New Zealand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand police said Friday they had arrested two British men after finding a huge stash of methamphetamine in an Auckland apartment that would have been worth tens of millions of dollars if sold on the street.

Police said they’ve been targeting a foreign criminal organization working in New Zealand as part of what they’re calling Operation Essex. They say the bust was one of the largest of its type in New Zealand.

08 August 2019; DW: The meter-tall "Heracles inexpectatus" roamed New Zealand nearly 20 million years ago. Scientists say it may have eaten other parrots with a beak that "could crack wide open anything it fancied."

Scientists in New Zealand have uncovered the remains of a gigantic parrot that roamed the country some 20 million years ago.

WELLINGTON, July 22 (Xinhua) -- A 3.9-magnitude earthquake with a depth of 7 km hit New Zealand's Christchurch at 8:43 a.m. local time on Monday.

"Just another reminder that the Christchurch aftershock sequence is still ongoing," New Zealand's GeoNet said on its Twitter account.

It came after a magnitude 3.5 earthquake on Saturday night.

According to the GeoNet website, Over 4,000 people reported they felt the jolt just before 9 a.m.

Wellington, Jul 16 (AFP) New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday joined international condemnation of US President Donald Trump's xenophobic tweets about progressive Democrat congresswomen.

Ardern, the charismatic young leader who has been hailed as "the anti-Trump" by US media, said she proudly celebrated her country's diversity.

"Usually I don't get into other people's politics, but it will be clear to most people that I completely and utterly disagree with him," Ardern told Radio New Zealand.

WELLINGTON, July 16 (Xinhua)-- New Zealand announced on Tuesday a new digital platform which aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash announced details of the new Business Connect platform, which received 7.1 million New Zealand dollars over two years in Budget 2019.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Dozens of Christchurch gun owners on Saturday handed over their weapons in exchange for money, in the first of more than 250 planned buyback events around New Zealand after the government outlawed many types of semi-automatics.

Police said they paid more than 430,000 New Zealand dollars ($288,000) to 169 gun owners during the event. The money was paid directly into the bank accounts of gun owners.

20 June 2019; DW: The government hopes the gun buyback scheme will rid society of the rapid-fire type used in the white supremacist attack on two Christchurch mosques. A firearms spokeswoman says owners feel "ripped off."

A weapons buyback scheme officially went into effect in New Zealand Thursday. The gun reform law had passed in April in a 119-to-1 vote by parliament.

WELLINGTON, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Two people died following a crash between a car and a train in eastern Bay of Plenty in New Zealand on Wednesday morning.

The crash, on Pongakawa School Road near Te Puke, was reported to local police around 8:15 a.m. local time.

It is confirmed by local fire and emergence service that two people have died in the crash.

It is reported by local media that the victims weren't local residents.

Motorists are urged to avoid the area while emergency services are dealing with the scene.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A Christchurch businessman who shared a video of worshippers being slaughtered at a New Zealand mosque was sentenced on Tuesday to 21 months in prison.

Philip Arps had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing the video, which was livestreamed on Facebook by a gunman on March 15 as he began killing 51 people at two mosques.

Christchurch District Court Judge Stephen O’Driscoll said that when questioned about the video, Arps had described it as “awesome” and had shown no empathy toward the victims.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck an arc of islands off New Zealand on Sunday, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said it may cause only minor sea level changes in some coastal areas.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake hit a spot about 873 kilometers (541 miles) northeast of Ngunguru, New Zealand, a town of about 1,400 people. It occurred at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).

The area the quake struck is called the Kermadec Islands, about 800 kilometers (497 miles) northeast of New Zealand’s North Island.