France probably needs new lockdown as early as February: top adviser
France probably needs to move into a third lockdown, perhaps as early as the February school holidays, because of the circulation of new variants of...
Pasifika culture and heritage celebrated in Wellington
Pasifika communities in the Wellington region have started 2021 with a vibrant celebration of their cultural heritage. Atuhau Tupuhake - Niue Culture Group perform at...
Pines Beach scrub fire in Christchurch threatens homes
Five houses have been evacuated in Pines Beach north of Christchurch, as firefighters battle a large scrub fire. A fire at Pines Beach, near Kaiapoi...
Selwyn land sections being snapped up
Land in the Selwyn District on the outskirts of Christchurch is selling so quickly there are little-to-no sections left for new builds. Prebbleton. Photo: RNZ...
Colombia’s FARC party changes name to Comunes
Colombia’s FARC political party - which was formed following the demobilization of the guerrilla group with the same acronym - will change its name to...
Waste water leaking in central Wellington after pipe bursts
A wastewater pipe has burst at the intersection of Victoria Street and Mercer Street in central Wellington. Orange circle indicate where the pipe has burst...
Covid-19 update: Ministry narrows down transmission link of Northland case to MIQ
The latest community Covid-19 patient is highly likely to have caught the disease directly from a person on the same floor as her in managed...
Dutch police detain 240 nationwide as anti-lockdown protests turn violent
Rioters looted stores, set fires and clashed with police in several Dutch cities on Sunday, resulting in more than 240 arrests, police and Dutch media...
Indonesia’s coast guard seizes Iranian and Panamanian tankers
Indonesia said on Sunday its coast guard had seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya vessels over suspected illegal fuel transfers off...
Australia says it will spend $770 million on navy weapons development
Australia will spend A$1 billion ($770 million) developing new naval weaponry capabilities, including long-range missiles and torpedoes, the federal government said on Monday, part of...
UK to launch global climate adaptation effort with partner countries
Britain will team up with Egypt, Bangladesh, Malawi, Saint Lucia and the Netherlands to help communities around the world that are threatened by climate change...
‘This is totally on the government’ – anger grows in Northland after community case revealed
Police are keeping an eye on lengthy queues at new testing centres in Northland, as locals scramble to work out if Covid-19 has spread in...
Graeme Hart’s $3.4b gain proves need for taxing wealth – Oxfam
New Zealand's richest man, Graeme Hart, made $3.4 billion during the Covid-19 pandemic, reinforcing the urgent need for a wealth tax to help fix inequality,...
Japanese govt’s approval rating weakens over pandemic response: poll
Support for Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s government has weakened mainly due to unhappiness with its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, an Asahi newspaper poll...
China’s daily COVID cases rise, driven by previously asymptomatic patients
China reported a climb in new COVID-19 cases driven by a spike in infections among previously symptomless patients in northeastern Jilin province, official data showed...
Stolen but not silent: Indigenous Australians protest national celebrations
As Australia prepares for its national day of festivities on Jan. 26, Indigenous woman Rita Wright will be protesting the celebrations at a march in...
Mexican president contracts COVID-19 after worst week of pandemic
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Sunday he had tested positive for COVID-19 amid the country’s deadliest week yet in the coronavirus pandemic,...
Pacific island nations turn to Beijing-backed AIIB as pandemic sinks economies
Pacific island nations are turning to China-led agencies to plug funding gaps in their pandemic-ravaged budgets after exhausting financing options from traditional western partners, stoking...
U.S. rejoins fight against climate change at high level summit
The United States will mark its return to the global fight against climate change on Monday by joining high level talks on ways to better...
Trump did not receive accurate coronavirus data, COVID official deduces
Former White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx implied that President Donald Trump may have been depending on inaccurate data about the virus. US...
Armenians unite in prayer across the Israeli-Jordanian divide
Armenian priests stood in two different countries but chanted the solemn epiphany service together from both sides of the Jordan River on Sunday. “Physically we...
Antisemitism is expected to rise significantly around the world in 2021
Ministry decries ‘first institutional threat to Jewish religious freedom in Europe since the Holocaust'. A float featuring antisemitic caricatures at the Aalst Carnival parade in...
China-Taiwan tensions rise days into Biden presidency
Chinese air force planes including 12 fighter jets entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone for a second day on Sunday, Taiwan said, as tensions rise...
‘Get out Bolsonaro!’ say ex-supporters in Brazil as COVID-19, vaccines weigh
Meggy Fernandes voted for Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s 2018 presidential election, attracted by the far-right former army captain’s promise to shake up a hidebound political...
Mexico’s death toll from COVID-19 set to pass grim milestone of 150,000
Crying outside a Mexico City cemetery, a family embraced the box that contained the ashes of their beloved grandmother. The grandmother had fallen ill a...
Biden speaks with France’s Macron, seeks to strengthen ties
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with French President Emmanuel Macron, expressing his desire to strengthen bilateral ties, the White House said, as Biden...
Portugal President Rebelo de Sousa wins new term in socially distanced ballot
Portugal’s centre-right President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa won a second term on Sunday, exit polls showed, in an election marked by strict health and safety...
Spanish woman who ‘died’ of COVID returned 10 days later: newspaper
An 85-year-old woman believed by her family to have died from the coronavirus surprised her relatives by returning to her care home nine days after...