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Travelers to New Zealand will no longer need to isolate

Editorial Bureau February 28, 2022

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand is ending a requirement that incoming travelers isolate themselves as it continues to remove coronavirus border protections in the face of a growing domestic outbreak. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday said the requirement that vaccinated travelers

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Trench warfare? New Zealand tries to flush out protesters

Editorial Bureau February 13, 2022

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Some countries might send in a riot squad to disperse trespassing protesters. In New Zealand, authorities turned on the sprinklers and Barry Manilow. Initial moves to try and flush out several hundred protesters who have been camped on Parliament’s grassy grounds since Tuesday had little effect. The protesters, who have been […]

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New Zealand convoy protesters clog streets near Parliament

Editorial Bureau February 8, 2022

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Hundreds of people protesting vaccine and mask mandates drove in convoy to New Zealand’s capital on Tuesday and converged outside Parliament as lawmakers reconvened after a summer break. The mostly unmasked protesters had driven from around the country, and their vehicles clogged the central Wellington streets for hours as they got […]

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New Zealand to end quarantine stays and reopen its borders

Editorial Bureau February 3, 2022

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand’s government on Thursday said it will end its quarantine requirements for incoming travelers and reopen its borders, a change welcomed by thousands of citizens abroad who have endured long waits to return home. Since the start of the pandemic, New Zealand has enacted some of the world’s strictest border […]

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New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern isolates after virus exposure

Editorial Bureau January 30, 2022

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said late Saturday she is self-isolating after coming into close contact with a person infected with the coronavirus. The exposure came on a flight from the town of Kerikeri to the largest city of Auckland. New Zealand’s Governor-General Cindy Kiro was also on the Jan. […]

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New Zealand adds new COVID restrictions as omicron spreads

Editorial Bureau January 23, 2022

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealanders are set to face new COVID-19 restrictions after nine cases of the omicron variant were detected in a single family that flew to Auckland for a wedding earlier this month, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Sunday. The so-called “red setting” of the country’s pandemic response includes heightened measures such […]

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New Zealand says it won’t use lockdowns when omicron spreads

Editorial Bureau January 20, 2022

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand is among the few remaining countries to have avoided any outbreaks of the omicron variant — but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Thursday an outbreak was inevitable and the nation would tighten restrictions as soon as one was detected. But she also said that New Zealand would not impose […]

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Two awarded top bravery honor in New Zealand mosque attack

Editorial Bureau December 16, 2021

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Two Muslim worshippers who at different times charged toward a gunman to try and stop his massacre were each awarded New Zealand’s highest honor for civilian bravery on Thursday. Both men are credited with helping save others in the 2019 attack at two Christchurch mosques in which 51 people were killed. […]

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New Zealand’s plan to end smoking: A lifetime ban for youth

Editorial Bureau December 9, 2021

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand’s government believes it has come up with a unique plan to end tobacco smoking — a lifetime ban for those aged 14 or younger. Under a new law the government announced Thursday and plans to pass next year, the minimum age to buy cigarettes would keep rising year after […]

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New US ambassador to New Zealand seeks to work with China

Editorial Bureau December 2, 2021

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Tom Udall, the new U.S. ambassador to New Zealand, says he wants to find areas of common ground with China in a region where tensions often run high. Udall, a former U.S. senator from New Mexico, held his first press conference in his new role Thursday after presenting his credentials a […]