A Day in New Zealand

If you're eating a late breakfast in LA, lunch in NY or dinner in London on Wednesday... it's already Thursday in New Zealand. This is what's happening in 'the land of the long white cloud' / Aotearoa (as New Zealand is known in the Maori language).


@NewstalkZB NZer detained in Pakistan: Pakistan officials questioning NZer Mark Taylor, claiming he was trying to enter a mi.. tinyurl.com/cuu9w3

Auckland radio station NewstalkZB also has the latest headlines on their website.


@TVNZNews #TVNZ News: Man found in anchor locker probably gassed to death: A man whose decomposed body was fo.. tinyurl.com/c7uydl

TV New Zealand has an 'unofficial' twitter presence, but you can get more news from New Zealand on the internet where they have a neat feature to get RSS news feeds, Yahoo! Widgets & Windows Vista gadgets.


@flyairNZ Or if you just want a vacation, check out the relatively new Air New Zealand tweets and their cool website


Auckland Twestival runs Thursday 12th February for Kiwi Twitter fans. They have pretty stylish t-shirts for sale and the whole event takes place at Auckland's Sale Street Brewery. Have fun!


Meanwhile, here's how Twitters in New Zealand are spending their day:


@doublesided (Wellington, New Zealand) Eek! I'm doing kids this morning. Lunches, schoolbags, homework, dressed, getting them out the door. Better roll up sleeves, get started.




@NZRob (Auckland, New Zealand) Stupidly hot and humid in Auckland, and it's only 06:45!




@coffee_bee (Auckland, New Zealand) it's soooooooo hot already. ugh. i want to live in a pool.




@segdeha (Auckland, New Zealand) Going to see Shakespeare in the park with my wife and 2 daughters.




@snakenz (Auckland, New Zealand) Darn you know its hot when you're up at 6:30am and the cicadas are already making a racket.




@domfosnzAir-con has kicked in at last. It is so hot and humid here in Auckland right now.




@richirvine (Auckland, New Zealand) found a spot by bus stop with nice cool breeze. might stay here all day.




@technicaljoe (Auckland, New Zealand> is looking forward to another day in paradise..




@grayskulldugger (Auckland, New Zealand) 75min hard threshold windtrainer session coming right up.

A Day in New Zealand

Zimbabwe swears in new PM

Per CNN, Zimbabwe swore in Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister.

"The post was specifically created for Tsvangirai as part of a unity government that Zimbabweans hope will signal an end to the political and economic crises that have gripped the nation for months," CNN reported.

Last year, violence broke out over political conflicts that accused the country's president, Robert Mugabe, of cheating to win the general election, CNN reported. Tsvangirai, of the Movement for Democratic Change party, and Mugabe, of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front party, have been political rivals for years

Different news outlets are reporting on the swearing in.

@africanewsfeed: Zim: Tsvangirai assumes post as PM: Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai ass.. http://tinyurl.com/c5537k


@skynewsaust: Tsvagirai to be sworn in as PM: More evidence highlighting Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis - where more than 3,00.. http://tinyurl.com/b6h9nz


@alertnetdotorg: Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai to take office as PM: Source: Reuters (Adds Zimbabwe refugee quotes) By MacDonald Dzirut.. http://tinyurl.com/ck6bnc


One source reports that there has been a "thorny start" for the new government, as police detained activists for handing out roses outside of parliament.

@earthtimes: EXTRA: Thorny start: Zimbabwe activists held for handing out roses http://tinyurl.com/b53q43


A Twitter user finds that Arabic news network Al Jazeera is covering the swearing in with a live feed.

@giantpandinha: "No, we can't" - Aljazeera is covering the swearing in of Zimbabwe's new government live http://tinyurl.com/584at3


Another Twitter-er notes that Mugabe may not be pleased with the ceremonies surrounding his former rival.

@teejayh (Cambridge, UK): Zimbabwe: Mugabe has lost his enthusiasm to attend today's ceremony making Tsvangirai the PM. He's discovered it's swearing in, not at.

Zimbabwe swears in new PM

New Israeli PM not certain

Per the Jerusalem Post, both Tzipi Livni and Binyamin Netanyahu claimed victory following Tuesday's election, though the tight contest will likely be decided in the days ahead. The article noted the "Kadima [Livni] had won the most seats in the new Knesset, but the Likud-led right-wing [Netanyahu] would constitute the larger bloc."

The complicated result left some disappointed.

@CharlieKalech (Jerusalem) Going to sleep listening to the Jerusalem rain and sad about Israeli election results



@YarinHochman (Israel): The election results shows just how complicated Israel is... and that the electoral system is simply broken with no clear winner


A student at Hebrew University, per her bio, made this observation about national media coverage.

@Elizrael (Jerusalem) All major Israeli papers: despite losing to Livni, Netanyahu is set to become the next Prime Minister. #Israel


The Netanyahu campaign tweeted a few times after the polls closed. Its Twitter account was being followed by 781 followers as of this post.

@netanyahu: # בנימין נתניהו: "העם אמר את דברו!"http://tinyurl.com/ccrtr9 (# Benjamin Netanyahu: "the people said the word!" Http://tinyurl.com/ccrtr9)


@netanyahu: # תודה רבה לכולכם על ההשתתפות, התרומה, המיילים, הבלוגים, התגובות והבעת האמון במפלגת הליכוד בראשות נתניהו.... (Thank you all for participation, contribution, in miles, blogs, comments vote of confidence Likud Party, headed by Netanyahu .... )

Livni's campaign does not have an official Twitter account.

New Israeli PM not certain

China confronts bird flu epidemic

Per CNN, "China has killed 13,000 birds in the country's far northwest to control what it called an epidemic of bird flu, state media reported Tuesday."

@rolf_knecht of Shanghai has been tracking the problem. Recently, he posted the following:

@rolf_knecht (Shanghai, China): 21 yr old farmer in Hunan infected with BF. Stable conditions



Today, he wrote this:

@rolf_knecht (Shanghai, China): Interesting article in Shanghai Daily about Bird Flu.



The article he is referring to ("Little mutation in bird flu infections") can be found here.

A woman in Taiwan said she was feeling sick, but she does not believe it is a case of the epidemic.

@ShuFlies (Taipei, Taiwan): I am glad I do not have the avian flu. I know that for a fact because I have not turned into Big Bird yet.


A young woman in China also made reference to the epidemic.

@chulea (Guangzhou, China): Bleached my entire kitchen after a goose intestine cleaning disaster. Just say NO to bird flu!


There has been little reaction to this point from the international community on Twitter.

China confronts bird flu epidemic

Ahmadinejad interested in chatting with Obama

Per Al Jazeera, "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Tehran is ready for a change in its relationship with Washington, a day after US President Barack Obama pledged to rethink US-Iran ties." Ahmadinejad added he is willing to talk with the U.S. leader personally. Al Jazeera also posted a video report on the announcement.

The founder of @BreakingNewsOn had the first tweet about Ahmadinejad's statement, citing the AP.

@mpoppel (Netherlands): AP: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he welcomes talks with US based on mutual respect


Washington Post foreign correspondent @Thomas_Erdbrink commented from the capital.


@Thomas_Erdbrink (Tehran): "Death to America!", crowds chanted as Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready to talk to America. People, make up your minds!!!


Iranian twitterers responded to the tweet.

@mahdi (Tehran): @Thomas_Erdbrink There is no political analysis power among most Iranian ppl. They just follow wht they hear, watch & read on state media.


@keyvan (Tehran): @Thomas_Erdbrink You know, ordinary people say what media and/or governments enforce them to say. Isn't it the case in the US as well?



@Thomas_Erdbrink later wrote:

@Thomas_Erdbrink (Tehran): @mahdi On the other hand: many in the crowds said they favored (better) relations between Iran and the US.



Here's a sample of reaction from the United States:

@ltfreedude (San Francisco, Calif.): Iran's Ahmadinejad ready for talks, 'true changes' with U.S. who is he to say this?


@nlw (Evanston, Ill.): Interested in the news about Iran asking for meeting with Obama



@KevinMercuri (New York, N.Y.): Intriguing that Iranian President Ahmadinejad officially requests a meeting w/ President Obama just as he learns who the Next Israeli PM is


A man in Indonesia told the New York Times that he supported Ahmadinejad's efforts.

@izarbaik (Jakarta): @nytimes, I just give support to Mr. Ahmadinejad. I'm so proud with him.

Ahmadinejad interested in chatting with Obama