New Zealand

Stories 501 - 520 | << Prev   Next >>

'Lesbian' Albatrosses Raising Baby

Father is out of the picture, but baby is doing fine

(Newser) - Two female partners recruited a sperm donor and are now successfully raising a baby together—but no, they're not witnesses in the recent Prop 8 trial—they're not even human. The ladies are a pair of royal albatrosses living in a New Zealand breeding colony, and a head ranger calls...

Girl, 14, Battles Shark With Boogie Board

Quick-thinking teen thwarts New Zealand shark attack

(Newser) - A 14-year-old New Zealand girl managed to fight off an attacking 5-foot shark armed only with a boogie board. Lydia Ward was attacked after stepping on a "big, gray, slippery thing" in waist-high water off the southern city of Invercargill. The shark wrapped its jaws around her waist but...

Sex-Crazed Parrot Now NZ 'Spokesbird'
 Sex-Crazed 
 Parrot Now 
 NZ 'Spokesbird' 
NEW & IMPROVED PUBLIC OFFICIAL
Feb 2, 2010 4:31 AM CST

Sex-Crazed Parrot Now NZ 'Spokesbird'

Kakapo that molested BBC presenter gets government job

(Newser) - New Zealand's prime minister has given a government job to the country's most famous—and probably most sexually adventurous—parrot. Sirocco, one of a rare species of flightless parrots called "kakapo," has been appointed as the country's "spokesbird for conservation." Sirocco became famous last year when...

Air New Zealand Offers Beds in Coach

3-seat 'Skycouch' designed for couples, families

(Newser) - Beds in the sky aren't just for first and business-class passengers any more, says Air New Zealand. The airline unveiled its new "Skycouch" seat design today, which allows couples or passengers with children to turn three seats into a bed by lifting armrests and a footrest. Passengers buying the...

New Zealand Men Greet William With Kisses

Plus, some sausage-wielding prankster crashes prince's BBQ

(Newser) - The Brits may not be known as overly touchy-feely, but Prince William got up close and personal with four grown (and apparently sweaty) men today, as New Zealand's Maori leaders greeted Wills with a traditional hongi, or nose-mashing "kiss." The prince yesterday began his first official visit on...

10 Places Not to Visit in 2010
 10 Places Not to Visit in 2010 
NON-TRAVEL
Jan 12, 2010 12:18 PM CST

10 Places Not to Visit in 2010

Can't afford a vacation? Don't worry about skipping these locales

(Newser) - Sure, you could read one of the many lists of destinations you should visit this year—but in this economic climate, wouldn’t it be more useful to check out a list of places not to visit? Hailey Eber thinks so, and gives her top 10 in BlackBook :
  • Oymyakon, Russia:
...

France No. 1 in Quality of Life

 France No. 1 
 in Quality of Life 

US IS No. 7
Jan 7, 2010 2:00 PM CST

France No. 1 in Quality of Life

It's No. 1 on list, with the US at No. 7

(Newser) - International Living crunches the numbers on everything from cost of living to health care to climate to find the nations with the best quality of life. France tops the list, with the US at No. 7. A sampling:
  • France (No. 1): "Tiresome bureaucracy and high taxes" can't trump
...

Sydney Starts Off 2010 With a Bang

Australian city gets drop on New Zealand with early display

(Newser) - Sydney welcomed 2010 a little early this year, with a 9pm fireworks display over the harbor for the family crowd. That hour in Australia happens to fall at midnight in Auckland, New Zealand, which usually lays claim to the first big celebration of the New Year, but appears to have...

Woman Hit by Car— After Flashing Drivers

Woman fined $200 for drunken escapade that landed her in hospital

(Newser) - An 18-year-old New Zealand woman had to go to the hospital and pay a fine after a drunken dare—flash oncoming traffic—caused one motorist to plow into her. Cherelle Dudfield escaped the accident with minor cuts and bruises, but police were not amused. “This girl put herself at...

Risqu&eacute; Xmas Ad Sparks Anger
 Risqué Xmas Ad Sparks Anger 
Dec 17, 2009 3:50 AM CST

Risqué Xmas Ad Sparks Anger

Catholics offended by Anglican church billboard

(Newser) - A New Zealand Anglican vicar trying to be funny by putting a sheepish Joseph naked in bed with Mary on a billboard has infuriated Catholics. "Poor Joseph, God was a hard act to follow," reads the ad. The idea "was to lampoon and ridicule the idea of...

New Zealander Injects Wife With His Own HIV

Hoped common illness would aid marriage, she'd have sex again

(Newser) - An HIV-positive New Zealander faces 14 years in prison for infecting his wife with the virus in hopes that she would start sleeping with him again. The husband allegedly pricked her with a sewing needle laced with his blood because she—who had tested negative after his diagnosis—stopped having...

Icebergs Drift Toward New Zealand

Over 100 floating chunks headed north from Antarctica

(Newser) - A rare flotilla of icebergs is slowly drifting toward New Zealand from Antarctica. Shippers have been warned that more than 100 giant chunks of ice are in the area. Experts believe most of the icebergs will break up before they hit the coast. Enterprising Kiwis are arranging helicopter tours to...

Giant Iceberg Floats Toward NZ
 Giant Iceberg 
 Floats Toward NZ 
SO LONG, ANTARCTICA
Nov 13, 2009 2:56 AM CST

Giant Iceberg Floats Toward NZ

Chunk of Antarctica spotted unusually far north

(Newser) - A gigantic iceberg drifting unusually far north has been spotted by Australian researchers off an island south of Tasmania. The chunk of ice, 2,300 feet long and 1,000 feet deep, is floating toward New Zealand and could pose a danger to shipping when it splits into smaller chunks....

Shark Babies Born in Bite
 Shark Babies Born in Bite 
Nov 11, 2009 3:30 AM CST

Shark Babies Born in Bite

Aquarium stunned by surprise birth

(Newser) - Never mind nurse sharks: A New Zealand aquarium appears to be home to a midwife shark. A shark there bit another in the midsection, effectively giving it a Caesarean section and causing four babies to swim out of the wound as shocked visitors looked on. Staffers found four more babies...

South Pacific Avoids Tsunami After Big Earthquakes

Warning issued after off Vanuatu, canceled after only small wave materializes

(Newser) - Tsunami warnings for a swath of the South Pacific—including American Samoa, Australia and New Zealand—issued after a pair of strong underwater earthquakes have been canceled after only a small wave materialized. Many residents had already moved to higher ground after the 7.8 and 7.1 temblors; American...

Post-Quake Tsunami Kills 34 in Samoa
 Post-Quake Tsunami 
 Kills 34 in Samoa 
UPDATED
Sep 29, 2009 6:34 PM CDT

Post-Quake Tsunami Kills 34 in Samoa

8.3-magnitude temblor rattles American Samoa

(Newser) - An 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck the area around American Samoa today, generating a tsunami that killed as many as 34 in the US territory and adjacent Samoa, an independent state. The waves at Pago Pago were 5.1 feet above normal—smaller than originally feared— but tsunami warnings went up...

New Zealand Bird Gobbled Up Humans

40-pound extinct bird was the 'lion' of the skies

(Newser) - A 40-pound bird with a 10-foot-wide wingspan swooped from the sky at 134 mph to feed on large flightless birds and small humans, according to a Maori legend that scientists have now confirmed is likely true. Researchers re-examining bones of the Haast's eagle found that the bird was a hunter,...

Overfishing Plagues Filet-O-Fish's Main Ingredient

New Zealand's hoki center of overfishing controversy

(Newser) - What exactly is the fish in a Filet-O-Fish sandwich? It’s a bug-eyed creature from New Zealand called the hoki, and it is apparently under pressure from overfishing, the New York Times reports. New Zealand—while not specifically citing that cause—has been cutting the allowable catch as conservation groups...

Pig-Hunting Dog Pack Mauls NZ Jogger

(Newser) - A woman needed nine hours of surgery after being attacked by a pack of eight dogs as she jogged on New Zealand's North Island, the BBC reports. She curled into a fetal position during the 15-minute attack, a move doctors say saved her life. The dogs were eventually beaten off...

NZ Woman Rescued From Too-Friendly Dolphin

(Newser) - Moko, the famously friendly dolphin who hangs around the beach in Mahia, New Zealand, nearly accidentally killed a woman yesterday, the Gisborne Herald reports. The woman had been playing with the dolphin, and it refused to let her return to shore. "When I wanted to go back in, he...

Stories 501 - 520 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser