New Zealand Parliament Members Protest Indigenous Treaty Bill 

On Thursday, Māori members of New Zealand’s parliament staged a haka, a traditional Māori dance, in protest against a contentious bill reinterpreting the 184-year-old treaty between the British and indigenous Māori. The protest, meant to disrupt the vote on this bill, led to the brief suspension of parliament. Over the decades, court rulings have expanded Māori rights and privileges, based on the original treaty. The bill, brought to New Zealand’s parliament by the center-right government, proposes a narrower interpretation of the treaty, seen by many as undermining the rights of New Zealand’s Indigenous people. The bill has received widespread condemnation, with hundreds setting out on a nine-day march which will culminate in a rally that is expected to draw tens of thousands of protesters. The bill has passed its first reading but is not expected to get enough support to pass into law.

World Leaders Convene in Azerbaijan for COP29

COP29, an annual global summit aimed at tackling climate change, began this Monday in Azerbaijan. The summit this year is focused on finance, in particular on raising money to provide aid to poor countries as they begin to face the brunt of climate change-related natural disasters. However, the negotiations have been complicated by the impending return of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, who is expected to pull out of the Paris Agreement and cut regulations on greenhouse gasses, and uncertainty over how his actions will impact global efforts to mitigate and address climate change. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg chose to skip the conference, calling the choice of location “beyond absurd” and referring to Azerbaijan as “an authoritarian petrostate.”

Colombia Bans Child Marriage

Colombia has become one of the 12 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to ban child marriage, following 17 years of campaigning from advocacy groups. The legislation, dubbed They Are Girls, Not Wives, prohibits marriage of anyone under 18 years old, and closes a 137-year-old loophole that allowed the marriage of minors with parental consent. The country had previously tried eight times, unsuccessfully, to ban child marriage, with opposition citing tradition and parental rights. About one in four girls and women in Colombia have married before 18, including one million girls who were married before they were 15, according to UNICEF, with rates of childhood marriage of girls three times higher than for boys. 

Human Rights Watch Accuses Israel of War Crimes

Human Rights Watch, a U.S.-based advocacy group, published a 154-page report in which it accuses Israel of a war crime and a crime against humanity, The report details the forced displacement of about 1.9 million Palestinians, more than 90 percent of the territory’s population, and the “deliberate, controlled demolition of homes and civilian infrastructure.” Israel has been accused by multiple other human rights groups as well as U.N. investigators of war crimes. Hamas, too, has been accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court. While the Israeli military has denied these accusations and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously stated that “Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population,” several Israeli ministers have expressed desire to reestablish Israeli settlements in Gaza and see Palestinians leave the strip.

Haiti Sees Rise in Gang Violence

Haiti has seen an explosion of violence this week in the political chaos that has come after the transitional council fired the interim prime minister after he served only six months in the position. The violence between gang members and police has led many residents to flee their homes. Additionally, at least three planes have been shot at, and, consequently, the Federal Aviation Administration has suspended all U.S. flights to Haiti for 30 days, and United Nations humanitarian flights have been grounded. According to an estimation from the U.N., gangs currently control 85 percent of the capital