World
New Zealand queen ascends to Māori throne at age 27
- New Zealand’s Māori king, Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, 69, has died. His daughter, Ngā wai hono i te po, 27, is the new queen.
- Ngā wai hono i te po is the second woman to become Māori monarch in a tradition dating back to 1858.
- King Tūheitia’s funeral was attended not only by Māori tribes, but by leaders of all political parties, past prime ministers, leaders of Pacific Island nations, diplomats and representatives of the British crown.
They came in their thousands in the freezing dawn, parking cars far away and winding down rural roads on foot, children riding on their shoulders. They arrived in mourning black with crowns of ferns and kawakawa leaves, bone carvings or wedges of deep green pounamu — New Zealand jade — resting on their chests.
The mourners came to the North Island town of Ngāruawāhia on Thursday to pay final respects to New Zealand’s Māori king, Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, who died six days earlier, and witness the ascension to the throne of his daughter, Ngā wai hono i te po. The new queen, 27, is the second woman to become Māori monarch in a tradition dating back to 1858.
As she was escorted onto Tūrangawaewae marae — an ancestral meeting place — where her father’s casket lay draped in feathered cloaks, cheers rang out among thousands crowded around TV screens outside and waiting along the wide, flat banks of the Waikato River to glimpse Kīngi Tūheitia’s funeral procession. After her ascension, Ngā wai hono i te po accompanied the late king in a flotilla of traditional canoes along the river as he was guided by Māori warriors to his final resting place.
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The events marked the end of a weeklong tangihanga — funeral rite — for Kīngi Tūheitia, 69, a leader who had in recent months rallied New Zealand’s Indigenous people to unity in the face of a more racially divisive political culture than before. His daughter’s ascension represents the rise of a new generation of Māori leaders in New Zealand — one which grew up steeped in a resurging language that had once almost died out.
Kīngi Tūheitia died last Friday after undergoing heart surgery, just days after celebrations marking his 18th anniversary on the throne. He became king after his mother’s death in 2006 and on Thursday was buried alongside her in an unmarked grave on Taupiri Maunga, a mountain of spiritual significance to his iwi, or tribe.
The Kīngitanga, or Māori royalty movement, is not a constitutional monarchy and King Charles III of Britain is New Zealand’s head of state. It has a ceremonial mandate rather than a legal one and was formed in the years after British colonization of New Zealand to unite Māori tribes in resistance to forced sales of Indigenous land and the loss of the Māori language and culture.
The coffin with the body of New Zealand’s Maori King, Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, is carried up Taupiri Mountain for burial in Ngaruawahia, New Zealand, on Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Alan Gibson)
Monarchs have traditionally wielded politics lightly and Tūheitia was remembered this week as a quiet and humble man. But in recent months, his voice had become louder.
After a center-right government took power in New Zealand last November and began to enact policies reversing recognition of Māori language, people and customs, Tūheitia took the unusual step in January of calling a national meeting of tribes which was attended by 10,000 people.
“The best protest we can make right now is being Māori. Be who we are. Live our values. Speak our reo,” he told them, using the Māori word for language. “Just be Māori. Be Māori all day, every day. We are here. We are strong.”
Tūheitia urged New Zealanders to embrace the concept of kotahitanga — unity of purpose — in a cause that he said had “room for everyone.”
His words were echoed throughout the days of his funeral, including by political leaders whose plans he had rallied to oppose. In a reflection of the place that Māori language and customs have grown to hold in New Zealand’s public life in recent decades, his funeral was attended not only by Māori tribes but by leaders of all political parties, past prime ministers, leaders of Pacific Island nations, diplomats and representatives of the British crown.
Tens of thousands of ordinary people also flocked there. Many spoke to each other in Māori, a language which had steadily waned after colonization until activists in the 1970s provoked its renaissance. Among their initiatives was the establishment of Māori language pre-schools, the first graduates of which are now young adults.
Tūheitia’s daughter was among them; while her father hailed from a generation in which many were discouraged from speaking Māori, she was steeped in it, attending Māori immersion schools. Ngā wai hono i te po holds a degree in Māori customs and is an accomplished performer of kapa haka, an Indigenous performance art.
The late king, a truck driver before he took the throne, was a surprise appointment to the monarchy, which is chosen by a council and is not required to be hereditary. But the new queen was groomed for the role and had accompanied her father in his work during recent years.
Her ascension comes at a fraught political moment. Since 1858, the Kīngitanga has championed Māori sovereignty and the other promises of modern New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840 between the Crown and Māori tribes. In the years since, translation issues and attempts to reinterpret the treaty have at times provoked conflict, which has in recent months flared again.
“The treaty provides a foundation for us all to work together. Let’s not change it, that would harm us,” Tūheitia said at the event marking his coronation days before his death. While New Zealand was facing a storm as Māori rights were rolled back, “there’s no need to worry. In this storm, we are stronger together,” he said.
After the new queen was anointed with oils and a service for her father held, mourners flocked behind the hearse as it drove to the banks of the river sacred to his tribe. There, Tūheitia’s casket was accompanied by traditional carved canoes on his journey to the mountain, with mourners, in some places 10 people deep, falling silent and bowing as he passed.
As he was carried to the foot of the mountain under a clear afternoon sky, a roaring haka, or ceremonial chant, rang out from mourners waiting among gravestones dotted up the steep hillside and dozens helped to carry the late king to his burial place at the top.
Many had waited for hours to see the procession pass, including a large number of young families. Commentators said the queen’s ascension represented the culture’s renewal, with the majority of Māori — who account for almost 20% of New Zealand’s population — aged under 40.
Among them on Thursday was Awa Tukiri, 9, whose family had driven nearly two hours from Auckland to watch the canoe carrying the late king pass by.
“It was pretty amazing because all they do on the boat is do haka and waiata on it,” he said, using the words for Māori chants and songs. Tukiri, who attends a kura kaupapa — the immersion schools that are growing in popularity — said the best part of being Māori was “just hanging out and speaking Māori to each other.”
World
UNRWA fires 70 Gaza staffers amid allegations of Hamas ties, says terminations not admission of guilt
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The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) fired 70 staff members working in Gaza after long-standing claims from Israeli authorities that the agency is a collaborator with the Hamas terrorist group.
“Today, the Commissioner-General ad interim of UNRWA, Christian Saunders, took the decision to terminate the employment of 70 UNRWA staff members in Gaza with immediate effect,” UNRWA wrote in a statement Friday.
UNRWA insisted its decision was not an admission of guilt but one taken “to mitigate safety and security risks for the refugees the Agency serves under its mandate and for UNRWA personnel and premises.”
The agency claims it has “repeatedly asked the Israeli authorities to provide information and evidence to substantiate allegations against individual UNRWA staff members in Gaza but has received no response to date.”
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A Palestinian boy walks near a UNRWA school sheltering displaced people that was hit in an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City July 5, 2025. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)
“The dismissal of the staff is not part of a disciplinary process and does not constitute in any way a validation of the claims made against them,” the UNRWA statement read.
The firings follow a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) investigation that referred more than 100 UNRWA staff members for suspension or dismissal.
USAID’s investigation, the results of which the agency published June 5, assessed that a number of UNRWA’s employees were deeply enmeshed in Hamas’ civil society and military operations.
The investigation results included mention of “a deputy school principal serving as an al-Qassam deputy company commander in the Ain Gallout/5th infantry battalion, a deputy school principal serving as squad leader for the Khan Younis Brigade/2nd infantry battalion” and “a teacher with expertise as a sniper for Hamas.”
Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, hands over Israeli hostages Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen and Omer Wenkert to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Nuseirat Refugee Camp, Gaza, on Feb. 22, 2025, as part of the seventh exchange under the Jan. 19 ceasefire deal. (Ashraf Amra/Anadolu)
The investigation also found numerous school teachers and principals it claimed to have participated directly in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.
Israeli authorities have long charged UNRWA with being directly tied to Hamas.
“Since October 7, evidence of numerous incidents of Hamas exploiting UNRWA infrastructure and UNRWA employees being involved in terrorist activity has been exposed. Civilians in Gaza have even stated that UNRWA is Hamas,” the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) wrote in a January web post.
Israeli soldiers stand inside an evacuated United Nations Relief and Works Agency compound in Gaza City during a media tour organized by the Israeli army on Feb. 8, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Additionally, the IDF claimed, citing intelligence findings, that “among the 12,521 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip, at least 1,462 (12%) are members of Hamas or other designated terrorist organizations.”
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Israel’s Foreign Ministry pushed back on UNRWA’s defense framing and claims that Israel had not supplied evidence of employee-Hamas collaboration.
“UNRWA’s statement on the termination of 70 employees, while blaming the victim, Israel, and without even mentioning the word ‘Hamas,’ is a cynical cover-up,” the ministry wrote in a statement shared on X.
UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City, Gaza, Feb. 21, 2024. (Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu)
“The responsibility to purge terrorism lies solely with the UN, yet Hamas membership remains simply acceptable within UNRWA’s ranks. By harboring terrorists and letting its facilities serve as Hamas headquarters, UNRWA has become an arm of Hamas.”
UNRWA, for its part, denies being an active collaborator with Hamas but insists working with the group is an operational necessity for distributing aid in Gaza.
“UNRWA, similar to other United Nations entities, does not have police or intelligence capacities and must rely on the cooperation and assistance of Member States, including the State of Israel as the Occupying Power, to protect its operations and neutrality amid high risks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the agency wrote in its statement Friday.
In April, UNRWA’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) announced the results of an investigation into 19 employees accused of participating in Oct. 7. UNRWA terminated 12 of the employees in January. Of the remaining seven cases, UNRWA had dismissed one, citing a lack of evidence. The remaining six cases were still under investigation as of April, according to the agency.
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President Donald Trump’s administration weighed levying terrorism-related sanctions against UNRWA in December.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also referred to UNRWA as “a subsidiary of Hamas.”
Fox News Digital contacted UNRWA and a spokesperson for the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations but did not immediately receive a response.
Washington, DC – There are fisticuffs on the White House lawn, soon to be followed by a high-speed race through the National Mall. What is going on in Washington, DC?
The United States capital has been transformed in honour of the country’s 250th anniversary.
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Events all around the country are planned to mark two and a half centuries since the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
The nationwide bash has been dubbed the “semiquincentennial” — meaning half of 500 — and not just because Congress loves long words. The US has a history of throwing itself a party every 50 years.
But US President Donald Trump has promised a particularly noteworthy event this year, though the proceedings have been marred by a cavalcade of controversies.
Here’s what to know:
What is the history of US semicentennial celebrations?
The first 50-year anniversary, in 1826, was a considerably more muted affair than the festivities to come.
At the time, some of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence were still alive, so the mayor of Washington, DC, invited them to attend the celebration in the capital.
Former Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both demurred, citing their failing health. They died within hours of each other on the day of the semicentennial.
Fifty years later, in 1876, the US would mark its 100th anniversary by hosting its first world’s fair, an exhibition featuring displays of art, culture and technology from around the globe.
The fair was held in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the original document was put on temporary display in the city.
Another world’s fair arrived in Philadelphia for the country’s 150th anniversary in 1926, but it was not nearly as successful. Variety magazine called it “America’s greatest flop”.
Meanwhile, the modern template for having a yearlong, cross-country celebration was set on the 200th anniversary in 1976.
A train-mounted museum of documents and historical artefacts toured the lower 48 states for 21 months. Volunteers, meanwhile, used covered wagons to travel the width of the country.
The celebrations were generally received positively, although the sale of souvenirs — from umbrella hats to mugs — earned it the pejorative “the buy-centennial”.
What is happening this year?
While the US capital may be the centre of this year’s celebration, there will be a multitude of events across the country. They include:
- UFC Freedom 250, a mixed martial arts fight on the White House lawn on June 14
- the Great American State Fair, featuring booths representing all 50 states, presented on the National Mall from June 25 to July 10
- the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, which will see IndyCars race around capital monuments from August 22 to 23
- the World Cup Fan Zone in Washington, DC, from June 11 to July 16
- a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on July 3
- concerts and exhibitions in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Boston
Mobile museums, known as Freedom Trucks, will also be travelling around the country.
Another initiative is America’s Block Party, an effort to encourage communities to engage in charitable works and host their own semiquincentennial parties.
So far, however, there appears to be no government programme in the works to tackle the holiday’s most vexing and far-reaching problem: how to make the traditional July 4 potato salad less bland.
What is the controversy over the UFC fight?
One of the most scrutinised events in the semiquincentennial calendar is UFC Freedom 250, which will take place on the White House lawn on Sunday.
The timing of the event is one of the details that have wiggled eyebrows. Sunday is a holiday known as Flag Day, but it also marks Trump’s 80th birthday.
The event is also being staged by one of Trump’s most prominent political donors: Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
White has described Sunday’s event as designed “to tell the story of America”. There will be two title fights: a lightweight bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje and a heavyweight interim title fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane, as well as several smaller “undercard” matches.
Despite bearing the title “Freedom 250”, the UFC event is not being organised by the White House task force of the same name.
A Freedom 250 spokesperson clarified that the presidential group “has not been responsible for the operations, logistics or funding of the UFC White House event”.
That point has been central to ongoing debates about whether the fight represents a conflict of interest for Trump, who holds stock in UFC’s parent company.
On Friday, a federal judge rejected an emergency petition to stop the fight, on the premise that Trump was using government property to promote his private business interests.
White has told the ESPN sport broadcaster that his organisation was paying for the event.
What is the difference between Freedom 250 and America250?
There are two government-backed nonprofits organising festivities for the anniversary: Freedom 250 and America250.
The former is part of a White House task force, and the latter is a bipartisan organisation created in 2016 by the US Congress.
America250 was set up in 2016 to “plan and orchestrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence”, and it is led by private citizens.
The Freedom 250, meanwhile, is a public-private partnership within the National Parks Foundation, the charitable arm of the National Park Service, a federal agency.
It is ostensibly the public-facing side of the White House Task Force 250, which Trump established in 2025 “to plan, organize, and execute” the semiquincentennial. Trump is also the task force’s chair.
What is each side organising?
The two groups’ event-planning philosophies do not overlap much.
Freedom 250 focuses mostly on big, marquee functions, such as the IndyCar race, the World Cup Fan Zone and Sail4th 250, which will see an armada of tall ships and military vessels travel to US cities along the Atlantic coast.
The America250 organisation has been more focused on community participation through initiatives such as America’s Block Party and its Giving 4th programme, which aims to boost charitable giving on the July 4 holiday.
So Freedom 250 and America250 are not stepping on each other’s toes?
Not really, and they’re ostensibly playing nice, with America250’s chairwoman, Rosie Rios, lauding Freedom 250 as a way to advance presidential initiatives to “give the American people more ways they can celebrate America’s 250th birthday”.
But this is Washington, DC, so some elbows are being thrown.
The creation of White House Task Force 250 was widely viewed as a manoeuvre by Trump to seize control of the celebrations, outside of congressional oversight.
The launch of Freedom 250 came just two months after the appointee Trump picked to lead America250, Ari Abergel, was fired for “serious and repeated breaches” of his authority. Abergel has denied overstepping his mandate.
Who is financing the two groups?
Neither the congressionally created America250 nor the White House’s Freedom 250 are required to disclose its private donors.
But critics point out there are fewer guardrails with Freedom 250 than with America250.
America250’s parent commission is required to submit an annual report to Congress detailing funding and spending.
Freedom 250, meanwhile, lists some “sponsors” and “partners” online, but it is not subject to any independent oversight. That lack of transparency has been a recurring complaint.
In February, The New York Times reported that Freedom 250 was offering access to a reception hosted by Trump in exchange for large donations.
But the newspaper USA Today also pointed out that America250 offered packages that included invitations to events where government officials would be in attendance.
Both groups have been given taxpayer dollars. Congress appropriated $150m to the Department of the Interior for the celebrations, but it did not specify how the money was to be split between the groups.
The Interior Department allocated $100m to Freedom 250 (via the National Park Foundation) and $50m to America250, raising concerns that Trump was steering public funds away from the congressionally mandated organisation.
Critics have also questioned whether the Freedom 250 events are designed to celebrate US independence or promote Trump and his priorities.
Nearly $10m, for instance, went to supporting the Freedom Trucks, whose exhibits have been criticised for offering a whitewashed portrait of US history.
Has there been a backlash to Freedom 250?
The perception that Freedom 250 is a Trump organisation, rather than a nonpartisan one, has created snags for one of its tentpole events: the Great American State Fair.
Almost as soon as its musical lineup was announced in May, artists started dropping out. Several performers said they felt misled by the organisers’ claims that the event is nonpartisan.
Several state governments have also declined to take part, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state.
A spokesperson for Oregon said in part that the fair “is shaping up to be a more partisan affair than originally presented”.
But Freedom 250 has maintained that the fair will continue with all 50 states represented on the National Mall.
Trump, meanwhile, cancelled the concert, replacing it with a “Rally to end all Rallies”, at which he will give a speech. Country musician Lee Greenwood and tenor Christopher Macchio, as well as several military bands, will also be included in the lineup.
new video loaded: Ebola Comes for Congo’s Most Vulnerable Children
transcript
transcript
Ebola Comes for Congo’s Most Vulnerable Children
The arrival of a sick newborn at Saint Nicholas Orphanage in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo set off an Ebola outbreak that quickly spread among the country’s most vulnerable. Local health authorities are now monitoring the children’s home, but at least two babies have already died.
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These Congolese children are re-entering the world after five days of isolation. It’s the first year of their lives, and they’re at the center of a deadly Ebola outbreak. The babies are all orphans who were brought to this hospital after showing symptoms of the virus. They’ve just tested negative and are being taken to a temporary home. But at least two other babies from the same orphanage have died. What happened to them has been a worst-case scenario for health officials trying to stop Ebola from spreading to young children. The alarms went off in late May here at Saint Nicholas children’s home after the arrival of a newborn girl, Patience, who quickly developed a fever. We were given a tour of the orphanage, where nearly 70 children plus their caretakers live. A pediatrician tracked baby Patience’s mother’s case and learned that she had Ebola when she died. Days later, Patience died, too. She was 9 days old. This was one of the last photos taken of her while she was still alive. It’s unclear whether the family knew she could be infected. The relative who brought her to Saint Nicholas declined to talk to us when we reached him by phone. By the time anyone at the orphanage understood the danger, some of the staff had already held and cared for Patience. Soon, more children were showing symptoms of the virus. When we visited the Ebola treatment ward, this 10-month-old seemed to be getting better. Baby Elysée was being cared for by Sister Cecile Nube, one of three staff members at the orphanage who also tested positive. Even while sick herself, Sister Nube stayed by Elysée’s side, feeding her, giving her medicine and watching over her. Elisée died 24 hours after we met her. A reminder of how quickly the disease can turn, especially for babies. Now Saint Nicholas is under quarantine. Every day, contact tracers visit the orphanage, checking the children and their caretakers for fevers. “Some of them today are presenting a little bit higher temperature, but they are OK at the moment.” The concern is that one infection here could quickly become many. “It could have been a recipe of disaster. It’s a very classic situation where Ebola can very fastly devastate the community. They are playing together and they are spending the whole day together. So it’s spreading from one person to the next. And for zero time you’ll see the entire community being infected.” For now, the orphanage remains under watch. It’s still a refuge for children who need shelter and care even as every new symptom raises the fear that the virus could still be spreading.
By Bethlehem Feleke, Michael Anthony Adams, Yasu Tsuji and Jon Hazell
June 13, 2026
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