Category Archives: New Zealand

No-deal Brexit: UK exporters risk being locked out of world’s harbours

Posted on by

Goods dispatched in coming days may not arrive until after 29 March deadline

British exporters sending goods to far-flung destinations in the coming days risk being locked out of harbours around the world as a no-deal Brexit looms, business leaders have warned.

Independent trade experts and the UK’s biggest business groups said exporters could be dispatching goods from UK ports imminently that would not arrive until after the 29 March deadline. This raised the prospect of goods being stuck in ports or facing hefty additional costs in the event of a disorderly Brexit.

Continue reading...

R Kelly Australia tour raises ‘serious concerns’ amid sex abuse allegations

Posted on by

R&B singer announces tour of Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka after explosive documentary detailing accusations

The R&B singer R Kelly, who is facing multiple accusations of sexual abuse, has announced a tour to Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, prompting concern from members of the public and some MPs.

The tour, which was announced in social media posts from the singer – but was accompanied by no dates or venues – comes in the wake of an explosive documentary detailing allegations that the artist has been sexually and physically abusing women for decades. R Kelly has denied the allegations, and has faced no criminal convictions.

Continue reading...

Working USB stick found in leopard seal’s year-old frozen faeces

Posted on by

New Zealand puts out call to find owner of memory stick spotted in frozen poo sample

A functioning USB stick has been found in the scat of a rare Antarctic leopard seal, prompting New Zealand’s national science body to launch a hunt for the owner.

Volunteers at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) recovered the device while examining the animal’s frozen faeces – which had been sitting in a freezer for over a year.

Continue reading...

New Zealand baffled after protected little blue penguins stolen from nests

Posted on by

Two men wielding a crowbar raid wild nests in Napier, possibly to sell the animals into the illegal wildlife trade

Two of the world’s smallest and most vulnerable penguins have been stolen in a brazen overnight raid on their nests in New Zealand.

Little blue penguins – or kororā – are native to New Zealand and are listed by the Department of Conservation (DoC) as an at-risk, declining population. Little blues are the world’s smallest penguin, and are threatened by common predators such as dogs and cats, urban development on their coastal environment and being hit by cars, boats or caught in nets.

Continue reading...

New Zealand brings first ‘fake mānuka honey’ prosecution

Posted on by

Company is accused of adding synthetic chemicals, including one used in tanning lotion, to honey

A mānuka honey company is being prosecuted by New Zealand’s food safety agency over claims it added artificial chemicals to its product.

In the first case of its kind, the company is accused of adding synthetic chemicals – including one commonly used in tanning lotion – to honey it sold as “mānuka”.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Grace Millane: suspect pleads not guilty to murdering British backpacker

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Alarm after Christmas decorations found tied to New Zealand birds

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Parkland, Florida students embrace New Zealand on field trip

Posted on by
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%

Posted on by
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.