Without the van, my husband and I had no urgent reason to live in Wellington. The short European adventure we had planned soon became much more One evening in 2008, a group of joyriders stole our van, named The Colombian, from a street outside Wellington, New Zealand. My sister-in-law was the first to notice and she alerted her husband, Ant, who immediately drove off in search of it. When he spotted the van parked on the beach, he called the police, who then gave chase as it drove off. After running a few red lights, the joyriders lost control and smashed into a building. The front of the van ..read more

Bags went missing in Dubai floods, with embassy staff only able to retrieve one instrument and a handful of dress uniforms for defence force musicians Australia’s and New Zealand’s defence forces are once again coming together at Gallipoli – this time to ensure New Zealand’s military band can play on. The band’s luggage was among thousands of bags lost during last week’s Dubai floods, with embassy staff only able to retrieve one instrument and a handful of dress uniforms ahead of the 25 April dawn service in Turkey ..read more

My friend Yorick Blumenfeld, who has died aged 91, was a prolific writer and futurologist with more than 25 books and 2,000 articles to his name. In the early 1960s, at the height of the cold war and worried by the risk of nuclear annihilation, Yorick and his wife, Helaine, travelled to the South Pacific with a group of friends and founded Philia, an international community near Nelson, New Zealand ..read more

Collective of Māori artists wins Golden Lion at Venice Biennale for Takapau, a large-scale installation inspired by woven mats A Māori artist collective’s dazzling, intricate canopy woven from reflective trucking straps has been awarded a prestigious global art prize – the first time a New Zealand artwork has won the award. On Saturday, the jury of the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale awarded New Zealand’s Mataaho Collective the Golden Lion for best international participation for its work Takapau – a large-scale installation inspired by Māori takapau, finely woven mats ..read more

Proposed ‘fast-track’ law could see conservation concerns ignored and projects once rejected for environmental reasons given the green light New Zealand’s parliament is considering a law that would allow major development projects to bypass environmental approvals – and that should be a cause for extreme alarm. The proposed Fast-track Approvals Bill emerged from the coalition agreements that enabled a centre-right government to form after last year’s election. Nicola Wheen and Andrew Geddis are professors of law at the University of Otago ..read more

Torran Turner points to the dangers of the current proposal; plus letters from Dave Pollard and Richard Thorley I read Prof Chris Whitty’s article with interest (This new bill could wipe out smoking – the only losers would be those who profit from it, 16 April). I have the utmost respect for his medical expertise; I have none. I am a former smoker who started young. I do not oppose legislation to bring about behavioural change, in general. But the prospect in 30 years’ time of a 50-year-old having to buy cigarettes for a 44-year-old is a practical nonsense. Either ban smoking, or don’t – I can ..read more

Big tobacco ‘working in the shadows’ blamed for killing off NZ’s pioneering plan to protect future generations UK politics – latest updates When New Zealand announced its world-first law to ban smoking for future generations it was widely hailed as a life-saving plan that would prevent thousands of smoking-related deaths, flatten out inequities in healthcare and save the economy billions of dollars. The pioneering legislation – enacted in 2022 – introduced a steadily rising smoking age to stop those born after January 2009 from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes, alongside a slew of o ..read more

As nature falls silent in most cities around the world, New Zealand’s capital has been transformed by the sound of native birds returning to the dawn chorus Read more: No birdsong, no water in the creek, no beating wings: how a haven for nature fell silent Some time in the pre-dawn darkness, the commotion starts. From her bed, Danae Mossman hears the noise building: loud romantic liaisons, vomiting, squeals, the sound of bodies hitting the pool at full tilt. Things get particularly loud between midnight and 4am, Mossman says, “when they are getting busy”. A kororā, or little penguin, colony li ..read more

Police say the sheep was shot dead after confronting officers called to the property in Waitakere, west of Auckland Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast An aggressive ram believed responsible for the deaths of an elderly New Zealand couple has been put down by police after it was found alongside the two bodies in a paddock. The NZ Herald reported the pair, aged in their early 80s, were found dead in a field of their rural property early on Thursday morning. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free mornin ..read more

Newshub owner Warner Bros Discovery strikes deal with Stuff to provide bulletins amid concerns over the country’s shrinking media market New Zealand news outlet Newshub, which is set to shut down due to economic woes, has been thrown a lifeline by local media organisation Stuff that will save its bulletins and website, in new formats. Last week, Warner Bros Discovery confirmed it would close down its New Zealand newsroom, Newshub, including its website, the morning television show and the 6pm news bulletin, resulting in the loss of roughly 300 jobs and prompting alarm over the state of New Zea ..read more