Chris Hipkins sworn in as New Zealand's 41st prime minister
Wellington (AP): Chris Hipkins was sworn in Wednesday as New Zealand's 41st prime minister, following the unexpected resignation last week of Jacinda Ardern.
Hipkins, 44, has promised a back-to-basics approach focusing on the economy and what he described as the "pandemic of inflation."
He will have less than nine months before contesting a tough general election, with opinion polls indicating his Labour Party is trailing its conservative opposition.
New Zealand Governor-General Cindy Kiro officiated the brief swearing in ceremony in front of friends and colleagues after earlier accepting Ardern's resignation.
"This is the biggest privilege and responsibility of my life," Hipkins said at the ceremony.
"I'm energised and excited by the challenges that lie ahead."
Carmel Sepuloni was also sworn in as deputy prime minister, the first time a person with Pacific Island heritage has taken on the role. She congratulated Hipkins and thanked him for the trust he'd placed in her.
After the ceremony, Hipkins said as an aside to reporters: "It feels pretty real now."
pkins is known to many by the nickname "Chippy," which fits with his upbeat demeanor and skills as an amateur handyman.
He served as education and police minister under Ardern.
He rose to public prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he took on a kind of crisis management role.
But he and other liberals have long been in the shadow of Ardern, who became a global icon of the left and exemplified a new style of leadership.
Ardern on Tuesday made her final public appearance as prime minister, saying the thing she would miss most was the people because they had been the "joy of the job."
New Zealand's head-of-state is Britain's King Charles III, and Kiro is his representative in New Zealand, although these days the nation's relationship with the monarchy is largely symbolic.
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Yadgir: Six people burnt alive in private bus-car collision on Bidar-Bengaluru Highway in Surapura
Surapura: In a tragic road accident reported from the taluk, six people were burnt alive in a collision between a private bus and a car on the Bidar-Bengaluru Highway near the Shanthapura Cross close to the Thinthani Bridge on Friday morning.
A fire broke out due to the force of the collision, and both vehicles were gutted in the flames.
The bus is learned to have been traveling from Lingasugur to Kalaburagi, and the car was going towards Lingasugur. While none of the passengers in the bus was reportedly endangered in the accident, all six people traveling the car died in the accident and are learned to have burnt in the fire.
The local fire brigade has successfully doused the flames.
Inspector Umesh M and team of the Surapura Police Station is learned to have arrived at the accident spot and conducted an inspection.
The skulls of four people are said to have been found among the debris.
