New Zealand

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Young People in NZ Will Never Reach Legal Smoking Age

New law will ban future generations from buying cigarettes

(Newser) - People who are 12 years old or younger in New Zealand today will never reach an age where they will be legally allowed to smoke cigarettes, the government says. A new law expected to be introduced next year will ban smoking for future generations, with the legal smoking age increasing...

&#39;I&#39;m Being Held Hostage by a Possum&#39;
'I'm Being Held
Hostage by a Possum'
Nov 16, 2021 10:21 AM CST

'I'm Being Held Hostage by a Possum'

Police in New Zealand resolved a weird case

(Newser) - In the annals of police emergency calls, it's a strange one. "I'm being held hostage by a possum," a woman informed police in Dunedin, New Zealand, reports UPI . It seems the woman was unpacking her car when she felt what she thought was a cat run...

Maori Tribe Wants Anti-Vaxxers to Stop Using Famous Haka

Ceremonial dance was performed by protesters in NZ capital last week

(Newser) - A Maori tribe in New Zealand wants anti-vaccine protesters to stop using its ceremonial dance immediately. The country's All Blacks national rugby team has permission from the Ngati Toa tribe to perform the Ka Mate haka before games, but no such permission was granted to protesters who performed the...

Antarctic Penguin Swims 1.8K Miles to New Zealand

And after some rest and a fish smoothie, 'Pingu' was returned to the water

(Newser) - Harry Singh thought he'd discovered a child's toy on a beach on New Zealand's South Island. Then it moved its head. What he'd actually found was a tired Adélie penguin, which had the BBC reports apparently traveled some 1,800 miles from its home on...

Jacinda Ardern Has Very Public Parenting Moment

NZ prime minister's toddler interrupted her during a COVID update to the nation

(Newser) - Robert Kelly had his moment . Now Jacinda Ardern is having hers. The New Zealand prime minister was giving her nation a COVID update this week when she had a parenting moment that many who've had to work from home during the pandemic can relate to. Per CNN and NBC...

That&#39;s Not a Puppy. That&#39;s a Potato
It's a Potato So Big
It Has a Name
Nov 5, 2021 7:12 AM CDT

It's a Potato So Big It Has a Name

Doug, the New Zealand spud, could be a new world record holder

(Newser) - Colin and Donna Craig-Brown were weeding their garden in New Zealand on Aug. 30 when Colin's hoe struck something big just beneath the soil's surface. After Colin pried it out, he scratched away a bit of the skin and tasted it. A potato. "We couldn't believe...

Gangs' Tough Message: Get the Shots

Leaders make video to help New Zealand campaign for hard-to-reach communities

(Newser) - A government minister was talking with leaders of New Zealand's gangs about how to persuade reluctant people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. The result is a four-minute video in which members of the Head Hunters, Black Power, King Cobras, and Mongrel Mob gangs encourage everyone to receive the...

Surprise: Winner of Bird Contest Isn't Actually a Bird

A bat sneaks in and takes top honors in New Zealand

(Newser) - Did somebody miss a meeting? Maybe a day or two of biology class? Somehow the winner of New Zealand’s Bird of the Year contest isn’t even a bird, reports the New York Times . The winning critter has wings, for sure, but bats don’t lay eggs and they...

Electric Plane Crosses Strait for First Time

New Zealand pilot had power left over

(Newser) - As he made history by becoming the first person to fly across New Zealand's Cook Strait in an electric plane, Gary Freedman thought it only fitting that the first thing he saw when approaching the Wellington coastline was the rotating blade of a wind turbine producing renewable energy. Freedman'...

Earthquake Interrupts Jacinda Ardern Press Conference
Quake Interrupts Ardern
Press Conference
video
Oct 22, 2021 11:54 AM CDT

Quake Interrupts Ardern Press Conference

'Sorry, a slight distraction,' says New Zealand prime minister

(Newser) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had to ask a reporter to repeat a question at a press conference Friday because she had been somewhat distracted by a 5.9-magnitude earthquake. Video from the Wellington press conference shows the prime minister gripping the podium before smiling and saying, "Sorry,...

Cute Voice on Emergency Call: 'I've Got Some Toys for You'

4-year-old New Zealand boy invites police over to play

(Newser) - "Police lady … I've got some toys for you." So begins an endearing 111 call placed to emergency services in New Zealand this week by a 4-year-old boy. With his mother under the weather and his caretaker distracted by another child, the apparently bored boy picked up...

City Fires 'Wizard' It Employed for 2 Decades

City of Christchurch will no longer be needing the services of Ian Brackenbury Channell

(Newser) - Ian Brackenbury Channell has an entire Wikipedia page devoted to him, with a title not many (if any) can claim: the Wizard of New Zealand. It looks like the 88-year-old sorcerer may be hanging up his long black robe for good, however, at least officially, after the city of Christchurch...

New Zealand Gives Up on 'Zero COVID'

Country likely won't be able to eliminate the virus, PM says

(Newser) - New Zealand's government acknowledged Monday what most other countries did long ago: It can no longer completely get rid of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a cautious plan to ease lockdown restrictions in Auckland, despite an outbreak there that continues to simmer, the AP reports. Since early...

Kiwis' Illicit Substance Was Finger Lickin' Good

2 accused of trying to transport KFC meal into locked-down Auckland

(Newser) - New Zealand police have arrested two men who allegedly tried to enter the locked-down city of Auckland with an illicit substance: takeout food. Specifically, they carried three buckets of KFC chicken, 10 containers of coleslaw, and a bunch of fries, in addition to $70,000 in cash and a stash...

New Zealand PM Gets Eyebrow-Raising COVID Query

Jacinda Ardern doesn't think COVID patients, or any patients, should have sex in hospital

(Newser) - Jacinda Ardern is known for keeping her poker-faced composure in even the most stressful situations, but a question posed at a COVID news conference this week led the New Zealand prime minister through what the Guardian describes as a "full range of emotions." At the presser, a reporter...

Frustrated Worker Accidentally Leaves 'Greatest Cinema Message Ever'

NZ employee forgot to delete expletive-laden failed efforts to record voicemail

(Newser) - The Movie Max cinema in Timaru, New Zealand, is currently closed until COVID restrictions move to Level 2—and an employee's expletive-laden attempt to communicate that information in a voicemail message has given his country a good laugh at a tough time. In his first three efforts, the man...

They Were Following Extremist. When He Attacked, They Pounced

Man killed within 60 seconds of stabbing spree in New Zealand

(Newser) - New Zealand authorities were so worried about an Islamic extremist they were following him around-the-clock and were able to shoot and kill him within 60 seconds of him unleashing a frenzied knife attack that wounded six people Friday at an Auckland supermarket. Three of the shoppers were taken to Auckland...

New Zealand Extends Lockdown
New Zealand 
Extends Lockdown
Aug 27, 2021 12:05 AM CDT

New Zealand Extends Lockdown

COVID outbreak is at nearly 350 cases

(Newser) - New Zealand’s government has extended a strict nationwide lockdown through Tuesday as it tries to quash its first outbreak of the coronavirus in six months, the AP reports. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Friday the government expects to keep Auckland, where most of the cases have been found, in...

NZ Official Makes Risque Gaffe During COVID Update

Coronavirus response minister Chris Hipkins notes the challenge for people to get out, 'spread their legs'

(Newser) - Chris Hipkins may want to do a dry run on what he's going to say at pressers from now on. At a news conference on Sunday, the COVID response minister for New Zealand was giving Kiwis an update on the current coronavirus outbreak, and he touched on how it...

New Zealand's COVID Outbreak Hits Triple Digits

Nationwide lockdown extended until at least Friday

(Newser) - New Zealand's government on Monday said it will extend a strict nationwide lockdown until at least Friday as it tries to extinguish a growing coronavirus outbreak, the AP reports. The news came as health authorities reported 35 new local infections of the fast-spreading delta variant, the highest number of...

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