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Jacinda Ardern reveals major career move

Jacinda Arden has revealed an exciting new venture following her departure as New Zealand’s prime minister. Ms Arden, 42, will be heading to Harvard University for a semester, where she plans to engage in "speaking, teaching, and learning”. She has now been appointed to fellowships at the elite US university in leadership and fighting online extremism. “I’m incredibly humbled to be invited to join Harvard University later this year,” she announced on Instagram. Ms Ardern has been named the 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and a Hauser Leader in the Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership. She will also be a Knight Tech Governance Leadership Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, based at Harvard law School. She said that Harvard is an important partner as a special envoy to the Christchurch Call, a commitment she started with French President Emmanuel Macron to fight online extremism following the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch in 2019. During that time she also joined the board of Prime William's conservation-minded Earthshot Prize. In 2022, she delivered the annual commencement speech to graduates, which has previously been delivered by world leaders and distinguished figures such as Winston Churchill, Angela Merkel and Oprah Winfrey. The Call is working with 120 governments worldwide to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. “My semester there later this year will also be an opportunity to take up the first tech governance leadership fellowship at the Berkman Klien Center,” she wrote in her post. “Not only will this be a chance to work collaboratively with the center’s research community, but also work on the challenges around the growth of generative AI tools.” According to a Harvard statement, “she will study ways to improve content standards and platform accountability for extremist content online, and examine artificial intelligence governance and algorithmic harms.” The fellowships commence in Spring, which Ms Ardern noted would align with voting times for New Zealander. She said she hopes to share her experiences through future exchanges in New Zealand and abroad. As she continues the significant work she started as the world’s youngest female head of government, she said she will set aside time to learn while she’s enrolled in one of the world’s top-ranked universities. “While I’ll be gone for a semester (helpfully the one that falls during the NZ general election!),” she said. “I’ll be coming back at the end of the fellowships. After all, New Zealand is home!” Ms Ardern shocked the world when <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/it-s-time-jacinda-ardern-announces-shock-resignation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">she announced in January</a> 2023 that she would not be seeking re-election. She stepped into the role of Labour leader seven weeks out from the 2017 general election after Andrew Little stepped down. Before she was elected to the top office she learned she was pregnant with her first child, which sparked debate surrounding her ability to lead the country with a newborn. She made international headlines during her first time when she was the first female leader to bring an infant into the UN General Assembly. While she delivered her speech, her long-term partner Clarke Gayford cradled three-month-old Neve. Ms Ardern and Mr Gayford are yet to announce a date for their wedding. The pair have been engaged since 2019 and were forced to cancel their wedding due to the pandemic. After she stepped down as New Zealand’s prime minister she was <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/news/news/chris-hipkins-announced-as-next-prime-minister-of-new-zealand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">replaced by Chris Hipkins</a>. Image credit: Getty

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Echoes of Churchill in epic wartime address

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has delivered an historic wartime address to the House of Commons, vowing "we will not give up". Zelenskyy was given a standing ovation by MPs both before and after he gave his speech via Zoom, in which he likened Russia's invasion of Ukraine to Britain's fight against Germany in World War II. The Ukraine president's address mirrored the words of Winston Churchill's famous "we shall fight on the beaches" speech, following Britain's devastation in the Battle of Dunkirk in June 1940. Mr Zelenskyy said, "We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight to the end, at sea, in the air, we will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost." "We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets." He went on to say that Ukraine was fighting a "war that we didn't start and we didn't want", as he told British MPs "we do not want to lose what we have, what is ours." Comparing Ukraine to the UK standing alone more than 80 years ago, Mr Zelenskyy said Ukrainians are fighting to save their country "just the same way as you once didn't want to lose your country when Nazis started to fight your country and you had to fight for Britain." He said more than 50 children have now been killed in the Russian invasion, telling the House of Commons, "These are the children that could have lived, but these people have taken them away from us." UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded to the address, saying "Britain and our allies are determined to press on with supplying our Ukrainian friends with the weapons they need to defend their homeland as they deserve." He added, "We will employ every method that we can – diplomatic, humanitarian and economic – until Vladimir Putin has failed in this disastrous venture and Ukraine is free once more." Image credits: Getty Images

Caring

Grieving Maggie Beer finds amazing way to honour her late daughter

Australian culinary legend Maggie Beer and her husband Colin have found a heart-felt way to honour their late daughter Saskia. Saskia, who shared her mother's passion for cooking and ran her own business, is about to be honoured in the form of a Churchill Fellowship. "It allows people for, say, four to eight weeks, depending on what they envisage doing, of going overseas to find something that can't be learnt in Australia... that's the strength of it, and when they bring it back, they have to give back to the community in large what they have learnt," Maggie told A Current Affair."Through the Saskia Beer Churchill Fellowship, the people who are awarded that Fellowship will pay tribute to Saskia's life and continue her legacy through their passion for food," Winston Churchill Trust CEO Adam Davey said.Two years ago, Maggie and Colin were blindsided by the sudden death of their 46-year-old daughter, who passed away unexpectedly in her sleep in February 2020. Maggie said the beginning of the pandemic gave their family valuable time to grieve together. "COVID to me was a bit of a gift, to isolate... we didn't want to talk to anyone except for our very closest," Maggie said.After her daughter passed away, Maggie found solace in the kitchen: a space that they both shared a deep love for. "My happy place is being in the kitchen... so it gave me comfort," Maggie said.Image credits: A Current Affair

Family & Pets

"Lucky escape" for Winston Churchill's great-granddaughter on Epstein's notorious island

One of Princess Diana's younger bridesmaids detailed her "very lucky" escape after she was a guest on Jeffrey Epstein's island. Clementine Hambro took two flights on Epstein's jet, including one dubbed the Lolita Express. On both occasions, she had been at Epstein's luxury homes where he spent many years abusing young girls. She also was at Epstein's Island Little St James in the US Virgin Islands, which was dubbed by locals as Paedo Island. Miss Hambro, a great-granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill, said she has been "completely horrified" by the revelations about the financier’s conduct and her "heart breaks for all the survivors". The now-married mother of four said she did not suffer or witness any abuse, but added that she hopes the victims "get the justice they so deserve". She issued a statement after flight logs, which were released as part of court documents, revealed that she flew on the jets to Epstein's visits to his ranch in New Mexico as well as the island. She made the trips back in 1999, where she was a 23-year-old employee at Christie's auction house in New York. In a statement last night, Miss Hambro said: "The first flight was a work trip with female colleagues to look at Epstein’s new home in Santa Fe to discuss what art he was going to buy. "The second trip, to Little St James, was a personal invitation, which I thought would be fun to accept, but I didn’t know anyone there, didn’t really enjoy myself, and never went back. My heart breaks for all the survivors, now I know what happened on that island. "In the course of those two trips, I was not abused, nor did I see anyone abused, or anything untoward happen, with minors or otherwise. I have been completely horrified about the revelations of his conduct since then. I was clearly very lucky, my heart goes out to those who were abused by him, and I trust they get the justice they so deserve." She also apologised for being "young and naive". "I was young and naive, and could not conceive of what was to unfold." She only travelled on the jets when leaving his homes, according to the logs. It is not known how she arrived at the ranch and the island.

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