New Zealand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand jury on Friday found a man guilty of murder in the death of 22-year-old British backpacker Grace Millane.

Millane died last December on her birthday after meeting the man through the dating app Tinder, going out for drinks with him, and then returning to his hotel apartment in central Auckland.

Prosecutors said the man strangled Millane to death. Defense lawyers claimed the death was accidental after the pair engaged in consensual erotic choking that went too far.

Wellington, Nov 19 (AFP/PTI) Foreign investors hoping to buy New Zealand's strategic assets will now have to convince the government it is in the national interest, officials said Tuesday, while denying the rules targeted China.

New rules will for the first time give the government power to reject overseas investments in sensitive areas if it decides they could be detrimental to the country, Associate Finance Minister David Parker said.

Wellington, Nov 13 (AFP/PTI) New Zealand's central bank held interest rates at a record low on Wednesday but said it was ready to step in with stimulus to support the struggling economy.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept borrowing costs at 1.0 percent, confounding forecasts for a cut to 0.75 percent.

Officials said that since its last reduction in August economic developments "do not warrant a change to the already stimulatory monetary setting at this time", although the immediate future did not look promising.

WELLINGTON, Oct 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — New Zealand’s Chief Censor said he had banned a video game that appeared to glorify the mass shooting in Christchurch earlier this year that killed 51 Muslim worshippers.

In an attack broadcast live on Facebook, a lone gunman armed with semi-automatic weapons targeted Muslims attending prayers in two Christchurch mosques on March 15, killing 51 people and wounding dozens.

WELLINGTON, Oct 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — New Zealand police on Friday announced the introduction of armed patrols in response to the Christchurch mosques massacre in which 51 Muslim worshippers were killed.

The force prides itself on operating largely as an unarmed service, but Commissioner Mike Bush said changes needed to be implemented after the worst mass shooting in modern New Zealand history in March.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Six months after a gunman killed 51 people at two Christchurch mosques, New Zealand’s government is planning further restrictions to gun ownership.

A bill introduced to Parliament on Friday would create a register to track all the guns in the country and require gun owners to renew their gun licenses every five years instead of every 10. It would also place new responsibilities on doctors to notify police if they believe a gun owner shouldn’t have a license due to concerns over the owner’s mental health.

WELLINGTON, Sept 4 (NNN-XINHUA) – The Chinese embassy in New Zealand confirmed today (Wednesday), that six Chinese tourists died, in a serious bus crash near New Zealand’s Rotorua.

An official from the Chinese embassy in New Zealand told Xinhua that, the passengers on the bus belonged to a tour group from China’s Sichuan province.

The Chinese embassy announced that, it launched an emergency response mechanism. Wu Xi, Chinese ambassador to New Zealand, leading the embassy working group, is heading to the scene.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A bus carrying a group of Chinese tourists crashed Wednesday near a popular New Zealand tourist town. Chinese officials say they’ve been told six tourists were killed, although police have yet to confirm a number.

Police said the bus rolled on a highway about 20 minutes north of the town of Rotorua.

Liang Zhi, a diplomat from the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, told The Associated Press that they understand the bus was carrying the driver, a tour guide, and 23 tourists, most of them from the Sichuan province.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Some New Zealand gun owners are upset they’re being compelled to hand over their assault weapons for money. Others believe a government-imposed ban on certain semi-automatics following a March shooting massacre is the best way to combat gun violence. And The Associated Press has found at least one man may have tried to swindle hundreds of thousands of dollars from the system set up to compensate gun owners.

15 August 2019; AFP: Officials in New Zealand apologised Thursday after the alleged Christchurch mosque gunman was allowed to send a letter from prison espousing "hateful" views that a supporter then shared online.

Australian Brenton Tarrant is in a maximum-security jail in Auckland awaiting trial for the murder of 51 Muslim worshippers on March 15 in the worst mass shooting in modern New Zealand history.