Page 3 - New Zealand

T20 WC fallout: Captain Williamson steps down, declines central contract

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson on Wednesday decided to forego his national contract for the 2024-25 season and also stepped down from white-ball captaincy to extend his international career, following the Black Caps' shock early exit from the T20 World Cup. "Helping push the team forward across the formats is something I'm very passionate about and something I want to keep contributing towards," the 33-year-old said in a New Zealand Cricket (NZC) release on Wednesday. "However, pursuing an overseas opportunity during the New Zealand summer means I'm unable to accept a central contract offer." The Black Caps have very little international cricket scheduled during the January window and Williamson, who had stepped down from Test captaincy in December 2022, will be available to play all three formats outside that month. "Playing for New Zealand is something I treasure, and my desire to give back to the team remains undiminished," he said. "My life outside cricket has changed, ..

Trent Boult a great servant of New Zealand and world cricket: Williamson

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson on Monday paid rich tributes to outgoing pacer Trent Boult, saying that the left-arm fast bowler will remain as a great servant of New Zealand and world cricket. Boult played his last game in T20 World Cup for New Zealand on Monday, returning with figures of 4-0-14-2 against Papua New Guinea in their seven-wicket win as the Kiwis bowed out of the competition with a win. "I think after every tournament there's a bit of reflection, this being Trent's last ICC tournament, great servant of our game and the world game," said Williamson after New Zealand's final match after failing to make it to the Super Eight round of the tournament. "(It is) sad to see him go but that's the nature of playing for a long time. As a guy, he's got such a big appetite to keep getting better, trains hard, (he is) very fit, and very clear with how he wants to operate," he said. "(Boult) held himself in great stead across formats. (He) sticks his chest out and performs well

Passenger plane lands safely in New Zealand after fire shuts down engine

A passenger plane landed safely at a New Zealand airport on Monday after a fire shut down one of its engines, the nation's fire service said. The Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 jet bound for Melbourne, Australia, landed in the New Zealand city of Invercargill after the fire forced a diversion. Fire trucks met the plane as it arrived in Invercargill about 50 minutes after takeoff from Queenstown, said Lynn Crosson, shift supervisor for Fire and Emergency New Zealand. The cause of the engine fire and the number of passengers on board the plane were not immediately known, Queenstown Airport spokesperson Catherine Nind said. Virgin Australia said in an emailed statement that the incident may have been caused by a possible bird strike. Queenstown, with a population of 53,000, is popular tourist destination on New Zealand's South Island, famous for skiing, adventure tourism and alpine vistas.

Chinese premier pledges more pandas; urges Australia to put aside issues

Chinese Premier Li Qiang's visit to Australia on Sunday focused on positive aspects of the bilateral relationship including shared giant pandas and a rebounding wine trade after he urged both countries to put aside their differences. China's most powerful leader after President Xi Jinping arrived late Saturday in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia state, which has produced most of the Australian wine entering China since crippling tariffs were lifted in March that had effectively ended a 1.2 billion Australian dollar (USD 790 million) a year trade since 2020. Li visited Adelaide Zoo, which has been home to China-born giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni since 2009, before he was to have lunch at a restaurant at an Adelaide winery. He announced that the zoo would be loaned another two pandas after the pair are due to return to China in November, China's Xinhua News Agency reported. The pair are the only pandas in the Southern Hemisphere and failed to produce offspring in ...

Chinese premier Li Qiang flies to Australia after New Zealand visit

Chinese Premier Li Qiang is due to arrive in Australia on Saturday on a relations-mending mission with panda diplomacy, rock lobsters and China's global dominance in the critical minerals sector high on the agenda. China's most powerful politician after President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Adelaide Zoo and a Chinese-controlled lithium processing plant in the Kwinana Beach industrial estate, as well as Australia's Parliament House, during a visit that will end on Tuesday. Li's visit is the first by a Chinese premier in seven years and is expected to pave the way for Xi's first journey to Australia since 2014. China initiated a reset of the bilateral relationship after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's center-left Labor Party was elected in 2022. The relationship collapsed during the previous conservative administration's almost decade in power over legislation that banned covert foreign interference in Australian politics, the exclusion of Chinese-owned telecommunications giant

China's Li visits NZ, where security fears vie with trade hopes on agenda

China's Premier Li Qiang arrived in New Zealand on Thursday, beginning a rare visit to its closest partner among Western democracies, where a celebration of trade links is expected to vie with concerns about South Pacific security on Wellington's agenda. China's No. 2 official, Li is the first Chinese premier to visit New Zealand since a 2017 visit by Li Keqiang. He will also visit Australia and Malaysia, China's Foreign Ministry said this week. The trip coincides with easing tensions between Australia and China that have vexed the relationship in recent years. New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is expected to salute trade links with China in public statements this week. China is the South Pacific nation's largest trading partner, with two-way trade worth 36 billion New Zealand dollars (USD 22 billion). They signed a bilateral free trade agreement in 2008 China's first with an Organisation for Cooperation and Development nation and the visit marks the 10th anniversary o

New Zealand rejects nearly 40% of Indian student visas: Here's why

New Zealand's international student dream may be turning sour, especially for Indian applicants

New Zealand budget expected to offer tax cuts, worsening outlook

The government has asked most departments and ministries to cut between 6.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent of their operating allowances

New Zealand proposes 6.6% cut in its defence spending amid personnel woes

The cuts put New Zealand at odds with many of its traditional partners, such as Australia and Japan, which are ramping up spending in response to China's growing military presence in the region

New Caledonia unrest: Oz, New Zealand send planes to evacuate nationals

The Australian and New Zealand governments announced on Tuesday they were sending planes to evacuate their nationals from violence-scorched New Caledonia. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed Australia had received clearance from French authorities for two flights to evacuate citizens and other tourists from New Caledonia amid violent unrest that has beset the French Pacific archipelago where indigenous people have long sought independence from France. We continue to work on further flights, Wong wrote on the social media platform X on Tuesday. The Department of Foreign Affairs said 300 Australians were in New Caledonia. New Zealand also announced it was sending a plane on Tuesday to evacuate 50 of its nationals from Noumea, the Pacific island's capital, in the first in a series of proposed flights to bring its citizens home. New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days and bringing them home has been an urgent priority for the Government, Peters

Colin Munro from NZ retires from international cricket after T20 WC snub

New Zealand's Colin Munro, a bruising top-order batter, on Friday announced his retirement from international cricket after he was not included in the national team for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Munro played one Test, 57 ODIs and 65 T20Is for the Kiwis amassing a total of 3010 runs, but it was in the shortest format the left-hander made a name for himself. In T20Is, he struck runs at an impressive 156.44 and the 37-year-old remains one of the handful of players who have made upwards of 10000 runs across all T20 competitions. The Durban-born cricketer has made 10961 runs from 428 T20s, averaging 30.44 and striking at 141.25. However, Munro's final game for New Zealand came back in 2020 when he appeared in a T20I game against India at Mount Maunganui. Playing for the Black Caps has always been the biggest achievement in my playing career, said Munro in his retirement statement. The fact that I've been able to do that 123 times across all formats is something I will always be ...

India, New Zealand look to boost collaboration in pharma, digital trade

India and New Zealand are looking to increase collaboration in goods and services sectors like pharmaceuticals, digital trade, and cross-border payment systems to promote bilateral trade. Issues to promote trade through these collaborations were discussed during the recent visit of Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal to New Zealand from April 26-27. The commerce ministry said that huge potential is there in both economies to further promote bilateral trade. "The meetings reviewed progress on market access issues, economic cooperation projects and explored opportunities for new initiatives," it said. Both sides discussed the establishment of robust bilateral economic dialogue architecture and the creation of working groups in sectors like Agriculture, Food Processing, Storage and Transportation, Forestry and Pharmaceuticals to facilitate ongoing collaboration on key trade and economic issues. Deliberations also included increasing cooperation in kiwi fruit as well as the dairy ...

New Zealand tightens visa rules: How will it impact Indian job seekers?

New Zealand's Alejandra Mercado told Business Standard that, applications already in progress at the time of the changes will be assessed based on immigration requirements effective when they applied

After Australia, New Zealand tightens work visa rules for immigrants

New Zealand aims to introduce several measures, such as an English language requirement for low-skilled jobs and a minimum skills and work experience threshold for most employer work visas

New Zealand joins US, UK in claims of China-backed cyber espionage

Hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a state-sponsored operation that targeted New Zealand's Parliament in 2021, the country's security minister said on Tuesday. New Zealand's allegation comes a day after US and UK authorities announced a set of criminal charges and sanctions against seven hackers, all believed to be living in China, who targeted US officials, journalists, corporations, pro-democracy activists and the UK's election watchdog. "The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable," Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) Judith Collins said in a media statement. Collins said the agency had also established links between a state-sponsored actor linked to China and malicious cyber activity targeting parliamentary entities in New Zealand. "The GCSB's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) completed a robust technical assessment following a compromi

NZ slips into its second recession in 18 months as economy contracts

New Zealand has entered its second recession in 18 months after the latest round of GDP figures confirmed its economy contracted in the last quarter of 2023. The country's economy shrank by 0.1 per cent in the quarter to December, and 0.7 per cent in per capita terms, the New Zealand's official statistics agency, Stats NZ, announced on Thursday. The latest slip follows a 0.3 per cent contraction in the September quarter, which fulfils the technical definition of a recession. It is New Zealand's second recession event in the past 18 months. Stats NZ said the country New Zealand had returned negative GDP figures in four of the last five quarters, and had a stagnant annual growth rate of just 0.6 per cent. The slump was largely expected with New Zealand's central bank forecasting a flat figure, while bank economists suggested a range of results between a narrow contraction and fractional growth. The data made for worse reading in a per capita context with the last five quarters all .

NZ will ban disposable e-cigarettes to prevent minors from taking up habit

New Zealand said on Wednesday it will ban disposable e-cigarettes, or vapes, and raise financial penalties for those who sell such products to minors. The move comes less than a month after the government repealed a unique law enacted by the previous left-leaning government to phase out tobacco smoking by imposing a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes. New Zealand's Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said on Wednesday that e-cigarettes remain a key smoking cessation device and the new regulations will help prevent minors from taking up the habit. While vaping has contributed to a significant fall in our smoking rates, the rapid rise in youth vaping has been a real concern for parents, teachers and health professionals, Costello said. Under the new laws, retailers that sell vapes to children under 18 years of age will face fines of up 100,000 New Zealand dollars (USD 60,000), while individuals will be fined 1,000 New Zealand dollars (USD 600). Other regulations ...

China's EAM Wang Yi meets New Zealand counterpart to begin diplomatic tour

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his New Zealand counterpart Monday, as China's most senior diplomat began a tour of the country and Australia. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters greeted Wang in Wellington, New Zealand's capital. There have been some significant developments since we last met, not least a global pandemic that impacted both our countries," Peters said in his opening comments of their formal meeting at New Zealand's parliament house. Today is a valuable opportunity to reflect on the challenges and opportunities that are now before us. Wang is the highest-ranking Chinese politician to visit the country since his own previous visit in 2017. New Zealand has had strong economic ties with China in recent years, and was the first developed country to sign a bilateral free trade deal with Beijing in 2008. While in Wellington, Wang will also have brief meetings with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Trade Minister Todd McClay. China look

India very important to us: New Zealand's Dy PM Peters on bilateral visit

New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters arrived in New Delhi on Monday evening

New Zealand supports India over Nijjar killing row; questions Canada’s claim