Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
The number of elected officials under 30 doubled in city and district elections. Here a selection of them speak about their priorities
They took gap years to stay at home and run for office. They list as their political heroes progressive leaders such as Jacinda Ardern and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. And they plan to juggle their new roles as elected officials with university exams and shifts at McDonald’s.
The record number of young New Zealanders, some still in their teens, who surged to victory in the country’s local government elections on Saturday – in what was dubbed a “youthquake” by commentators – were not lured by dreams of high-profile posts in national politics.
Andy Foster says financial backing from Lord of the Rings director was not reason for his victory in New Zealand capital
Wellington’s new mayor, Andy Foster, has hit back at suggestions he is a “puppet” of Sir Peter Jackson, whilst still refusing to reveal how much the Lord of the Rings director and wife Fran Walsh donated to his campaign.
Andy Foster won local elections in New Zealand’s capital city over the weekend, ousting one-term incumbent Justin Lester.
As we mark 250 years since the arrival of Captain Cook in New Zealand, we are still seeing crimes against indigenous peoples and their territories
If you look back at photographs of the 1969 bicentennial Cook commemorations in Gisborne, the appearance is one of a festive affair. A parade through town, led by a huge float of Captain Cook’s head made its way through local throngs, followed by a model of the Endeavour ship. Naval vessels from Australia, USA, Canada and the USA took part, the pageantry is both very British, and very provincial New Zealand.
Today, just 50 years later, the response to this anniversary is very different.
British and Australian regret over Cook’s treatment of Indigenous people would go a long way to enhancing understanding of the continent’s shared history
The British government has issued an oh-so-carefully worded expression of “regret” for the killing of Māori in Aotearoa, today’s New Zealand, at the point of first contact during Lieutenant James Cook’s “voyage of discovery” 250 years ago.
Regrets! The old empire certainly has had cause for a few when it comes to the violence it has meted out to the indigenes of the places it took during Britain’s colonial expansion.
Trial of man accused of killing 51 people at two mosques set to begin in June next year
The man accused of killing 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand in March has withdrawn an application to have the trial moved away from Christchurch, the city where the attacks occurred.
The decision was announced at the high court in Christchurch, where the accused man, Australian Brenton Tarrant, appeared via a video link from a high-security prison in Auckland.
Planes briefly grounded across the country over ‘fault with main air traffic system’
A fire alarm in New Zealand’s radar centre effectively shut down the country’s airspace, halting planes from taking off for a short time on Monday afternoon.
Planes were stranded on the tarmac and landings were being “managed” by Airways NZ after the country’s navigation service provider confirmed “a fault with our main air traffic system”.
Abuse victims shared meals and a motel with man convicted of historical crimes against children
New Zealand’s troubled royal commission into abuse in state care has been dealt another blow, with commissioners revealing survivors unwittingly spent time with a convicted child sex offender tangentially connected to the inquiry.
The royal commission is investigating historic abuse of children and adults by state-run institutions between 1950 and 1999. It is the largest and most complex royal commission ever undertaken in New Zealand, and has been plagued by issues since its inception, including the resignation of its chair, Sir Anand Satyanand, last month.
Prime minister says she and Trump discussed her country’s reforms on sidelines of UN general assembly
Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand prime minister, has said Donald Trump expressed “interest” in her country’s gun buyback program, as the US president faces calls for dramatic changes to the nation’s firearms laws.
After the two leaders met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Ardern told reporters that she “sensed an interest” from the US president in the sweeping gun reforms her government passed after the Christchurch mosque shootings in March.
Glorious scenes in Edinburgh as thousands of children, parents, students and musicians gather at the Meadows for the Climate Strike.
“This is our Earth and our Future. We need to take care of it ,” said 11-year-old Leila Koita, pictures here with friends Eilidh Tedesco, Norah Turner, Tilly Torrie, Megan Berger and NaN Zhang.
Norah’s mum, Jo Spencely says she hasn’t been on a demo for decades but she is here to show support. “I’m massively concerned about their future. I almost can’t bear to read about the climate. It’s so scary.”
The march sets off at 11:30am and will pass through Edinburgh city centre and end with a rally in front of the Scottish Parliament. As in London, police have imposed restrictions, in this case by refusing permission for the marchers to walk down Princes Street.
As elsewhere, this is just the start of a week of climate action. On Saturday, activists will stage a “die in”, Monday will be a “day of disruption”, musicians will join a “Love the Planet Festival” on Wednesday, and there’ll be another rally outside parliament the following day.
Even Emmeline Pankhurst has joined in the protests in Manchester. A statue of the suffragette hero has donned a bright orange lifejacket and a placard that asks: “Ready for rising sea levels to reach this height?”
The stunt was the idea of Katie Bradshaw and Ryan Griffiths, both 31, who described themselves as first-protestors who felt the need to act today.
“Emmeline still carries that Mancunian spirit of standing up for what she believes in and great causes,” said Griffiths. “Climate change is so important and we think it’s something herself would be an issue she would be at the forefront of if she were around today.”
Bradshaw added: “We’ve got to do our bit and even if it’s just putting some signs up and making people realise we need to look after our planet. If she was around today she’d be supporting it.”
Intelligence officer Cameron Ortis had access to classified information from Five Eyes allies, including Australia
Canada is seeking to reassure its Five Eyes intelligence allies in the wake of a massive alleged spying leak that may be linked to an Australian drug-smuggling criminal syndicate.
Cameron Ortis, the director general of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s intelligence unit, has been charged over allegations he was trying to sell secrets to a foreign agent or terrorist group. He had access to classified information from Canada’s Five Eyes global allies, including Australia.
Auckland beats Scotland to NZ$1.3bn contract for what is expected to be the most expensive TV series ever made
New Zealand will reprise its starring role as Middle Earth with confirmation Amazon Studios will film its new Lord of the Rings television series on its shores.
The country – where Sir Peter Jackson filmed the original Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies – beat rival Scotland to be named the production location for the series, set to be the most expensive TV show ever made.
Family of five, including two children, found dead in the highlands in August, with no visible injuries
Police have charged a New Zealand man with five counts of murder following the mysterious “witchcraft” deaths of a Fijian family last month.
Husband and wife Nirmal Kumar, 63, and Usha Devi, 54, their daughter Nileshni Kajal, 34, and Kajal’s daughters Sana, 11, and Samara, eight, were all found dead in the Nausori Highlands in August.
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s credentials at home and abroad as a new kind of leader all hang on her next move
It’s just shy of a year ago that Jacinda Ardern stood in the UN general assembly and spoke in support of the #MeToo movement. There was spontaneous applause from the floor for that small part of a much longer speech – it felt like a significant moment.
The New Zealand leader’s trip to New York attracted the usual grumbles here at home – those who could not quite get their head around the very idea of a 38-year-old unmarried woman as prime minister carped about her decision to take her three-month-old daughter along – but the result was the blossoming of an international media love affair. Baby Neve’s appearance at the back of the UN chamber was just the icing on the cake.
Firefighters in New Zealand have paid tribute to the first responders to the September 11 attacks in New York by performing the haka, a ceremonial Māori dance, in honour of the victims. The video was shared on social media by the US ambassador to New Zealand, Scott Brown, who wrote: 'An appropriate and uniquely Kiwi way to remember the bravery and sacrifice of 9/11 first responders'
New Zealand prime minister facing questions as to when she first found out about claims
Pressure is growing on Jacinda Ardern to explain when she was made aware of serious sexual assault allegations in her party after the staffer at the centre of the furore resigned.
The individual remains unnamed but is known to have worked in a senior role in Parliament House and had regular interaction with senior Labour ministers.
Airline accused of lack of respect for indigenous language by seeking to protect image of the greeting, also the name of its in-flight magazine
New Zealand’s national carrier, Air New Zealand, has offended the country’s Māori people by attempting to trademark an image of the words “kia ora”; the greeting for hello.
The airline applied in May to trademark the image showing the greeting, which is also the name of its in-flight magazine.
Two-thirds of country’s rivers are unswimmable with cow effluent and fertiliser run-off big contributing factors
The New Zealand government has announced an ambitious plan to clean up the country’s freshwater sources, after years of pollution have made the majority of lakes and rivers unswimmable.
“Our rivers, lakes and wetlands are under serious threat after years of neglect. We can’t continue to go on like we are,” said environment minister David Parker, announcing the government’s action plan two years into its term.
Concern in New Zealand that trend of taking photographs with penguins and other creatures is having impact on feeding, breeding and birth rates
At the International Penguin Conference in New Zealand, the experts were worried. Among sobering discussions about the perils of the climate crisis and habitat loss, the unlikely issue of wildlife selfies photobombed the agenda, with increasing concern that the celebrity-fuelled search for that perfect shot is affecting animal behaviour.
Professor Philip Seddon, the director of Otago University’s wildlife management programme, said: ‘We’re losing respect for wildlife, we don’t understand the wild at all.”
From bottle feeding infants in the chamber to a playground on the front lawn, speaker Trevor Mallard has welcomed infants into the corridors of power
Trevor Mallard thought his days nursing babies might be over when he became speaker of New Zealand’s parliament in late 2017.
But the grandfather who has raised three children of his own has overseen a baby boom in the Beehive – as the most recognisable building in the parliamentary complex is known – and has become determined to make life easier for parents in the country’s halls of power.
Conservation research shows humans are ‘loving the dolphins too much’ in Bay of Islands region
The New Zealand government has banned tourists from swimming with bottlenose dolphins in an attempt to save the struggling species.
According to the department of conservation [DoC] research has shown that humans were “loving the dolphins too much” and human interaction was “having a signifiant impact on the population’s resting and feeding behaviour”.