Venezuela crisis: New Zealand refuses to back Guaidó as interim president

Foreign minister Winston Peters says country needs to ‘decide its future through free and fair elections’

In a stark departure from its allies, the New Zealand government is refusing to take sides in the escalating Venezuelan leadership crisis, declining to give official recognition to either leader.

Last week opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared himself Venezuela’s interim president, and quickly won the support of the US, the UK, Canada and some Latin American countries, who issued strong public statements recognising his authority. On Monday New Zealand’s closest neighbour, Australia, recognised Guaidó as Venezuela’s president. The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has also urged countries to “pick a side” in the crisis.

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‘I had to open a window’: New Zealanders poke fun at tepid ‘heatwave’

Some describe having to take it easy on the stairs after heatwave reports leave them cold

New Zealanders have poked fun at health warnings issued after the country was hit by a heatwave that reached only 25C in some of the country’s main cities.

Some described how they had to pause – briefly – while climbing the stairs, and open windows in 21C heat, a far cry from the temperatures of over 49C recorded in Australia as a result of the same weather system.

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New Zealand housing crisis: just 47 ‘affordable’ homes built in six months

Jacinda Ardern’s flagship KiwiBuild policy labelled ‘a failure’ amid delays and claims homes are too expensive

Jacinda Ardern’s flagship housing policy is in dire straits after the government admitted it won’t meet its target of building 1,000 affordable homes in its first year – and is set to fall short by 700.

New Zealand house prices are among the most unaffordable in the world, with Auckland the seventh most expensive city to buy a home, and all three major cities considered “severely unaffordable” by the latest Demographia international housing affordability survey.

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‘I’m being watched’: Anne-Marie Brady, the China critic living in fear of Beijing

New Zealand academic says Chinese intimidation tactics she has studied are now being used against her

It’s just gone midday at Canterbury University and Professor Anne-Marie Brady is rock-hopping across a crystal clear stream.

The life-long academic takes an overgrown bush track to reach the Okeover community gardens, her eyes scanning the sky for native birds. It’s the height of summer in Christchurch and the garden is filled with rhubarb plants, clumps of chewy spinach and spring onions whose tips have turned white in the sun.

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Grace Millane: suspect pleads not guilty to murdering British backpacker

The 27-year-old accused has been remanded in custody over killing in New Zealand

The New Zealand man accused of murdering British backpacker Grace Millane has pleaded not guilty at Auckland’s high court.

The 27-year-old man, whose name has been suppressed by the court, appeared in court on Wednesday morning, his second appearance since his arrest in December last year.

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Ikea in New Zealand: build-up falls flat with news of a shop in a few years’ time

Swedish furniture company’s long-awaited announcement revealed ... a long wait for a store

The stage was set, a tentative announcement had been made, and the foreign minister was already claiming credit for it. Breaking news alerts had been sent by the major media outlets and liveblogs prepared to transmit Ikea’s vision for New Zealand to the people. Even Sweden’s ambassador, Par Ahlberger, told those assembled that he was an ambassador for Ikea, according to Stuff.

But on Friday, as the tension reached fever pitch, reality came crashing down like a set of badly assembled drawers. The vision was more a back-of-envelope sketch showing Auckland would get a store and some point in a few years’ time, plus there would be another, smaller one, in the South Island.

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World’s steepest street: Welsh town challenges New Zealand for Guinness World Record

Some residents of Baldwin Street in Dunedin suggest resurfacing top of street to see off challenge from Harlech in Wales

The Welsh town of Harlech is challenging New Zealand’s claim to the steepest street in the world, forcing the city of Dunedin to contemplate losing one of its most famous and lucrative tourist attractions.

Baldwin Street in Dunedin draws in thousands of tourists a year since being crowned the steepest street in the world by Guinness World Records, with an exhausting 1:3 gradient.

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Alarm after Christmas decorations found tied to New Zealand birds

Animal welfare charity appeals for information after dozens of birds found dead or injured

Dozens of birds in New Zealand have been found dead or injured with Christmas decorations tied around them, prompting calls for anyone with information on who is behind the cruel attacks to come forward.

The Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said a number of sparrows and pigeons have been reported with “decorative trinkets” tied to them in the capital, Wellington.

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‘What is the sea telling us?’: Māori tribes fearful over whale strandings | Eleanor Ainge Roy

New Zealand’s whale whisperers worry that manmade changes in the ocean are behind the spike in beachings

Whale whisperer Hori Parata was just seven years old when he attended his first mass stranding, a beaching of porpoises in New Zealand’s Northland, their cries screeching through the air on the deserted stretch of sand.

Seven decades later, Parata, 75, has now overseen more than 500 strandings and is renowned in New Zealand as the leading Māori whale expert, called on by tribes around the country for cultural guidance as marine strandings become increasingly complex and fatal.

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Parkland, Florida students embrace New Zealand on field trip

Irsan was convicted Thursday, July 26, 2018, for two slayings described by prosecutors as "... A Jordanian immigrant could face the death penalty after a jury in Texas convicted him of two slayings described by prosecutors as "honor killings." . A dispute over acts of Congress in 1906 and 1937 has put the Trump administration in court _ and into the unusual position of supporting a proclamation by former President Barack Obama.

Ticketmaster NZ profit soars 143%

Ticketmaster New Zealand, which is owned by the world's biggest concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment, posted a 143 percent jump in profit last year as sales ran faster than expenses. Profit rose to $5.1 million in calendar 2017 from $2.1 million a year earlier, according to the Auckland-based company's annual report.

Stonington students, adults ready for March of Our Lives

To continue reading this premium story, you need to become a member. Click below to take advantage of an exclusive offer for new members:  Stonington - Area students and adults are gathering at the high school this afternoon to add their voices to others across the state and nation in the March for Our Lives event to end gun violence.

New Zealand’s prime minister a ” a liberal and mom-to-be a ” inspires ‘Jacindamania’

New Zealanders call their seat of power the Beehive, a sparkle of Kiwi humor for a spiraling concrete building that looks exactly as it sounds. On the ninth floor, the country's leader greets visitors in an unassuming office with posters of women in wartime and a view of the Wellington harbor.

Obama to be protected from ‘wannabe jihadis’ during New Zealand visit

Barack Obama will be heavily protected in New Zealand, with a "wannabe jihadi" the most viable threat against him, a security expert says. The former US president will speak to about 1000 invited guests at an event run by the NZ-US Council in Auckland on March 22. He'll spend about three days in the country, before going on to Sydney.