New Zealand

NZ Pandemic Strategy In Doubt Amid Delta Spread

The arrival of the Delta strain in New Zealand has prompted the country’s COVID-19 response minister to question the efficacy of its ambitious elimination strategy - an approach that has been the backbone of the country’s pandemic response.Chris Hipkins told current affairs programme Q+A on Sunday that Delta raised “big questions about the long-term future of our plans”.“Delta does raise some big questions that we’re going to have to grapple with, you know less than a 24-hour period for someo

23 August 2021
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RCEP Fails To Promote A People-Centred ASEAN

The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on 15 November, 2020 marks a milestone for East Asian regionalism. It shows ASEAN’s determination to unify existing ASEAN+1 trade agreements and to showcase the bloc’s central role in regional cooperation. As former Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa noted recently, the RCEP was “a response by ASEAN leaders to a series of initiatives that did not provide for ASEAN centrality”.

5 December 2020
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China Alone

In his most recent New Year’s speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that 2020 would be “a milestone.” Xi was right, but not in the way he expected. Far from having “friends in every corner of the world,” as he boasted in his speech, China has severely damaged its international reputation, alienated its partners, and left itself with only one real lever of power: brute force. Whether the prospect of isolation thwarts Xi’s imperialist ambitions, however, remains to be seen.

24 August 2020
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New Zealand Court Set To Sentence Mosque Shooter

The sentencing of an Australian white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers in New Zealand - and live-streamed the massacre - was set to begin amid tight security in a Christchurch court on Monday.The court building - where Brenton Tarrant will hear statements from 66 survivors - was sealed off with large orange barriers as armed police stood guard.Sniffer dogs checked lines of court staff and media queueing at security points on a grey, rainy morning in the South Island city.&nbsp

24 August 2020
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Asia Virus Latest

Here are the latest developments from Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic: Japan Lifts Emergency For Most RegionsJapan's prime minister lifted a state of emergency imposed due to the coronavirus for the majority of the country but kept it in place for top cities Tokyo and Osaka.

17 May 2020
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Deadly New Zealand volcano eruption

Tales of heroism, devastation and horrifying injuries emerged Tuesday after New Zealand's smouldering White Island volcano exploded, killing an estimated 14 people and turning what should have been an intrepid day trip into a nightmare.The number of confirmed fatalities rose to six Tuesday night after an injured person died in an Auckland hospital, police said.Eight more people were presumed dead after Monday's eruption, while dozens of others injured were being treated in hospital

11 December 2019
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Tech giants pledge to stamp out extremism

Major tech firms on Wednesday pledged to come up with new measures for stamping out violent extremist content on the internet, amid growing pressure from governments pushing for action in the wake of the massacres at two New Zealand mosques in March.Executives from Google, Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft met with the leaders of France, New Zealand and other countries in Paris to unveil the "Christchurch Call" of voluntary commitments for online platforms.It was named for the city wh

16 May 2019
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New Zealand's PM vows never to speak killer's name

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed Tuesday never to utter the name of the twin-mosque gunman as she opened a sombre session of parliament with an evocative "as salaam alaikum" message of peace to Muslims. "He will face the full force of the law in New Zealand," Ardern promised grieving Kiwis, while promising that she would deprive the man who slaughtered 50 people in Christchurch of the publicity he craved."He sought many things from his act of t

19 March 2019
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49 Killed In Terror Attack On New Zealand Mosques

A "right-wing extremist" armed with semi-automatic weapons rampaged through two mosques in the quiet New Zealand city of Christchurch during afternoon prayers Friday, killing 49 worshippers and wounding dozens more.The attack, thought to be the deadliest against Muslims in the West in modern times, was immediately dubbed terrorism by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, as she guided a shocked nation on one of its "darkest days."The attacker live-streamed footage of him going ro

16 March 2019
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