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NEWS ABOUT: New Zealand

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On New Zealand's Banned Names List: 'Mafia No Fear'

'Lucifer,' '4real' also not OK

(Newser) - The New Zealand government regulates baby names, refusing to register any it deems offensive, too close to an official title or rank, or likely to cause a lifetime of pain for the recipient. If that sounds overly authoritarian, you might change your mind after hearing some of the names it... More »

NZ Parliament Busts Out in Song on Gay Marriage

Lawmakers, observers join in after vote to legalize

(Newser) - An unusual thing happened today in the New Zealand parliament after lawmakers legalized gay marriage : Pretty much everybody started singing, lawmakers and observers alike. Slate has the video and identifies the tune as "Pokarekare Ana," a Maori love song. Gawker , meanwhile, loves this clip of MP Maurice Williamson... More »

New Zealand the 13th Country to OK Gay Marriage

Parliament passes bill 77-44

(Newser) - New Zealand today became the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to legalize gay marriage, the AP reports. Globally, it is the thirteenth country to do so. Lawmakers in Parliament voted 77 to 44 in favor of the bill, and hundreds of onlookers immediately started singing a New Zealand anthem... More »

Kiwis Hot, Bothered Over 'Porno' Tourism Logo

In New Zealand, the letter 'k' has never looked so salacious

(Newser) - It doesn't take much to get New Zealanders salivating, apparently: A new logo for a regional tourist campaign has caused a stir over its "pornographic" imagery, reports the Telegraph . The sexy symbol in question? A bisected letter "k" with the top arm curved to look like a... More »

NZ Shark Victim Was Award-Winning Director

New Zealand victim identified as Adam Strange

(Newser) - The swimmer killed today by what witnesses say was a "huge" shark was Adam Strange, an award-winning short film and commercial director, Sky News reports. After the rare attack in New Zealand, police in inflatable boats shot at and hit the shark, which is believed to have been a... More »

New Zealand Has Another Wayward Penguin

'Happy Feet Jr.' is in rough shape after long journey

(Newser) - Another penguin has managed the amazing feat of washing up on the shore of New Zealand, reports AFP . This one has been named "Happy Feet Jr." after the original wayward penguin who captivated the nation in 2011. The juvenile royal penguin is in bad shape, unfortunately, though for... More »

Woman Dies After Downing 2 Gallons of Coke Per Day

Coca-Cola not pleased with release of coroner's report

(Newser) - Heavy drinking may have led to the death of a New Zealand woman—but it wasn't alcohol she was glugging. It was Coca-Cola, TVNZ reports. She reportedly drank some 2.2 gallons (that's 18 pints) of the soda every day, AFP notes, a habit that went on for... More »

McCann Lookalike Not Maddy

DNA test results confirm New Zealand girl not missing child

(Newser) - Turns out a lookalike in New Zealand is not the long-missing Madeleine McCann. The DNA of a Queenstown girl was sent to Scotland Yard for testing, despite local police's certainty that she wasn't the British Maddy, who went missing in 2007. "Following a DNA submission, we are... More »

New Zealand in Uproar Over Quest to Eradicate Cats

Gareth Morgan dreams of a country where birds can flourish

(Newser) - Gareth Morgan is not a cat lover—and a great many New Zealanders apparently aren't a Gareth-Morgan lover. The AP reports on the environmentalist's quest to make the country a haven for native birds by getting rid of cats, and the outrage that has quickly followed. Morgan has... More »

Brits Planned Ships Made of Ice During WWII

And New Zealand tested underwater 'Tsunami Bombs'

(Newser) - Winston Churchill was so afraid of Nazi submarines targeting supply ships during WWII that he flirted with building aircraft carriers out of sheer ice, New Scientist reports. Knowing Britain could starve without US supplies, he approved a test project aimed at delivering 2,000-foot-long ice ships with 40-foot hulls that... More »

1 Shoddy Building Killed 115 in NZ Quake

Two-thirds of deaths were in building that should never have gone up: report

(Newser) - Almost two-thirds of the deaths in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake happened in a building that should never have been approved, according to a New Zealand government-ordered report. The collapse of the CTV building killed 115 of the quake's 185 victims, and the report found that the engineer who designed... More »

Most, Least Corrupt Nations

North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia fare worst in annual rankings

(Newser) - Surprise, surprise: North Korea is perceived as highly corrupt, according to Transparency International's annual rankings . The group gave 176 nations a score from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Here's a look at some of the findings:
  • Afghanistan and Somalia tied North Korea for last place, each
... More »

Obama Attends East Asia Summit Amid Sea Feud

China at center of multiple territorial disputes

(Newser) - President Obama is in Cambodia today, meeting with East Asian leaders amid a contentious territorial dispute over the South China Sea . Speaking publicly, neither Obama nor Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao responded to reporters' shouted questions about the tensions, the BBC reports. Instead, Obama referred to a "cooperative and constructive... More »

'Mount Doom' Set to Erupt

'Lord of the Rings ' volcano could disrupt 'Hobbit ' premiere

(Newser) - Temperatures are fluctuating wildly at one of two volcanoes Peter Jackson used as "Mount Doom" in his Lord of the Rings trilogy, and scientists believe an eruption at Mount Ruapehu on New Zealand's North Island could happen any day. Ruapehu is the country's largest active volcano and... More »

Cops Foil Horse Manure Attack on Prince Charles

New Zealander, 76: 'I would have done it'

(Newser) - Prince Charles avoided a stinky fate during a visit to New Zealand: Police nabbed an elderly man who admitted plans to hurl horse manure at the British royal. Sam Bacanov, 76, whom police called "a known anti-royalist," told reporters he had mixed manure with water to make it... More »

Scientists Spot Earth's Rarest Whale for 1st Time

2 spade-toothed beaked whales beach selves in New Zealand

(Newser) - Scientists have come face-to-face with the rarest whale on the planet. Two spade-toothed beaked whales beached themselves in New Zealand in 2010, and a new paper describes researchers' identification and analysis of the creatures. "Up until now, all we have known about the spade-toothed beaked whale was from three... More »

New Zealand Bans Mike Tyson

Visa revoked over rape conviction

(Newser) - Mike Tyson isn't going to be allowed into the country whose Maori people inspired his facial tattoo. The former boxing champ and convicted rapist had been due to visit New Zealand next month for an event in Auckland, but his visa was withdrawn after an outcry from women's... More »

US Ends 26-Year Ban on New Zealand Warships

Panetta pledges closer ties with Kiwis

(Newser) - Leon Panetta has patched up a Reagan-era rift between the US and New Zealand. The defense secretary announced that the US is lifting a ban on Kiwi warships in its ports that has been in place since 1986, reports the BBC . The ban was introduced after New Zealand declared itself... More »

Huge Mass of Volcanic Rocks Floating off NZ

Scientists say pumice rocks came from underwater volcano

(AP) - A mass of small volcanic rocks nearly the size of Belgium has been discovered floating off the coast of New Zealand. The stretch of golf-ball-size pumice rocks was first spotted this week by a New Zealand air force plane about 620 miles northeast of Auckland. The rocks stretch for about... More »

NZ Prostitutes Destroying Street Signs...

With pole dances

(Newser) - It seems that New Zealand's working girls have taken to attracting new customers in a rather creative way: by performing pole dances in the street, using traffic signs as the poles. The result? More than 40 bent, buckled, or otherwise busted street signs near Auckland in the past year... More »

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