New Zealand

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>

New Zealand Outbreak Spreads to the Capital

Nationwide lockdown will now last until at least Tuesday

(Newser) - New Zealand’s first virus outbreak in six months has spread from the largest city of Auckland to the capital, Wellington, the AP reports. Health authorities said Friday that three people in Wellington who recently visited Auckland had tested positive. They said the outbreak had grown to 31 cases. The...

New Zealand Figures Out Likely Source of COVID Outbreak

As cases balloon to 21

(Newser) - The single COVID-19 infection that caused New Zealand to lockdown has now ballooned to an outbreak of at least 21 cases so far. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the new number on Thursday, and officials warned that it will continue to rise. The director general of health says modeling indicates...

New Zealand Has First Mystery COVID Case Since February
New Zealand Locks Down
Over a Single COVID Case
UPDATED
Aug 17, 2021 12:00 PM CDT

New Zealand Locks Down Over a Single COVID Case

No local transmission had been reported since February

(Newser) - New Zealand's government took drastic action Tuesday by putting the entire nation into a strict lockdown for at least three days after finding a single case of coronavirus infection in the community. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern invoked some of the stirring rhetoric she used early in the pandemic by...

New Zealand Won't Open Borders Until 2022

Government announces cautious reopening plan

(Newser) - New Zealand has managed to contain COVID-19, and it would like to keep it that way. On Thursday, the government announced the island nation's borders will stay closed to those who aren't residents or citizens for the rest of the year. Starting in the first quarter of 2022,...

Baby Orca Dies Amid Huge Search for His Mom

Toa captured hearts in New Zealand

(Newser) - "Toa passed quickly, surrounded by love, with his last days made as comfortable as possible." Such is the somber conclusion of a story out of New Zealand, where conservationists tried and failed to save the life of a baby orca found separated from his mother. The New Zealand ...

New Zealand Suspends Travel Bubble With Australia

Quarantine-free travel zone on hold for at least 8 weeks as cases rise in Australia

(Newser) - New Zealand on Friday suspended its quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia for at least eight weeks due to a growing COVID-19 cluster in Sydney. New Zealand had already imposed quarantine restrictions on travelers from New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia states, where lockdowns have been introduced to contain delta...

This NZ Weightlifter Is an Olympic First

Laurel Hubbard, headed to Tokyo, will be the first transgender athlete to compete in the games

(Newser) - New Zealand has announced it's sending five weightlifters to the Tokyo Games next month, and one of them in particular is making headlines for her groundbreaking Olympic debut. CNN reports that Laurel Hubbard will be the games' first transgender athlete, competing in the women's super-heavyweight 87-kilo category after...

Film's 'White Saviors' View of Attack Angers NZ

Project follows Ardern's response, not Muslim victims or families

(Newser) - Plans for a film about the mosque massacre in Christchurch have met with shock and anger in New Zealand over the film's direction. The Hollywood film, They Are Us, centers on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's reaction and leadership after the attack —not on any of the Muslim...

This Is the Most Livable City in the World

Auckland, NZ, takes top spot in Economist's rankings, though Kiwis give honor the side-eye

(Newser) - The pandemic has caused a major upset on the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual list of the most livable cities on the planet. Thanks to their relative isolation from the rest of the world, the island nations of New Zealand, Australia, and Japan all had strong showings in the top...

Locked Out By Predecessor, Leader Takes Oath in a Tent

Samoa's prime minister refuses to turn office over to the new one

(Newser) - The leadership of Samoa was left in doubt Monday after the outgoing prime minister refused to leave and locked his successor out of Parliament. Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, who is to be the nation's first female prime minister, and members of her party took their oaths of office in...

Man Goes on Stabbing Spree at New Zealand Supermarket

At least 4 people stabbed, 3 critically, in apparently random attack

(Newser) - Shoppers and staff at a New Zealand supermarket were being praised for their bravery Monday after authorities said they managed to stop a frenzied man from hurting others after he stabbed four people in a random attack, critically wounding three of them. Some reports put the number injured at five....

Man in Hot Water Over His Pothole Drawings

NZ's Geoff Upson has been depicting penises on dozens of potholes to get them fixed faster

(Newser) - Geoff Upson has had it with the potholes littering the streets of his New Zealand community, but the way he's been handling this grievance now has him facing prosecution. In 2018, the 30-year-old Auckland handyman registered his first complaint with local transportation authorities about one particularly "huge and...

Sydney Man's Surprise Case Prompts New Restrictions

Man tests positive for a variant linked to India, but how that happened is unclear

(Newser) - After a month without local transmission, Australia's largest city is warning of undetected coronavirus cases after a man in his 50s tested positive Wednesday. Authorities don’t know how the Sydney resident became infected with a variant first detected in India, per Reuters . The sample matches that of a...

If You Want a Simple Pine Box, This Coffin Maker Isn't for You

Ross Hall of New Zealand has an array of whimsical designs catered to individuals

(Newser) - When the pallbearers brought Phil McLean's coffin into the chapel, there were gasps before a wave of laughter rippled through the hundreds of mourners, per the AP . The coffin was a giant cream donut. “It overshadowed the sadness and the hard times in the last few weeks,”...

Born After 2004? New Zealand May Never Let You Smoke

Nation considering various proposals as it aims to be smoke-free by 2025

(Newser) - New Zealand has proposed several plans as part of a goal to be smoke-free by 2025, including a permanent ban on sales of any tobacco products to anyone born after 2004, reports the Guardian . Cigarettes are already heavily taxed in the country. But "we need a new approach,"...

NZ OKs Paid Leave for Parents Grieving 'Strange, Secret Birth'

Kiwis approve legislation that gives couples 3 days off to deal with loss after miscarriage or stillbirth

(Newser) - "A miscarriage is a strange, secret birth that is also a death," wrote Kathryn van Beek in 2018 after suffering her own. That's why the New Zealand author is celebrating this week after her country's Parliament gave the green light to legislation that will offer three...

This Is the Happiest Country in the World

It's not the US, which comes in at No. 14, per 'Forbes'

(Newser) - Saturday is marked as the International Day of Happiness , and in some parts of the world, that contentment factor is especially prevalent. Forbes reports on the 2021 World Happiness Report , the ninth installation, which calls the past year a year "like no other." The Gallup World Poll team...

We Are All the Albatross: Face-Plant Video Goes Viral

Crash landing by bird in New Zealand is pretty relatable

(Newser) - We've all experienced that feeling of a grand entrance ruined, our plans to glide gracefully into a crowded room marred by a trip over a shoelace or bump into a fellow partygoer. Now an albatross in New Zealand knows exactly how we feel. CNN reports on a viral video...

After Earthquake, an Order to Move to Higher Ground

New Zealand calls for evacuations after 8.1 quake hits off the coast

(Newser) - A powerful magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck in the ocean off the coast of New Zealand on Friday, prompting thousands of people to evacuate and triggering tsunami warnings across the South Pacific. The quake was the largest in a series of tremors that struck the region over several hours, including...

NZ's Prime Minister Has a Plan to Reduce 'Period Poverty'

Jacinda Ardern announces that free menstrual products are coming to schools in June

(Newser) - Students will soon have access to free period products across New Zealand, following a similar move in Scotland . Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Thursday that all schools would offer free menstrual products for the next three years, at a cost of about $18 million. The products will be made available...

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>