Category Archives: New Zealand

‘Constant and reassuring’: global media pay tribute after death of the Queen

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New York Times says Elizabeth II ‘projected stability’; Japan’s Asahi Shimbun says she ‘cared about post-war reconciliation’

Newspapers in the Commonwealth and beyond have led with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, with many paying tribute to her accomplishments during seven decades on the throne. Some speculated on how the monarchy might change under King Charles III.

The Washington Post’s Twitter account followed the sober format preferred by newspapers in the UK, its front page showing a black-and-white portrait of a smiling Queen against a black background.

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Snapchat removes Māori face tattoo filters after outcry in New Zealand

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The filters, which also appear on Instagram, had prompted questions over the treatment of sacred cultural artefacts on tech platforms

The social media company that owns Snapchat has removed filters that applied images of sacred Māori tattoos to users’ faces, after the discovery of the culturally offensive filters on social media apps provoked an outcry in New Zealand.

An investigation by Radio New Zealand revealed filters featuring tā moko tattoos have proliferated on social media apps such as Instagram and Snapchat.

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Rescue mission under way for two Australians stranded on damaged yacht in Tasman Sea

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The men, in their 70s, were travelling from New Zealand when severe weather caused the vessel to take on water near Lord Howe Island

Marine safety authorities have launched a rescue mission for two Australian men who have been stranded on a yacht in the Tasman Sea for almost 36 hours after severe weather caused the vessel to take on a large amount of water.

The pair, aged in their 70s, were travelling from New Zealand to Australia when they were hit by severe weather including 10m seas and high winds, near Lord Howe Island.

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New Zealand starts spring with surprise snow after warmest ever winter

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Antarctic blast closed highways and brought snow to Christchurch, Dunedin and even Wellington

New Zealand has begun spring with snow at sea level, with flurries falling in Christchurch, Dunedin and even Wellington.

The surprise dump comes after the country’s warmest and wettest winter on record, with snowfall closing state highways on both North and South Islands on Tuesday.

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New Zealand’s shadow foreign affairs spokesperson faces criticism for response to UN report on Uyghurs

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Gerry Brownlee says report on human rights violations in Xinjiang recognises China is ‘dealing with a terrorist problem’

New Zealand’s shadow foreign affairs spokesperson said a UN report on the human rights abuses of Uyghurs includes recognition that China is “dealing with a terrorist problem essentially”, in remarks criticised by China analysts.

“It’s good that it acknowledges that there has been a terrorism problem in the particular part of China that the report is on,” Gerry Brownlee, a lawmaker for the centre-right National party, told Radio New Zealand (RNZ) on Thursday in an interview about the UN findings.

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New Zealand minister wrapped up in Māori language chocolate bar row

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Anti-racism video by Marama Davidson featured chocolate labelled in te reo Māori, breaching rules against product promotion

A New Zealand minister has had to revise her anti-racism social media posts featuring a popular brand of chocolate, after the prime minister requested their removal because it breached cabinet rules about product promotion.

Green party MP Marama Davidson posted a video of herself to Instagram on Monday holding five blocks of Whittakers creamy milk chocolate, which have recently been rebranded with the Māori translation Miraka Kirīmi in honour of the upcoming Māori language week – te wiki o te reo Māori. She also posted photographs on Twitter and Facebook.

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New Zealand soldier who joined Ukraine foreign legion confirmed killed

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Tributes paid to Dominic Abelen, the first New Zealander to die in the conflict, who was on leave without pay from the defence force

A New Zealand soldier who was on leave without pay from his country’s army when he was killed in Ukraine has become the latest foreign fighter and first New Zealander to die in the war.

Friends of Cpl Dominic Abelen, 30, told the Guardian he had enlisted with Ukraine’s international legion, joining thousands of soldiers who have travelled to the conflict from around the world in the months since Ukraine’s government called for volunteers.

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New Zealand Labour expels MP Gaurav Sharma from caucus

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PM Jacinda Ardern said caucus voted to expel Sharma over ‘repeated and calculated’ breaches of its rules

Jacinda Ardern and her Labour colleagues have expelled MP Gaurav Sharma from caucus, the first time in more than a decade that the party has taken such action.

The expulsion of Sharma, who was elected as the member for Hamilton West in 2020, came after nearly two weeks of the MP making public allegations of bullying and misconduct against his own party.

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New Zealand’s flood-prone areas not ready to cope with climate crisis, Ardern says

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Touring flood-hit region of Nelson, prime minister says country must do ‘all we can’ to deal with damaging events triggered by a warming climate

New Zealand’s flood- and slip-prone regions do not have the mechanisms in place to cope with rapid environmental changes brought about by the climate crisis, Jacinda Ardern has said after visiting the aftermath of a monster storm.

The prime minister was touring the site of devastating flooding and landslips around Nelson, at the top of the South Island, when she was asked if she was satisfied that New Zealand had the framework and investment to cope with weather events that are becoming more frequent.

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New Zealand floods could take years to clean up, with 1,200 people displaced

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A fourth straight day of rain brought by an ‘atmospheric river’ has damaged roads and homes and forced more than 400 households to evacuate

Torrential downpours that have battered New Zealand for four days straight have caused floods that could take years to clean up and displaced at least 1,200 people from their homes in the top of the South Island.

Friday’s rain comes on top of weeks of wet weather and is worsening conditions in New Zealand’s already sodden landscape. Experts have attributed the unseasonably wet weather to a narrow stream of water vapour, or “atmospheric river”, sitting above the country.

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Billionaire Peter Thiel refused consent for sprawling lodge in New Zealand

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Local council decides proposed bunker-like home would negatively impact surrounding landscape

The billionaire Peter Thiel’s plans for an elaborate bunker-like lodge in a remote part of New Zealand’s South Island have been thwarted, after the local council decided the home would have too great a negative impact on the surrounding landscape.

Second Star, a New Zealand company owned by the PayPal co-founder, had applied to build the sprawling lakeside complex in Wanaka, an alpine South Island region known for its natural beauty and isolation. The plans were fiercely opposed by conservationists, who claimed in submissions that the lodge would “destroy our beautiful lake environment”.

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New Zealand firefighters to hold first ever strike over staffing and equipment ‘crisis’

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Professional firefighters will walk off the job for an hour in culmination of 13-month dispute over pay and conditions

Nearly 2,000 professional firefighters will walk off the job for the first time in New Zealand’s history, citing a “crisis” within the sector and ongoing problems with poor pay, understaffing and unreliable fire equipment.

Members of the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union have voted to strike for an hour on Friday morning in a complete work stoppage, after talks with employer Fire and Emergency (Fenz) broke down last week.

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New Zealand Labour MP suspended for breaching ‘sense of trust’, says Ardern

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Suspension of Gaurav Sharma for party rule breaches comes after he made allegations of bullying within the party

New Zealand’s Labour party has suspended MP Gaurav Sharma over what the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said were “repeated breaches” of caucus rules in the past week.

Ardern had called an emergency caucus meeting on Tuesday afternoon, where it was unanimously agreed to suspend Sharma, who has recently made widespread allegations that he and others had experienced bullying within the party.

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Covid lockdown boredom inspires New Zealand teenager to build world-record 25-metre Lego train

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Alexander Blong smashed the previous world record for the most carriages in a Lego train

A New Zealand teenager has broken a Guinness World Record for the most carriages in a Lego toy train, beating the previous record by 32 carriages, after he was inspired to break a record during boring Covid lockdowns.

It took 14-year-old Aucklander Alexander Blong roughly 50 hours to build the 101-carriage locomotive. When finished, it measured 25 metres long.

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New Zealand’s political right surges ahead in polls as Ardern’s popularity dips

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Centre-right National and libertarian Act could form government, according to latest survey, with Labour-Greens bloc trailing on combined 42% support

Jacinda Ardern’s chances of re-election are looking shakier, with new polling indicating that New Zealand’s right-leaning coalition has enough support to form government.

The latest 1 News/Kantar poll, taken as the cost of living soars in New Zealand, marked Ardern’s worst result in the preferred prime minister stakes since her tenure as leader began. Despite falling three points as preferred PM, however, she is still ahead of National’s Chris Luxon, 30% to 22%.

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Covid becomes equal leading cause of death in New Zealand for first time

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Analysis shows almost 15% of deaths in mid-July were due to Covid, with that figure likely to be an undercount

Covid-19 became the equal leading cause of death in New Zealand for the first time in July, overtaking stroke and drawing even with ischaemic heart disease as the country’s No 1 killer.

Michael Baker, an epidemiologist and public health professor, said that for a period in July-August Covid appeared to be causing at least as many deaths as heart disease.

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New Zealand unable to say when monkeypox vaccines will arrive

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As global demand for monkeypox vaccine surges, health officials say they are stuck in the queue and don’t know when jabs will be available

New Zealand health officials have revealed they are stuck in the queue to order monkeypox vaccine and are unsure when it will arrive.

Monkeypox cases continue to rise globally – more than 23,000 people in at least 75 countries have caught the virus. New Zealand confirmed a third case this week.

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New Zealand house prices see fastest drop since GFC, but first homebuyers still shut out of market

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Property prices in New Zealand skyrocketed during the pandemic, but have fallen 2.5% in the last quarter

House prices in New Zealand are experiencing the fastest drop in value since the global financial crisis, but many first homebuyers remain locked out of home ownership due to an inflated market, the cost of living crisis and rising interest rates.

New Zealand has been plagued by a runaway housing market for years. Wellington and Auckland are among the least affordable property markets in the world, and homeownership rates have been falling since the early 1990s across all age brackets, but especially for people in their 20s and 30s. The average house price nationally is now more than NZ$1m.

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US and Australia to launch second joint spy satellite from site in New Zealand

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Some in space industry bewildered by Australia’s lack of fanfare about the launch of the satellites, which will be used to collect intelligence for allied nations

A second spy satellite built by Australia and the United States is scheduled for liftoff on Tuesday from a launch site in New Zealand.

The first of the two satellites, which will be used to collect intelligence for the allied nations, launched two weeks ago.

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New Zealand borders fully reopened as last Covid restrictions lifted

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Cruise ships, international students and visitors from China and India among those who will be able to once again travel to New Zealand

New Zealand’s borders are fully open for the first time since they abruptly snapped shut to keep Covid-19 out in March 2020.

The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said the nation was “open for business” after the final stage of the phased reopening, which began in April, was completed on Sunday night.

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