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  • Drought slows New Zealand economic growth

    New Zealand's economy grew by 0.3 percent in the March quarter, with the nationwide summer drought offsetting the effects of the reconstruction of the earthquake-battered Canterbury region, the government statistics agency reported Thursday. The "modest growth" in GDP followed a rise of 1.5 percent in the December 2012 quarter, said a statement from Statistics New Zealand. "The Canterbury ...

  • Duo plead not guilty to murdering Indian in New Zealand

    Two men accused of murdering an Indian-origin man in New Zealand in January have pleaded not guilty and are now headed for trial. Bryne Pelmar, 20, and Shivneel Shahil Kumar, 18, have been charged with burning alive 21-year-old Shalvin Prasad Jan 30 in south Auckland. The two appeared in the Auckland High Court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the charge, media reports said. Both the ...

  • Concerns for missing New Plymouth teen

    Source: Supplied Concerns are growing for a teeanger who has been missing from his New Plymouth home for 10 days. Nikolao Meafua, known as Niko, left his home in Bell Block on foot on Monday June 10 after an argument with his mother. Police have received some reports of sightings of Niko and have had search and rescue staff searching in Bell Block and Fitzroy, but have not tracked him down. ...

  • New Zealand’s first taxi app ‘cabchooze’ launches its Beta version in Auckland

    This week New Zealand’s first free Taxi hailing app launched its beta version, aiming to make taxi ordering easier, faster, and cheaper in Auckland. 100% New Zealand owned and operated the cabchooze app is free for riders. Its developers are lauding it to be the first of its kind in the world and believe it will transform the Taxi hailing market in New Zealand. With its Beta launch in ...

  • Largest snowfall in decades hits New Zealands South Island

    Some inland areas of New Zealand South Island's Otago and Canterbury have received on Thursday their largest snowfalls in decades in a winter storm that has cut power to thousands of people, and some coastal areas are also flooded.Christchurch and Dunedin missed out on the anticipated snow storm, but inland areas bore the brunt of the polar blast. Provincial towns and settlements have been ...

  • New Zealand burglar hands himself in after finding dead body

    New Zealand A terrified burglar in New Zealand has handed himself in to police after breaking into a house and stumbling across a dead body.His screams alerted neighbours in the North Island town of Hamilton, who thought it was a domestic dispute.Police say the man died hours before the burglary, but might otherwise not have been discovered for days.The 26-year-old burglar was arrested before ...

Movie Review

Antz

Antz

"Antz" is a funny, ambitious computer-animated fable about the battle for individuality in an environment of strict social control. It's the only animated movie I can think of that revolves around an insect worker leading a social revolution. This is an undeniably unique motion picture. If it seems odd for what is ostensibly a kid's feature to have serious underlying themes like the evil of totali ... ...

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  • Gales howl through Wellington as winter storm moves north

    The delights and dramas of South snowfall (0:35) High winds have suspended flights at Wellington Airport and hundreds of homes in the South Island are tonight without power as a winter storm continues to batter the country. Wind gusts of up to 140 kmh have been recorded in the capital as a very strong and cold southerly flow which has covered the South Island moves north. Air New Zealand ...

  • Concern over highly addictive painkiller

    Source: Thinkstock A concerted effort by health authorities has seen use of a highly addictive pain relief drug known as "hillbilly heroin" level off. In the United States oxycodone is one of a number of synthetic opiates contributing to huge scale prescription pill addiction. More Amercians are now using prescription medication than heroin, cocaine and ecstacy combined. An ...

  • Doha mall fire Nursery owners found guilty

    The owners of a Doha nursery where New Zealand's Weekes triplets died have been found guilty. The verdicts of the first four defendants on trial in the case brought after the Villaggio mall fire that killed 19 people were reached today. Also found guilty were the owner of Villaggio and its manager, Doha News reported. They were all given the maximum sentence of six years in jail for involuntary ...

  • Healthy progress made on consents

    Thursday, 20 June 2013, 6:11 pm Press Release: Christchurch City Council Thursday 20 June, 2013 Healthy progress made on consents Christchurch City Council staff have reduced the backlog of 500 building consents to 371 in just four working days. Today [20 June 2013] the Council's figures show there are 1185 current building consents being processed, with a backlog of 371 consents. ...

  • Wellington City seeks public voice on alcohol harm reduction

    The Wellington City Council has today agreed the shape of its draft Local Alcohol Policy and draft Alcohol Management Strategy for public consultation.The policy, mandated under Central Government legislation looks at the sale and availability of alcohol, including the number of outlets, their location and conditions under which they can operate. The Local Alcohol Policy has recommended ...

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