stole two priceless royal crowns and an orb from a cathedral before making their escape in a motorboat. The audacious heist at the historic, hilltop Strängnäs Cathedral took place on Tuesday. The cathedral was open to visitors at the time and a lunch fair was being held in a side chapel. The crowns and orb were used by the 17th-century King Karl IX and Queen Kristina. They are made of gold and enamel and encrusted with beads, crystals and pearls. They were stolen from a locked and alarmed display cabinet in the Gothicstyle cathedral, which lies 60 miles west of the capital, Stockholm. There has been no confirmation from police, but the assumption is that the thieves could have got to the items only by smashing the glass, which would have triggered the alarm. Tom Rowell, who is getting married in the cathedral next week, told Aftonbladet he saw two men run from the building, jump into a small white motorboat and speed away. “We contacted the police and told them and they told us that something had been taken from the cathedral,” he said. “I knew immediately they were burglars because of the way they were behaving. It’s despicable that people would steal from a holy building and a historical building.” There were no threats by the thieves or any acts of violence and no one was injured, Aftonbladet reported. The motorboat was waiting at the foot of the hill on Lake Mälaren, police said. It is believed the thieves fled via the vast system of lakes west of Stockholm. Police mobilized a huge search operation with a helicopter and boats to try to find the men and recover the items, but they have so far been unsuccessful. The thieves, who have not been identified, and the jewels are being sought internationally via Interpol. A Swedish police spokesman, Stefan Dangardt, said the objects were national treasures and would probably be very difficult to sell.

(The Guardian)