New Zealand’s Mahuta brings new outlook to foreign affairs

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Diplomats like to remain neutral but Nanaia Mahuta let the veil slip a little when a winner was declared in the U.S. election by tweeting a smiley-face emoji. Mahuta, the first indigenous Maori woman to be appointed New Zealand’s foreign affairs minister, suppresses a real-life smile when asked about it. “Look, what I can say is that there were encouraging signs in those speeches,” she said in an interview with the…