New Zealand

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Schools, Parents Lawyer Up Over After-School Clubs

In New Zealand, some parents are ready to sue

(Newser) - Parents and school officials in New Zealand have turned to lawyers over the question of which students will be allowed into school musicals and sports clubs, the New Zealand Herald reports. The news that school principals, government officials, and government lawyers are huddling to plan legal strategy follows a few...

Sexed-Up 'Bachelor' Birds Could Save Their Species

Single male hihi birds can cut down inbreeding, ensure genetic diversity

(Newser) - Is the male hihi bird native to the Jersey Shore? Because, like The Situation and Pauly D, the single male birds in this endangered species (they're actually only found in New Zealand) are decidedly boorish, creeping for already taken ladies to mate with. But this actually might save the...

Sikh Man Breaks Protocol, Removes Turban to Help Boy

Harman Singh got a surprise of his own after his act of kindness

(Newser) - Harman Singh is a devout Sikh, meaning his turban stays on his head at all times when he's not in the privacy of his own home. But Singh broke religious protocol earlier this month when 5-year-old Daejon Pahia was hit by a car in Auckland, New Zealand. The 22-year-old...

World's Smallest Dolphin Could Vanish in 15 Years

Researchers call new study a 'loud wake-up call'

(Newser) - The world's smallest dolphin, found only off the coast of New Zealand, could disappear within 15 years unless efforts are taken to bring the critically endangered animal back from the brink of extinction. In what they deem a "loud wake-up call," researchers at German conservation group NABU...

New Zealand PM Sorry for Pulling Waitress's Hair

Cafe worker says he kept tugging on her ponytail

(Newser) - New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has apologized to a cafe worker who says he repeatedly pulled her ponytail when he visited the cafe near his home over a period of months, even after she'd told him to stop. The worker wrote an anonymous post today on the Daily...

AC/DC Drummer Admits Threat to Kill

Phil Rudd enters surprise guilty plea

(Newser) - AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd won't be going on trial for dirty deeds: He entered a surprise guilty plea before his trial in New Zealand could begin today and faces up to seven years in jail for threatening to kill a former employee and his daughter. The court heard that...

Pity the Fools Who Didn't Show for April 1 Car Promo

Woman nabs $37K luxury BMW after seeing April Fools' trade-in ad

(Newser) - We've become an increasingly savvy society, not as prone to fall for the hoaxes and phony ads that proliferate on April 1. Not Tianna Marsh, whose apparent naivete won her a $37,000 BMW 1 Series ride after she saw an ad in the New Zealand Herald . The front-page...

200 Whales Stranded on NZ Beach

Dozens already dead at notorious beaching spot

(Newser) - Nearly 200 pilot whales stranded themselves on New Zealand's South Island today, with hordes of rescuers rushing to the remote area in a bid to guide them back to sea. Two dozen of the 198 whales have already died despite efforts to save the creatures, which were found stranded...

Skydivers Cheat Death With Early Jump

13 escape just moments before plane crashes into lake

(Newser) - They went out to skydive for fun and ended up leaping for their lives. The pilot and all 12 skydivers on a light plane escaped without serious injury after the aircraft suffered engine failure and crashed into a lake in New Zealand today, the BBC reports. Officials say the plane...

ISIS Fighter Mistakenly Reveals Location in Tweets

New Zealander is apparently unfamiliar with geotagging

(Newser) - A New Zealander who left home to fight with ISIS in Syria made it pretty easy for authorities to track his movements—he tweeted happily away as "Kiwi Jihadi" with his geotag tracking turned on, reports the Guardian . The mistake by Mark Taylor, also known as Abu Adbul-Rahman, was...

Outrage Over Handling of Graveyard Ship

Chinese community says vessel with 499 bodies should be undisturbed

(Newser) - Last week, divers announced that they had found a ship that went down off the coast of New Zealand more than a century ago. Now, the nation's Chinese community has a message for all those figuring out what to do next: Keep your hands off it. The reason has...

Shipwreck Is Grave of 499 Who Were Already Dead

Miners were being brought from NZ to China for burial

(Newser) - The watery grave of more than 500 people has been found off the coast of New Zealand after more than a century—but most of those aboard were already dead when the SS Ventnor sank in 1902. The steamer was carrying the exhumed remains of 499 Chinese gold miners back...

Scientists Defrost, Dissect Rare Colossal Squid

Specimen is one of 2 known intact ones ever found

(Newser) - After thawing an animal that had been frozen for 8 months and some careful maneuvering with a forklift to get it into a tank, scientists were able to take a good look at the best-preserved specimen of the elusive colossal squid ever discovered. The 770-pound creature hauled up by a...

New Zealand Was Spying on Citizens, Lying About It

PM's claims to contrary 'false,' says Edward Snowden with election days away

(Newser) - Edward Snowden's latest revelations target New Zealand: The country's leaders repeatedly told the public that they weren't working on a domestic spying program, the whistleblower says, when in fact they were doing just that. "The Prime Minister’s claim to the public, that ‘there is...

World's 1st 'Climate Refugees' Find a Home

New Zealand accepts family from island nation of Tuvalu

(Newser) - Mark your calendar: The age of modern climate-change refugees may have just begun. New Zealand has agreed to let the family of Sigeo Alesana, a teacher, migrate from Tuvalu, a Polynesian island nation where rising salt water is said to be polluting the drinking water, the Smithsonian and Radio New...

Fishing Boat Hooks Plane—With Body

Plane likely belongs to missing NZ pilot Daroish Kraidy: cops

(Newser) - The crew aboard a New Zealand fishing boat today hauled up a surprising and gruesome catch: a small plane with a body inside. Authorities suspect the plane is a 19-foot aerobatic biplane that was home-assembled from a kit and flown by missing Auckland pilot Daroish Kraidy. The crew of the...

Prince George Sets Off on First Official Tour

He arrives in New Zealand with Prince William, Kate

(Newser) - Prince William and wife Kate arrived in New Zealand at the beginning of a three-week tour today, and they brought Prince George along—it's the eight-month-old's first official tour, the BBC reports, and just the second time he's faced the media. The royal family's first stop:...

New Zealand PM: Time for a New Flag

He promises referendum on 'post-colonial' design

(Newser) - The era of British colonialism is over and it's about time New Zealand adopted a flag without a Union Jack on it, says Prime Minister John Key. "The flag remains dominated by the Union Jack in a way that we ourselves are no longer dominated by the United...

Young Girl Suffers 100 Bites in Dog Mauling

Japanese girl survives but will need repeated surgeries

(Newser) - New Zealand doctors said today that a 7-year-old Japanese girl was bitten about 100 times during a dog mauling that has horrified many in the South Pacific nation. Zac Moaveni, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital, told reporters that the girl, Sakurako Uehara, would likely need...

Boy Going Blind Sees Dream Come True

Louie Corbett on mission to complete a visual bucket list

(Newser) - Louie Corbett's dream was to see the Boston Celtics play ball—a dream made all the more urgent due to the 12-year-old's degenerative eye disease that has stolen 50% of his sight in the past year alone and will soon render him blind. This week, the New Zealand...

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