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NZ Writers College | Training Writers Online Since 2005

Writing Circles in NZ

Writing groups offer more than valuable feedback on your writing. They provide support and a strong motivation to keep writing. If you are completing a writing course with us, we highly recommend that you join a writers group in your area.

Please always contact the group convenor to check that the venue and meeting times are still valid.

If you run a writing circle and you would like us to add or update your details, please let us know .

New Orewa Writing Group has been formed and is looking for new members who have works in progress and are actively engaged in writing. They meet on the first Monday of each month in Orewa at 6 pm. Any writers interested in joining should email Don Sebastian for details at [email protected]

WRITE NIGHT is a new monthly meet-up for writers of all persuasions. Each session features a special guest presenter. $5 koha. Usually last Wednesday of each month. 6:30 – 8:30pm. Te Uru, Titirangi Road, Titirangi. www.teuru.org.nz

Green Bay Writers are a creative writing group from in and around Green Bay, West Auckland. They meet every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month at the Green Bay Community House, 7.15 pm. All welcome. http://greenbaywriters.wordpress.com/

Franklin Writers Group meet at Franklin Arts and Cultural Centre, on Wesley Street in Pukekohe, on Tuesdays at 12.45 to 2.45 of each school term. Contact Ruby at 09 238 3979 or Irene at 021 059 6925

NZSA North Shore City Branch meets quarterly at Massey University Albany Campus. 2 to 4pm. Contact Maria Gill for more information: 09 422 9456. 

Hibiscus Coast Writers Club  meets at 1pm, 2nd Saturday of each month, Pohutukawa room, Whangaparaoa Library, The Plaza, Whangaparaoa. Contact: Tanya Gouws. More details at www.hibiscuscoastwriters.weebly.com

Kiwi Write4Kidz   Phone Maria Gill 09 422 9456.

Mairangi Writers of North Shore. Contact  Pam Laird .

NZSA Manukau Counties Writers’ Group. Contact Jocelyn Watkin Tel 027 493 9851 or email  [email protected]

Piha Writers Group meets fortnightly 7.30pm in the Piha library. For more details contact Kath Dewar 09 8128 406.

International Writers’ Workshop  meets on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month, February to November inclusive, from 10.30am to 12.30pm meeting in the downstairs Lindisfarne Room at St Aidans Church, 97 Onewa Road, Northcote, in September. Car entrance is via Woodside Ave

PoetryLive meets on Tuesdays at 8 pm at the Thirsty Dog on Karangahape Rd (corner of K Rd and Howe Street). Contact  [email protected]

Sunday Evening Poetry meets at the All Nations Tavern (formerly Java-Jive) for world music and poetry. Contact Paul Varnham on 09 818 2497 or 021 1182825.

Waitakere Writers  meet the second Saturday of each month (excluding January) at the St John Hall, 247 Edmonton Rd, Te Atatu South. 1.30 – 4pm.   Fees: Annual membership: $20 We welcome new members to our friendly, diverse group, where we share knowledge and experience. Writing expertise is not a prerequisite – just enthusiasm. Contact info:  www.waitakerewriters.co.nz   and Clarke James  [email protected]

Rose Centre Writers meets monthly on the second Saturday of each month at the Rose Centre, School Road, Belmont, Takapuna. For more info contact Hazel Roff Tel 09 489 7203.

Hamilton Poets group. Contact convenor  Penny Wilson . 

Raglan Writing Group meets fortnightly. For further information, contact  P Zohs.

The Coromandel Live Poets meet on the last Tuesday of the month at the Pepper Tree restaurant in Coromandel Town. Contact  John Irvine , tel 07 866 6789.

Te Kuiti Writing Group meets at the Wintec – Te Kuiti Campus (Waitomo Learning Centre) Tiroa House, Taupiri Street Te Kuiti. Every Friday morning from 9.00am till 11.30am. Contact  Elsie Blundell .  

Thames Poets Circle meets on the 4th Thursday of every month at 7pm, Nectar Lounge Bar, 740 Pollen St, Thames. For more information contact Greg:   [email protected]

Thames Writers Group meets in Thames at 1pm on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. For further information contact Jim Rowe Tel 07 868 9193 or Norma Fulton Tel 07 868 6925.

Russell Writers’ Workshop  meets 1st Sunday each month, 2 pm at Russell Library, Contact: Peter, Tel 09 403-8321. The Writing Group meets 3rd Thursday each month, around noon in Whangarei. Contact:  Anne , Tel 09 437-5062.  Northern Wairoa Writers’ Group meets 2nd Saturday each month at CMA Building, Tirarau St, Dargaville. Contact: Iris, Tel 09 439-8715.  Whangarei Writers’ Workshop  meets alternate Fridays, 10:00 am till 12:30. Contact:  Derin Attwood

CENTRAL NORTH ISLAND

Matamata Writers’ Group . For more information contact  Lois Fox .

BOP Children’s Literature Association Inc  meets bi-monthly on a pre-arranged date. Contact  Angie Belcher.

Rotorua Writers Group meet on the first Saturday of each month at the Rotorua Arts Village in Hinemaru Street, from 1.30pm to 4.30pm. Contact  Bernie MacWilliams (president).

Tauranga U3A Writing Group meets at 24/281 Maunganui Road, Mount Maunganui on 2nd and 4th Monday mornings, February to November. Contact  Kathleen Kelly Tel 07 576 2626. 

Tauranga Writers Group meets twice monthly on the first Thursday at 7 pm and the third Sunday at 2 pm at Tauranga Environment Centre, 12 Elizabeth Street. Contact:  Jenny Argante  (ph 07 576 3040, mob 027 316 31 93).

Whakatane Writers Group meets on the second Wednesday of the month from October 13th at the “Writer’s Corner” in the Whakatane Public Library.  Val Bird , Tel 07 308 4133

The Blair Logie Writers Group meets at the Genealogical Centre, Queen Street, Masterton on the last Friday of each month from 2:00 pm till 4:00 pm. Tel 06 378-9495 or 06 378-6423 for further details. 

The Taumarunui Writers’ Group. Details are on our website at http://www.taumarunuiwriters.nz/

A Writing circle in association with the Mt Vic Hub Community Centre in Wellington. We meet monthly and our point of difference is that we are not a criticism group. We all just quietly write together on our own projects in a community setting – fueled by tea and biscuits of course! Contact Stella Carruthers: [email protected]

Upper Hutt Writers Group meets 10.30am to about 2pm on the 2nd Sunday of each month. At the Art Society Rooms, Ward Street, Upper Hutt. Contacts:  Audrey Harper . Tel 04-970 6239.

Lower Hutt – Pub Poets meet at Murphy’s Bar in Angus Inn, Waterloo Road. First Monday of the Month (Feb to Nov).

Levin – Horowhenua Writers’ Group meets first Thursday of every month at 1.30 pm at Thompson House, Levin. Contact Bronwen Gunn: 06-368-5588

“Spread the Word” Poetry evenings at Tupelo, 6 Edward Street, the second Tuesday of every month. Contact Nick on 021 267 6442.

Wellington Playgroup meets on Mondays, fortnightly 6.30pm at Playmarket, Level 2, 16 Cambridge Tce, Wellington. For more info, contact  Janie Walker  on (04) 383 5353. 

NELSON and SURROUNDS

Romance Writers of NZ, Nelson Branch meet on the second Saturday of every month at 2pm at 63 Golf Rd, Tahunanui, Nelson. Convenor: Annika Ohlson-Smith, tel  03-548-5561, email  [email protected]   Picton Writers. Contact Hilary Colquhoun at  hjcpicton@[email protected] , tel  03-573-6157. Golden Bay Live Poets’ Society meets in the famous Mussel Inn, Takaka, on the third Thursday of each month. Contact Joe Bell at  [email protected] , tel  03-524-8146. Wild Miro Writers meets every third or fourth week, presently on Tuesdays at 7.30pm. Prospective members are welcome to contact: Marion Gilbertson, tel  03-548 4469, email  [email protected]   or Annika Ohlson-Smith, tel 03-548-5561, email  [email protected] Nelson, NZ: “Nelson Screenwriters Group”. A private membership but people who would like to apply or need more info can find it at the google form: https://forms.gle/HgiRFk27fXiraTZC9 Alternatively email address is [email protected] Nelson screenwriters group runs under the umbrella of The Top of the South Filmmakers Society :http://www.topofthesouth.org, thus members of the writers group are expected to become members of the society in order to be protected under our code of conduct and further enable minors to participate in the writers group. Writers are expected to make one of the two meeting options a month. We focus on short film screenwriting.

CANTERBURY and SURROUNDS

Ashburton Writers Group. Contact  Rae Magson Tel 03 308 8927.

Airing Cupboard Women Poets meet at 10 a.m. fortnightly at the South Christchurch Library, 66 Colombo Street. Phone Barbara Strang (ph 03 376 4486).

Methven Scribes meet on the first Monday of every month at members’ homes. Contact  Susan Sandys .

The South Island Writers’ Association (SIWA). This is a vibrant, friendly group that meets on the second Thursday of each month (except January) at 7.30pm in the St.Marks’ Church Hall, 101 Opawa road, Christchurch.  They run monthly competitions for members, and judges talk to the group about their particular field of writing ranging from poetry to short stories, children’s stories or articles.  Visitors are always welcome.   For more details http://southislandwriters.wordpress.com

Small White Teapot Group meet 7 p.m., third Tuesday of the month. For those with an interest in writing haiku and related forms. Contact: Barbara Strang, Phone: 03 376 4486.

The Oamaru Writers’ Collective, based in Oamaru, Waitaki. We are a group that meets weekly in the evenings and we welcome writers of any genre or skill level. Our FaceBook page is https://www.facebook.com/groups/oamaruwriterscollective and we can be contacted at [email protected] .

West Coast Writers’ Group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at Revington’s Hotel. Contact Sandra Quick at  [email protected] , tel 03-768-4922.

Upfront – a Dunedin open-mike evening for women – meets on the last Tuesday of every month from 7.30 – 9.00 at Cobb & Co. For more information, contact  Martha Morseth . Dunedin Playwrights Group meets Thursdays, fortnightly at 7.30pm, at Allen Hall Theatre Rehearsal Room, Otago University. Dunedin Writers’ Workshop meets on the second Wednesday of the month from, February – November, at the Presbyterian Community Centre, 16 Maryhill Tce, Dunedin. For more information please contact us at: [email protected] The Back Beach Writers meet on the last Wednesday of every month. Most members live on the north shore of the Otago Harbour. Contact  Nicky Chapman .  Creative Writers of Southland  (Murihiku) meet monthly on the 1st Sunday of every month at 2.00 p.m. at Southland Education, WEA Centre, 100 Esk St, Invercargill. Contact  Maureen  on 03 216 5021. HOME (Harbour Open Mic Evenings) meets at the Anglican Church Hall, cnr Grey and Scotia Streets, Port Chalmers on the second Tuesday of every month, starting at 7.30pm. Contact  Debbie Cartwright.   Queenstown Writers Group meets every second Thursday in Queenstown at Bound bookshop, 7pm – 9pm. Contact [email protected] for further information. Waitaki Writers Group meets in Oamaru 1.30 pm, second Monday each month. Contact:  [email protected]  or Bruce Costello 0274 514 149 Looking to start a speculative fiction writers group in the Waitaki/North Otago region. Brief site here: https://nebulabooks.wordpress.com/waitaki-science-fiction-fantasy-writers-group/ 

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If within seven days of starting your course you are not happy on your course, we can either transfer you to a different course or provide a full refund.

If you request a refund after seven days and before 30 days we will charge a 5% administrative fee, as well as any bank fees and tutor fees already incurred.

We do not offer a refund after 30 days on the course.

Office hours: 10am - 3pm Mon - Fri

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Welcome to the New Zealand Writers Guild Puni Taatuhi o Aotearoa

[email protected], (09) 360 1408.

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Script Registration

Script assessment / reader service, seed grants, table reads, producer list *, *nzwg full members only, script library, core services, why you should join the guild, membership types, membership benefits, screen industry workers bill, submissions on behalf of screenwriters, best practice guide for writers & producers, nzwg rates guide, writer wellbeing.

The New Zealand Writers Guild - Puni Taatuhi o Aotearoa is a professional association of script writers.

We represent the professional interests of writers in the fields of film, television, theatre, radio, comics and new media. NZWG members include most of the professional script writers working in New Zealand.

We are committed to working in a way that adheres to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

NZWG Board Members

For a list of bios click HERE

Organise writers  

Publish and provide information and advice to writers  

Lobby government to improve conditions for writers  

Represent writers with funding bodies and other industry organisations  

Comment about matters pertinent to writers  

Provide template contracts and agreements  

Provide opportunities for skill development  

Register intellectual property  

Arbitrate on script credits  

NZWG provides a full range of membership services.

Aims & Objectives

NZWG shall exist:

To protect, represent and further the interests of New Zealand writers;

To be the national and international voice of New Zealand writers;

To establish, maintain and improve minimum conditions of work and rates of compensation for writers;

To provide communication, negotiation, conciliation, arbitration, information and advisory services for the benefits of members in their relationships with employers, contractees, producers, other writers or anyone else in relation to their work;

To promote policy, legislation and legal and economic rights for the benefit of writers, including but not limited to the issues of copyright, moral rights and status of the artist;

Read more in our Constitution document...

What the Board Does

Accounts to members and funding bodies for the management of funds;  

Formulates and writes the policy of NZWG and abide by this policy;  

Monitors and controls the quality of services provided by NZWG;  

Acts as a fair and equitable employer of the staff employed by NZWG in accordance with any relevant statutory requirements and best practice;  

Negotiates and supervises national agreements and disputes;  

Appoints representatives to other organisations.

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Contact NZWG

Email: [email protected] ph: (09) 360 1408 postal: po box 47886, ponsonby, auckland 1144 physical: click studios - 525 rosebank road, avondale, auckland, 1026.

Writers Plot Bookshop

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Writers Plot Bookshop

Writers Plot Bookshop

A unique independent bookshop specialising in new zealand authors for discerning readers everywhere..

Winners of the Art & Culture award at the 2022 Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards for Upper Hutt

New arrivals

Engines of Empathy & Pisces of Fate by Paul Mannering

view more new arrivals

Want to find out more about us?

Go to the ‘ About Us’ page.

“The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.” – Ursula K. Le Guin

Latest blog posts

  • Kiwi booksellers band together to take on Amazon October 23, 2023
  • It is our eighth birthday September 27, 2023
  • Writers Plot Readers Read Inc Soc 2023 AGM August 23, 2023

Writing groups

Interested in writing? Love to write? Need some inspiration or motivation?

We will be continuing for 2024 with fun challenges, great discussion and writing motivation.

Upper Hutt Writes @ the Library Next meeting: Saturday 17 February 2024 Time : 11 am to 12.30 pm Venue : Upper Hutt Library, 844 Fergusson Drive, Upper Hutt.

The latest newsletter has gone out this week.

You can read past issues of our Writers Plot newsletter online. Sign up to receive our newsletter with the latest news from the shop, straight to your inbox.

We frequently have a book review spot on the Saturday magazine show hosted by Lisa and Lottie. To listen you can click the link on their Facebook page or go to their website and click the streaming button to listen to Hutt City FM 106.7 live. Website link – http://huttcityfm.com

Lottie also has an arts programme that includes author interviews, poetry and short stories. Find out more about what is on by going to The Hutt Arts Show – 106.7 FM Facebook page.

Our previous book reviews and recommendations can be found on our blog page . Reviews and recommendations – https://writersplot.org.nz/blog/tag/radio-reviews/

Bestsellers for 2022

Picture Books for 2022

Best sellers for 2022

Crime and Thriller

The Caribbean Affair by Gary Paul Stephenson (A Charles Langham Novel Book 3)

view more Crime and Thriller

A Box of Words collected works from The Writers Plot Writing Group

view more Mystery

Consequences and Conclusions by Lynn Myers (The Isabella Beauchamp Trilogy 3)

view more Romance

Tiseniko in Tonga by June Allen

view more Children

Young Adult

Oracles & Miracles & Zombies by Stevan Eldred-Grigg and Helen Mae Innes

view more Young Adult

Magnetic book cover

view more Fantasy

Science Fiction

Brightest Star by Andy Southall (The Assumptors - Voyage of Domina Penelope Book 1)

view more Science Fiction

Historical Fiction

Lou and Eustace by Pat Backley (Ancestors Book 2)

view more Historical Fiction

Contemporary Fiction

Soul Etchings by Sandra Arnold

view more Contemporary Fiction

Action & Adventure

The Grand Opening by James Russell (The Dragon Defenders Book 5)

view more Action & Adventure

Non-fiction

I'll Have you Home by Christmas by June Allen

view more Non-fiction

Wairarapa Word Register with Wairarapa Word on Facebook to join. Hosted by Almo’s Books, High St, Carterton. Supported by Carterton District Creative Communities Scheme.

StorySoup – A Story Telling Prompt Generator Hamish, one of our writing group members, has been working on this for several years and has now launched it into the world. StorySoup is a simple application that suggests basic story components you may like to use to create a story. Our writing group has used it when looking for inspiration for our writing challenges. Hamish has released StorySoup for free. Find out more and how to download it on the official StorySoup page .

Hutt City FM 106.7 Community Radio Station You can live stream the radio from their Facebook page or the Hutt City FM 106.7 website . We often give book reviews on Lisa Yung and Craig Wade’s Saturday morning magazine show. We will post times and books reviewed on the Facebook pages.

Liberty Books Address: 90 Main Street, CBD Towers, Upper Hutt, 5018. Phone : ( 04) 528 5001 If you are looking for second-hand books – we support and recommend Liberty Books . If you can’t find what you are looking for, just ask the owner, Rhys. He’s amazing and has a great idea of what he has in the shop and where it is.

Waitakere Writers

Waitakere Writerss

  • Meetings and Events
  • Profiles of Members
  • Books for Sale
  • Writers' Corner

Mission:   “To support, encourage and learn from each other and to participate in the craft of writing.”

When:    Waitakere Writers Group meet the second Saturday of each month, 1:30 - 4pm.

Where:   St John Hall, behind the Ambulance Station, 247 Edmonton Rd, Te Atatu South, West Auckland.

Fees:      Annual membership: $20 (1 January – 31 December) plus contribution at each monthly meeting: $4.

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Check our Events page to see what seminars and events are coming up.

STEM Writers Nelson NZ

[email protected]

64 35289868

Working from Home

Welcome to STEM Writers, Nelson NZ

STEM Writers Nelson is an active writing group who meet at the Elma Turner Library, Halifax Street, Nelson, in New Zealand.  

You may like to join us!

We meet on the Second Tuesday of Every Month - thus the name, S.T.E.M - from 1-3 pm, in the Activities Room at the Library. 

We set a monthly writing theme, read our work to each other, and offer critique. 

Coffee and home-made cake provided! 

Online, we post our latest work, plus a serial... Look here too for upcoming events, book launches, writer blogs and discussions, books for sale.  

Watch too for our joint publications - hard-copy. 

About STEM Writers

STEM Writers work with all genres: fiction, short fiction, memoir and family history, poetry, reportage...

Challenge us if you want to join and try writing something new - or maybe, ask us to take on a task!

Get in Touch

Get in touch for more information about the group, individual writers, the Serial - or just to say hello. There's nothing writers love more than discovering readers! We'd love to hear from you.

Thanks for submitting!

Box 6043, RIWAKA NZ 7146

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Writers Practice

THE KĀPITI WRITERS’ RETREAT

Immerse yourself in writing and conversation this summer. There’s something for everyone – whether you’re new to writing, an established writer, or somewhere in-between .

The Kāpiti Writers’ Retreat is back from 23-25 February 2024 for our three-day gathering for writers which encompasses intensive morning workshops, lively discussions, and space to write, relax and engage with topics critical to your work.

We are honoured to have Te Ati Awa local Mohi Edwin open our weekend and share some of the stories of the local area with a walk through the awa and estuary. Leading writers of Aotearoa, Cassie Hart, Isa Pearl Ritchie, Kiri Piahana-Wong, Ingrid Horrocks, Sasha Francis, Paula Morris, Helen Lehndorf and Catherine Cooper will share their experience and insight through intensive morning workshops on world-building, series, poetry, eco-fiction, zines and fiction, lively afternoon sessions and one-on-one sessions on your current fiction or nonfiction project. There will also be free writing sessions, an open mic, yoga, and the time to connect with other writers and enjoy the beautiful natural environment. View the full programme

We welcome writers and writing from all backgrounds and strive to provide surroundings that meet the needs of all participants. We do not tolerate racism, discrimination, hate-speech, bullying or harassment of any kind.

We have changed the payment model and now offer a pay-what-you-can scale . You can select the rate that is right for you via the dropdown at the top of the  registration page  before you start choosing your sessions. Find out more about payment options , volunteering and scholarships .

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT OF 5% IS AVAILABLE UNTIL 20 DECEMBER 2023.

Onsite accommodation is also available. There is a limit of 12 places per workshop. Register now .

Find out more about the Retreat via the buttons below.

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Josh Burns

Publication of Jewish creatives WhatsApp group led to death threats, MP says

Josh Burns says one family is in hiding after contact information from a private group chat encouraging action over coverage of Israel and Palestine were leaked

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The publishing of a Jewish creatives WhatsApp group chat and the contact details of alleged participants has led to death threats and forced one family into hiding, Labor MP Josh Burns has said.

Writer and commentator Clementine Ford on Thursday published a link on her Facebook page to the log of a group chat of over 600 Jewish writers and artists. The Age, which first reported the story , alleged the link also contained a spreadsheet of links to social media accounts and another file that contained the photos of over 100 Jewish people.

Ford was not the only person to have shared a copy of the log, but she said it was to provide her 239,000 followers with an insight into “how coordinated efforts are to silence Palestinian activists and their allies” via a transcript of the leaked chat.

“This is a group of ‘creatives’ working to silence voices calling for Palestinian liberation,” she said.

Both the Bitly link and the host site for the document had removed the log at the time of reporting, on privacy grounds.

Burns, who is the federal MP for Macnamara, said it was “very distressing” to see people’s contact information be posted online

“This is beyond the sort of trivial social media posts that some people are putting up,” he said. “This has resulted in really serious consequences where people have received death threats.”

Burns said he had been in contact with a family who had to go into hiding after receiving an “avalanche of threats” and had to switch off devices and move to a different location.

“They were completely shattered by this whole experience, where … a sort of lynch mob of people were attacking them,” he said.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s co-chief executive, Alex Ryvchin, said there was “shock and disbelief” that a list of the names of Jews was being drawn up.

“We call on our fellow Australians to resist the harassment and bullying, and when asked to sack or blacklist Australian Jews, to say not in our time and not in our country,” he said.

A spokesperson for Victoria police confirmed it is investigating earlier reports of the personal details of people who belong to a private social media chat group appearing to have been released online.

Guardian Australia has not verified the other documents, but has seen the purported log of the chat, which are believed to be the same as those posted by Ford and others, albeit without the social media details of the members of the group.

The chat includes members of the group, similar to the Lawyers for Israel group , encouraging contacting Ford’s publisher and others in the media over coverage of Israel and Palestine and the response to the leaked WhatsApp chats for Lawyers for Israel and its alleged campaign to oust journalist Antoinette Lattouf from a casual on-air role at the ABC.

Guardian Australia has contacted Ford.

The president of the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network, Nasser Mashni, said APAN was concerned by purpose of the WhatsApp group saying it appeared to be focused on targeting and “attempting to silence” people speaking out on Palestine.

“Palestine supporters from a range of backgrounds have been targeted for months, sometimes leading to job losses, sometimes resulting in threats to people’s physical safety.”

One of the former members of the group, journalist Ginger Gorman, said in a statement published on X she joined the group after the 7 October attack on the understanding it was a Jewish creative group about human rights. She said she muted the group and only viewed it occasionally, and missed what she said was bullying and harassment in the group and the targeting of public personalities.

She said once she became aware, she left the group before it was mentioned in the media. She said she condemned the bullying and harassment of anyone.

“Now that I am aware of what was happening in this group, I want to apologise to those who were victimised or targeted. You didn’t deserve this,” she said.

But Gorman said she and her family were the target of online abuse and threats due to being a member of the group.

“Personally, I support all calls for a ceasefire. Innocent civilians should not be targeted and killed,” she said.

Burns defended the members of the group organising together to express their views.

“There’s been a number of groups where some have been really focused on defending the Jewish community against attacks. And I don’t think it’s true to say that they have been focused on shutting down Palestinian voices,” he said.

“We have to be very careful about attributing some sort of sinister motivation with democratic activity.”

He said encouraging letter-writing is different to publishing someone’s personal information in a public arena and defended the group chats.

“I don’t have any issue with people in any organisation and any who were involved in any part of this conversation or any other conversation to associate with one another,” he said.

“That’s one of the fundamental rights of being an Australian is to be able to freely associate with your fellow citizen, and to come together and express your view.”

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told Radio 3AW it had been a real tragedy that there had been rising social disharmony, and while people had strong views about the conflict it was unacceptable that people do not feel safe in their communities.

“It’s not the Australia I want to see,” he said.

“The great thing about our country is we can be a microcosm for the world. And by and large we are a peaceful country – we live in harmony.

“The great thing is that people whether they be Catholic or Jewish, or Hindu, or Buddhist or Muslim, live side by side and enriched by the diversity which is there and that’s a sort of Australia but I want to see.”

Lattouf’s unlawful dismissal case with the ABC returns to the Fair Work Commission on Tuesday.

  • Australia news
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Steven C. Hayes Ph.D.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

The power of writing about your values, a simple exercise to rediscover your purpose and find meaning..

Posted February 15, 2024 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

  • What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
  • Find a counsellor who practices CBT
  • Values work asks us to take responsibility for our own life journey.
  • Writing about your values has a significant impact on your actions and mental well-being.
  • Living by what you truly care about won’t always be easy, but it can bring you more fulfillment and meaning.

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What do you genuinely care about? It’s a deceptively simple question, but one we often neglect answering for ourselves. As a result, we tend to focus our efforts and energies on tasks that don’t truly align with what we want out of life. We act according to our short-term needs (while maybe even sabotaging our long-term goals), or we follow other people’s expectations, not really questioning whether they are in our own best interest. We might focus on what we “should” be doing, going from chore to chore, making us feel like we’re trapped in an endlessly looping hamster wheel.

Living by our values provides an alternative. Rather than mindlessly trying to live up to other people’s standards, values work asks us to take responsibility for our own life journey. When we choose what’s important in life, we create a deeply personal metric for success.

Do we care about putting love into the world? About appreciating and protecting nature? About creating beauty? The best of our cultural, familial, and wisdom traditions can guide us, but ultimately the truly heartfelt choices are ours to make “naked and in the wind.”

By making such choices, we are more likely not only to engage life with motivation and follow through but also to bring more attention , care, and energy to the journeys that uplift us. Values help us build socially positive emotions, like gratitude and appreciation, and the feeling that we are making a meaningful difference in other people’s lives. And a simple exercise has shown to be particularly effective in distilling what those values might be.

Research has shown that writing about your values has a significant impact on your actions as well as on your mental well-being—more than just simply picking values from a list or stating them in a few words. By writing about them, you are less likely to react defensively or to let values become formulaic. You are more likely to become more receptive to information that suggests how you can make effective changes in your life.

If that sounds preachy, please remove any sense of “should” from it. You don’t need a wagging finger from me any more than you need one from anyone else, including yourself. I’m advocating values work because science, the best of our cultural traditions, and our own life experiences show that when values choices are made from the whole of us, and from a psychologically open and aware posture, our lives improve. It’s just the way we are wired.

A Simple Exercise to Discover Your Purpose and Meaning

In a moment, I will ask you to write about your values. Before I do, however, please take a sheet of paper and write down the following life areas:

  • Intimate Relationships
  • Environment
  • Spirituality
  • Physical Well-Being

Next, I want you to rate each of those life areas on a scale of 1 (= not important) to 10 (= highly important). Keep in mind, this is not about how important they might be to others, but how important they are to you personally right now. There are no right or wrong answers here; only you decide.

Did you do it? Great! Then rate each of these areas on a scale of 1 to 10 once again, but this time in terms of how consistent your actions with your values have been in each of the areas. For instance, a “3” in Physical Well-Being might indicate that you eat a lot of junk food and rarely exercise, whereas an “8” in Family might show that you put in a lot of effort for your children.

After you rated each of the areas a second time, take a look at your answers. Particularly interesting are the areas with a high importance (a score between 8 and 10) and relatively low consistency scores (6 or less). These are clear problem areas, and I suggest doing your initial values work with any one of them.

So here comes your actual task: Take another sheet of paper, choose a life domain, and then write for 10 minutes about your deepest values in this area. Really do it—10 minutes is not very long! As you do so, please consider the following questions:

  • What do you care about in this area?
  • What do you want to do in this area that intrinsically reflects your caring?
  • When in your life has this value been important?
  • Who are the heroes in your life to manifest such values, and what do they mean to you?
  • What have you seen in your life when others pursue this value, or not?
  • When have you violated this value, and has that been costly?
  • What might you do to manifest this value more in your life?

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Try to focus your writing on the qualities of your life as you want to live it—qualities you hold as being of intrinsic importance to what you do.

If it starts to feel like you are writing a wish list about what you want from life or others, redirect your writing by describing the qualities of actions you want to manifest. If you cannot think of anything else, just continue writing whatever shows up in your head (even if you write the same thing over and over again), until something new shows up.

Don’t continue reading until you’ve written for at least 10 minutes. Trust me on this. Just do it.

OK, now read what you wrote and see if you can distill a few examples of what you want to do in your chosen area. I’m talking about actual behavior. Can you name at least three actions that would bring you in closer alignment with what you care about in this life area?

Next, look for mentions of the qualities you want to manifest in your actions and see if you can note those qualities. You might want to do things lovingly, carefully, creatively, curiously, compassionately, respectfully, openly, joyously, industriously, healthfully, adventurously, thoughtfully, justly, supportively, learnedly, peacefully, humorously, simply, honestly, spiritually, fairly, charitably, traditionally, dependably, and so on and so forth.

As you read what you’ve written, write down the qualities that most stand out for you. It might just be one, or it might be several. If multiple qualities show up, see if you can capture their core in three or four words. These are verbal signposts for values choices, and you want to make a note of them.

Values only really matter when you embody them and allow them to guide your actions. How do you want to show up during an upcoming family event? At a work presentation? During your children’s school play? Or while you’re walking your dog? Humbly allow values to be your guide. Living by what you truly care about won’t always be easy, but in combination with learning how to be more open and aware, a values-based life will bring you more fulfillment, meaning, and a deeper sense that you are living a life well lived.

Lejeune, Jenna & Luoma, Jason. (2021). Values in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy . 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197550076.013.12.

Steven C. Hayes Ph.D.

Steven C. Hayes, Ph.D. , is Nevada Foundation Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada Reno.

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Politics February 13, 2024

What is local water done well, the new not-quite-three waters.

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As it moves to scrap the troubled Three Waters scheme, the government has announced its new plans for water infrastructure.

Over the past few years, water infrastructure has gone from something a few passionate planners and council representatives would speak about in the media to an issue that almost everyone has an opinion on. We’ve seen gallons of water pouring onto the streets of Wellington. We saw hundreds of tractor-driving farmers descend on main centres. In short: it became a key election talking point.

Under Jacinda Ardern’s government, much of the debate was around a proposal called Three Waters. That evolved into the more boringly named “affordable water reforms” under the stewardship of Chris Hipkins and Kieran McAnulty. Now, under Christopher Luxon and minister of local government Simeon Brown, we’ve finally got a new name to remember: Local Water Done Well. 

Announced in the lead-up to last year’s election as a National Party policy, it’s since been adopted by the coalition government and the first steps to its implementation are now known. But what actually is it? How does it differ from what came before? And will it fix the problem?

What’s all this then?

Local Water Done Well was the name given to National’s election year commitment to oversee an upgrade and overhaul of the country’s water infrastructure. At the time, then opposition leader Luxon said his party’s plan would include “strict water quality standards” and require councils to invest in the ongoing maintenance of their vital water infrastructure. 

This week, Brown laid out the path ahead, explaining that two pieces of legislation will be passed over the next year-or-so to push forward with the plan. The first, which will be in force by the middle of the year, will allow neighbouring councils to join forces and separate out their water services into “council-controlled organisations”. These will be allowed to access long-term borrowing to fund water infrastructure separately from the councils themselves.

“It will… provide streamlined requirements for establishing council-controlled organisations under the Local Government Act 2002, enabling councils to start shifting the delivery of water services into more financially sustainable configurations should they wish to do so,” explained Brown.

The second bill will provide for the “long-term replacement regime” and be introduced at the end of the year and passed by mid-2025. This will set out the requirements for long-term financial sustainability and introduce backstop powers that the government can activate “when required” – effectively to make sure the new organisations aren’t racking up too much debt.

“In addition, it will also make necessary amendments to the water regulator’s legislation to ensure the regulatory framework is fit for purpose and workable for drinking water suppliers,” said Brown.

So Three Waters/affordable water are dead?

Not quite, but very soon. In just 10 days’ time, in fact. “The government, as a commitment made in its 100-day plan, will soon repeal the legislation passed by Labour to progress Three Waters. This will happen by February 23,” said Brown. “This will restore continued local council ownership and control of water services, and responsibility for service delivery.” 

Who’s involved in the government’s plans?

There’s a brand spanking new working technical advisory group that will contribute “specialist and technical expertise” to the government.

It will be chaired by Andreas Heuser, the managing director at Castalia Limited (yes, the group responsible for National’s foreign buyer tax costings ). “Andreas has a background in economic and policy projects specialising in energy sector strategy, water reform, and natural resource economics,” read a press release from the government.

As Richard Harmon writes for Politik , “Castalia and Heuser have… already been in the thick of the Three Waters debate, having developed an alternative proposal for the anti-Three Waters lobby group ‘Communities for Local Democracy’.” In the Herald late last year , Heuser touted this alternative proposal for Three Waters and noted that it was referenced in National’s plan.

OK but this is a working group, right?

Sure. Writing for Stuff , political correspondent Tova O’Brien noted that while National in opposition had criticised the former government for its overuse of “working groups”, it seemed to now be increasingly fond of them. “The technical advisory group it announced on Monday to help with water is the third such group it’s established in two months,” wrote O’Brien. The prime minister, speaking to reporters yesterday, pushed back on this, saying the Labour government had set up 230 working groups in a very short period of time. “We ain’t doing that.”

And how does it differ from Three Waters?

Remember co-governance? That was one of the primary objections from vocal protesters to the Three Waters plan (though Labour denied that the original proposal – under which responsibility for drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services would be transferred from 67 local councils to four, and later 10, regional entities, each of which would be overseen by a group made up equally of representatives from local iwi and councils – was actually co-governance ). Unsurprisingly, it’s gone. As O’Brien writes, time will tell whether the new plan is enough to see the “stop Three Waters” signs that littered rural New Zealand be pulled down.

This time around, councils will be able to dictate the level of involvement that local iwi have. “We’ve opposed co-governance and mandated entities on those communities,” Brown said.

Under the new plan, there’s an increased level of council autonomy, and with great autonomy comes great (financial) responsibility. Under National, councils can choose whether they unify to form the “financially independent” council-controlled organisations, but they’re still council-controlled and therefore the cost will remain with councils. Brown said this was manageable. “If you’ve got a properly balance-sheet-separated CCO, they will be able to take on debt and borrowings separate from the council and ratepayers.”

National's Simeon Brown (L) and Chris Bishop (R) during the election campaign

This process will still involve water being owned by councils and not through private entities, finance minister Nicola Willis said this morning. “The advice that we have received so far is that it is possible to take these assets off council balance sheets into new entities, which still have a modicum of the public ownership occurring.”

The Act Party – which forms a third of the coalition government – is unsurprisingly pleased with the new proposals. “We all know status quo isn’t up to scratch, but Labour’s bureaucratic, co-governed regime was never the answer,” said the party’s infrastructure spokesperson Cameron Luxton. “Three Waters would have been great for middle-managers but a disaster for water users, with layers and layers of bureaucracy separating decision makers from the people.”

But remember, there is a backstop and the government can still intervene if the entities get into financial trouble.

Sounds rosy. Any concerns?

While Labour in opposition has been relatively subdued since the election, the party’s local government spokesperson Kieran McAnulty came out swinging against the government’s water plans. To be fair, these critiques are very similar to those McAnulty raised while still a minister. 

“The government’s confirmation [that] it will repeal the affordable water reforms will see higher rates for every ratepayer – up to 90% in some individual councils – in 30 years,” McAnulty said.

 “The cost of fixing our broken water infrastructure is estimated at $185 billion over just three decades. It is simply irresponsible of National to ignore the problem.”

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Writing for his newsletter The Kākā today, Bernard Hickey said that the plan was effectively bumping the issue of water down the road. “The end result? The government and councils point fingers at each other for yet-more-years, the pipes keep failing, the beaches become more polluted and land prices keep escalating as fast as the rents for those not still in motels, tents and station wagons,” he said.

And how did the government respond to that?

Well, it does seem like maybe Hickey’s onto something. “That will be a decision for local councils and those CCO organisations,” Luxon told Newshub when pushed on potential rates rises. “But all I just say to you is, this is the most efficient way of doing it.”

What have councils had to say so far?

There hasn’t been a lot of comment as of yet, but Auckland mayor Wayne Brown was early to celebrate , saying the plan was “in line” with what he had asked for. He wants it established as soon as possible. “I’m working constructively with the government on that, and initial discussions are promising,” he said.

Manawatū mayor Helen Worboys – who was involved with the anti-Three Waters group Communities 4 Local Democracy – was also thrilled. “The good thing is this has been passed back to councils. We now need to pick that up and seriously come up with how this is going to work for our communities. That’s what we asked the previous government for, and this government has given us the opportunity,” she told RNZ.

Less convinced was Clutha District mayor Bryan Cadogan, who was a backer of the Labour government’s earlier proposals. He believed it made sense for the entire South Island to band together when it came to water – something that was now up to individual councils. “Without those efficiencies, nothing else that’s being offered is doing anything other than delaying the inevitable and exacerbating the situation.”

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The Loss of Things I Took for Granted

Ten years into my college teaching career, students stopped being able to read effectively..

Recent years have seen successive waves of book bans in Republican-controlled states, aimed at pulling any text with “woke” themes from classrooms and library shelves. Though the results sometimes seem farcical, as with the banning of Art Spiegelman’s Maus due to its inclusion of “cuss words” and explicit rodent nudity, the book-banning agenda is no laughing matter. Motivated by bigotry, it has already done demonstrable harm and promises to do more. But at the same time, the appropriate response is, in principle, simple. Named individuals have advanced explicit policies with clear goals and outcomes, and we can replace those individuals with people who want to reverse those policies. That is already beginning to happen in many places, and I hope those successes will continue until every banned book is restored.

If and when that happens, however, we will not be able to declare victory quite yet. Defeating the open conspiracy to deprive students of physical access to books will do little to counteract the more diffuse confluence of forces that are depriving students of the skills needed to meaningfully engage with those books in the first place. As a college educator, I am confronted daily with the results of that conspiracy-without-conspirators. I have been teaching in small liberal arts colleges for over 15 years now, and in the past five years, it’s as though someone flipped a switch. For most of my career, I assigned around 30 pages of reading per class meeting as a baseline expectation—sometimes scaling up for purely expository readings or pulling back for more difficult texts. (No human being can read 30 pages of Hegel in one sitting, for example.) Now students are intimidated by anything over 10 pages and seem to walk away from readings of as little as 20 pages with no real understanding. Even smart and motivated students struggle to do more with written texts than extract decontextualized take-aways. Considerable class time is taken up simply establishing what happened in a story or the basic steps of an argument—skills I used to be able to take for granted.

Since this development very directly affects my ability to do my job as I understand it, I talk about it a lot. And when I talk about it with nonacademics, certain predictable responses inevitably arise, all questioning the reality of the trend I describe. Hasn’t every generation felt that the younger cohort is going to hell in a handbasket? Haven’t professors always complained that educators at earlier levels are not adequately equipping their students? And haven’t students from time immemorial skipped the readings?

The response of my fellow academics, however, reassures me that I’m not simply indulging in intergenerational grousing. Anecdotally, I have literally never met a professor who did not share my experience. Professors are also discussing the issue in academic trade publications , from a variety of perspectives. What we almost all seem to agree on is that we are facing new obstacles in structuring and delivering our courses, requiring us to ratchet down expectations in the face of a ratcheting down of preparation. Yes, there were always students who skipped the readings, but we are in new territory when even highly motivated honors students struggle to grasp the basic argument of a 20-page article. Yes, professors never feel satisfied that high school teachers have done enough, but not every generation of professors has had to deal with the fallout of No Child Left Behind and Common Core. Finally, yes, every generation thinks the younger generation is failing to make the grade— except for the current cohort of professors, who are by and large more invested in their students’ success and mental health and more responsive to student needs than any group of educators in human history. We are not complaining about our students. We are complaining about what has been taken from them.

If we ask what has caused this change, there are some obvious culprits. The first is the same thing that has taken away almost everyone’s ability to focus—the ubiquitous smartphone. Even as a career academic who studies the Quran in Arabic for fun, I have noticed my reading endurance flagging. I once found myself boasting at a faculty meeting that I had read through my entire hourlong train ride without looking at my phone. My colleagues agreed this was a major feat, one they had not achieved recently. Even if I rarely attain that high level of focus, though, I am able to “turn it on” when demanded, for instance to plow through a big novel during a holiday break. That’s because I was able to develop and practice those skills of extended concentration and attentive reading before the intervention of the smartphone. For children who were raised with smartphones, by contrast, that foundation is missing. It is probably no coincidence that the iPhone itself, originally released in 2007, is approaching college age, meaning that professors are increasingly dealing with students who would have become addicted to the dopamine hit of the omnipresent screen long before they were introduced to the more subtle pleasures of the page.

The second go-to explanation is the massive disruption of school closures during COVID-19. There is still some debate about the necessity of those measures, but what is not up for debate any longer is the very real learning loss that students suffered at every level. The impact will inevitably continue to be felt for the next decade or more, until the last cohort affected by the mass “pivot to online” finally graduates. I doubt that the pandemic closures were the decisive factor in themselves, however. Not only did the marked decline in reading resilience start before the pandemic, but the students I am seeing would have already been in high school during the school closures. Hence they would be better equipped to get something out of the online format and, more importantly, their basic reading competence would have already been established.

Less discussed than these broader cultural trends over which educators have little control are the major changes in reading pedagogy that have occurred in recent decades—some motivated by the ever-increasing demand to “teach to the test” and some by fads coming out of schools of education. In the latter category is the widely discussed decline in phonics education in favor of the “balanced literacy” approach advocated by education expert Lucy Calkins (who has more recently come to accept the need for more phonics instruction). I started to see the results of this ill-advised change several years ago, when students abruptly stopped attempting to sound out unfamiliar words and instead paused until they recognized the whole word as a unit. (In a recent class session, a smart, capable student was caught short by the word circumstances when reading a text out loud.) The result of this vibes-based literacy is that students never attain genuine fluency in reading. Even aside from the impact of smartphones, their experience of reading is constantly interrupted by their intentionally cultivated inability to process unfamiliar words.

For all the flaws of the balanced literacy method, it was presumably implemented by people who thought it would help. It is hard to see a similar motivation in the growing trend toward assigning students only the kind of short passages that can be included in a standardized test. Due in part to changes driven by the infamous Common Core standards , teachers now have to fight to assign their students longer readings, much less entire books, because those activities won’t feed directly into students getting higher test scores, which leads to schools getting more funding. The emphasis on standardized tests was always a distraction at best, but we have reached the point where it is actively cannibalizing students’ educational experience—an outcome no one intended or planned, and for which there is no possible justification.

We can’t go back in time and do the pandemic differently at this point, nor is there any realistic path to putting the smartphone genie back in the bottle. (Though I will note that we as a society do at least attempt to keep other addictive products out of the hands of children.) But I have to think that we can, at the very least, stop actively preventing young people from developing the ability to follow extended narratives and arguments in the classroom. Regardless of their profession or ultimate educational level, they will need those skills. The world is a complicated place. People—their histories and identities, their institutions and work processes, their fears and desires—are simply too complex to be captured in a worksheet with a paragraph and some reading comprehension questions. Large-scale prose writing is the best medium we have for capturing that complexity, and the education system should not be in the business of keeping students from learning how to engage effectively with it.

This is a matter not of snobbery, but of basic justice. I recognize that not everyone centers their lives on books as much as a humanities professor does. I think they’re missing out, but they’re adults and they can choose how to spend their time. What’s happening with the current generation is not that they are simply choosing TikTok over Jane Austen. They are being deprived of the ability to choose—for no real reason or benefit. We can and must stop perpetrating this crime on our young people.

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'Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt' Reunites Marvel's Original Group of Supernatural Heroes

This may, the midnight sons return in a 'blood hunt' tie-in series from writer bryan hill and artist germán peralta..

When the eternal night falls and vampires run rampant across the globe, the Marvel Universe’s last line of defense against the supernatural band together in MIDNIGHT SONS: BLOOD HUNT !

Written by current BLADE scribe Bryan Hill and drawn by Germán Peralta ( LOKI ), the three-issue tie-in series will spin directly out of the shocking events of BLOOD HUNT #1 . Starring Blade , Johhny Blaze , Danny Ketch ,  Victoria Montesi , and more, this iconic team’s critical mission will involve more than just slaughtering through the vampire invasion—they’ll also be forced to tragically spill the blood of one of their own!  

The return of the Midnight Sons ! What do you get when you cross two Ghost Riders, a daywalker, their supernatural-hunting friends, and a horde of vampires swarming the Earth? A whole lot of fangs, fire and penance… Don’t miss the original Midnight Sons reunite to deal with the shocking threat unleashed in BLOOD HUNT !

"FINALLY, the world realizes I'm a 'horror guy' and I'm grateful," Hill said. "Working with Blade has been a blast, and what I'm doing with MIDNIGHT SONS is maybe even more ferocious than that. This event is really exciting, the hype is real, and what I have planned for this will hopefully satisfy fans of action... and terror." 

"I’m really excited to be part of this crossover, especially because I love the mix between super heroes and horror—the possibilities are infinite," Peralta shared. "In this particular case, I have the chance to draw the coolest Marvel characters, it's one of the highlights of this project—Blade, Ghost Rider, and of course, a lot more that I can't mention! It's always a pleasure to be in front of a new challenge when you’re free to play using inks and different kinds of textures to create some dark environments and characters. I hope the readers enjoy this as much as I do."

MIDNIGHT SONS: BLOOD HUNT #1 cover by Ken Lashley

MIDNIGHT SONS: BLOOD HUNT #1 (OF 3) Written by BRYAN HILL Art by GERMÁN PERALTA Cover by KEN LASHLEY On Sale 5/29

Who will bite it? Get a glimpse at the epic showdown between Blade and Ghost Rider on Ken Lashley's MIDNIGHT SONS: BLOOD HUNT #1 cover and stay tuned later today and all week long for more BLOOD HUNT tie-in announcements!

Grab these comics and more at your local comic book shop! Or redeem then read your digital copy on the  Marvel Unlimited app  by using the code found in your print comic. Find and support your local comic book shop at  ComicShopLocator.com .

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Israel-Hamas war

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February 14, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

By Kathleen Magramo , Helen Regan , Sophie Tanno, Antoinette Radford, Alisha Ebrahimji and Maureen Chowdhury , CNN

Our live coverage of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza   has moved here .

Leaders of Australia, Canada and New Zealand warn Israel against “catastrophic” assault on Rafah

From CNN’s Akanksha Sharma

Israel's plans to launch a ground offensive in the southern Gazan city of Rafah would be "catastrophic," the prime ministers of Australia, Canada and New Zealand warned in a  joint statement  Thursday.

 “We are gravely concerned by indications that Israel is planning a ground offensive into Rafah,” the statement said, adding that any military action in an area where nearly 1.5 million Palestinians are taking refuge “would be catastrophic.”

The world leaders called on Israel to heed "growing international consensus" and not “go down this path," as "there is simply nowhere else for civilians to go."

They cited the International Court of Justice, which ordered Israel to ensure the delivery of essential humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians in Gaza.

The group added that "any ceasefire cannot be one sided” and reiterated calls for the release of all Israeli hostages.

Netanyahu vows “powerful action” in Rafah while IDF hits Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Catch up here

From CNN staff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends media conference in Tel Aviv on October 12, 2023. 

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday reiterated his intention to order concerted military operations in Rafah, vowing that his country will fight “until the absolutely victory.”

Netanyahu said “powerful action” will come in the southern Gazan city after the evacuation of civilians from "battle zones."

A growing number of world leaders and NGOs have called on Israel to avoid a ground operation in what is now Gaza's most populated city, with a Red Cross official saying "countless lives are hanging in the balance."

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock condemned Israel's planned ground offensive, saying it would create a " humanitarian catastrophe.”

It comes as the Israeli military said Wednesday that it has struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, as the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff warned of an ongoing offensive against targets in the neighboring country. The strikes follow an earlier deadly rocket attack from Lebanon on a  northern Israeli city .

Here are the latest headlines:

  • Israeli jets strike Lebanon : One Israeli solider was killed and eight others wounded Wednesday when a base in northern Israel was targeted by rockets from Lebanon. In response, the IDF struck  “Hezbollah terror targets”  in the neighboring country. Hezbollah , an Iran-backed armed group that is a regional force in its own right, has not claimed the attack. But Lebanese state media and Hezbollah-owned media reported air raids on several towns in southern Lebanon, including Aadchit, Souaneh and Chehabiya, throughout Wednesday.
  • Appeals to stop ground operation: French president Emmanuel Macron and World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday appealed to Israel not to move forward with a Rafah ground operation. Tedros warned, "I don’t think even hell could describe it...I plead to Israel not to do this." United Nations special adviser Alice Wairimu Nderitu said the risk of atrocities " is serious, real and high ."
  • Snipers at Nasser medical complex:  Doctors and medical staff say Israeli snipers  have shot dead a number of people as they fled the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in recent days. "The tanks and the snipers (are) surrounding the hospital from all directions,” a surgeon there said. The IDF confirmed it was operating in the area but did not respond to direct allegations. It has  ordered  hospital staff and patients inside the medical complex to evacuate, saying it had “opened a secure route” for civilians to leave.
  • US concerned over Gaza aid: A US-funded shipment of flour intended for Gaza has not moved the way it was expected to, raising concerns from the White House, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Wednesday. The shipment was blocked by Israeli customs despite Israel’s war cabinet having approved shipments of flour to Gaza via the Ashdod port following a request from US officials.
  • Protection for Palestinians in US : President Joe Biden granted Palestinians in the United States temporary protection from deportation amid the ongoing conflict overseas, according to a new memo. The move comes as the White House faces immense pressure from the Arab-American community over the situation in Gaza.
  • Proposed ceasefire resolution: Arab countries at the United Nations are preparing to introduce a ceasefire resolution in the Security Council, which will also call for unimpeded humanitarian relief and the prevention of any transfer of residents of Gaza to a different location.
  • Cairo talks: Netanyahu said that Hamas must change its negotiating position before talks can continue in the Egyptian capital. Negotiations on a ceasefire as well as hostage and prisoner releases have been ongoing in Cairo and Israel has told mediators they will continue to engage in talks but have so far rejected a counterproposal made by Hamas that demanded a large release of Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli snipers shoot and kill civilians as they flee hospital in Gaza, according to eyewitness

From CNN's Sana Noor Haq and Jonny Hallam

Doctors and medical officials in Gaza say Israeli snipers have shot dead a number of people as they tried to leave the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza over recent days.

A trauma surgeon at the hospital said he was eyewitness to the shootings and said at least two people were killed by snipers on Tuesday, with more shot and injured.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have  ordered  hospital staff and patients inside the medical complex to evacuate and said it had “opened a secure route” for civilians to leave.

But at least eight people trying to escape along the route came under gunfire on Tuesday, said the surgeon, who asked not to be named for security reasons.

In a series of voice notes, the surgeon said medical teams at the hospital have been under intense bombardment for at least three days. His testimony was shared with CNN by his colleague.

Among those injured, the surgeon said, was a 16-year-old boy shot with four bullets at the hospital gate.

"The tanks and the snipers (are) surrounding the hospital from all directions,” the surgeon said in a voice message early Wednesday. “They threatened to bomb the hospital within half an hour."

The Nasser Medical Complex is the largest remaining functioning medical facility in Gaza.

Reached for comment late Wednesday, the IDF confirmed to CNN that Israeli troops are operating in the area of the Nasser Medical Complex and said they will get back to CNN if anything changes, but did not respond directly to the allegations.

Israel has repeatedly said that its military forces do not target civilians.

Doctors Without Borders condemns Israel's evacuation order for Gaza's Nasser Hospital

From CNN's Mitchell McCluskey

Doctors Without Borders has condemned the Israeli military's order to evacuate patients, staff and displaced people from Gaza's Nasser Hospital on Tuesday.

The organization's staff remained at the medical complex in Khan Younis on Wednesday to treat patients "amid near impossible conditions," the medical charity, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said in a statement.

There has been heavy fighting near Nasser Hospital for weeks, trapping staff, patients and displaced people inside the medical complex with "very little access to essential supplies," MSF said.

“People have been forced into an impossible situation: stay at Nasser hospital against the Israeli military’s orders and become a potential target, or exit the compound into an apocalyptic landscape where bombings and evacuation orders are a part of daily life,” said Lisa Macheiner, a MSF project coordinator in Gaza. “Hospitals should be considered as safe places and shouldn’t even be evacuated in the first place."

With so much destruction in northern Gaza and the current offensive unfolding in the southern part of the besieged enclave, MSF said that many people have no safe place to flee.

“People ask us ‘Where is it safe? Where should we go?’, but there is no answer to that, and it really leads to a feeling of despair,” Macheiner said.

Inside the US Navy’s frontline fight against the Houthis in the Red Sea

From CNN's Natasha Bertrand on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower

Alarms blared on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea at 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning, warning personnel to prepare for potential flight operations against a  Houthi drone  that was flying over nearby ships.

That drone was ultimately deemed not to be   a threat. But the incident demonstrated how the crew of the carrier are constantly on a heightened alert for incoming threats from the Iran-backed militants in Yemen, who have been routinely targeting commercial ships as well as US and coalition forces in the key waterway with missiles and drones.

On board two vessels spearheading the US response to Houthi attacks, the Eisenhower and the US destroyer the  USS Gravely  in the southern Red Sea, CNN gained unique access and spoke to sailors and pilots who said the Houthi threat remains both unpredictable and unprecedented.

The US Navy is working at a frenetic pace, deploying jets and firing missiles at a moment’s notice to try to destroy the Houthis’ weapons and infrastructure.

But after  dozens of strikes  over the last month against Houthi targets both over the Red Sea and inside Yemen, CNN was told that the US military still does not know exactly how much of the Houthis’ capabilities have been destroyed — or how long it will take to deter them for good.

“It’s a wicked problem set that we don’t have a lot of great fidelity on,” said Rear Admiral Marc Miguez, the commander of Carrier Strike Group Two, told CNN.

Read the full story.

Biden gives Palestinians in the US temporary protection from deportation

From CNN's Priscilla Alvarez and Samantha Waldenberg

US President Joe Biden granted Palestinians in the United States temporary protection from deportation amid the ongoing conflict overseas, according to a new memo.

The move comes as the White House faces immense pressure from the Arab-American community over the situation in Gaza.

Late last year, Democrats  urged Biden  to extend temporary protections to Palestinians in the US, arguing that those already in the country “should not be forced to return to the Palestinian territories, consistent with President Biden’s stated commitment to protecting Palestinian civilians.”

The president has the discretion to authorize what’s known as deferred enforced departure, which protects those covered from removal from the US for a period of time. Those who qualify are also eligible for work permits. 

“In light of the ongoing conflict and humanitarian needs on the ground, President Biden signed a memorandum directing the deferral of removal of certain Palestinians who are present in the United States, giving them a temporary safe haven,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement Wednesday.  “Specifically, President Biden is granting deferred enforced departure for 18 months to Palestinians that are currently in the United States,” the statement continues.

Those convicted of felonies or who pose a public safety threat are not eligible for deferred enforced departure.

Israeli assault on Rafah would create humanitarian catastrophe, German foreign minister says

From CNN's Niamh Kennedy in London

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a press conference at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, about the situation in Israel on Wednesday, February 14.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock condemned Israel's plans to launch a ground offensive in Rafah, saying it would create a "humanitarian catastrophe." 

Speaking during a news conference after she met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Baerbock drew attention to the plight of displaced Palestinians sheltering in Rafah. 

"More than half of Gaza's population is currently seeking shelter in Rafah. 1.3 million people are waiting there in a very small space. They don't really have anywhere else to go right now," Baerbock said. "These people cannot simply vanish into thin air. If the Israeli army were to launch an offensive on Rafah under these conditions, it would be a humanitarian catastrophe in the making," she said.

This comes as Netanyahu promised a "powerful action" in Rafah after the civilian population is evacuated, according to a statement posted on X. 

During her talks, Baerbock said she pushed for "more border crossings be opened quickly" so more humanitarian aid and medical supplies can reach people in Gaza. 

The foreign minister also laid out Germany's support for a ceasefire, saying it would create "a window of opportunity to free the hostages and to get more humanitarian aid in." 

Arab group intends to introduce new Gaza ceasefire resolution at UN Security Council

From CNN’s Richard Roth

Arab countries at the United Nations are preparing to introduce a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, they said Wednesday.

The resolution would also call for unimpeded humanitarian relief and would block any transfer of residents of Gaza to a different location — which Arab countries insist is forced collective punishment against international law.

The United States has publicly stated it opposed the draft resolution. 

Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said the group had good, frank talks with the US Ambassador. Mansour said it is “high time” for the UN to act with a ceasefire resolution. and said the "internal business of the US is their business."

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COMMENTS

  1. Writing Groups

    Want to become part of an already established writing group? Established writing groups by region Northland Kaipwriters Dargaville writing group that has been in action for around two years. Currently has 8-10 members. A lot of emphasis on poetry and children's writing, but flash fiction and non-fiction are also shared.

  2. New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa

    New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa About Am I eligible to join? Membership options for writers at all stages; Testimonials from some of our writers Who we are The story of our establishment in 1934 onwards; our past presidents Our National Board (and list of past presidents)

  3. Writer and Book Sector Organisations

    Writer and Book Sector Organisations | New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa About Am I eligible to join? Membership options for writers at all stages; Testimonials from some of our writers Who we are The story of our establishment in 1934 onwards; our past presidents Our National Board (and list of past presidents)

  4. Writing groups

    1 Shut Up & Write!® 129,063 members | Worldwide SU Organized by Shut Up & Write! Largest Writing groups 1 Creatives on Purpose 951 Members | Auckland, New Zealand CO Organized by Vicki Millar 2 Canterbury Writers 878 Canty Writers | Christchurch, New Zealand CW Organized by Helen and Christopher Mongillo 3 Auckland Poetry Meetup

  5. Writing Circles in New Zealand

    Writing groups offer more than valuable feedback on your writing. They provide support and a strong motivation to keep writing. If you are completing a writing course with us, we highly recommend that you join a writers group in your area. Please always contact the group convenor to check that the venue and meeting times are still valid.

  6. NZ Writers Guild

    The New Zealand Writers Guild is a professional association representing the interests of script writers in film, TV, theatre, radio, comics and new media.

  7. Writing Groups

    Richmond Writing Group The group meets on the third Tuesday of the month, 1 - 3 pm, in the Constance Barnicoat Room at Richmond Library. In the first hour there is a guest speaker followed by discussion, with optional sharing of own writing and a creative writing activity in the second hour. Free entry, everyone welcome.

  8. New Zealand Writers Groups

    Tauranga Writers Group - Tauranga Writers is New Zealand's longest-running self-help group for writers, established in 1967. They meet twice a month on the first Thursday at 7 pm and on the third Sunday at 2 pm. Their present venue is the Alzheimer's Tauranga Rooms, 116 13th Avenue, Tauranga.

  9. The Writers Group

    The Writers Group. 3,166 likes · 1 talking about this. The Writers Group

  10. Write Wellington

    Sat, Mar 9, 2024, 9:30 AM NZDT Meet & WRITE - 2 hrs writing at the National Library. National Library of New Zealand, Wellington.

  11. Writers Plot

    Address: 90 Main Street, CBD Towers, Upper Hutt, 5018. Phone: (04) 528 5001. If you are looking for second-hand books - we support and recommend Liberty Books.

  12. Find Writing Events & Groups in Auckland, NZ

    Writer's Lunchbox at the Ellen Melville Centre and online. Writer's Lunchbox, Creative Writing Meetup. Jan 29 @ 6 PM EST. Feb 5 @ 6 PM EST. Feb 12 @ 6 PM EST. Feb 19 @ 6 PM EST. Feb 26 @ 6 PM EST.

  13. Waitakere Writers

    Mission: "To support, encourage and learn from each other and to participate in the craft of writing." When: Waitakere Writers Group meet the second Saturday of each month, 1:30 - 4pm. Where: St John Hall, behind the Ambulance Station, 247 Edmonton Rd, Te Atatu South, West Auckland. Fees: Annual membership: $20 (1 January - 31 December) plus contribution at each monthly meeting: $4.

  14. New Zealand Writers and Authors Group

    New Zealand Writers and Authors Group. 573 likes. A place for writers and authors in New Zealand and their friends to mix and mingle and to discuss issues of mutual interest.

  15. Writers

    Writers | New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa About Am I eligible to join? Membership options for writers at all stages; Testimonials from some of our writers Who we are The story of our establishment in 1934 onwards; our past presidents Our National Board (and list of past presidents)

  16. Home

    Welcome to STEM Writers, Nelson NZ. STEM Writers Nelson is an active writing group who meet at the Elma Turner Library, Halifax Street, Nelson, in New Zealand. You may like to join us! We meet on the Second Tuesday of Every Month - thus the name, S.T.E.M - from 1-3 pm, in the Activities Room at the Library. We set a monthly writing theme, read ...

  17. The Kāpiti Writers' Retreat

    The Kāpiti Writers' Retreat is back from 23-25 February 2024 for our three-day gathering for writers which encompasses intensive morning workshops, lively discussions, and space to write, relax and engage with topics critical to your work. We are honoured to have Te Ati Awa local Mohi Edwin open our weekend and share some of the stories of ...

  18. NZ Christian Writers

    NZ CHRISTIAN WRITERS is a nationwide collective of authors, bloggers, editors, lyricists, poets, publishers, songwriters, storytellers and writers throughout New Zealand. Along with our bi-monthly magazines and competitions we offer inspiring seminars and writers retreats to encourage, inspire and upskill people in their writing.

  19. Publication of Jewish creatives WhatsApp group led to death threats, MP

    Writer and commentator Clementine Ford on Thursday published a link on her Facebook page to the log of a group chat of over 600 Jewish writers and artists.

  20. The Power of Writing About Your Values

    Research has shown that writing about your values has a significant impact on your actions as well as on your mental well-being—more than just simply picking values from a list or stating them ...

  21. Find Writing Events & Groups in Christchurch, NZ

    Find writing groups in Christchurch, NZ to connect with people who share your interests. Join now to attend online or in person events. ... Reset filters. Any day. Any type. Any distance. Writing. Sort by: Relevance. Linwood Writers Group. Group name:Canterbury Writers. Group name:Canterbury Writers. Create your own Meetup group.Get Started ...

  22. What is Local Water Done Well, the new not-quite-Three Waters?

    Writing for Stuff, political correspondent Tova O'Brien noted that while National in opposition had criticised the former government for its overuse of "working groups", it seemed to now be ...

  23. Author Registration

    Subscription with print copy of quarterly NZ Author magazine - $155 per annum GST incl. Full Membership: Available to citizens and/or residents of New Zealand who have met one or more of these criteria: Written at least one book that has been Published and made available for purchase in New Zealand by an established publisher;

  24. China had "persistent" access to U.S. critical infrastructure

    The group has relied heavily on stolen administrator credentials to maintain access to the systems — and in some cases it has maintained access for "at least five years," per the advisory. ... Authorities in Canada, Australia and New Zealand contributed to today's advisory, citing concerns that China is also targeting organizations in their ...

  25. Groups

    Groups Our local group leaders are available to help connect you to a community of writers in your area. Together our goal for local groups is to help encourage and inspire a community of Christian writers. Feel free to contact our leaders here to find out more about their next meeting dates, times and locations. LOCATIONS & LEADERS:

  26. Literacy crisis in college students: Essay from a professor on students

    Large-scale prose writing is the best medium we have for capturing that complexity, and the education system should not be in the business of keeping students from learning how to engage ...

  27. Meta Unmasks Hundreds Of AI Spies On Facebook And Instagram ...

    A group of Italian spyware companies have had hundreds of fake personas using AI-generated profile photos thrown off Facebook and Instagram, after Meta found they were being used to snoop on ...

  28. 'Midnight Sons: Blood Hunt' Reunites Marvel's Original Group of

    When the eternal night falls and vampires run rampant across the globe, the Marvel Universe's last line of defense against the supernatural band together in MIDNIGHT SONS: BLOOD HUNT!. Written by current BLADE scribe Bryan Hill and drawn by Germán Peralta (), the three-issue tie-in series will spin directly out of the shocking events of BLOOD HUNT #1.

  29. For Members

    Partners The NZ Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (PEN NZ) Inc is proudly supported by a range of organisations and with thanks to those who support us and the literary sector in Aotearoa. Donate Now; Our podcasts The NZ Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (PEN NZ) Inc shares its audio history! Oral histories of writers ...

  30. February 14, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

    Leaders of Australia, Canada and New Zealand warn Israel against "catastrophic" assault on Rafah. ... Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group that is a regional force in its own right, has not ...