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Bags went missing in Dubai floods, with embassy staff only able to retrieve one instrument and a handful of dress uniforms for defence force musiciansAustralia’s and New Zealand’s defence forces are once again coming together at Gallipoli – this time to ensure New Zealand’s military band can play on.The band’s luggage was among thousands of bags lost during last week’s Dubai floods, with embassy...

More than 350 jobs to go after Warner Bros. Discovery closes all its Newshub news operations and TVNZ cuts programs and bulletinsNew Zealand’s news media has been dealt a major blow after two of its primary news outlets announced programme closures and hundreds of job losses between them on the same day, leaving the country with just one state-owned news television service and many...

Net migration to New Zealand hit a near record high in 2023 after a new temporary work visa was introduced after the pandemicNew Zealand will tighten its visa rules for some migrants as the coalition government moves to overhaul the immigration system it says has led to “unsustainable” levels of migration.Last year, annual net migration to New Zealand hit a near record high of...

Questions asked over the place of protest in professional sport after Hurricanes Poua team in Wellington changed the lyrics for their haka just before a game A row over the role of protest in professional sport has erupted in New Zealand after a women’s rugby team called the coalition government “rednecks” during a pre-match haka.The Hurricanes Poua – the women’s rugby union team for...

Court found those responsible for tour had not conducted adequate risk assessments ahead of deadly eruptionA New Zealand court has ordered the tour booking agents and managers of an island where a volcanic eruption killed 22 people to pay survivors more than NZ$10m ($6.1m) and fined them around NZ$2.6m.Tour operators White Island Tours, Volcanic Air Safaris, Kahu New Zealand and Aerius, along with the...

Separatist fighters who seized Phillip Mehrtens say he will be released to protect humanity and safeguard human rights, but did not say whenRebels in Indonesia’s West Papua region have said they will release a New Zealand pilot who was taken hostage a year ago as a bargaining chip for their independence movement.The chief of general staff of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN-PB),...

Record crowds gather for country’s national day as fears of a wind back of Māori rights lead to angry exchangesThe Treaty of Waitangi explained in 30 secondsAs the sun arced above the Waitangi grounds, boring down on the lush green peninsula where Māori and the British Crown forged a nation in 1840, New Zealand’s new government faced the heat – less from above and...

Animals have been popping up on golf courses and surfing contests in Dunedin as they reestablish a foothold on the South IslandA growing population of sea lions in the New Zealand city of Dunedin is provoking “overlapping chaos” as their breeding season coincides with residents enjoying peak summer weather.Two sea lions gave birth on a golf course, another swam alongside competitors in a surfing...

Will Fransen was on a solo fishing trip south of Auckland in New Zealand when he was yanked into the water after hooking a big fishA New Zealand man who survived more than 23 hours in cold waters and an encounter with a shark has been rescued after fishers spotted the reflection from his watch.Will Fransen, 61, had set off on a solo fishing...

Lachlan Galbraith says he feels ‘deep regret’ for stealing a drink bottle lid, but the Hunting and Fishing store in Queenstown says embarrassment ‘is punishment enough’Ocean Alley keyboardist Lachlan Galbraith has publicly apologised after a shop in New Zealand shared CCTV footage of him shoplifting.Hunting and Fishing Queenstown uploaded footage to Facebook and Instagram showing Galbraith placing a A$17.95 drink bottle lid in his...