Auckland experienced its wettest day on record on Friday, in an unprecedented flood event that claimed four lives, closed Auckland Airport and damaged infrastructure and houses. The Auckland region is still under a state of emergency as more heavy rain is expected early this week. Auckland recorded 249 mm of rain on Friday, beating the […]

The Education Ministry has ordered a week-long closure of all of Auckland’s education organisations. The Ministry said that all Auckland schools, early childhood services and tertiary institutes will remain shut until 7 February for inspection. The closure applies to the area from Wellsford in the north to Pukekohe in the South. Auckland is in its […]

Auckland experienced its wettest day on record on Friday, in an unprecedented flood event that claimed four lives, closed Auckland Airport and damaged infrastructure and houses. The Auckland region is still under a state of emergency as more heavy rain is expected early this week. Auckland recorded 249 mm of rain on Friday, beating the […]

The South Korean parliament has passed a law to end Korea’s two traditional methods of counting age. From June 2023, the traditional Korean age systems will no longer be used on official documents. Only the internationally recognised, standard method will remain. The change is intended to reduce confusion by adopting the same system used in […]

New Zealand’s largest company, Fonterra, is diversifying from dairy products to high-value biotech. In response to the changing global market, with consumer demand for dairy products slowing, the dairy co-operative has recently established a Global Markets division, which will investigate new advanced consumer and biotech products. Head of the new division, Judith Swales, said global […]

The government is warning holidaymakers to take precautions as a new Covid-19 variant becomes dominant in the country. The BA.2.75 variant, which is a strain of Omicron, now makes up 39 percent of sequenced cases, and more than half of the cases in wastewater samples. It has surpassed the BA.5 variant, which was the main […]

Iwi in the Eastern Bay of Plenty have voted to accept a $100-million settlement offer from the Crown, marking an end to nearly 30 years of negotiation. The Whakatōhea iwi’s treaty settlement has been one of the longest running, with an initial $40-million offer rejected in 1996. In the Crown’s current offer, accepted by the […]

The government has adopted a new policy that requires a large portion of taxpayer-funded research to be made freely available online. The policy, which has been welcomed by scientists, follows widespread calls for open access to publicly funded research. “Opening access to research increases its impact by enabling more people to access scientific information and […]

Housing affordability for first-time buyers reached a new low in October – the lowest point since interest.co.nz’s Home Loan Affordability Report began in 2004. The report measures three indicators of housing affordability for first-time buyers: the average price of a house in the lower quartile, interest rates on mortgages and the average salary of 25–29 […]

New Zealand’s technology sector saw rapid growth over the past year, with revenue and exports up 9 percent on the year earlier, a recent report indicates. The Technology Investment Network’s (TIN) annual report on the top 200 technology companies states that the sector grew nine times faster than the rest of the economy, with a […]