NEW ZEALAND

Buffalo Supermarket Shooting New Zealand FILE - Al Noor mosque shooting survivor Temel Atacocugu points to the scar of a bullet wound in his arm during an interview at his home, Feb. 25, 2020, in Christchurch, New Zealand. Survivors from the mass shooting at two Christchurch mosques describe their reactions to the Buffalo supermarket shooting. The Buffalo gunman was apparently inspired by the Christchurch shooter after watching a copy of his livestream video. The Christchurch attack was livestreamed for 17 minutes and viewed by hundreds of thousands of people on Facebook before it was taken down. The Buffalo shooter allegedly livestreamed the attack to the gaming platform Twitch, which is owned by Amazon.

The deadly attacks at two Christchurch mosques brought people together rather than sowing discord, one of the survivors says.

Buffalo Supermarket Shooting New Zealand FILE - Al Noor mosque shooting survivor Temel Atacocugu points to the scar of a bullet wound in his arm during an interview at his home, Feb. 25, 2020, in Christchurch, New Zealand. Survivors from the mass shooting at two Christchurch mosques describe their reactions to the Buffalo supermarket shooting. The Buffalo gunman was apparently inspired by the Christchurch shooter after watching a copy of his livestream video. One of the stated aims of the Christchurch gunman was to sow discord between racial and ethnic groups, eventually forcing nonwhite people to leave. The Christchurch attack was livestreamed for 17 minutes and viewed by hundreds of thousands of people on Facebook before it was taken down.

A survivor of the New Zealand mosque shootings three years ago says extremists should see that the violence that day achieved none of the gunman’s aims

A survivor of the New Zealand mosque shootings three years ago says extremists should see that the violence that day achieved none of the gunman's aims.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — (AP) — New Zealand's government said Monday it will help pay for lower-income families to scrap their old gas guzzlers and replace them with cleaner hybrid or electric cars as part of a sweeping plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “This is a landmark day in our transition to a low emissions future,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement. “We’ve all seen the recent reports on sea level rise and its impact right here in New Zealand. The programs will be paid for from a 4.5 billion New Zealand dollar ($2.8 billion) climate emergency response fund. Seymour said consumers should be able to choose how they reduce emissions through the market-based emissions trading scheme.

New Zealand will help pay for lower-income families to scrap their old gas guzzlers and replace them with cleaner hybrid or electric cars as part of a sweeping plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Casey White is back in jail after U.S. Marshals finally caught up with him and former jail official Vicky White. Investigators believe Vicky White shot herself as officers closed in. WTFV's Chris Davis has the latest.

New Zealand Megaupload Deal Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, second left, stands with Bram Van der Kolk, left, Mathias Ortmann and Finn Batato, right, outside the High Court in Auckland, New Zealand, Aug.9, 2012. The deal by former Megaupload officers Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk means that only Megaupload's flamboyant founder Kim Dotcom, who also lives in New Zealand, still faces the possibility of extradition to the U.S. in the long-running case. Facing the possibility of spending decades in U.S. jails if convicted, Dotcom and the other two men have fought against extradition through the New Zealand legal system for the past 10 years. In a series of tweets Tuesday, Dotcom said his former friends would become witnesses against him as part of their deal but he didn't blame them. “I want to congratulate my former friends and partners to have found a case resolution,” Dotcom wrote.

Two men charged by U.S. prosecutors with racketeering and other crimes for their involvement in the once wildly popular file-sharing website Megaupload say they have reached a deal that will see them avoid being extradited to the U.S. in exchange for facing charges in New Zealand.

New Zealand Cow Disease Dairy cows graze on a farm near Oxford, in the South Island of New Zealand on Oct. 8, 2018. New Zealand, Thursday, May 5, 2022, is on the verge of eradicating a bacterial disease from its herd of 10 million cows, with only a single farm left with the disease Mycoplasma bovis. Found in cattle in the U.S. and Europe, Mycoplasma bovis is a bacteria that can cause cows to develop mastitis, pneumonia, arthritis and other painful conditions. O'Connor said the final farm with the disease was a feed yard where cattle came to be fattened before slaughter. New Zealand has 6.3 million dairy cows and 4 million beef cattle, making its total herd twice the size of its human population.

New Zealand is on the verge of eradicating a painful bacterial disease from its herd of 10 million cattle after a four-year campaign that has involved killing more than 175,000 cows and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Peter Thiel's proposed lodge in New Zealand hangs in the balance after a senior planner for the local council said the development should be rejected.

New Zealand Rocket Catch In this image supplied by Rocket Lab, the Electron rocket blasts off for its "There And Back Again" mission from their launch pad on the Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, Tuesday, May 3, 2022. That's when the helicopter crew sprang into action, dangling a long line with a hook below the helicopter to snag the booster's parachute lines. The crew caught the rocket but the load on the helicopter exceeded the parameters from tests and simulations, so they jettisoned it again. They just didn't like the way the load was feeling,” Beck said of the helicopter crew in a conference call after the launch. Rocket Lab named its latest mission “There And Back Again” — a reference to the movie trilogy “The Hobbit” which was filmed in New Zealand.

Using a helicopter to catch a falling rocket is such a complex task that Peter Beck likens it to a “supersonic ballet.”.

Using a helicopter to catch a falling rocket is such a complex task that Peter Beck likens it to a “supersonic ballet.” Rocket Lab, the company that Beck founded, partially pulled off the feat Tuesday as it pushes to make its small Electron rockets reusable. The California-based company regularly launches 18-meter (59-foot) rockets from the remote Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand to deliver satellites into space.

New Zealand welcomed tourists from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Japan and more than 50 other countries for the first time in more than two years.

New Zealand Tourists Families embrace after a flight from Los Angeles arrived at Auckland International Airport as New Zealand's border opened for visa-waiver countries Monday, May 2, 2022. New Zealand welcomed tourists from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Japan and more than 50 other countries for the first time in more than two years as it dropped most of its remaining pandemic border restrictions. (Jed Bradley/New Zealand Herald via AP) (Jed Bradley)WELLINGTON, New Zealand — (AP) — New Zealand welcomed tourists from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Japan and more than 50 other countries for the first time in more than two years Monday after dropping most of its remaining pandemic border restrictions. But international tourism stopped altogether in early 2020 after New Zealand imposed some of the world's toughest border restrictions. New Zealand reopened to tourists from Australia three weeks ago and on Monday to about 60 visa-waiver countries, including much of Europe.

New Zealand Tourists Families embrace after a flight from Los Angeles arrived at Auckland International Airport as New Zealand's border opened for visa-waiver countries Monday, May 2, 2022. New Zealand welcomed tourists from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Japan and more than 50 other countries for the first time in more than two years as it dropped most of its remaining pandemic border restrictions. (Jed Bradley/New Zealand Herald via AP) (Jed Bradley)WELLINGTON, New Zealand — (AP) — New Zealand welcomed tourists from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Japan and more than 50 other countries for the first time in more than two years Monday after dropping most of its remaining pandemic border restrictions. But international tourism stopped altogether in early 2020 after New Zealand imposed some of the world's toughest border restrictions. New Zealand reopened to tourists from Australia three weeks ago and on Monday to about 60 visa-waiver countries, including much of Europe.

New Zealand has begun welcoming back tourists from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Japan and more than 50 other countries for the first time in more than two years after dropping most of its remaining pandemic border restrictions.

Rocket Lab has postponed the launch of an Electron rocket it hopes to recovery with a helicopter to no earlier than Monday (May 2).

Private space company Rocket Lab will try to grab a falling rocket booster out of the air with a helicopter for the first time Friday.

CANAKKALE, Turkey — (AP) — Travelers from Australia and New Zealand joined Turkish and other nations’ dignitaries at the former World War I battlefields at Gallipoli for a solemn service at dawn Monday to remember troops killed during an unsuccessful British-led campaign that aimed to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war. The April 25, 1915, landings marked the start of a fierce battle that lasted for eight months. Gallipoli is also considered to be an important turning point in the history of modern Turkey. On Sunday, the remains of 17 missing French soldiers were handed over to French military officials and put to rest alongside other fallen comrades during separate remembrance ceremonies that were held for French, British and other soldiers. Only one out of the 17 French soldiers — Cpl.

Travelers from Australia and New Zealand joined dignitaries at the former World War I battlefields of Gallipoli in northwest Turkey for a dawn service to honor soldiers who were killed during an unsuccessful British-led campaign that aimed to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war

A 9.5 earthquake that struck about 3,800 years in northern Chile was the greatest in human history, according to a new study.

The Biden administration on Thursday warned the Solomon Islands that the United States will take unspecified action against the South Pacific nation should its recently concluded cooperation agreement with China pose a threat to U.S. or allied interests. The White House said the message was delivered directly to the country’s leadership by a visiting senior U.S. delegation. The delegation expressed concern that the deal with China raises questions about its scope and purpose, according to the White House, which also lamented transparency in the agreement and cast doubt on Solomon Islands' officials' claims that the deal was purely domestic.

The announcement, coming right before a U.S. envoy was to visit, has stirred fears among local opposition leaders and U.S. allies that the deal could lead to a Chinese military presence in the islands.

Firefighters have contained a massive blaze at a central California food processing plant that prompted authorities to tell thousands of nearby residents to evacuate and to order tens of thousands more to stay inside their homes. (April 14)

Elon Musk, Twitter's biggest shareholder with a 9% stock in the company, is offering to buy it for $41.3 billion.

Russia Ukraine War In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, April 10, 2022. She said the plane wouldn’t fly directly into Ukraine as most military equipment is transported into the country by land. Ardern said that brings New Zealand’s total contribution to the war effort to NZ$30 million ($20 million) with 67 people deployed. “Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. It follows a trip on Saturday to Kyiv, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

New Zealand will send a military transport plane and a support team of 50 to Europe, as well as give money to Britain to buy weapons, as it significantly steps up its response to the war in Ukraine. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday that the C130 Hercules plane would travel throughout Europe to carry much-needed equipment and supplies to key distribution centers. Ardern said her government would also spend an additional 13 million New Zealand dollars ($9 million) on military and human rights support, including NZ$7.5 million for Britain to buy weapons and ammunition.

New Zealand Ukraine War FILE - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gestures during the post-Cabinet press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, March 7, 2022. She said her Cabinet considered on Monday further measures New Zealand could take to support Ukraine and send a strong message to Russia. “Certainly, what we as an international community are seeing are evidence of war crimes at the hands of Russia,” Ardern said. In other areas recently retaken from Russian troops, Ukrainian officials say they have recovered hundreds of slain civilians in the past few days. ___KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s prosecutor-general says the bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian troops.

A Rocket Lab Electron launcher lifted off Saturday (April 2) from the company's New Zealand site, carrying two BlackSky Earth-observing satellites to orbit.

New Zealand Prime Minister Threats Michael Cruickshank stands outside the North Shore District Court in Auckland, New Zealand, on May 20, 2020. Cruikshank on Thursday, March 31, 2022, was sentenced to one year in prison for threatening to kill Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. (New Zealand Herald via AP) (Uncredited)WELLINGTON, New Zealand — (AP) — A New Zealand man on Thursday was sentenced to one year in prison for threatening to kill Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. But it was two emails that he sent in January 2020 that crossed a line by threatening violence. In one email, Cruickshank threatened to blow Ardern's head off and in another said he would "personally wipe you off this f------ planet," The New Zealand Herald reported.

A New Zealand man on Thursday was sentenced to one year in prison for threatening to kill Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s announcement puts the island nation at the center of a debate over the future of the Indo-Pacific.

Female foreign ministers from 16 countries around the world say they’re “deeply disappointed” that Afghan girls are being denied access to secondary schools and called on the Taliban to reverse their decision

Canberra says it would be concerned if Beijing was allowed a military presence in the Solomon Islands.

New Zealand first made the offer in 2013.

Australia designed a policy of keeping boat refugees far from its shores to deter more of them from trying to make the voyage. But many critics say such policies violate human rights.

With games against Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama, a spot in the tournament is far from certain.

New Zealand Australia Refugees FILE - Refugees are pictured on Nauru on Sept. 4, 2018. Australia has finally agreed, Thursday March 24, 2022, to a longstanding New Zealand offer to resettle some of the refugees that Australia has been housing on Nauru and elsewhere. (Jason Oxenham/Pool Photo via AP, File) (Jason Oxenham)WELLINGTON, New Zealand — (AP) — Australia on Thursday accepted a longstanding New Zealand offer to resettle boat refugees it had sent to the remote island nation of Nauru. Australia did not immediately say what had prompted it to finally accept the offer, although the office of Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said the refugees that New Zealand accepts from Nauru will never be allowed to settle in Australia. The new deal with New Zealand will not apply to the 100 or so refugees who remain on Papua New Guinea.

Australia has accepted a longstanding New Zealand offer to resettle boat refugees it sent to the remote island nation of Nauru.

Virus Outbreak New Zealand People receive their booster shot at a COVID-19 vaccination station in Auckland, New Zealand on March 8, 2022. New Zealand says it will remove many of its pandemic mandates over the next two weeks as an outbreak of the omicron variant begins to wane. (Brett Phibbs/New Zealand Herald via AP) (Brett Phibbs)WELLINGTON, New Zealand — (AP) — New Zealand will remove many of its COVID-19 pandemic mandates over the next two weeks as an outbreak of the omicron variant begins to wane. A vaccine mandate will be scrapped for some workers — including teachers, police officers and waiters — though it will continue for health care and aged-care workers, border workers and corrections officers. But Ardern said modeling shows that the biggest city of Auckland is already significantly past the peak of its omicron outbreak and the rest of the country will soon follow.

New Zealand will remove many of its COVID-19 pandemic mandates over the next two weeks as an omicron outbreak begins to wane.

The helicopter pilot said it was the most dramatic rescue he's undertaken in 30 years of flying as they navigated the darkness and squally seas.

Off-spinner Nida Dar took four wickets for 10 runs as previously winless Pakistan beat the West Indies by eight wickets Monday in a match shortened to 20 overs per side at the Women’s Cricket World Cup. Pakistan’s battery of spin bowlers came into its own in sticky conditions at Seddon Park to deal a blow to the West Indies' hopes of reaching the semifinals. The West Indies managed only 89-7 from its 20 overs and Pakistan surpassed that total with seven balls to spare, led by opener Muneeba Ali's 37 from 43 balls in her first innings at the tournament.

Visualizing the effect at the global, national and local levels.

The move is meant to speed up the recovery of the island nation's pandemic-battered economy, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wednesday.

Five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Wednesday morning.

New Zealand Tourism Passengers arrive at Auckland's International Airport, in Auckland, New Zealand, Wednesday, March 16, 2022. But when the pandemic began, New Zealand enacted some of the world's strictest border controls and tourism evaporated. “I know from visiting tourism operators, and talking to their staff, how tough these past two years have been,” Ardern said. “Tourism operators finally have confirmation they can get back to business,” said Ann-Marie Johnson, a spokesperson for Tourism Industry Aotearoa. Tourism operators both large and small have made huge sacrifices but can now focus on rebuilding their businesses."

New Zealand No Potato Donna Craig-Brown holds "Doug" what was believed to be the world's largest potato in the garden of her small farm near Hamilton, New Zealand on Nov. 3, 2021. (Colin Craig-Brown via AP) (Colin Craig-Brown)WELLINGTON, New Zealand — (AP) — When is a potato not a potato? Mind you, he added, he's never tasted a gourd tuber. “He is the world’s biggest not-a-potato.”Craig-Brown said he's not done yet with chasing the potato record. Dug was self-sown but Craig-Brown said that with all his subsequent research into giant potatoes, he's ready to try and deliberately grow a record-breaking monster next season.

A New Zealand couple who believed they had dug up the world’s largest potato in the garden of their small farm near Hamilton have had their dreams turned to mash after Guinness World Records wrote to say that scientific testing had found it wasn’t, in fact, a potato after all.

When is a potato not a potato? A New Zealand couple who believed they had dug up the world's largest potato in the garden of their small farm near Hamilton have had their dreams turned to mash after Guinness wrote to say that scientific testing had found it wasn't, in fact, a potato after all. Colin Craig-Brown, who first hit the tuber with a hoe last August when gardening with his wife Donna, said it sure looked and tasted like a potato.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says her nation is “ready to welcome the world back” with most tourists allowed to return by May as the nation continues to ease its coronavirus restrictions.

Three years after the deadly shootings, a victim of the shootings travels more than 200 miles on foot and by bike to retrace the gunman's journey.

New Zealand Mosque Shooting Anniversary Al Noor Mosque shooting survivor Temel Atacocugu gestures as he completes his walk from Dunedin to Christchurch on the third anniversary of the shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, March 15, 2022. The lingering injuries from being shot nine times did not stop Atacocugu from completing a two-week walk and bike ride for peace on Tuesday, the third anniversary of a gunman's slaughter of 51 Muslim worshippers. (George Heard/New Zealand Herald via AP) (George Heard)WELLINGTON, New Zealand — (AP) — The lingering injuries from being shot nine times did not stop Temel Atacocugu from completing a two-week walk and bike ride for peace on Tuesday, the third anniversary of a gunman's slaughter of 51 Muslim worshippers. Atacocugu set out to retrace the gunman's 360-kilometer (224-mile) drive from Dunedin to the two Christchurch mosques where he carried out his attack. An online donations page showed that by Tuesday afternoon, Atacocugu had raised about 64,000 New Zealand dollars ($43,000) for three charities benefitting children.

The lingering injuries from being shot nine times did not stop Temel Atacocugu from completing a two-week walk and bike ride for peace on the third anniversary of a gunman’s slaughter of 51 Muslim worshippers.

The milestone comes as COVID-19 cases wane across the United States and in Florida.

Bryn Perry, from Pembrokeshire, recycles leftover whey from his cheese-making to produce the spirit.

New Zealand's approach to the virus has shifted, moving from elimination to something approaching acceptance as the omicron variant has taken hold.

Experts say New Zealand's actions have likely saved thousands of lives by allowing the nation to mostly avoid earlier, more deadly variants and buying time to get people vaccinated.

Virus Outbreak New Zealand A health worker gives out Rapid COVID-19 antigen self-test kits at the Waipareira Trust drive-in COVID-19 testing station in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. But virus hospitalizations have been rapidly rising, hitting a record of more than 750 on Tuesday and putting strain on the system. One factor that hastened the outbreak was the return of thousands of university students to campuses around the country last month. He said cases appeared to be plateauing or even starting to dip in the largest city of Auckland, while still rising elsewhere. She said the rising number of both patients and infected health workers had prompted the relaxation in the rules around when health workers could return to hospitals.

Back in August, New Zealand’s government put the entire nation on lockdown after a single community case of the coronavirus was detected.

Back in August, New Zealand's government put the entire nation on lockdown after a single community case of the coronavirus was detected. It was the latest sign of just how radically New Zealand's approach to the virus has shifted, moving from elimination to suppression and now to something approaching acceptance as the omicron variant has taken hold. Experts say New Zealand's sometimes counterintuitive actions have likely saved thousands of lives by allowing the nation to mostly avoid earlier, more deadly variants and buying time to get people vaccinated.

New Zealand police say they will review hours of cellphone footage taken by themselves, the media and the public to identify lawbreakers.

Thick black smoke billowed across the grounds of New Zealand’s Parliament and sirens blared as retreating protesters against coronavirus vaccine mandates set fire to tents, mattresses and chairs.

New Zealand is ending a requirement that incoming travelers isolate themselves.

The number of cars and trucks blocking the streets outside New Zealand’s Parliament was thinning Friday, but more protesters were expected to arrive for the weekend, including some by boat.

Police in New Zealand's capital say a protester drove a car toward a police line, narrowly avoiding officers, and other protesters sprayed officers with a stinging substance.

Meikayla Moore scored a hat trick against the U.S. — of own goals.

The Philippines joins New Zealand in its decision to reject Myanmar under the world’s largest free trade pact that took effect this year.

New Zealand says it will not deal with Myanmar under a major 15-nation trade agreement, the world’s largest that took effect this year, citing the deadly violence and democratic setbacks in the Southeast Asian country after the military seized power.

New Zealand’s prime minister says protesters who oppose coronavirus mandates are using “intimidation and harassment,” as the convoy of demonstrators continues to disrupt the capital of Wellington.

Some countries might send in a riot squad to disperse trespassing protesters.

Hundreds of people protesting vaccine and mask mandates drove in convoy to New Zealand’s capital and converged outside Parliament as lawmakers reconvened after a summer break.

Did you watch any of these inspirational stories over the weekend?

The land of the long white cloud has its first Winter Olympics gold medal.

Lydia Ko has outlasted Danielle Kang in chilly conditions for a 69 and a one-shot victory in the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio.

A pregnant New Zealand reporter has chosen Afghanistan as a temporary base for her uphill fight to return home because of her country's stringent COVID-19 entry rules.

If you ever had a doubt, and wondered about whether rock ‘n’ roll was a dying genre, go to a Courtney Barnett show.

The incredible story of a retired carpenter who survived overnight in the ocean after the Tonga tsunami swept him out to sea appeared to fit with events at the time, a top New Zealand official says.

Dozens of former guests from New Zealand, Australia, the U.S. and elsewhere are raising money to help the owners of the Ha’atafu Beach Resort in Tonga after it was destroyed by a tsunami.

New Zealand is among the few remaining countries to have avoided any outbreaks of the omicron variant.

The first flights carrying fresh water and other aid to Tonga finally arrived after the Pacific nation’s main airport runway was cleared of ash left by a huge volcanic eruption.

Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings” series has forged a name for itself.

New Zealand and Australia have sent military surveillance flights to assess the damage caused by a huge undersea volcanic eruption in Tonga.

The tsunami threat around the Pacific from a huge undersea volcanic eruption has begun to recede, while the extent of damage to Tonga remains unclear.

China is dismissing the decision by Canada and the United Kingdom to join Washington's diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games as a “farce."

Bars, restaurants and gyms have reopened in Auckland as the last major parts of a lockdown that lasted more than 100 days ended.

The new U.S. ambassador to New Zealand says he wants to find areas of common ground with China in a region where tensions often run high.

Australia and New Zealand will each stage 24 games in the group stage when the countries host the Women’s World Cup for the first time in 2023.

New Zealand will send up to 65 military and police personnel to the Solomon Islands in the coming days after rioting and looting broke out there last week over several issues, including concerns about the country's increasing links with China.

The emergence of the omicron variant isn’t changing New Zealand’s plans to ease restrictions in Auckland and move the nation into a new, more open phase of its pandemic response.

A year after suffering a huge election loss, New Zealand’s conservative opposition leader Judith Collins has been ousted by her caucus.

Asian shares are mostly lower as worries about inflation set off expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve might accelerate its plans to raise interest rates.

More than a decade after a methane explosion killed 29 workers at a New Zealand coal mine, police say they have finally found at least two of the bodies thanks to new camera images.

Mitchell Marsh and David Warner smashed half centuries as Australia won its first cricket T20 World Cup with an eight-wicket victory over New Zealand in the final.

Young people living in Pacific Rim countries want to see more ambition from their leaders when it comes to tackling climate change and to see money devoted to a shared fund to prepare for future pandemics.

Making coronavirus vaccines more accessible and reducing carbon emissions were two key pledges agreed to by top Pacific Rim lawmakers.