New Zealand

Queenstown area, home to some of NZ's most expensive properties, has seen a stable-to-rising housing market as global billionaires and Australians hit by new tax system look for crisis-proof housing market

The New Zealand fashion industry has seen a wave of business closures; in a shrinking manufacturing sector, it is harder to find people to make the 'Made in New Zealand' and for businesses to absorb rising costs

An award-winning Auckland bakery has temporarily closed after receiving E-grade, the lowest possible food safety rating for a risk associated with its pest control

Major changes to school curriculum and secondary qualifications bring "knowledge-rich" learning from this school year; The reform mandates evidence-based learning in literacy, numeracy and introduces subject-based assessment system in year 12,13

A women meeting in Wellington marked a year since changes to pay equity extinguished some 180.000 claims for equal work of equal value; a request to the UN was made to investigate whether the move amounted to systemic discrimination towards women

More men from the gay and bisexual community will be able to donate blood starting 4 May, as the screening process of the New Zealand Blood Service brings key changes to a number of questions related to sexual activity of donors

'Our Freshwater 2026' report highlights worsening quality of groundwater, rivers and lakes, with increasing levels of nitrates, E.coli above legal limit, and nearly half of New Zealand's river network unsafe for swimming due to faecal contamination

Tens of thousands of people attended the annual rock and car festival Beach Hop in Whangamatā; the Beach Hop, established in 2000, has degenerated in 2026 into cases of unsuitable behavior that brought to 30 arrests, more than in the last years combined

KiwiSaver -a voluntary, work-based retirement savings scheme- will see withdrawal rules changed to help farmers, diplomats and soldiers buy their first homes, as Finance Minister observed current rules are unfair to workers in service tenancies

Farmers and businesses are taking stock of the cost of flooding that swamped paddocks and swept through Little River, Banks Peninsula, which remains under a state of emergency though State Highway 75 to Akaroa reopened and telecommunications were restored

With Lyon Farrell, Rocco Jamieson and Dane Menzies qualifying for the men’s snowboard big air final, the Kiwis accounted for a quarter of the 12-strong field at Milano-Cortina Olympics, but no medals came to New Zealand in the first day of races

Rising harassment and intimidation of migrants and faith groups prompted protests across Auckland; organizers have been denied a permit to walk across the harbour bridge last month for safety reasons and the pressure placed on the bridge's infrastructure

Helicopters airlifted 40 people to safety overnight, as slips and flooding cut off trapped motorists at Waioeka Gorge; after heavy rain hammered the area between Matawai and Ōpōtiki and as conditions rapidly deteriorated State Highway 2 remains closed