Category Archives: New Zealand

Rare ‘Wicked’ bible that encourages adultery discovered in New Zealand

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First copy of the 1631 bible, which mistakenly reads ‘thou shalt commit adultery’, to be found in the southern hemisphere

An extremely rare bible famous for an unfortunate error that encourages adultery has been discovered in New Zealand.

The 1631 “Wicked” Bible, as it has become known, omits the word “not” from its seventh commandment, informing readers “thou shalt commit adultery”. One thousand copies of the text, which also came to be known as the Adulterous or Sinners’ Bible, were printed, with the error only discovered a year later.

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Songs, tears and reunions: New Zealand welcomes back visitors as border reopens after two years

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Vaccinated people from about 60 visa-waiver countries now able to enter as part of pandemic reopening plan

Māori songs, tearful embraces and a beloved New Zealand chocolate bar awaited international visitors arriving in New Zealand on Monday – the first foreign guests, other than Australians, to set foot in Aotearoa in more than two years.

Since March 2020, the arrival terminals at New Zealand’s international airports have been desolate as the country swiftly closed the border to prevent the arrival of Covid-19.

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‘They’re so sneaky’: New Zealand homeowners battle plague of smelly cluster flies

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Changing climate means infestations of pesky insects could become more common, experts say

They smell like sweet meat, destroy vacuum cleaners and are wreaking havoc across rural New Zealand.

An unusually wet summer has brought joy to farmers and grief to residents, as a plague of cluster flies descends on homes in the Canterbury and Wairarapa regions.

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New Zealand unveils plan to tackle climate crisis by adapting cities to survive rising seas

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Proposals to prepare the country for more floods, massive storms and wildfires include building away from high-risk areas and protecting cultural sites

The New Zealand government has released new plans to try to prepare the country for the catastrophic effects of the climate crisis: sea level rise, floods, massive storms and wildfires.

The proposals, released for consultation on Wednesday, outline sweeping reforms to institutions, councils and laws to try to stop people building in hazardous areas, preserve cultural treasures, improve disaster responses, protect the financial system from the shocks of future disasters, and reform key industries including tourism, fisheries and farming.

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‘About time’: Māori Battalion veteran welcomes New Zealand effort to issue unclaimed war medals

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Defence force works to match medals with families of up to 500 men who served in decorated unit during second world war

New Zealand is working to get medals to the rightful homes of up to 500 men from the country’s Māori Battalion, who were not properly recognised for their service.

The Māori Battalion, also known as the “28th”, was one of New Zealand’s most-decorated units during the second world war, fighting in Italy, Egypt, Crete and north Africa, but many of the men who served never received their medals.

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Jacinda Ardern greeted by giant sad dancing kiwifruit during visit to Japan

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Two large mascots, dancing to sorrowful music, helped welcome the New Zealand prime minister on her first trip overseas since the pandemic began

New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has been met in Japan on her first trip outside the country in two years by a duo of enormous, mournfully dancing kiwifruit.

The two large mascots welcomed the prime minister with a gentle swaying routine, set to a piece of slow, somewhat sorrowful chamber music. They had a sombre audience of suited men.

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New Zealand faces global pressure over move to let resident be extradited to China

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MPs from around the world tell Jacinda Ardern that case of murder suspect Kyung Yup Kim could set ‘dangerous precedent’

New Zealand is under international pressure to stop the extradition of a resident to China, after a landmark supreme court decision allowed the government to send a man accused of murder to Shanghai to face trial.

The decision was a reversal of previous court rulings, which blocked extradition on the grounds that Kyung Yup Kim, the accused, would be at high risk of torture or an unfair trial.

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Refugees resettled in New Zealand from Australia to be permanently banned from returning

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Government says refugees will be stopped at border, even if they have become New Zealand citizens

Refugees resettled in New Zealand from Australia will be unable to return even if they’ve become New Zealand citizens, the Morrison government has announced.

The home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, revealed on Tuesday that Australia will prevent the resettlement deal for 450 refugees from becoming a “back door” by stopping would-be travellers at the border.

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Western Australian Liberal senator Ben Small resigns over dual citizenship

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Small breached section 44 of the Australian constitution by also holding New Zealand citizenship, but still plans to contest the upcoming election

Western Australian Liberal senator Ben Small has been forced to resign due to his New Zealand heritage, the latest victim of the section 44 constitutional requirements, but has pledged to stand again at the looming election.

Small released a statement on Friday saying he had written to the Senate president to advise him he was resigning as a senator for WA.

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New Zealand allows resident to be extradited to China in landmark ruling

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Decision in case of murder suspect Kyung Yup Kim concludes government can trust Chinese assurances extradited defendants will not face torture

New Zealand’s courts have ruled the government can extradite to China a man suspected of murder – a landmark ruling that, if it proceeds, will be the first time the country has sent a resident to face trial in China.

The courts had previously blocked the extradition of Kyung Yup Kim, a man accused of killing a young woman in Shanghai, citing the risk of torture and not receiving a fair trial.

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Reader call-out: how has the changing mood in New Zealand’s housing market affected you?

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House prices are dropping amid rising living costs and higher interest rates – what does that mean for you?

For the first time in more than a decade, New Zealand house prices recorded a quarterly drop. ANZ economists say the mood in the market has shifted – from “fear of missing out” to “I’m not paying that”.

We’re eager to hear from our New Zealand readers on how this might be affecting you.

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Black Ferns report favouritism, body-shaming and cultural insensitivity in scathing review

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Review involved interviews with 50 current and former players, managers and coaches of New Zealand women’s rugby team

New Zealand’s governing rugby body has failed to properly support women’s high performance rugby, with some players reporting favouritism, ghosting, body-shaming and culturally insensitive comments, a scathing review of one of the world’s top women’s rugby teams has found.

The more than 30-page review, which came with 26 recommendations, was instigated after a senior Black Ferns player – Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate – posted on social media that she had suffered a mental health breakdown following the Black Ferns’ 2021 end-of-year tour to England and France.

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Six new wētā species found in New Zealand, as their habitat slowly disappears

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Global heating speeding up their decline as terrain of newly discovered alpine species disappears

Six new alpine species of New Zealand’s most unusual and beloved insect – the wētā – have been discovered, but it is a bittersweet victory, with another piece of research describing the threat global heating poses for their snowy mountain habitat.

Wētā belong to the same group of insects as crickets and grasshoppers, and there are between 70 and 100 species of wētā endemic to New Zealand. They are wingless and nocturnal, and some, including the wētāpunga, are among the heaviest insects in the world – comparable to the weight of a sparrow.

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Blast food: chip factory calls bomb squad after muddy spud turns out to be grenade

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A night shift worker pulled the device from a ‘potato reception area’ thinking it was a muddy stone

New Zealand’s bomb squad has been called into a chip factory after a suspicious-looking potato trundling down the production line turned out to be a grenade.

Grenades frequently pop up in potato fields in Europe, but are a highly unusual find in New Zealand.

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Dr Ashley Bloomfield, who led New Zealand’s pandemic response, resigns

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Softly-spoken public servant who became a household name says the role had been challenging and complex

The understated doctor who became an unexpected star of New Zealand’s pandemic has resigned after two years leading the country’s Covid response.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand’s director-general of health announced his resignation on Wednesday, and said that it had been “a huge privilege”.

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Cannabis sprouts in New Zealand parliament garden in protesters’ parting pot-shot

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Seedlings, apparently planted by anti-Covid mandate protesters, have been removed after speaker asked for ‘weed to be weeded’

After a weeks-long illegal occupation that ended in a riot, New Zealand’s parliament has a new unwelcome visitor to contend with: cannabis seedlings popping up among its rose gardens.

An eagle-eyed Wellingtonian spotted the tiny green leaves emerging from the soil this week and posted his find to social media. The man wished to remain anonymous, but a parliament groundskeeper confirmed to the national broadcaster, RNZ, that the plants were indeed “a few cannabis seedlings” thought to be left by the protesters.

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Solomon Islands prime minister says foreign criticism of China security deal ‘very insulting’

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Manasseh Sogavare says it is ‘utter nonsense’ that China’s presence is a threat to regional stability

Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare has dismissed foreign criticism of the country’s security negotiations with China as “insulting” and called those who leaked the draft agreement “lunatics”, in his first comments to parliament on the proposed treaty.

“We find it very insulting, Mr Speaker, to be branded as unfit to manage our sovereign affairs,” Sogavare said on Tuesday.

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Australia’s lost influence in Pacific on display in Solomon Islands-China deal, Anthony Albanese says

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Labor leader says inaction on climate change and cuts to foreign aid have broken trust, forcing Pacific nations to turn elsewhere

Australia has lost influence in the Pacific by failing to act on climate and cutting foreign aid, Anthony Albanese says, amid concerns about China’s proposed security deal with Solomon Islands.

Australia and New Zealand are worried the draft agreement could jeopardise regional stability, with China having the opportunity to base navy warships in the Pacific less than 2,000km off the Australian coast.

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Coalition urged to terminate Canstruct contract to end financial ‘black hole’ on Nauru

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There is little sense keeping refugees on island at great expense following New Zealand resettlement deal, human rights groups say

The government must end the “moral and financial black hole” on Nauru by ceasing its contract with Canstruct and returning those on Nauru to Australia in the wake of the New Zealand refugee resettlement deal, human rights groups say.

Asked on Friday whether it would end the Canstruct contract for “garrison and welfare services”, the government declined to answer.

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Nine-year wait for NZ refugee deal due to fears of snubbing US option, Jacqui Lambie and government say

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Independent senator says deal with New Zealand to resettle 450 people could have caused some to turn down US program

Australia waited nine years to accept the New Zealand refugee deal out of fear asylum seekers would snub the option of the US, independent senator Jacqui Lambie and the Morrison government have claimed.

On Thursday Australia accepted an offer first made in February 2013 to take up to 450 refugees and asylum seekers, which Lambie then revealed had been a key commitment to win her casting vote to repeal legislation improving access to medical evacuation from offshore detention.

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