New Zealand

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Highway Camera Captures a Surprise, Squawking Cameo

Irritated-looking mynah bird makes a splash on video taken over New Zealand highway

(Newser) - Angry Birds: Down Under? A tropical bird with an attitude has inadvertently become an internet sensation after photobombing a highway traffic camera in New Zealand, and the New Zealand Transport Agency is having a bit of fun with it, reports NBC News . The footage without sound taken over a stretch...

Owners of Volcano That Killed 22 Balk at Owning the Tragedy

In appeal, Whakaari Management argues tour operators took on responsibility for tourists' safety

(Newser) - The owner of New Zealand's White Island argues it wasn't responsible for mitigating health and safety risks for visitors, including the 22 who died when the island's volcano erupted in 2019, per the AP . Brothers Andrew, James, and Peter Buttle own the island, also known as Whakaari,...

Fugitive Dad, 3 Kids Spotted Years After Disappearing
Fugitive Dad, 3 Kids Spotted
Years After Disappearing
in case you missed it
Oct 13, 2024 7:06 AM CDT

Fugitive Dad, 3 Kids Spotted Years After Disappearing

New Zealand police have yet to locate Tom Phillips and the children, missing since 2021

(Newser) - The mother of three children who were taken by their father three years ago says she's "relieved" to know they're alive based on a recent sighting. The children—Jayda, 11, Maverick, 9, and Ember, 8—and their father, Tom Phillips, were spotted in the Waikato region of...

Sexist 'Armchair Admirals' Criticized After NZ Navy Sinking

Defense minister says female captain is facing online abuse

(Newser) - New Zealand's defense minister says the cause of the country's first naval loss since World War II is being investigated—but "one thing that we already know did not cause it is the gender of the ship's captain." Defense Minister Judith Collins said Thursday that...

New Zealand's Maori Once Again Have a Queen

27-year-old queen becomes 2nd female Maori monarch after her father's death

(Newser) - They came in their thousands in the freezing dawn, parking cars far away and winding down rural roads on foot, children riding on their shoulders. They arrived in mourning black with crowns of ferns and kawakawa leaves, bone carvings or wedges of deep green pounamu—New Zealand jade—resting on...

Cost of Visiting New Zealand Is About to Spike

Tourist tax to nearly triple to $62 starting next month

(Newser) - New Zealand is preparing to squeeze more out of its foreign visitors with a plan to nearly triple its tourist tax. Starting next month, the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy will climb from about $22 to $62. The move is intended to help economic growth and "ensure visitors...

New Zealand OKs Kim Dotcom Extradition

Megaupload founder slams 'obedient US colony'

(Newser) - Kim Dotcom slammed New Zealand as an "obedient US colony" after the country's justice minister signed an extradition order on Thursday. The founder of the Megaupload file-sharing site has been fighting extradition to the US since 2012, Reuters reports. "I considered all of the information carefully, and...

Canada's Soccer Win Overshadowed by Spy Scandal
Canada's
Soccer Win
Overshadowed
by Drone Scandal
the rundown
Jul 25, 2024 2:09 PM CDT

Canada's Soccer Win Overshadowed by Drone Scandal

Two women's team staffers have been sent home from France after devices flew over rival's practice

(Newser) - The Canadian women's soccer team defeated New Zealand 2-1 at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, which in and of itself isn't a huge surprise. But the game has gotten an unusual amount of attention because of a spying scandal that preceded it, reports Reuters . Earlier this week,...

Reality Show Contestant Kills, Eats Protected Bird

'What I did disrespected New Zealand, and I'm sorry,' he says

(Newser) - The New Zealand Department of Conservation describes the weka as a "large, brown flightless bird that has a famously feisty and curious personality." It is also "fully protected," the department says—meaning reality show contestants definitely shouldn't kill and eat them. An American contestant on...

Whale That Washed Up on Beach Could Be World's Rarest

Precious little is known about the spade-toothed whale

(Newser) - Spade-toothed whales are the world's rarest, with no live sightings ever recorded. No one knows how many there are, what they eat, or even where they live in the vast expanse of the southern Pacific Ocean. However, scientists in New Zealand may have finally caught a break, reports the...

New Zealand Asks for Help Solving Mystery of Vanished Family

Dad, 3 kids disappeared in 2021

(Newser) - New Zealand authorities offered a reward and immunity from prosecution Tuesday to anyone who can help their search for three children who have been missing since their father vanished with them from a remote rural community more than two years ago. The December 2021 disappearance of Tom Phillips and his...

Man Fined for 'Shocking, Stupid' Behavior Around Orcas

'This really could have ended horribly'

(Newser) - A New Zealand man is lucky his "stupid and shocking" behavior around two orcas didn't result in an immediate lesson in why they are also known as killer whales, authorities say. The 50-year-old was fined 600 New Zealand dollars (roughly $367) over a video posted on Instagram video...

This Feather Is Worth 40 Times Its Weight in Gold

Feather from extinct huia sells for $28K, becoming most expensive feather ever sold

(Newser) - Someone just paid nearly $30,000 for ... a feather. Granted, it's a rare and pretty feather, but still one worth more than 40 times its weight in gold. The most expensive feather ever sold, it comes from the long-extinct huia, "the largest of New Zealand's wattlebird species,...

Ram Kills New Zealand Couple
Ram Kills New Zealand Couple
Apr 19, 2024 4:27 AM CDT

Ram Kills New Zealand Couple

'Never trust a hand-reared ram,' neighbor says

(Newser) - An elderly couple in New Zealand were killed by a rogue ram, authorities say. Family spokesman Dean Burrell, a police officer, says Alfred Helge Hansen, 82, and Gaye Carole Hansen, 81, were found dead in a paddock at their home in a rural area outside Auckland, the New Zealand Herald...

A Family Emerged From the Bush. Then the Mystery Began

Dan Kois delves into the disappearance of the Phillips family

(Newser) - A father and his three children vanished in New Zealand in September 2021. But it was only after they turned up 17 days later that "the real mystery started," writes Dan Kois in a lengthy piece for Slate . Tom Phillips had custody of his three young kids, then...

Whales Just Gained Personhood Here
Whales Just Gained
Personhood Here
Apr 2, 2024 12:26 PM CDT

Whales Just Gained Personhood Here

Polynesian Indigenous groups sign treaty they hope will lead to greater protections

(Newser) - Whales are people, too, according to the Indigenous leaders of New Zealand, Tahiti, and the Cook Islands, who've acted to bestow personhood on whales. New Zealand's Maori and other Indigenous groups from Polynesia signed a treaty that recognizes all whales as legal persons as part of an effort...

New Zealand MP Resigns Over Shoplifting Allegations

'I fell short,' says Golriz Ghahraman, a former UN human rights lawyer

(Newser) - Golriz Ghahraman had been a rising star in New Zealand politics, a former UN human rights lawyer who made history in 2017 by becoming the first refugee elected to parliament, per the BBC . However, the 43-year-old native of Iran resigned Tuesday after amid media allegations (complete with CCTV video) that...

Far From Land, They Investigated a Reflection and Saved a Life

New Zealand fisherman, who'd fallen overboard, rescued after 24 hours in ocean

(Newser) - A man who fell off his boat during a solo fishing trip off the coast of New Zealand and spent the next 24 hours in the ocean, during which he was reportedly visited by a shark, was rescued Wednesday after a chance sighting of the sunlight's reflection on his...

New Zealand Mayor Reassures Residents: Keep Pooping

Lower Hutt has a serious odor problem right now

(Newser) - There's good news and bad news for residents of a New Zealand city. The good is that their mayor confirmed on Tuesday that they can continue pooping. The bad is that the air will smell regardless. The city of Lower Hutt near Wellington has been dealing with a two-month-long...

New Zealand's Ambitious Smoking Ban Is No More

Nation's new government has nixed progressively rising smoking age, other anti-smoking measures

(Newser) - New Zealand's ambitious plan to eventually turn the nation smoke-free has itself gone up in smoke. The legislation passed in late 2022 mandated a progressively increasing smoking age that would effectively mean that anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, would never be able to legally light up....

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