New Zealand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand has recorded its warmest June since recordkeeping began, as ski fields struggle to open and experts predict shorter southern winters in the future.

A range of factors led to the record, including more winds coming from the milder north rather than the Antarctic south, and unusually warm ocean temperatures, said Gregor Macara, a climate scientist at the government-owned National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.

WELLINGTON, Jul 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – New Zealand launched a new Ministry for Ethnic Communities today, elevating the position of the previous Office of Ethnic Communities, in a move to strengthen ethnic affairs, following the Mar 15 terrorist attack on two Christchurch mosques in 2019.

(Reuters) --- Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday that New Zealand's Muslim community should be the focus of any film about the Christchurch mosque attacks after some people raised objections to a movie focussing on her response to the bloodshed.

A film called "They Are Us" is being planned about the attacks on two mosques by a white supremacist gunman on March 15, 2019, in which 51 people were killed, the Hollywood Reporter said last week. 

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Aupito William Sio recalled the terrifying day during his childhood when police officers holding German shepherd dogs turned up at his family home before dawn and shined flashlights into their faces while his father stood there helpless.

Now the minister for Pacific peoples, Sio and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday the government would formally apologize for an infamous part of the nation’s history known as the Dawn Raids.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Tentative plans for a movie that recounts the response of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to a gunman’s slaughter of Muslim worshippers drew criticism in New Zealand on Friday for not focusing on the victims of the attacks.

Hollywood news outlet Deadline reported that Australian actor Rose Byrne was set to play Ardern in the movie “They Are Us,” which was being shopped by New York-based FilmNation Entertainment to international buyers.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Authorities in Australia and New Zealand said Tuesday they’ve dealt a huge blow to organized crime after hundreds of criminals were tricked into using a messaging app that was being secretly run by the FBI.

Police said criminal gangs thought the encrypted app called ANOM was safe from snooping when, in fact, authorities for months had been monitoring millions of messages about drug smuggling, money laundering and even planned killings.

WELLINGTON, June 6 (Xinhua) -- APEC trade ministers have committed to speeding up the cross-border flow of vaccines and related goods to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pledge came following the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting chaired by New Zealand Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O'Connor on Saturday.

"As we face the biggest health and economic crisis of our lifetimes, I was greatly heartened to see how we united to make progress. We represent half of global GDP and wanted to use trade as a force for good," O'Connor said in a statement.

Wellington, Jun 1 (AP-PTI) Floodwaters in New Zealand receded on Tuesday, leaving behind a big mess on many farms in the Canterbury region and damage to a major bridge.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters the top priority was getting transport links working again, although it was unclear how long it would take to fix the bridge that connects the town of Ashburton to the main highway south. Crews hoped to have an alternate route to the town ready by the end of the day.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand announced Tuesday it was the latest country to sign a space agreement with NASA, just as New Zealand’s nascent space industry begins to take off.

New Zealand became the eleventh signatory to the Artemis Accords, a blueprint for space cooperation and supporting the U.S. space agency’s plans to return humans to the moon by 2024 and to launch a historic human mission to Mars.

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said New Zealand was one of only a handful of nations able to launch rockets into space.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The leaders of New Zealand and Australia downplayed their differences over China and urged more investigation into the origin of the coronavirus Monday after their first face-to-face meeting in more than a year.

The two leaders also indicated an Australian-born mass murderer would remain imprisoned in New Zealand.