WELLINGTON // Britain’s baby Prince George arrived in New Zealand with parents Prince William and Kate Monday for his first official tour, but the eight-month-old missed the famed Maori welcome after being whisked away indoors amid wild weather.
Strong winds, rain and poor visibility greeted the royals in Wellington at the start of a three-week tour of New Zealand and Australia.
Kate, 32, struggled to keep her dress and pillbox hat under control in blustery conditions as she carried her baby down the steps of the New Zealand Air Force 757 to be greeted by prime minister John Key.
The chubby infant was lightly dressed in shorts and a white cardigan, while Kate was wearing a buttoned-up red coat by designer Catherine Walker adorned with a silver fern brooch that was a gift to Queen Elizabeth II when she visited New Zealand in 1953.
The arrival was one of the first times George, who is third in line to the throne, has been seen in public since his birth on July 22 last year.
He will be taken to only a few engagements throughout the tour, with the family based in Wellington for the New Zealand leg and committing only to a relatively light schedule of day trips and rare evening functions.
As driving rain swept Wellington, George did not attend the official welcoming ceremony on the lawns of Government House but he was spotted watching proceedings from a window in the arms of his newly appointed Spanish nanny Maria Theresa Turrion Borrallo.
His father William was greeted with a traditional Maori challenge from fearsome-looking tattooed warriors in flax skirts wielding wooden spears, who threw a leaf at his feet as they issued a full-throated battle cry.
The prince responded by picking up the leaf, symbolically showing he was a friend, before he and Kate performed a hongi, or nose-rubbing ceremony, with Maori elders.
Kate — who has never visited New Zealand or Australia before — chatted to warriors in traditional dress with bare backsides, and was overheard telling one of the Maori dancers that the indigenous welcoming ceremony was “super”.
William, second in line to the throne, is an expert at such functions, having visited both countries several times.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana took him on their tour in March and April 1983 and his most recent trip was in 2011, when he comforted victims of the Christchurch earthquake and devastating floods in Australia.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were treated like celebrities when they visited Canada soon after their wedding in 2011, while last year they toured Singapore, Malaysia, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu as representatives of Queen Elizabeth II on her Diamond Jubilee.
Crowds were relatively sparse due to the rain in Wellington, although a group of children huddled under umbrellas were rewarded with a brief chat with the royal couple before they headed inside.
However the royal visit has already sparked intense interest in New Zealand, with discussion ranging from whether George’s baby car seat has been correctly installed to whether the country should retain the monarchy.
Former deputy prime minister Don McKinnon said over the weekend that it was “inevitable” New Zealand would become a republic, even though people still felt great respect for the royals.
Key said he did not believe change would happen any time soon, saying there was “robust support” for the monarchy in New Zealand which had increased in recent years.
“If you go back ... maybe a decade and asked the question whether New Zealanders want to become a republic then I think the numbers would have been sixty-forty opposed,” he told public radio.
“If you asked that question today I think it would be eighty-twenty opposed.”
* Agence France-Presse
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
A QUIET PLACE
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Djimon Hounsou
Director: Michael Sarnoski
Rating: 4/5
Can NRIs vote in the election?
Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad
Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency
There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas
Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas
A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians
Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.
This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India
A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians
However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed
The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas
Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online
The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online
The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation
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Director: Makoto Shinkai
Stars: Nanoka Hara, Hokuto Matsumura, Eri Fukatsu
Rating: 4/5
2017 RESULTS: FRENCH VOTERS IN UK
First round
Emmanuel Macron: 51.1%
Francois Fillon: 24.2%
Jean-Luc Melenchon: 11.8%
Benoit Hamon: 7.0%
Marine Le Pen: 2.9%
Second round
Emmanuel Macron: 95.1%
Marine Le Pen: 4.9%
Stamp duty timeline
December 2014: Former UK chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne reforms stamp duty land tax (SDLT), replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 – 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; More than £1.5m – 12%
April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.
July 2020: Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.
March 2021: Mr Sunak extends the SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget until the end of June.
April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.
June 2021: SDLT holiday on transactions up to £500,000 expires on June 30.
July 2021: Tax break on transactions between £125,000 to £250,000 starts on July 1 and runs until September 30.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: OneOrder
Started: March 2022
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo
Number of staff: 82
Investment stage: Series A
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
MATCH INFO
West Ham United 2 (Antonio 73', Ogbonna 90+5')
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 36', Moura 42', Kane 49')
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Profile Box
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif
Based: Manama, Bahrain
Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation
Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($100,000)
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded