New Zealand PM disagrees with Joe Biden over Xi Jinping ‘dictator’ remark

Chris Hipkins, who is about to meet the Chinese president on a trip to Beijing for the first time, said China’s system of government is ‘a matter for them’

New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins has disagreed with US President Joe Biden’s remark that Xi Jinping is a “dictator”, as he prepares to meet the Chinese leader on an official trade trip to China.

“No, and the form of government that China has is a matter for the Chinese people,” Hipkins told reporters when asked about Biden’s description. Asked whether the Chinese people had a say in the form their government took, he said: “if they wanted to change their system of government, then that would be a matter for them.”

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UK is among countries with the most positive attitude towards refugees, poll finds

Survey comes as government rhetoric on immigrants gets increasingly toxic, adopting far-right slogans

Britons have among the most positive attitudes towards refugees in the world, a new global poll has found, despite increased hostility from the UK government to asylum seekers.

An international survey of almost 22,000 adults across 29 countries found British people had the third-most enthusiastic outlook towards refugees, just behind Spain and New Zealand.

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Home invasions and roadblocks: New Zealand on alert as ‘seal silly season’ begins

Public notice issued to watch out for the flippered creatures as they start to leave their breeding colonies and venture out into New Zealand

Sunbathing on roads, breaking through catflaps, visiting film sets, invading homes and taking in the heat of backyard spa bath covers – New Zealand’s “seal silly season” has officially begun and the country is bracing for an influx of adolescent marine mammals exploring the country’s highways, patios and golf courses.

This week, the government issued a formal public notice that “seal season” had begun – and New Zealanders could expect to encounter higher numbers of the flippered young creatures out and about, exploring human-dominated spaces. From May until December, adult males and freshly weaned pups from New Zealand’s growing fur seal population will leave their breeding colonies and head out into the wider world – many for the first time. They’re young, inexperienced and prone to adolescent misbehaviour and mishaps, hitting the wider world en masse like a cohort of fresh-minted spring breakers.

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NZ climate activist faces up to 10 years in prison over fake letter saying fossil fuel event cancelled

Rosemary Penwarden said her letter telling oil executives a petroleum conference was off was satirical protest but was found guilty of forgery offences

A New Zealand climate activist who wrote to oil executives posing as a fossil fuel conference organiser and telling them their gathering was cancelled has been found guilty of forgery, and could face up to a decade in prison.

Rosemary Penwarden, 64, who sent the letter to an oil company’s delegates argued it was a form of “satirical protest”, and said she was astonished by the outcome.

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Radio New Zealand investigates Russia-friendly editing of Ukraine articles

At least four wire articles published by national broadcaster had been edited to add pro-Kremlin phrasing

New Zealand’s national radio broadcaster is conducting an internal investigation after evidence emerged that an employee had edited wire reporting on the Ukraine war to add Russia-friendly phrasing.

The state-funded RNZ, or Radio New Zealand, published at least four articles attributed to the Reuters wire service that had been edited to add pro-Kremlin phrasing.

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Jacinda Ardern becomes a dame as New Zealand honours former PM

Ardern, who said she felt conflicted about the honour, was recognised for her service to the country during the pandemic and Christchurch terror attacks

New Zealand has awarded Jacinda Ardern one of the country’s highest honours, making the former prime minister a dame for her service to the country during the Covid-19 pandemic and Christchurch terror attacks.

Ardern accepted the honour but said she had felt conflicted about doing so. “I was in two minds about accepting this acknowledgment. So many of the things we went through as a nation over the last five years were about all of us rather than one individual,” she said.

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Man accused of starting New Zealand hostel fire faces five murder charges

Suspect, 48, was earlier charged with arson for allegedly setting fire to a couch and the hostel in Wellington

New Zealand police have filed five murder charges against the man they say lit a deadly fire at a Wellington hostel two weeks ago.

Police had earlier filed arson charges against the 48-year-old, accusing him of setting fire to a couch and to the hostel itself. He has remained in jail since his arrest two days after the fire.

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UK’s post-Brexit trade deals with Australia and New Zealand kick in

Move called ‘historic’ but agreement with Australia forecast to raise Britain’s GDP by only 0.08% by 2035

The UK’s post-Brexit trade deals with Australia and New Zealand have come into force, a moment lauded by the government as “historic” despite critics arguing they give away “far too much for far too little”.

The trade agreements – the first of those negotiated after Britain’s EU exit to enter into force – come after George Eustice, who was the environment secretary when the UK-Australia trade pact was struck in December 2021, admitted it was “not actually a very good deal” for Britain.

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West Papua rebels threaten to shoot New Zealand pilot if independence talks denied

Phillip Mehrtens, who has been held hostage since February, makes the claim in a new video released by the separatist group

Rebels in Indonesia’s Papua region have threatened to shoot a New Zealand pilot being held hostage if countries do not comply with their demand to start independence talks within two months, a new video released by the group shows.

Guerrilla fighters in Papua’s central highlands, who want to free Papua from Indonesia, kidnapped Phillip Mehrtens after he landed a commercial plane in the mountainous area of Nduga in February.

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New Zealand loses fight with Australia over mānuka honey trademark

Intellectual Property Office rules that New Zealand beekeepers’ attempt to stop Australian producers using the name did not meet necessary requirements

New Zealand honey producers have lost their latest battle to trademark mānuka honey, the latest blow in a years-long fight to stop Australian beekeepers using the lucrative name.

The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand ruled on Monday that New Zealand mānuka beekeepers’ attempt for a trademark did not meet necessary requirements, and the term mānuka was descriptive.

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New Zealand announces its biggest emissions reduction project in history

Move to power Glenbrook steel plant with electricity from renewables rather than coal will reduce emissions by 1% – or the equivalent of taking 300,000 cars off the road

New Zealand has announced its largest emissions reduction project in history, transitioning from coal to renewable electricity at the country’s major steel plant in a move that the government says is equivalent to taking 300,000 cars off the road.

The government will spend $140m on halving the coal used at Glenbrook steel plant to recycle scrap steel, replacing that generating power with an electric-powered furnace. The plant will contribute $160m to the project’s cost.

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Deadly Wellington hostel fire being treated as arson, police say

New Zealand police open homicide inquiry after at least six die in Loafers Lodge blaze

A fire that erupted in a Wellington hostel, killing at least six people, is being investigated as arson by New Zealand’s police, who have started a homicide inquiry.

Nobody has been arrested, Inspector Dion Bennett said on Wednesday. He would not say why officers believed the fire was deliberately lit, or whether accelerants were used.

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New Zealand hostel fire: at least six dead and 11 missing in Wellington blaze

Emergency services called to 92-room Loafers Lodge hostel just after midnight and a number of people remain unaccounted for

New Zealand was in shock on Tuesday after a “worst nightmare” fire at a hostel in the capital Wellington left at least six people dead and 11 others missing.

The Loafers Lodge hostel in Newtown, in Wellington’s south, caught alight just after midnight on Tuesday. By dawn, the top floors of the building were charred black.

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New Zealand government announces billion-dollar cyclone and flood recovery fund

Record-breaking rainfall hit Auckland in January, only to be followed by Cyclone Gabrielle ravaging the North Island in February

The New Zealand government is allocating NZ$1.1bn to help communities recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and flooding.

The funds from the 2023 budget are to cover “basics” of rebuilding roads, rail and schools, as well as flood protection, the government announced on Sunday.

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Teenager’s body found after flooding hit New Zealand school’s cave visit

Group reportedly got into difficulty as torrential rain hit during outing in Northland region

Searchers in New Zealand have found the body of a teenager who died on Tuesday as torrential rain fell during a school trip into caves in the Northland region.

The deluge swamped parts of the North Island, including Northland, where damage from record floods in February was still evident. In New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, inspections of 120 water-damaged buildings began on Wednesday morning as the weather cleared.

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Logged toff: Māori artist’s web plugin replaces king’s coronation with Indigenous news

Hāmiora Bailey says wall to wall Charles III coverage is unappealing to Indigenous people and has devised a solution

A Māori artist has designed a way for the masses to tune out of royal coverage, with a web browser plugin that replaces all monarchy and coronation stories with Indigenous news.

Despite a distance of more that 18,000kms from the palace, New Zealand news headlines have featured a steady flow of royal family gossip: the latest potential snubbing, deep-dive analysis of the new king’s conduct, invitation list scandals and features on the coronation quiche.

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Commonwealth Indigenous leaders demand apology from the king for effects of colonisation

Exclusive: Aboriginal Olympian Nova Peris says ‘change begins with listening’ as campaigners from 12 countries ask for ‘process of reparatory justice to commence’

Australians have joined Indigenous leaders and politicians across the Commonwealth to demand King Charles III make a formal apology for the effects of British colonisation, make reparations by redistributing the wealth of the British crown, and return artefacts and human remains.

Days out from Charles’s coronation in London, campaigners for republic and reparations movements in 12 countries have written a letter asking the new monarch to start a process towards “a formal apology and for a process of reparatory justice to commence”.

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Nato planning to open Japan office to deepen Asia-Pacific ties – report

Liaison office plans likely to attract criticism from China which has warned against the western alliance extending into Asia

Nato is reportedly planning to open a liaison office in Japan to coordinate with close partners across the Indo-Pacific region including Australia, South Korea and New Zealand.

The plans are likely to attract criticism from the Chinese government, which has previously warned the western alliance against extending “its tentacles to the Asia-Pacific”.

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Māori punk band’s tour of Wales puts spotlight on indigenous languages

New Zealand group Half/Time to perform alongside artists who sing in Cymraeg as part of musical cultural exchange

They will bring heavy riffs, pounding drums and lyrics delivered with a growl – but a punk band from New Zealand arriving in Wales this week is also hoping to spark important conversations about what it means to create pop songs in “minority” languages.

The band Half/Time, which perform in Māori as well as English, is to appear alongside artists and groups who sing in Cymraeg as part of a cultural exchange organised by the universities of Cardiff and Waikato in the south Island of New Zealand.

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Chris Hipkins hails ‘biggest in a generation’ citizenship reforms for New Zealanders in Australia

Prime minister welcomes move to let New Zealanders apply for Australian citizenship without becoming permanent residents first

A “historic” agreement allowing New Zealanders a faster pathway to Australian citizenship is the biggest change “in a generation” and will help the two countries forge even closer ties, the New Zealand prime minister, Chris Hipkins, has said.

Hipkins visited Australia on Sunday for talks with the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, after the decision to give New Zealanders the right to apply for Australian citizenship without becoming permanent residents first.

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