Repeat after me: Aotearoa

This week, we're going places---from Aotearoa to Abidjan. I'm digging into what Māori justice looks like in New Zealand right now, and why Tunisia just handed out decades-long prison sentences to some of its most powerful political elites.

Also in the mix: white farmers in Zimbabwe are rejecting compensation, Sudan's genocide case against the UAE may fall apart over a technical issue, Ecuador's President Noboa just won another term, and the ex-CEO of Credit Suisse wants to be president of Côte d'Ivoire.

Plus: how to follow Japan's cherry blossoms from anywhere, why data political, a beautiful short film on Egypt's Sudanese community, a new African fantasy series on Cartoon Network, how steak sauce ended up in a conversation about AI.

Māori justice is backlogged --- and the government might make it worse

What happened:
Fifty years ago, Aotearoa/New Zealand set up a tribunal with a simple goal: to hold the government accountable to its promises to the Māori people. Those promises go all the way back to 1840, when the British Crown signed a treaty with Māori leaders --- an agreement meant to protect Māori land, language, and sovereignty. That treaty, known as Te Tiriti o Waitangi, has been broken more times than remembered. But the Waitangi Tribunal, created in 1975, gave Māori communities a way to push back --- to name injustices, investigate government actions, and demand better.

It doesn't have the power to enforce anything. But through decades of hearings and reports, it's forced real change: land returned, language revived, policies rethought. Now, 50 years later, that same tribunal is under political fire.

Why this matters:
After the 2023 general election, Aotearoa/New Zealand ended up with a center-right coalition government made up of three parties: National Party (the main conservative party; think pro-business, big on law-and-order stuff), ACT (right-wing, wants small gov, lower taxes), and NZ First (nationalist, right-wing, with a history of anti-immigration, anti-Māori and "NZ-first" rhetoric). As a result, Māori rights, language, and political representation have been caught in the crossfire of this coalition's agenda.

Tell me more:
The new coalition government wants to "review" the tribunal and shrink its role. The government includes NZ First --- a right-wing, anti-Māori party --- and they want the tribunal to stop looking into current public policy. According to them, its job is done. But that's misleading. The tribunal has always looked at both past and present issues. Māori communities clearly disagree. Since the 2023 election, they've filed a record number of new claims --- over everything from dismantling a Māori health authority to plans for rewriting the treaty's principles. One of those bills a few months back sparked mass protests across the country, the biggest Māori rights demonstration in decades. Legal experts and advocates warn that the tribunal's critics aren't just frustrated with its process --- they're frustrated that it exists at all.

Good to know:
Until recently, Aotearoa/New Zealand had a separate Māori Health Authority --- run by Māori for Māori, working alongside the national health system. It was set up to address the massive health inequities Māori face (shorter life expectancy, higher rates of illness, etc.). But the new government scrapped it, claiming it was "separatist."

What does the tribunal actually do?
It listens, investigates, and holds public inquiries into how the government is doing --- or failing --- in upholding the Treaty of Waitangi. The cases range from stolen land to ignored language rights, to health, education, and environmental policy. A panel made up of Māori and non-Māori experts leads the work and then issues recommendations. They're not binding, but they matter --- because they've shaped laws, shifted funding, and helped make wrongs visible.

Some of its biggest moments?

• In the 1980s, the tribunal backed a claim that Māori should have equal status with English. The result? Te reo Māori became an official language, with its own media and funding.
• After protests at Takaparawhau/Bastion Point in the late '70s, the tribunal ruled in favor of the Ngāti Whātua tribe. The land was eventually returned.
• It has also released findings saying Māori had never ceded sovereignty. (That's huge.)

What now?
To be determined. The Tribunal (away from all this politics-talk) is actually completely overwhelmed --- and a big new review just said what many people have known for a while: it needs more people, more money, and clearer processes to do its job properly.

To ACT and NZ First politicians, here's a reminder from Kenyan Justice Jacqueline Mogeni: "There is clearly a gap in how we, as judges, approach cases involving indigenous communities. We need more training, more exposure, and a willingness to see the world from their perspective. We must ensure that our legal frameworks evolve to support the rights of indigenous communities."

On the bright side (just a little bit)
Apple Maps just added 250+ Indigenous placenames across Australia --- and will start showing Māori names in Aotearoa too, developed with local iwi. Google Maps already does this in Aotearoa/New Zealand, but not in Australia yet. Meanwhile, running shoe brand Hoka is under fire for using a Māori word ("hoka" = "to fly") without proper cultural acknowledgement.

And for fun:
The blobfish --- yes, that blobfish --- just won Aotearoa/New Zealand's fish of the year. Goes to show: You never know.

Tunisia sentenced dozens of opposition figures -- some even got 66 and 48 years

What happened:
On Saturday, a court just sentenced a group of Tunisian politicians, lawyers, and businesspeople to prison---some for as long as 66 years. It's part of a big trial that many people say was never really about justice. Instead, they believe it's the president's way of getting rid of anyone who challenges him.

Why this matters:
Tunisia, once seen as the success story of the so-called Arab Spring, is now locking up nearly all of its major political opposition. What started as a (fragile) democracy is increasingly starting to look like one-man rule with a courtroom to back it up.

Tell me more:
Since becoming president in 2019, Kais Saied has shut down parliament in 2021, took over decision-making by ruling without a parliament, and got rid of the independent council that oversees the courts. In 2022, he even fired dozens of judges. In 2024, he was re-elected with 90.7% of the vote---a result that raised concerns internationally. Now, most of the people leading political parties in Tunisia are either in jail or have left the country. It's getting harder for anyone to speak up or run against him. That includes Abir Moussi (a controversial secular nationalist from the Free Constitutional Party) and Rached Ghannouchi (leader of Ennahda, a moderate Islamist party and former speaker of parliament). Both were seen as major political rivals to Saied.

Who was sentenced?
Two men in particular got really high sentences.

• Kamel Ltaif, wealthy businessman who was once close to former president/dictator Ben Ali---was sentenced to 66 years in prison.
• Khayam Turki, a former finance minister, key opposition figure and known critic of Saied, got 48 years.

Several other high-profile figures, who were each sentenced to 18 years:

• Ghazi Chaouachi, lawyer and ex-minister who's been openly critical of Saied,
• Issam Chebbi, leader in the National Salvation Front, one of the few remaining organized opposition groups, -...