World News

WASHINGTON – Top Trump administration officials mistakenly disclosed war plans in a messaging group that included a journalist shortly before the US attacked Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis, the White House said on Monday, following a first-hand account by The Atlantic.

Democratic lawmakers swiftly blasted the misstep, saying it was a breach of US national security and a violation of law that must be investigated by Congress.

The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg said in a report on Monday that he was unexpectedly invited on March 13 to an encrypted chat group on the Signal messaging app called the “Houthi PC small group.” In the group, national security adviser Mike Waltz tasked his deputy Alex Wong with setting up a “tiger team” to coordinate US action against the Houthis.

National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said the chat group appeared to be authentic.

US President Donald Trump launched an ongoing campaign of large-scale military strikes against Yemen’s Houthis on March 15 over the group’s attacks against Red Sea shipping, and he warned Iran, the Houthis’ main backer, that it needed to immediately halt support for the group.

Hours before those attacks started, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted operational details about the plan in the messaging group, “including information about targets, weapons the US would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” Goldberg said. His report omitted the details but Goldberg termed it a “shockingly reckless” use of a Signal chat.

Accounts that appeared to represent Vice President JD Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and senior National Security Council officials were assembled in the chat group, Goldberg wrote.

Joe Kent, Trump’s nominee for National Counterterrorism Center director, was apparently on the Signal chain despite not yet being Senate-confirmed.

Trump told reporters at the White House that he was unaware of the incident. “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic,” Trump said. A White House official said later that an investigation was under way and Trump had been briefed on it.

The NSC’s Hughes said in a statement: “At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.”

“The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our servicemembers or our national security.”

Hegseth denied sharing war plans in the group chat.

“Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” he told reporters while on an official trip to Hawaii on Monday.

Goldberg responded to Hegseth’s denial in an interview on CNN late on Monday by saying, “No, that’s a lie. He was texting war plans.”

‘EUROPEAN FREE-LOADING’

According to screenshots of the chat reported by The Atlantic, officials in the group debated whether the US should carry out the strikes, and at one point Vance appeared to question whether US allies in Europe, more exposed to shipping disruption in the region, deserved US help.

“@PeteHegseth if you think we should do it let’s go,” a person identified as Vance wrote. “I just hate bailing Europe out again,” the person wrote, adding: “Let’s just make sure our messaging is tight here.”

A person identified as Hegseth replied: “VP: I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC.”

The Atlantic reported that the person identified as Vance also raised concerns about the timing of the strikes, and said there was a strong argument in favor of delaying them by a month.

“I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now. There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices,” the account wrote, before saying he was willing to support the group’s consensus.

Yemen, Houthi-ally Iran and the European Union’s diplomatic service did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

Under US law, it can be a crime to mishandle, misuse or abuse classified information, though it is unclear whether those provisions might have been breached in this case. Messages that The Atlantic report said were set by Waltz to disappear from the Signal app after a period of time also raise questions about possible violations of federal record-keeping laws.

As part of a Trump administration effort to chase down leaks by officials to journalists unrelated to the Signal group, Gabbard posted on X on March 14 that any “unauthorized release of classified information is a violation of the law and will be treated as such.”

On Tuesday, Gabbard is due to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on worldwide threats to the United States.

Created by the entrepreneur Moxie Marlinspike, Signal has gone from an exotic messaging app used by privacy-conscious dissidents to the unofficial whisper network of Washington officialdom. Signal does not use US government encryption and is not hosted on government servers.

Democratic lawmakers called the use of the Signal group illegal and demanded an investigation.

“This is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence that I have read about in a very, very long time,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said, adding that he would ask Majority Leader John Thune to investigate.

“We’re just finding out about it. But obviously, we’ve got to run it to ground and figure out what went on there. We’ll have a plan,” said Thune, a Republican from South Dakota.

There was no immediate suggestion from the White House that the breach would lead to any staffing changes.

“President Trump continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including national security adviser Mike Waltz,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Reuters.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said on X the use of Signal to discuss highly sensitive national security issues was “blatantly illegal and dangerous beyond belief.”

“Every single one of the government officials on this text chain have now committed a crime – even if accidentally – that would normally involve a jail sentence,” Democratic Senator Chris Coons said on X. — Reuters

BANGKOK – Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra faces a no-confidence motion in parliament starting on Monday, with the opposition set to grill her over an underperforming economy and her powerful father’s perceived influence over her administration.

Despite lukewarm ratings in opinion polls, Paetongtarn comes into the debate in a firm position, with no signs of turmoil in a ruling coalition that commands a parliamentary majority, making it unlikely the motion will prosper when it goes to a vote on Wednesday.

The opposition People’s Party has accused Paetongtarn of taking direction from her father, divisive political heavyweight Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire former premier who is banned from holding office over a conviction for conflicts of interest and abuse of power that kept him in self-exile for 15 years.

Thaksin, Thailand’s most influential and polarizing politician, has loomed large over Thai politics for the past 24 years. He returned home in 2023 and spent six months in detention in hospital under a government led by the Pheu Thai Party he founded, before being released on parole.

He has spoken openly and frequently about policies that include legalizing gambling and adopting cryptocurrency and championed a $14 billion handout scheme to stimulate the economy, all of which the Pheu Thai-led government has pursued.

Paetongtarn has insisted her government is not under anyone’s influence, while Thaksin, 75, has said he is retired and only offers advice.

The government’s economic measures so far have yet to spur significant growth in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, with last year’s 2.5% expansion far adrift of regional peers.

The anchors to growth including structural issues and household debt of 16.34 trillion baht ($486 billion), or 89.0% of gross domestic product, among the highest ratios in Asia, which the opposition says the government is not addressing.

Lawmakers will be unable to name Thaksin during the motion due to parliamentary rules that say outsiders should not be mentioned. After weeks of debate on the issue, the house speaker has allowed “family member” to be used.

“The opposition’s tactic to delegitimize Paetongtarn’s leadership is not new because she already faces criticism from society,” said Yuttaporn Issarachai, a political scientist at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University.

“The focus on Thaksin’s role and interference makes it too political and not beneficial to public, instead of raising issues on the economy and security,” Yuttaporn said.

Paetongtarn, 38, took over as premier in August after political ally Srettha Thavisin was ousted by a court over an ethics violation. She is the fourth member of the Shinawatra family to hold the top post. — Reuters

WASHINGTON – Federal workers faced fresh uncertainty about their futures on Tuesday after Elon Musk gave them “another chance” to respond to his ultimatum that they justify their jobs or risk termination, contradicting guidance from some Trump administration officials that the request was voluntary.

The confusing back-and-forth has rippled through the federal bureaucracy, with some agencies instructing workers to comply and others not. It has become a test of how much power Mr. Musk wields over the government’s operations as he pursues an unprecedented cost-cutting campaign with President Donald Trump‘s backing.

Twenty-one workers resigned from his so-called Department of Government Efficiency in protest on Tuesday, saying they refused to aid the downsizing effort.

“We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans’ sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services,” the employees wrote in a resignation posted online.

DOGE did not respond to a request for comment on the resignations.

The workers, who include data scientists, product managers and the division head of IT, were employed in an office known as the United States Digital Service before Mr. Musk took it over and renamed it DOGE after a favorite cryptocurrency.

The resignations added to the drama surrounding Mr. Musk’s email demand, which was sent to employees across the government asking them to summarize their accomplishments of the past week by Monday. In a post on X, the social media site Mr. Musk owns, he asserted that failure to respond would constitute resignation.

With the deadline approaching on Monday, the Office of Personnel Management, the government’s human resources arm, told workers they could ignore the email.

Mr. Musk, the billionaire CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, was undeterred.

“Subject to the discretion of the president, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination,” he wrote on X late on Monday without setting a new deadline.

Prior to the new OPM guidance, Mr. Trump said workers who did not respond would be “sort of semi-fired,” adding to the uncertainty.

Asked on Tuesday whether the renewed threat would be carried out against non-compliant employees, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would defer to cabinet secretaries’ guidance for their individual workforces.

‘WORKING AS ONE TEAM’

The head-spinning developments exposed new fissures within Trump’s administration over Mr. Musk’s blunt-force approach. Even some Trump loyalists, such as Kash Patel, the newly installed FBI chief, told employees to hold off on replying.

Leavitt rejected any suggestion of rifts within the administration, saying everyone was “working as one team.”

Mr. Musk will attend Mr. Trump’s cabinet meeting on Wednesday, she said.

Employees at several agencies said they received conflicting guidance from leadership, leaving them unsure how to proceed.

The Department of Health and Human Services advised employees that if they chose to reply, they should refrain from mentioning specific drugs or contracts, according to an email reviewed by Reuters.

“Assume that what you write will be read by malign foreign actors and tailor your response accordingly,” the email said.

The acting director of OPM itself sent an email to the agency’s staff that said responding was voluntary “but strongly encouraged.”

The Trump administration plans this week to gut a unit within OPM charged with keeping track of all federal government human resource transactions including hiring, promotions, retirements and separations, two people familiar with the matter said. The unit will be slashed from 64 people to just under a dozen, the people said.

OPM did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Musk’s downsizing initiative has laid off more than 20,000 workers, with another 75,000 accepting buyouts, and the effort continued to accelerate on Tuesday.

There are about 2.3 million civilian federal employees.

The vast majority of fired workers were in their jobs for less than a year, making them easier to lay off under civil service rules. But OPM has begun firing career workers within its own agency in what sources told Reuters is intended to serve as a template for a second round of mass layoffs across the government.

To that end, IRS executives have been told to brace for another round of job cuts beyond the nearly 12,000 IRS employees already slated to be terminated, two people familiar with the matter said, referring to the roughly 7,000 probationary employees set to be fired and 5,000 employees taking a buyout. The cuts so far amount to more than 10% of the IRS workforce.

Gavin Kliger, the 25-year-old software engineer dispatched by Mr. Musk to scrutinize IRS operations, has told executives he believes the agency can meet its mission with far fewer employees, the sources said.

The Interior Department on Tuesday received a directive from OPM saying that bureaus such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs should prepare plans for reductions in their workforce ranging from 10% to 40%, an Interior source told Reuters. – Reuters

TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has ordered the swift implementation of measures to give consumers relief from inflated food prices, including an unprecedented release of stockpiled rice to bring down costs, a minister said on Tuesday.

At a news conference, Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa said Mr. Ishiba had instructed the cabinet to proceed quickly with countermeasures as the prices of rice, vegetables and other living costs have soared in recent months.

“Citizens are suffering greatly and feeling pain,” he said, noting that the elevated price of rice had been unexpected.

The average transaction price of rice produced last year jumped 55% to 23,715 yen ($153) per 60 kg (132 lb) from the previous year, according to government data.

The agriculture ministry last week agreed on a new policy that would allow the government to sell stockpiled rice to farm cooperatives on the condition that the buyers would sell back the equivalent amount to the government within a year. It would be the first time stockpiled rice has been released to bring down prices.

Details such as the sale price and timing are yet to be decided, a ministry official said on Tuesday.

Japanese consumer prices rose 3.6% in December from the previous year, marking the biggest jump in almost two years, while the share of households’ spending on food hit a four-decade high last year. – Reuters

SEOUL – South Korea’s Constitutional Court will begin on Monday reviewing the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his Dec. 3 martial law attempt, while investigators said they plan to question him this week.

All six current justices of the court will attend the first meeting over the impeachment, which the opposition-led parliament passed on Saturday. The court has up to six months to decide whether to remove Mr. Yoon from office or to reinstate him.

Justice Kim Hyung-du said the Constitutional Court will discuss procedures and how to conduct arguments.

In 2017, the court began oral arguments about three weeks after parliament voted to impeach then-President Park Geun-hye over abusing the powers of her office, and took three months to issue a ruling to strip her presidency.

Mr. Yoon and a number of senior officials face potential charges of insurrection, for the short-lived martial law.

A joint team of investigators from the police, the defence ministry and an anti-corruption agency are planning to call Mr. Yoon in for questioning at 10 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Wednesday, a police official told Reuters.

On Sunday Mr. Yoon did not appear in response to a summons for questioning by a separate investigation by the prosecutors’ office, Yonhap news reported. Yoon cited he was still forming a legal team for his defence as the reason, it said.

The government led by acting president, Han Duck-soo, was moving quickly to reassure international partners and calm financial markets, while the main opposition party pledged to cooperate in efforts to stabilise the situation.

Early on Monday, the finance minister, Bank of Korea governor and top financial regulators met and pledged around-the-clock monitoring of financial and foreign exchange markets.

The benchmark KOSPI index .KS11 rose for a fifth straight session on Monday and traded at its highest levels in more than two weeks, as authorities vowed to stabilise financial markets and analysts noted eased political uncertainty.

Mr. Yoon’s surprise martial law declaration and the ensuing political crisis spooked markets and South Korea’s diplomatic partners, worried over the country’s ability to deter nuclear-armed North Korea.

In one of his first moves as acting president, Han spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden by telephone on Sunday, pledging unwavering commitment to pursue foreign and security policies based on the alliance between the two countries.

Opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung welcomed U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of his former intelligence chief to handle special missions including North Korea as a sign of commitment for dialogue to ease tensions.

The Saturday impeachment vote passed with at least 12 members of Yoon’s ruling People Power Party joining in favour, which has thrown the party into a disarray with its leader Han Dong-hoon announcing his resignation on Monday.

Mr. Han had publicly backed Yoon’s impeachment as the only way to restore order in the country and clashed with some members who continued to oppose the move. – Reuters

SEOUL – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Wednesday he would lift a surprise martial law declaration he had imposed just hours before, backing down in a standoff with parliament which roundly rejected his attempt to ban political activity and censor the media.

In South Korea’s biggest political crisis in decades, Yoon shocked the nation and declared martial law on Tuesday night to thwart “anti-state forces” among his domestic political opponents. But outraged lawmakers unanimously rejected the decree. Yonhap news agency said the cabinet had agreed early on Wednesday to scrap the martial law.

Protesters outside the National Assembly parliament shouted and clapped. “We won!” they chanted, and one demonstrator banged on a drum.

The main opposition Democratic Party called for Yoon, who has been in office since 2022, to resign or face impeachment.

“Even if martial law is lifted, he cannot avoid treason charges. It was clearly revealed to the entire nation that President Yoon could no longer run the country normally. He should step down,” senior DP member of parliament Park Chan-dae said in a statement.

“South Korea as a nation dodged a bullet, but President Yoon may have shot himself in the foot,” said Danny Russel, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute think tank in the United States.

The South Korean won currency came off a more than two-year low against the dollar after Yoon’s reversal, while exchange traded funds linked to South Korean stocks similarly cut losses.

Yoon’s surprise declaration of martial law, which he cast as aimed at his political foes, was voted down by 190 lawmakers in parliament. His own party urged him to lift the decree. Under South Korean law, the president must immediately lift martial law if parliament demands it by a majority vote.

The crisis in a country that has been a democracy since the 1980s, and is a U.S. ally and major Asian economy, caused international alarm.

US RELIEVED

After Yoon’s announcement of martial law in a TV address, South Korea’s military had said activities by parliament and political parties would be banned, and that media and publishers would be under the control of the martial law command.

Helmeted troops briefly tried to enter the parliament building. Parliamentary aides were seen trying to push the soldiers back by spraying fire extinguishers.

The White House said it was pleased Yoon had backed down.

“We are relieved President Yoon has reversed course on his concerning declaration of martial law and respected the… National Assembly’s vote to end it,” a White House spokesperson said.

Earlier, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the United States was watching events in South Korea with “grave concern.” Some 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to guard against the nuclear-armed North.

Yoon did not cite any specific threat from the North, instead focusing on his domestic political opponents. It was the first time since 1980 that martial law has been declared in South Korea.

Russel, who was the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia under former President Barack Obama, said South Korea was now looking at the prospect of snap elections.

“Political uncertainty and domestic strife in South Korea is not our friend. Political uncertainty and domestic strife in South Korea is North Korea’s friend, however. You can be sure that North Korea is licking its chops,” he said.

Yoon, a career prosecutor, squeezed out a victory in the tightest presidential election in South Korean history in 2022. He rode a wave of discontent over economic policy, scandals and gender wars, aiming to reshape the political future of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

But he has been unpopular, with his support ratings hovering at around 20% for months.

His People Power Party suffered a landslide defeat at a parliamentary election in April this year, ceding control of the unicameral assembly to opposition parties that captured nearly two-thirds of the seats.

There have been more than a dozen instances of martial law being declared since South Korea was established as a republic in 1948.

In 1980, a group of military officers led by Chun Doo-hwan forced then-President Choi Kyu-hah to proclaim martial law to crush calls by the opposition, labour and students for the restoration of democratic government. — Reuters

SYDNEY – Australians reacted on Friday with a mixture of anger and relief to a social media ban on children under 16 that the government says is world-leading, but which tech giants like TikTok argue could push young people to “darker corners of the internet”.

Australia approved the social media ban for children late on Thursday after an emotive debate that has gripped the nation, setting a benchmark for jurisdictions around the world with one of the toughest regulations targeting Big Tech.

The law forces tech giants from Instagram and Facebook owner Meta Platforms to TikTok to stop minors from logging in or face fines of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million). A trial of enforcement methods will start in January, with the ban to take effect in a year.

“Platforms now have a social responsibility to ensure the safety of our kids is a priority for them,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday
“We’re making sure that mums and dads can have that different conversation today and in future days.”

Announcing the details of the ban earlier this month, Albanese cited the risks to physical and mental health of children from excessive social media use, in particular the risks to girls from harmful depictions of body image, and misogynist content aimed at boys.

In Sydney on Friday, reaction to the ban was mixed.

“I think that’s a great idea, because I found that the social media for kids (is) not really appropriate, sometimes they can look at something they shouldn’t,” said Sydney resident Francesca Sambas.

Others were more scathing.

“I’m feeling very angry, I feel that this government has taken democracy and thrown it out the window,” said 58-year-old Shon Klose.

“How could they possibly make up these rules and these laws and push it upon the people?”
Children, meanwhile, said they would try to find a way around the ban.

“I feel like I still will use it, just secretly get in,” said 11-year-old Emma Wakefield.

WORLD FIRST

Countries including France and some U.S. states have passed laws to restrict access for minors without a parent’s permission, but the Australian ban is absolute. A full under-14s ban in Florida is being challenged in court on free speech grounds.

The legislation was fast-tracked through the country’s parliament in what is the last sitting week of the year, to criticism from social media firms and some lawmakers who say the bill has lacked proper scrutiny. It passed through the country’s lower house of parliament on Friday morning in a procedural hearing.

A spokesperson for TikTok, which is hugely popular with teen users, said on Friday the process had been rushed and risked putting children into greater danger.

“We’re disappointed the Australian government has ignored the advice of the many mental health, online safety, and youth advocacy experts who have strongly opposed the ban,” the spokesperson said.

“It’s entirely likely the ban could see young people pushed to darker corners of the internet where no community guidelines, safety tools, or protections exist.”

Albanese said on Friday passing the bill before the age verification trial has been completed was the correct approach.

“We are very clearly sending a message about our intentions here,” he said.

“The legislation is very clear. We don’t argue that its implementation will be perfect, just like the alcohol ban for under 18s doesn’t mean that someone under 18 never has access, but we know that it’s the right thing to do.”

The ban could strain Australia’s relationship with key ally the United States, where X owner Elon Musk, a central figure in the administration of president-elect Donald Trump, said in a post this month it seemed a “backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians”.

It also builds on an existing mood of antagonism between Australia and mostly US-domiciled tech giants. Australia was the first country to make social media platforms pay media outlets royalties for sharing their content and now plans to threaten them with fines for failing to stamp out scams. — Reuters

OPEC+ is discussing postponing its oil output hike due to start in January for the first quarter of 2025, OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Thursday, and will hold further talks on this and other options ahead of its delayed policy meeting on Dec. 5.

Issues that need to be addressed include an output hike for the United Arab Emirates agreed in June this year that’s scheduled to start in January 2025, two of the sources said, declining to be identified.

OPEC+, which pumps about half the world’s oil, is gradually aiming to unwind output cuts through 2025. However, a slowdown in global demand and rising output outside the group pose hurdles to that plan and have weighed on prices.

Despite the group’s supply cuts, global oil benchmark Brent crude has mostly stayed in a $70-$80 per barrel range this year and on Thursday was trading around $73 a barrel, having hit a 2024 low below $69 in September.

Earlier on Thursday, OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies such as Russia, postponed its next meeting on output policy to Dec. 5 from Dec. 1. OPEC said moving the date would avoid a clash with another event.

A summit of Gulf Arab countries is due to be held in Kuwait City on Dec. 1 which several OPEC+ ministers plan to attend, OPEC said in a statement.

“Sunday does not suit everyone,” a source told Reuters before the official announcement.

Top OPEC+ ministers have held talks ahead of the meeting. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, de facto head of OPEC, on Wednesday had a phone call with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Kazakh Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev while in Kazakhstan on an official visit.

Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Russia held talks in Baghdad on Tuesday.

OPEC+ on Nov. 3 again postponed its first output hike, which had been set for December, by one month.

OPEC+ members are holding back 5.86 million barrels per day (bpd) of output, or about 5.7% of global demand.

Their planned first increase of about 180,000 bpd – a fraction of the total – is due to be made by the eight members involved in the group’s most recent cuts of 2.2 million bpd.

The UAE, which has been expanding its oil production capacity, also negotiated an oil output hike of 300,000 bpd during 2025 that’s scheduled to start in January. — Reuters

TOKYO – Japan and the U.S. aim to compile a joint military plan for a possible Taiwan emergency that includes deploying missiles, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday.

Under the plan expected to be complied next month, the U.S. would deploy missile units to the Nansei Islands of Japan’s southwestern Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures, and to the Philippines, the report said, citing unnamed U.S. and Japanese sources.

The U.S. Marine Corps’ Marine Littoral Regiment, which has High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and other weapons, will be deployed to the Nansei Islands, Kyodo said.

A U.S. unit dealing with space, cyberspace and electromagnetic waves will be stationed in the Philippines, the report said.

Calls to Japan’s defense ministry and the embassies in Tokyo of the U.S. and the Philippines were not answered on Sunday. — Reuters

WELLINGTON – Tens of thousands of New Zealanders rallied before parliament on Tuesday in one of the country’s largest ever protests to oppose a bill that opponents say seeks to dilute the rights of Maori and threatens to set race relations back decades.

Massive crowds estimated by police at 35,000 gathered at parliament where the Treaty Principles Bill was introduced earlier this month by legislators who want to reinterpret a 184-year-old treaty signed between the British and Indigenous Maori.

The libertarian ACT New Zealand party, a junior partner in the ruling centre-right coalition government, is seeking to enshrine a narrower interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi that it says discriminates against non-Indigenous citizens.

While the bill lacks enough support to pass, critics see in it a desire to reverse decades of policies that aimed to empower Maori, who make up around 20% of the 5.3 million population and are over-represented in measures of social disadvantage.

Tens of thousands began chanting “kill the bill” when ACT leader David Seymour stepped out of parliament before the crowd.

“I’m here for my grandchildren, my children and for their children”, said Hoana Hadfield from Wellington, who was marching in a protest for the first time.

“I think it’s important that we keep our kaupapa which is our values as Maori and our culture and its a real big thing for us to have cultural identity.“

Some people in the crowd were dressed in traditional attire with feathered headgear and cloaks and carried traditional Maori weapons, while others wore t-shirts emblazoned with Toitu te Tiriti (Honour the Treaty).

The protest was preceded by a nine-day march, or hikoi, that began in the country’s far north, with thousands joining rallies in towns and cities as marchers travelled south on foot and in cars to Wellington.

First signed in 1840 between the British Crown and more than 500 Indigenous Maori chiefs, the Treaty lays down how the two parties agreed to govern.

The interpretation of clauses in the document still guides legislation and policy today, with rulings by the courts and a separate Maori tribunal expanding Maori rights and privileges over the decades.

ACT’s coalition partners, the National Party and New Zealand First, agreed to support the legislation through the first of three readings but both have said they will not support it to become legislation.

A small number of politicians from the governing National Party will be available to meet with hikoi leaders, while Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is still deciding how to engage, a spokesman for the government said.

Abby Collier, 42, had travelled six hours from her home in Tairawhiti to participate in Tuesday’s protest. She said she was supporting the movement because she believed unity was important.

“We are coming from across the country and showing our babies we can have a positive impact through kindness,” Ms. Collier said. – Reuters