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Tag: New Zealand

  • VIDEO: Cities begin ringing in New Year

    Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain.South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks strike midnight in Auckland, a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball drops in New York’s Times Square.The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from various floors of the 787-foot Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s North Island on Wednesday due to forecasts of rain and possible thunderstorms.Australia plans defiant celebration after country’s worst mass shootingAustralia’s east coast welcomes 2026 two hours after New Zealand, but in Sydney, the country’s largest city, celebrations will be held under the pall of Australia’s worst mass shooting in almost 30 years. Two gunmen targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, killing 15 and wounding 40.A heavy police presence monitored the thousands who thronged to the downtown waterfront on Wednesday to watch a fireworks show centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, in a first for the annual event.An hour before midnight, the massacre victims will be commemorated with one minute of silence while images of a menorah are projected on the bridge pylons. The crowd has been invited to show their solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community by shining their phone torches across the harbor.New South Wales Premier Chris Minns urged Sydney residents not to stay away through fear, saying extremists would interpret smaller crowds at New Year’s Eve festivities as a victory.“We can’t be in a situation where this horrible, criminal, terrorist event changes the way we live in our beautiful city,” Minns told reporters on Wednesday.“We have to show defiance in the face of this terrible crime and say that we’re not going to be cowered by this kind of terrorism,” he added.Indonesia and Hong Kong hold subdued eventsIn Indonesia, one of Australia’s nearest neighbors, cities scaled back New Year’s Eve festivities as a gesture of solidarity with communities devastated by catastrophic floods and landslides that struck parts of Sumatra island a month ago, claiming more than 1,100 lives.The capital, Jakarta, will not ring in 2026 with its usual fanfare, choosing instead subdued celebrations with a calm and reflective program centered on prayers for victims, city Gov. Pramono Anung said last week.Makassar Mayor Munafri Arifuddin urged residents of one of Indonesia’s largest cities to forgo parties altogether, calling for prayer and reflection instead. “Empathy and restraint are more meaningful than fireworks and crowds,” he said.Concerts and fireworks on Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali have been canceled and replaced with a cultural arts event featuring 65 groups performing traditional dances.Hong Kong, too, will ring in 2026 without the usual spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor, after a massive fire in November killed at least 161 people.The city’s tourism board will instead host a music show featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district. The facades of eight landmarks will turn into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.Many parts of Asia welcome the new year by observing age-old traditions.In Japan, crowds will gather at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo for a bell striking at midnight. In the South Korean capital Seoul, a bell tolling and countdown ceremony will be held at the Bosingak Pavilion.Berliners celebrate in snowTourists and Berliners alike marked the end of 2025 by enjoying snowfall, taking selfies and making snowmen in front of the German capital’s cathedral and the iconic Brandenburg Gate. The famous Berlin TV Tower was nearly invisible thanks to the falling flakes and fog.___Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.

    WELLINGTON, New Zealand —

    Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain.

    South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks strike midnight in Auckland, a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball drops in New York’s Times Square.

    The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from various floors of the 787-foot Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s North Island on Wednesday due to forecasts of rain and possible thunderstorms.

    Australia plans defiant celebration after country’s worst mass shooting

    Australia’s east coast welcomes 2026 two hours after New Zealand, but in Sydney, the country’s largest city, celebrations will be held under the pall of Australia’s worst mass shooting in almost 30 years. Two gunmen targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, killing 15 and wounding 40.

    A heavy police presence monitored the thousands who thronged to the downtown waterfront on Wednesday to watch a fireworks show centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, in a first for the annual event.

    An hour before midnight, the massacre victims will be commemorated with one minute of silence while images of a menorah are projected on the bridge pylons. The crowd has been invited to show their solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community by shining their phone torches across the harbor.

    New South Wales Premier Chris Minns urged Sydney residents not to stay away through fear, saying extremists would interpret smaller crowds at New Year’s Eve festivities as a victory.

    “We can’t be in a situation where this horrible, criminal, terrorist event changes the way we live in our beautiful city,” Minns told reporters on Wednesday.

    “We have to show defiance in the face of this terrible crime and say that we’re not going to be cowered by this kind of terrorism,” he added.

    Indonesia and Hong Kong hold subdued events

    In Indonesia, one of Australia’s nearest neighbors, cities scaled back New Year’s Eve festivities as a gesture of solidarity with communities devastated by catastrophic floods and landslides that struck parts of Sumatra island a month ago, claiming more than 1,100 lives.

    The capital, Jakarta, will not ring in 2026 with its usual fanfare, choosing instead subdued celebrations with a calm and reflective program centered on prayers for victims, city Gov. Pramono Anung said last week.

    Makassar Mayor Munafri Arifuddin urged residents of one of Indonesia’s largest cities to forgo parties altogether, calling for prayer and reflection instead. “Empathy and restraint are more meaningful than fireworks and crowds,” he said.

    Concerts and fireworks on Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali have been canceled and replaced with a cultural arts event featuring 65 groups performing traditional dances.

    Hong Kong, too, will ring in 2026 without the usual spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor, after a massive fire in November killed at least 161 people.

    The city’s tourism board will instead host a music show featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district. The facades of eight landmarks will turn into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.

    Many parts of Asia welcome the new year by observing age-old traditions.

    In Japan, crowds will gather at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo for a bell striking at midnight. In the South Korean capital Seoul, a bell tolling and countdown ceremony will be held at the Bosingak Pavilion.

    Berliners celebrate in snow

    Tourists and Berliners alike marked the end of 2025 by enjoying snowfall, taking selfies and making snowmen in front of the German capital’s cathedral and the iconic Brandenburg Gate. The famous Berlin TV Tower was nearly invisible thanks to the falling flakes and fog.

    ___

    Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.

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  • Who Should Be Allowed a Medically Assisted Death?

    Ron Curtis, an English professor in Montreal, lived for 40 years with a degenerative spinal disease, in what he called the “black hole” of chronic pain.

    On a July day in 2022, Mr. Curtis, 64, ate a last bowl of vegetable soup made by his wife, Lori, and, with the help of a palliative care doctor, died in his bedroom overlooking a lake.

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    Aron Wade, a successful 54-year-old stage and television actor in Belgium, decided he could no longer tolerate life with the depression that haunted him for three decades.

    Last year, after a panel of medical experts found he had “unbearable mental suffering,” a doctor came to his home and gave him medicine to stop his heart, with his partner and two best friends at his side.

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    Argemiro Ariza was in his early 80s when he began to lose function in his limbs, no longer able to care for his wife, who had dementia, in their home in Bogotá.

    Doctors diagnosed A.L.S., and he told his daughter Olga that he wanted to die while he still had dignity. His children threw him a party with a mariachi band and lifted him from his wheelchair to dance. A few days later, he admitted himself to a hospital, and a doctor administered a drug that ended his life.

    Until recently, each of these deaths would have been considered a murder. But a monumental change is underway around the world. From liberal European countries to conservative Latin American ones, a new way of thinking about death is starting to take hold.

    Stephanie Nolen

    Stephanie Nolen is exploring access, attitudes and approaches to medically assisted death around the world.

    Over the past five years, the practice of allowing a physician to help severely ill patients end their lives with medication has been legalized in nine countries on three continents. Courts or legislatures, or both, are considering legalization in a half-dozen more, including South Korea and South Africa, as well as eight of the 31 American states where it remains prohibited.

    It is a last frontier in the expansion of individual autonomy. More people are seeking to define the terms of their deaths in the same way they have other aspects of their lives, such as marriage and childbearing. This is true even in Latin America, where conservative institutions such as the Roman Catholic church are still powerful.

    “We believe in the priority of our control over our bodies, and as a heterogeneous culture, we believe in choices: If your choice does not affect me, go ahead,” said Dr. Julieta Moreno Molina, a bioethicist who has advised Colombia’s Ministry of Health on its assisted dying regulations.

    Yet, as assisted death gains more acceptance, there are major unresolved questions about who should be eligible. While most countries begin with assisted death for terminal illness, which has the most public support, this is often followed quickly by a push for wider access. With that push comes often bitter public debate.

    Should someone with intractable depression be allowed an assisted death?

    European countries and Colombia all permit people with irremediable suffering from conditions such as depression or schizophrenia to seek an assisted death. But in Canada, the issue has become contentious. Assisted death for people who do not have a reasonably foreseeable natural death was legalized in 2021, but the government has repeatedly excluded people with mental illness. Two of them are challenging the exclusion in court on the grounds that it violates their constitutional rights.

    In public debate, supporters of the right to assisted death for these patients say that people who have lived with severe depression for years, and have tried a variety of therapies and medications, should be allowed to decide when they are no longer willing to keep pursuing treatments. Opponents, concerned that mental illness can involve a pathological wish to die, say it can be difficult to predict the potential effectiveness of treatments. And, they argue, people who struggle to get help from an overburdened public health service may simply give up and choose to die, though their conditions might have been improved.

    Should a child with an incurable condition be able to choose assisted death?

    The ability to consent is a core consideration in requesting assisted death. Only a handful of countries are willing to extend that right to minors. Even in the places that do, there are just a few assisted deaths for children each year, almost always children with cancer.

    In Colombia and the Netherlands, children over 12 can request assisted death on their own. Parents can provide consent for children 11 and younger.

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    Denise de Ruijter took comfort in her Barbie dolls when she struggled to connect with people. She was diagnosed with autism and had episodes of depression and psychosis. As a teenager in a Dutch town, she craved the life her schoolmates had — nights out, boyfriends — but couldn’t manage it.

    She attempted suicide several times before applying for an assisted death at 18. Evaluators required her to try three years of additional therapies before agreeing her suffering was unbearable. She died in 2021, with her family and Barbies nearby.

    The issue is under renewed scrutiny in the Netherlands, where, over the past decade, a growing number of adolescents have applied for assisted death for relief from irremediable psychiatric suffering from conditions such as eating disorders and anxiety.

    Most such applications by teens are either withdrawn by the patient, or rejected by assessors, but public concern over a few high-profile cases of teens who received assisted deaths prompted the country’s regulator to consider a moratorium on approvals for children applying on the basis of psychiatric suffering.

    Should someone with dementia be allowed assisted death?

    Many people dread the idea of losing their cognitive abilities and their autonomy, and hope to have an assisted death when they reach that point. But this is a more complex situation to regulate than for a person who can still make a clear request.

    How can a person who is losing their mental capacity consent to dying? Most governments, and doctors, are too uncomfortable to permit it, even though the idea tends to be popular in countries with aging populations.

    In Colombia, Spain, Ecuador and the Canadian province of Quebec, people who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other kinds of cognitive decline can request assessment for an assisted death before they lose mental capacity, sign an advance request — and then have a physician end their life after they have lost the ability to consent themselves.

    But that raises a separate, challenging, question: After people lose the capacity to request an assisted death, who should decide it’s time?

    Their spouses? Their children? Their doctors? The government? Colombia entrusts families with this role. The Netherlands leaves it up to doctors — but many refuse to do it, unwilling to administer lethal drugs to a patient who can’t clearly articulate a rational wish to die.

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    Jan Grijpma was always clear with his daughter, Maria: When his mind went, he didn’t want to live any more. Maria worked with his longtime family doctor, in Amsterdam, to identify the point when Mr. Grijpma, 90 and living in a nursing home, was losing his ability to consent himself.

    When it seemed close, in 2023, they booked the day, and he updated his day planner: Thursday, visit the vicar; Friday, bicycle with physiotherapy and get a haircut; Sunday, pancakes with Maria; Monday, euthanasia.

    All of these questions are becoming part of the discussion as the right to control and plan one’s own death is pushed in front of reluctant legislatures and uneasy medical professionals.

    Dr. Madeline Li, a Toronto psychiatrist, was given the task of developing the assisted-dying practice in one of Canada’s largest hospitals when the procedure was first decriminalized in 2015. She began with assessing patients for eligibility and then moved to providing medical assistance in dying, or MAID, as it is called in Canada. For some patients with terminal cancer, it felt like the best form of care she could offer, she said.

    But then Canada’s eligibility criteria expanded, and Dr. Li found herself confronting a different kind of patient.

    “To provide assisted dying to somebody dying of a condition who is not happy with how they’re going to die, I’m willing to assist them, and hasten that death,” she said. “I struggle more with people who aren’t dying and want MAID — I think then you’re assisting suicide. If you’re not dying — if I didn’t give you MAID, you wouldn’t otherwise die — then you’re a person who’s not unhappy with how you’re going to die. You’re unhappy with how you’re living.”

    Who has broken the taboo?

    For decades, Switzerland was the only country to permit assisted death; assisted suicide was legalized there in 1942. It took a further half century for a few more countries to loosen their laws. Now decriminalization of some form of assisted death has occurred across Europe.

    But there has recently been a wave of legalization in Latin America, where Colombia was long an outlier, having allowed legal assisted dying since 2015.

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    Paola Roldán Espinosa had a thriving career in business in Ecuador, and a toddler, when she was diagnosed with A.L.S. in 2023. Her health soon deteriorated to the point that she needed a ventilator.

    She wanted to die on her terms — and took the case to the country’s highest court. In February 2024, the court responded to her petition by decriminalizing assisted dying. Ms. Roldán, then 42, had the death she sought, with her family around her, a month later.

    Ecuador has decriminalized assisted dying through constitutional court cases, and Peru’s Supreme Court has permitted individual exceptions to the law which prohibits the procedure, opening the door to expansion. Cuba’s national assembly legalized assisted dying in 2023, although no regulations on how the procedure will work are yet in place. In October, Uruguay’s parliament passed a long-debated law allowing assisted death for the terminally ill.

    The first country in Asia to take steps toward legalization is South Korea, where a bill to decriminalize assisted death has been proposed at the National Assembly several times but has not come to a vote. At the same time, the Constitutional Court, which for years refused to hear cases on the subject, has agreed to adjudicate a petition from a disabled man with severe and chronic pain who seeks an assisted death.

    Access in the United States remains limited: 11 jurisdictions (10 states plus the District of Columbia) allow assisted suicide or physician-assisted death, for patients who have a terminal diagnosis, and in some cases, only for patients who are already in hospice care. It will become legal in Delaware on Jan. 1, 2026.

    In Slovenia, in 2024, 55 percent of the population who voted in a national referendum were in favor of legalizing assisted death, and parliament duly passed a law in July. But pushback from right-wing politicians then forced a new referendum, and in late November, 54 percent of those who voted rejected the legalization.

    And in the United Kingdom, a bill to legalize assisted death for people with terminal illness has made its way slowly through parliament. It has faced fierce opposition from a coalition of more than 60 groups for people with disabilities, who argue they may face subtle coercion to end their lives rather than drain their families or the state of resources for their care.

    Why now?

    In many countries, decriminalization of assisted dying has followed the expansion of rights for personal choice in other areas, such as the removal of restrictions on same-sex marriage, abortion and sometimes drug use.

    “I would expect it to be on the agenda in every liberal democracy,” said Wayne Sumner, a medical ethicist at the University of Toronto who studies the evolution of norms and regulations around assisted dying. “They’ll come to it at their own speed, but it follows with these other policies.”

    The change is also being driven by a convergence of political, demographic and cultural trends.

    As populations age, and access to health care improves, more people are living longer. Older populations mean more chronic disease, and more people living with compromised health. And they are thinking about death, and what they will — and won’t — be willing to tolerate in the last years of their lives.

    At the same time, there is diminishing tolerance for suffering that is perceived as unnecessary.

    “Until very recently, we were a society where few people lived past 60 — and now suddenly we live much longer,” said Lina Paola Lara Negrette, a psychologist who until October was the director of the Dying With Dignity Foundation in Colombia. “Now people here need to think about the system, and the services that are available, and what they will want.”

    Changes in family structures and communities, particularly in rapidly urbanizing middle-income countries, mean that traditional networks of care are less strong, which shifts how people can imagine living in older age or with chronic illness, she added.

    “When you had many siblings and a lot of generations under one roof, the question of care was a family thing,” she said. “That has changed. And it shapes how we think about living, and dying.”

    How does assisted dying work?

    Beyond the ethical dilemmas, actually carrying out legalized assisted deaths involves countless choices for countries. Spain requires a waiting period of at least 15 days between a patient’s assessments (but the average wait in practice is 75 days). In most other places, the prescribed wait is less than two weeks for patients with terminal conditions, but often longer in practice, said Katrine Del Villar, a professor of constitutional law at the Queensland University of Technology who tracks trends in assisted dying

    Most countries allow patients to choose between administering the drugs themselves or having a health care provider do it. When both options are available, the overwhelming majority of people choose to have a health care provider end their life with an injection that stops their heart.

    In many countries only a doctor can administer the drugs, but Canada and New Zealand permit nurse practitioners to provide medically assisted deaths too.

    One Australian state prohibits medical professionals from raising the topic of assisted death. A patient must ask about it first.

    Who determines eligibility is another issue. In the Netherlands, two physicians assess a patient; in Colombia, it’s a panel consisting of a medical specialist, a psychologist and a lawyer. The draft legislation in Britain would require both a panel and two independent physicians.

    Switzerland and the states of Oregon and Vermont are the only jurisdictions in the world that explicitly allow people who are not residents access to assisted deaths.

    Most countries permit medical professionals to conscientiously object to providing assisted deaths and allow faith-based medical institutions to refuse to participate. In Canada, individual professionals have the right to refuse, but a court challenge is underway seeking to end the ability of hospitals that are controlled by faith-based organizations and that operate with public funds to refuse to allow assisted deaths on their premises.

    “Even when assisted dying has been legal and available somewhere for a long time, there can be a gap between what is legal and what is acceptable — what most physicians and patients and families feel comfortable with,” said Dr. Sisco van Veen, an ethicist and psychiatrist at Amsterdam Medical University. “And this isn’t static. It evolves over time.”

    Jin Yu Young in Seoul, José Bautista in Madrid, José María León Cabrera in Quito, Veerle Schyns in Amsterdam and Koba Ryckewaert in Brussels contributed reporting.

    Stephanie Nolen

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  • New Zealand Government Announces Inquiry Into Phillips Children Case

    WELLINGTON (Reuters) -The New Zealand government announced on Thursday an inquiry into the disappearance of the Phillips children, who were hidden by their fugitive father in dense bush without discovery for several years.   

    “The inquiry will look into whether government agencies took all practicable steps to protect the safety and welfare of the Phillips children,” Attorney-General Judith Collins said in a statement.

    Tom Phillips disappeared with his children in late 2021, in a case that drew national attention for his ability to evade arrest. 

    In September, Phillips was shot dead in a standoff with police following a robbery at a small rural store. A police officer was also shot multiple times in the standoff but he was later discharged from hospital.   

    One of Phillips’ children was with him during the shooting and the other two children were later found at a campsite in the remote wilderness. Police have said they believe people in the area helped Phillips, but no arrests have been made. 

    The inquiry, which will determine whether agencies could take steps to prevent or resolve similar situations more quickly or effectively, will deliver a final report in July 2026. The inquiry will be conducted in private.

    (Reporting by Lucy Craymer in WellingtonEditing by Matthew Lewis)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Reuters

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  • 2 mountain climbers fall to their deaths, 2 others rescued on New Zealand’s highest peak

    Two mountain climbers have died on Aoraki, New Zealand’s tallest peak, and two others from the same group were rescued, authorities said on Tuesday.

    The dead climbers’ bodies have been found and specialist searchers were working to recover them “in a challenging alpine environment,” Police Area Commander Inspector Vicki Walker said. None of the climbers has been publicly identified, but the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association said in a statement that one of those who died was a member of their organization and the other was that guide’s client.

    Sgt. Kevin McErlain told The Timaru Herald the pair had been connected by a rope when they fell near the summit of Aoraki, also known as Mount Cook.

    The authorities learned late Monday night local time that four climbers needed help on the mountain, which is on New Zealand’s South Island. Two of the climbers were rescued by helicopter in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Walker said.

    They were uninjured. Searchers in two helicopters looked throughout the night for the other climbers, who were found dead hours later.

    Aoraki is 12,218 feet high and is part of the Southern Alps, the scenic and icy mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. A settlement of the same name at its base is a destination for domestic and foreign tourists.

    The peak is popular among experienced climbers. Its terrain is technically difficult due to crevasses, avalanche risk, changeable weather and glacier movement.

    More than 240 deaths have been recorded on the mountain and in the surrounding national park since the start of the 20th century. Dozens of those who died on the mountain have never been found.

    The highest mountain in New Zealand, Aoraki, is seen at Mount Cook National Park in the South Island, New Zealand, on Aug. 5, 2020. It lies amidst the Southern Alps mountain range.

    Sanka Vidanagama/NurPhoto via Getty Images


    This includes three men, two from the United States and one from Canada, who were believed to have died on Aoraki in December 2024. The Americans – Kurt Blair, 56, from Colorado and Carlos Romero, 50, of California – were certified alpine guides.

    The climbers were missing for five days before New Zealand authorities halted a search for them, saying discoveries of their belongings suggested the men had fallen to their deaths.

    The two climbers’ deaths in New Zealand follow a series of other deaths on some of the world’s most tallest and most famous peaks in recent months.

    Earlier this month, an avalanche swept through a camp on Mount Yalung Ri in Nepal and killed five foreign climbers and two guides at an altitude of 16,070 feet.

    Last month, popular Alaskan climber Balin Miller fell to his death from Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan.

    In August, Russian climber Natalia Nagovitsyna died after she became stranded on Kyrgyzstan’s highest peak after breaking her leg. That same month, a Chinese climber died after she was hit by falling rocks on K2, the world’s second-highest peak.

    In July, German mountaineer and Olympic gold medalist, Laura Dahlmeier, died while attempting to climb another peak in the region.

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  • Draws confirmed for reworked rugby league world cups

    Tonga has been given a tough draw at next year’s Rugby League World Cup, including a showdown with arch-rivals Samoa at Parramatta.

    The Kristian Woolf-coached Tongans have been drawn in Group C, which means they play matches against Group B sides England, Samoa and Lebanon.

    Their round-three showdown with Samoa on November 1 at CommBank Stadium is set to be a sellout after 44,682 fans watched the Samoans beat Tonga 34-6 at Suncorp Stadium in this year’s Pacific Cup.

    Defending World Cup champions Australia will kick off the 10-nation men’s tournament against Pacific Cup holders and Group A rivals New Zealand on October 15 at Allianz Stadium.

    The Kangaroos, who swept England 3-0 in the recent Ashes series, will then play the remaining Group A sides Fiji and the Cook Islands in the following weeks.

    Group A’s four sides play each other once in the three round-robin clashes ahead of the semi-finals, and the final at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, November 15.

    The semi-finals will be held at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium and Sydney’s Allianz Stadium.

    Group B and C feature three teams apiece, but sides in each will play three games against those in the opposite group.

    Tonga, PNG and France make up Group B.

    Tonga have been handled a difficult draw in the men’s tournament.  (Getty Images: Matt King)

    The top two sides from Group A go through to the semi-finals, while the six teams in Groups B and C will form a ladder of their own, with the top two playing semis.

    That makes Tonga’s task, which includes clashes against England in Perth on October 17 and their showdown with Samoa, tougher than any other team’s.

    World Cup titles for men, women and wheelchair will be contested in Australia and Papua New Guinea, with 14 nations and 26 teams playing 53 matches across 31 days.

    The Women’s World Cup boasts eight sides with Australia, Samoa, England and Wales in Group A. Group B consists of New Zealand, PNG, France and Fiji.

    Each team will play three matches against the other teams in their group. The top two teams from each group will progress to the semis.

    Australia and Samoa will open the tournament at CommBank Stadium on October 16.

    The same two-group format applies in the Wheelchair World Cup, with England, Ireland, Wales and the USA in Group A and Australia, Scotland, France and New Zealand in Group B.

    All the wheelchair showdowns will be held at Wollongong’s WIN Entertainment Centre.

    Australian Rugby League (ARLC) chairman Peter V’landys said the World Cup would build on the success of both domestic and international rugby league.

    “Rugby League World Cup 2026 couldn’t come at a better time on the back of record-breaking NRL and NRLW seasons, a successful Ashes series, and the most exciting Pacific Championships ever,” he said.

    “Representing your country is the ultimate honour and doing so in a World Cup is the ultimate stage. The talent, skill, physicality, passion and raw emotion on display will be something like we have never seen before.

    “This will be the best and most successful Rugby League World Cup on record.”

    AAP

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  • New Zealand wildlife park to euthanize 7 lions, citing financial troubles:

    A New Zealand wildlife park says it will be forced to euthanize seven elderly lions after running into financial difficulties.

    The Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary in the northern city of Whangarei said it was closing down and had no choice but to euthanize the big cats.

    “There were no real options left. The staff and I are devastated,” sanctuary operator Janette Vallance said in a statement on Tuesday.

    The lions are aged between 18-21 years old, which is longer than they would typically live in the wild.

    There were no realistic options for re-homing them at other New Zealand zoos.

    “The memories and legacy of these incredible animals will live on in the hearts of many,” the park said.

    The park notes on its website that taking care of the lions is expensive.

    “Our extraordinary majestic big cats come at enormous cost to maintain in an ideal environment such as a Wildlife Sanctuary. Feed, supplements, experienced staff, compound and grounds maintenance, vets, and more all exert pressure on our purse,” the sanctuary writes.

    The park had also made an appeal for unwanted to cows or horses to feed its big cats, which eat approximately three cows worth of meat each week, according to the sanctuary.

    “We are currently running low so your donations are greatly appreciated,” the park says.

    The sanctuary drew minor fame in the early 2000s when it featured on a television show about celebrity big cat handler Craig “the Lion Man” Busch.

    Busch was later accused of a string of animal rights abuses, such as keeping animals in sub-standard cages.

    A keeper was mauled to death by a white tiger inside the park in 2009. After that incident, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry ordered the temporary closure of the sanctuary, RNZ reported.

    The sanctuary features 12 lions and one Bengal tiger on its website. The parks says that big cats born abroad arrived in New Zealand between the ages of six months and three years.

    In the early 2000s, Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary was home to 33 big cats, including lions, tigers, leopards and cheetahs, according to RNZ.

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  • Upton’s return boosts Jillaroos ahead of Pacific Championships decider

    Superstar fullback Tamika Upton will return for the Pacific Championships final against arch-rivals New Zealand after recovering from a calf injury.

    The two-time Dally M Medallist was named in the Australian line-up for Sunday’s title showdown in Sydney after missing its hard-fought 10-6 win over the Kiwis at Eden Park last weekend.

    The Jillaroos ace will reclaim her number one jersey from Abbi Church, who has been included on the bench at Western Sydney Stadium after scoring a crucial try and setting up another in her impressive Test debut last Sunday.

    In two further changes to the starting side, Olivia Higgins comes in at hooker to replace the injured Keeley Davis (shoulder), and Cowboys NRLW flyer Jakiya Whitfeld will start on the wing.

    Jillaroos coach Jess Skinner said the team was looking to improve on a gritty performance, with the two world’s best teams going into battle.

    “We knew last week in Auckland was going to be a step up and there were a lot of positives in coming away with a win in a tight contest, but we know we have to be better in all facets of the game to come out on top again in the final,” Skinner said.

    “We are excited for the challenge of playing for a major trophy in front of our home fans. It’s going to be an incredible atmosphere, and we want to make Australia proud with our performance on Sunday.”

    FULL JILLAROOS SQUAD: Tamika Upton, Julia Robinson, Isabelle Kelly, Tiana Penitani Gray, Jakiya Whitfeld, Ali Brigginshaw (c), Jesse Southwell, Ellie Johnston, Olivia Higgins, Jessika Elliston, Kezie Apps (c), Yasmin Clydsdale, Olivia Kernick, Quincy Dodd, Keilee Joseph, Jessica Sergis, Rima Butler, Sarah Togatuki, Abbi Church, Jocelyn Kelleher.

    AAP

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  • Pentagon Chief Joins Southeast Asian Meet to Shore up US Ties

    KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was expected on Friday to hold two-way meetings in Malaysia during a gathering of Southeast Asian counterparts, as Washington seeks to strengthen security ties amid China’s growing assertiveness in the region. 

    Hegseth is expected to meet defence ministers from India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, among others, said an official speaking on condition of anonymity, who warned the schedule could change.

    It was not clear if the Pentagon chief would meet any Chinese officials while in the Malaysian capital for the two-day meeting.

    In his meeting with Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh, Hegseth was expected to discuss a review of India’s plans to buy U.S. military hardware, as well as a new India-U.S. defence cooperation framework.

    Delegations from Australia, China, New Zealand, South Korea and Russia are also attending the meeting of defence ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.   

    CHINESE GREY-ZONE TACTICS

    Hegseth met Malaysia’s defence minister on Thursday and both leaders committed to maritime security in the disputed South China Sea.

    Beijing has deployed a coast guard armada in the busy waterway that has clashed repeatedly with Philippine vessels and been accused of disrupting the energy activities of Malaysia and Vietnam. 

    “Grey-zone tactics, such as hydrographic research conducted under the protection of foreign coast guard vessels, threaten sovereignty and are a clear provocation and threat,” Malaysian minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said in a joint statement.

    China claims almost the entire South China Sea on its maps, overlapping with the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

    Unresolved disputes have festered for years over the sovereignty of multiple islands and features. 

    Beijing says its coastguard has operated professionally in defending Chinese territory from incursions.  

    The United States has sought to shore up its presence in Southeast Asia and counter the growing influence of China.

    On Sunday, President Donald Trump told ASEAN leaders the United States was “with you 100% and we intend to be a strong partner for many generations”.

    Washington has a defence pact with the Philippines that involves dozens of annual military drills and use of some of its bases, in addition to similar exercises with Thailand and Indonesia and exchanges with Malaysia.       

    ORDER TO RESUME NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTING

    Shortly before meeting Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday, Trump said he had ordered the U.S. military to resume nuclear weapons testing amid a rapid expansion of China’s nuclear stockpile.

    His administration’s efforts to persuade its allies to spend more on defence have caused friction, but Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told Trump this week that she was determined to boost defence capabilities.

    On Wednesday, Hegseth urged Japan to hasten plans to boost defence spending to 2% of GDP, saying the alliance between Washington and Tokyo was “critical to deterring Chinese military aggression”.

    (Reporting by Danial Azhar; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Writing by David Stanway; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

    Reuters

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  • Surgeons remove dozens of magnets from teen’s stomach

    A 13-year-old boy was hospitalized after eating dozens of high-powered magnets, according to a recently published case report in the New Zealand Medical Journal. The boy lost part of his bowel as a result, doctors wrote. 

    The boy, who was not identified in the case report, ate between 80 and 100 magnets. The “high-power” magnets were 5×2 millimeters each, the report said. 

    After eating the magnets, the teen had general abdominal pain for four days. When he arrived at the hospital, he told doctors he had eaten the magnets about a week earlier. The hospital he was treated at was not identified in the report. 

    The case report did not say if the boy explained why or how he ate the magnets. 

    An X-ray shows lines of magnets in the boy’s abdomen. 

    New Zealand Medical Journal


    Eating multiple magnets can be incredibly dangerous because they can clamp together inside the body and cause organ damage or other complications. Patients who eat multiple magnets often need surgical intervention, according to the report. High-powered magnets, which are often sold as desktop toys for adults, are particularly risky. They can be five to 10 times stronger than traditional refrigerator magnets, CBS News reported in 2019. 

    Scans showed that the magnets had linked into four chains inside the teen’s bowel and at the start of his large intestine. The amount of magnets in his body disrupted some imaging, the report said, so doctors proceeded with an exploratory surgery. 

    During the operation, surgeons found the magnet chains were causing pressure necrosis in the bowel and large intestine. Pressure necrosis occurs when tissue dies because there is too much pressure on it for an extended period of time. The surgeons were able to successfully remove the magnets, and the boy recovered from the operation. He was discharged after eight days in the hospital, the report said. 

    The sale of these high-powered magnets has been permanently banned in New Zealand, but the prohibition is difficult to enforce because the magnets can be easily and cheaply purchased online, the report noted. The boy told doctors he purchased the magnets on the online site Temu. CBS News reached out to Temu to confirm the purchase and ask if the online retailer works to prevent shipping products to countries where they are banned, but did not immediately get a response. 

    screenshot-2025-10-24-at-12-10-54-pm.png

    The magnets removed from the boy’s abdomen.

    New Zealand Medical Journal


    The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has worked to limit the sale of high-powered magnets in the United States. In 2014, the agency issued a ban on high-powered magnet sets, but it was overturned in court two years later. In September 2022, the agency established a mandatory safety standard for magnets. The rule sets a power limit for any product with loose or separable magnets, including those intended for purposes including entertainment and stress relief. 

    The CPSC also calls the magnets a safety risk and has issued numerous recalls for products that contain them. 

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  • New Zealand Parliament to Debate Teen Social Media Ban

    SYDNEY (Reuters) -A bill to restrict social media for children under 16 will be introduced in the New Zealand parliament, officials said on Thursday, building momentum for parliament’s efforts to prevent young people from being harmed while online.

    The proposed legislation will require social media platforms to conduct an age verification process, similar to Australia’s world-first teen social media ban law passed in 2024.

    A member’s bill submitted in May by ruling National Party lawmaker Catherine Wedd to restrict children using social media was selected on Thursday to be introduced in the parliament.

    The bill has received support from National Party members but its coalition partners have not confirmed whether they will support the bill.

    Members’ bills can be introduced by any lawmaker not in the cabinet and are selected after a ceremonial lottery.

    It is not immediately clear when the bill will be introduced in the parliament.

    A New Zealand parliamentary committee has been looking at the impact of social media harm on young people and the roles that government, business, and society should play in addressing those harms. A report is due in early 2026, according to a statement from the committee last week.

    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been raising concerns about harms to mental health from the overuse of social media among young teens, including misinformation, bullying and harmful depictions of body image.

    Civil-liberties organisation PILLAR said the bill would not protect children online, and instead would create serious privacy risks and restrict online freedom for New Zealanders.

    “Aligning with international efforts may sound responsible, but it is lazy policymaking,” PILLAR Executive Director Nathan Seiuli said in a statement.

    (Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Reuters

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  • Kiwi Ferns unveil four debutants; Jillaroos squad stacked with talent — Pac Champs Teams

    The Kiwi Ferns, Samoa and the Cook Islands have all name their teams for the first week of action in the Pacific Championships, while Australia has selected a star-studded squad ahead of their opening game next week.

    Watch every game of the 2025 Pacific Championships LIVE on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

    The Australian Jillaroos side is stacked with talent led by recent premiership winning captain Ali Brigginshaw and veteran Jillaroo, Kezie Apps. The team is backed by five debutantes including Dally M halfback of the year, Jesse Southwell.

    The Australian side has seen a few recent surprises though after Emma Verran withdrew from the squad alongside Sienna Lofipo who choose to instead play for Samoa, representing the side in a number of previous Test series.

    This led to the inclusion of Eels fullback Abbi Church and Cowboys prop Mackenzie Weale.

    Church represented Australia in the PM’s XIII last year and Weale is set to make her first Test debut after playing six Origin games for Queensland.

    Coach Ricky Henry’s Kiwi Ferns side is set to be a strong contender for the Jillaroos, complete with 21 players with NRLW experience.

    The 17-person side is led by the Dragon’s Raecene McGregor and the Titan’s Georgia Hale.

    Having both competed since the game’s inaugural season in 2018 and alongside fellow Test veteran Apii Nicholls, the trio have a combined 20 campaigns in the Black jersey, making the side well prepared for a deep run in this competition.

    ‘Competition for spots makes us better’ | 01:45

    The New Zealand team will also include four debutants including Tysha Ikenasio, Ivana Lauitiiti, Patricia Maliepo and Shakira Baker.

    The Fetu Samoa side, led by coach Jamie Soward, will contest New Zealand and Australia in the Pacific Cup.

    Soward has named a strong team with Brisbane’s Annetta-Claudia Nu’uausala set to lead the team while Sienna Lofipo’s decision to turn down a Jillaroos debut to instead represent her home nation will play an inspiring role for the side.

    The side will also feature Dally M Rookie of the Year Shalom Sauaso and veterans Destiny Brill and Niall Williams-Guthrie.

    Set to play in the second-tier Pacific Bowl is coach Ronald Griffiths’ Cook Islands side which includes four players who worked under his guidance at the Warriors in Lydia Turua-Quedley, Lavinia Kitai, Ashlee Matapo and Kaiyah Atai.

    Sharks playmaker Chantay Kiria-Ratu was a lock for the side after a stellar season which saw nine try assists and five line break assists.

    She will also be joined by her sister Anne-Marie Kiria-Ratu, who debuted in Round 4 this season, making a clear impact on the Sharks preliminary finals run.

    The Cook Islands side will take on PNG and Tonga.

    WOMEN’S PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

    SATURDAY OCTOBER 18

    PNG Orchids vs Cook Islands Moana at Santos National Football Stadium, Port Moresby, 2.00pm AEDT

    PNG team: 1. Fleur Ginn 2. Mala Mark 3. Tia Molo 4. Marie Biyama 5. Naomi Kelly 6. India Seeto 7. Caitlin Tanner 8. Elsie Albert 9. Therese Aiton 10. Emmogen Taumafai 11. Sareka Mooka 12. Leila Kerowa 13. Jessikah Reeves 14. Emily Veivers 15. Essay Banu 16. Gloria Kaupa 17. Mya Muller 18. Delailah Ahose 19. Belinda Gwasamun 20. Ruth Gende

    Cook Islands team: 1. Kiana Takairangi 2. Paulina Morris-Ponga 3. Kiarah Siauane 4. Deleni Paitai 5. Hannah Makira 6. Lydia Turua-Quedley 7. Chantay Kiria-Ratu 8. Lavinia Kitai 9. Pearl Tuitama 15. Ashlee Matapo 11. Anne-Marie Kiria-Ratu 19. Kaiyah Atai 13. Jazmon Tupou-Witchman 10. April Ngatupuna 14. Kerehitina Matua 16. Ngatokotoru Arakua 17. Memory Paitai 18. Porche John 12. Jodeci Joseph 20. Keira Rangi

    SUNDAY OCTOBER 19

    Kiwi Ferns vs Fetu Samoa at Go Media Stadium, Auckland, 1.35pm AEDT

    Ferns team: 1. Apii Nicholls 2. Shanice Parker 3. Abigail Roache 4. Mele Hufanga 5. Tysha Ikenasio 6. Patricia Maliepo 7. Raecene McGregor 8. Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa 9. Brooke Anderson 10. Brianna Clark 11. Annessa Biddle 12. Shakira Baker 13. Georgia Hale 14. Ashleigh Quinlan 15. Otesa Pule 16. Alexis Tauaneai 17. Ivana Lauitiiti 18. Tiana Davison 19. Leianne Tufuga 20. Tyla King 21. Shaniece Monschau

    Samoa team: 1. Jetaya Faifua 2. Jessica Patea 3. Lindsay Tui 4. Sarina Masaga 5. Destiny Mino-Sinapati 6. Taliah Fuimaono 7. Destiny Brill 8. Annetta-Claudia Nu’uausala 9. Destiny Brill 10. Eliza Lopamaua 11. Niall Williams-Guthrie 12. Ryvrr-Lee Alo 13. Sienna Lofipo 14. Pihuka Berryman-Duff 15. Laikha Clarke 16. Tavarna Papalii 17. Shalom Sauaso 18. Simone Karpani 19. Mercedez Taulelei-Siala 20. Ella-Jaye Harrison-Leaunoa 21. Estanoa Faitala-Mariner

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  • Auckland Airport Welcomes Regulator’s Decision That Airport Probe Unneccesary

    (Reuters) -Auckland International Airport said on Monday it welcomed the New Zealand Commerce Commission’s decision not to launch a formal inquiry into airport regulation as Air New Zealand had requested.

    The country’s flagship carrier had in 2024 called for an inquiry, raising concerns over Auckland Airport’s redevelopment plans and its proposal to partly fund the project through higher airline charges, while arguing that the airport’s pricing framework lacked sufficient regulatory oversight.

    The competition regulator said on Monday it had concluded that such a move was unnecessary and could add costs to the sector.

    The airport operator is undertaking a 10-year NZ$5.7 billion ($3.31 billion) infrastructure programme aimed at boosting capacity and improving customer experience.

    “Air New Zealand’s claims about the cost of future infrastructure are speculative. They’ve relied on conjecture to put a cost on our draft master plan”, said Auckland Airport Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui.

    ($1 = 1.7235 New Zealand dollars)

    (Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Diane Craft)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Reuters

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  • Kash Patel Brought Illegal 3D-Printed Guns Into New Zealand

    FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to New Zealand in late July to open a new FBI office in the capital city of Wellington. But a report from the Associated Press explains how Patel broke the law in that country during his visit.

    Patel reportedly gave 3D-printed pistols to at least three senior security officials in New Zealand. The guns were “inoperable” according to the AP, though it’s not entirely clear what that means. Rendering a gun “inoperable” often means temporarily removing a firing mechanism, but those guns are still tightly controlled in New Zealand ever since the country enacted stricter gun control laws in the wake of the Christchurch massacre of 2019.

    Inoperable pistols that can be made operable through modifications are treated like operable guns in New Zealand and face the same laws. And while it’s not altogether surprising that an American would be ignorant of the law in a foreign country, it’s particularly shocking for the head of the FBI not to have a team that would be able to know if he was smuggling illegal firearms into New Zealand. Patel was there to open an office that’s all about upholding the law, after all.

    New Zealand was shocked by two mass shootings committed by a white supremacist terrorist in Christchurch on March 15, 2019, that killed 51 people and wounded 89. The 28-year-old shooter targeted two mosques, livestreaming his attack on Facebook, and writing hateful messages all over his guns. Brenton Tarrant, an Australian national, was convicted of the murders and New Zealand passed a number of strict laws against firearms in the immediate aftermath.

    The three officials who confirmed that they received guns from Patel on July 31 handed them to police the following day and had them destroyed, according to New Zealand news outlet RNZ. The three people who were confirmed to have received the guns included Richard Chambers, New Zealand’s Police Commissioner, Andrew Hampton, Director-General of New Zealand’s intel agency NZSIS, and Andrew Clark, Director-General of the intel agency GCSB.

    The U.S. has law enforcement offices around the globe, and the FBI’s office in Wellington was first opened in 2017 as a sub-office of the FBI office in Canberra, Australia. The newly expanded offices in Wellington will help monitor islands of the South Pacific, along with activity in Antarctica. New Zealand is considered one of America’s closest allies as one of the countries in the Five Eyes spying alliance, which also includes the UK, Australia, and Canada.

    “The FBI has had a strong relationship and collaborated closely with our counterparts in New Zealand for years,” Patel said during his visit to New Zealand. “Expanding the Wellington office demonstrates the strength and evolution of our partnership as we continue to work together to address our shared security objectives in the region.”

    President Trump didn’t sit down to properly meet with the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand during last week’s United Nations meeting, something that was remarked upon in that region of the world, given the supposedly close ties. But Trump has been extremely hostile to America’s traditional allies ever since he was inaugurated for a second time in January, even threatening to invade countries like Canada and Greenland.

    The FBI didn’t respond to questions emailed on Tuesday. Gizmodo will update this article when we hear back.

    Matt Novak

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  • Wallaroos’ World Cup hopes dashed by dominant Canada

    The Wallaroos have missed the chance to reach the Rugby World Cup semifinals, losing 46-5 to Canada in Bristol. 

    Australia was a clear underdog for the last-eight clash, with its English coach Jo Yapp admitting before her last match in charge it was going to be a “do or die” moment against such formidable opponents.

    Canada, ranked two in the world, quickly asserted its authority by building a five-try lead by half-time.

    Despite a gutsy second-half response from the Wallaroos, restricting their opponents to just two more scores, it was Canada who deservedly secured a mouth-watering semifinal showdown with world champions New Zealand.

    Canada burst to an early lead with winger Asia Hogan-Rochester running in a well-worked try before the Wallaroos responded when Desiree Miller sprinted down the left touchline to cross for an excellent equalising score.

    Canadian DaLeaka Menin had a try ruled out by the TMO official but teammate Alysha Corrigan crossed for a dazzling five-pointer to put their side back on top.

    Corrigan scored again on 21 minutes.

    And from there it was all Canada, with Sophie de Goede touching down and loosehead prop McKinley Hunt barging over to establish 31-5 advantage at half-time.

    The Wallaroos were punished again after the restart when Canadian number eight Fabiola Forteza stretched to score under the posts just as the predicted rain started pouring down.

    With nothing to lose, it was the Wallaroos’ turn to up the ante as they began taking the game to their opponents, earning plenty of possession as Canada was forced on the defensive.

    But that momentum was swiftly halted when Canada opted to kick a penalty goal before the Maple Leafs reasserted their supremacy as 37-year-old flanker Karen Paquin glided over for a try.

    Wallaroos captain Siokapesi Palu admitted her team needed investment in order to challenge at the next World Cup, which Australia will host in 2029.

    “We’re looking at a group of players who are young mums, who are balancing looking after their kids,” Palu said.

    “People who are working full time, working nine to five and then having to back it up with back-to-back trainings till 9pm and then having to repeat that the next day.

    “We do need to be invested in so that we can produce good rugby.”

    AAP

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  • Woman admits killing children whose bodies were later found in suitcases, New Zealand prosecutor says

    A woman on trial in New Zealand admitted to killing her children who were later found in suitcases, court records showed Friday, though the mother’s defense has reportedly argued she is not guilty by reason of insanity.

    South Korean Hakyung Lee “accepted that she gave her children nortriptyline which led to their deaths,” state prosecutor Natalie Walker told jurors this week, referring to a common antidepressant.

    Police believe Lee killed her children — Minu Jo, 6, and Yuna Jo, 8 — in June or July 2018, a year after her husband’s death, and then returned to South Korea.

    The children’s bodies were found in an abandoned storage locker by an Auckland family over four years later.

    Lee was arrested in September 2022 in South Korea and extradited two months later. She was extradited from South Korea in November 2022 at the request of the New Zealand police.

    Police and forensic investigators gather at the scene where suitcases with the remains of two children were found, after a family, who are not connected to the deaths, bought them at an online auction for an unclaimed locker, in Auckland, New Zealand, August 11, 2022 in this still image taken from video.

    TVNZ/Handout via REUTERS TV


    During cross-examination in court, however, pathologist Simon Stables said it was hard to conclude that the antidepressant was the sole cause of the children’s deaths given the advanced state of decomposition when their bodies were discovered.

    “One could argue that it is the cause of death or you could say that it’s in combination with something else,” he told the court.

    “It could also have subdued the child,” he added.

    The children’s remains were found in separate peach-colored suitcases, wrapped in plastic, a police officer who first investigated the matter told the court.  The grisly discovery came after an unsuspecting family bought a trailer-load of items — including the suitcases — at an auction for abandoned goods near Auckland, the country’s biggest city.

    Lee has elected to represent herself in the trial but has two lawyers who are serving as standby counsel.

    On Tuesday, defense lawyer Lorraine Smith told the court that Lee was “not guilty of murder by reason of insanity,” video of the trial released by Australian national broadcaster ABC showed.

    Smith said the death of her husband in 2017 sent her into a depressive spiral.

    New Zealand South Korea Murder Trial

    Hakyung Lee stands in the dock at the High Court in Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. 

    Lawrence Smith / AP


    A palliative care counselor said in a statement read to the court that Lee had said she “wanted it all to be over” and often mentioned ending both her and her husband’s life, the ABC reported.

    At one point, Lee thought it would be best if the whole family died and they all took antidepressants, Smith said.

    But she got the dose wrong and when she woke up, the children were dead, Lee said.

    Her trial is expected to last four weeks.

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  • Kim Dotcom loses latest bid to avoid U.S. extradition on Megaupload charges

    Wellington, New Zealand — A New Zealand court has rejected the latest bid by internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom to halt his deportation to the United States on charges related to his file-sharing website Megaupload.

    Dotcom had asked the High Court to review the legality of an official’s August 2024 decision that he should be surrendered to the U.S. to face trial on charges of copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering. It was the latest chapter in a protracted 13-year battle by the U.S. government to extradite the Finnish-German millionaire from New Zealand.

    The Megaupload founder had applied for what in New Zealand is called a judicial review, in which a judge is asked to evaluate whether an official’s decision was lawful.

    Internet mogul Kim Dotcom leaves with his girlfriend Elizabeth Donelly following his extradition appeal at the High Court in Auckland, New Zealand, in an Aug. 29, 2016 file photo.

    KATE DWEK/AFP/Getty


    A judge on Wednesday dismissed Dotcom’s arguments that the decision to deport him was politically motivated and that he would face grossly disproportionate treatment in the U.S. In a written ruling, Justice Christine Grice also rejected Dotcom’s claim that New Zealand’s police were wrong to charge his business partners, but not him, under domestic laws – which likely yielded laxer sentences than if the men had been tried in the U.S.

    The latest decision could be challenged in the Court of Appeal, where a deadline for filing is Oct. 8. It wasn’t immediately clear if Dotcom would do so.

    One of his lawyers, Ron Mansfield, told Radio New Zealand that Dotcom’s team had “much fight left in us as we seek to secure a fair outcome,” but he didn’t elaborate.

    Neither Dotcom nor Mansfield responded to a request for comment from The Associated Press on Thursday.

    New Zealand’s government hasn’t disclosed what will happen next in the extradition process or divulged an expected timeline for Dotcom to be surrendered to the United States.

    The saga stretches back to the January 2012 arrest by New Zealand authorities of Dotcom in a dramatic raid on his Auckland mansion, along with other company officers, at the request of the FBI. U.S. prosecutors said Megaupload raked in at least $175 million, mainly from people who used the site to illegally download songs, television shows and movies, before the FBI shut it down earlier that year.

    Lawyers for Dotcom and the others arrested argued that it was the users of the site, founded in 2005, who chose to pirate material, not its founders. But prosecutors said the men were the architects of a vast criminal enterprise, with the Department of Justice describing it as the largest criminal copyright case in U.S. history.

    He has been free on bail in New Zealand since February 2012.

    Interviewed at his sprawling home by 60 Minutes in 2014, Dotcom told correspondent Bob Simon that he was inspired to seek his riches by the James Bond movies, “where, you know, some characters had private islands and super tankers converted into yachts and space stations and underwater homes. So, you know, I got inspired by that.”

    “But you’re not playing James Bond, you’re playing Dr. No,” suggested Simon.

    “That’s what everybody says,” replied the web entrepreneur.

    Dotcom and his business partners fought the FBI’s efforts to extradite them for years, including by challenging New Zealand law enforcement’s actions during the investigation and arrests. In 2021, however, New Zealand’s Supreme Court ruled that Dotcom and two other men could be surrendered.

    Under New Zealand law, it remained up to the country’s justice minister to decide if the extradition should proceed. The minister, Paul Goldsmith, ruled in August 2024 that it should.
       
    But by then, Dotcom was the only person whose fate remained in question. Two of his former business partners, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk, pleaded guilty to charges against them in a New Zealand court in June 2023 and were sentenced to two and a half years in jail.

    In exchange, U.S. efforts to extradite them were dropped. Part of Dotcom’s latest legal bid challenged the police decision not to extend a plea deal under New Zealand laws to him, too.

    Grice rejected that, saying the choice to only charge Ortmann and van der Kolk in New Zealand was “a proper exercise of the Police’s discretion.” The jurist also dismissed Dotcom’s claim that Goldsmith’s extradition decision was politically motivated.

    Prosecutors earlier abandoned their extradition bid against a fourth Megaupload officer, Finn Batato, who was arrested in New Zealand. Batato returned to Germany, where he died from cancer in 2022.

    In November 2024, Dotcom said in a post on X that he had suffered a stroke. He wrote on X in July that he was making “good progress” in his recovery but still suffered from speech and memory impairments.

    Goldsmith’s decision that Dotcom should be extradited was made before the stroke. But Grice said the minister had considered other “significant health conditions” Dotcom faced and wasn’t wrong to conclude that these shouldn’t prevent him from being deported.

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  • New Zealand father who evaded authorities with his 3 children for years is shot dead by police

    A man who evaded authorities with his three children in the remote New Zealand countryside for nearly four years was shot and killed by a police officer Monday, law enforcement said.One child was with Tom Phillips at the time of the confrontation and the other two children were found in the forest hours after the shootout, in which an officer was critically injured.The December 2021 disappearance of Phillips and his children — now about 9, 10 and 11 years old — confounded investigators for years as they scoured the densely forested area where they believed the family was hiding. The father and children were not believed to ever have traveled far from the isolated North Island rural settlement of Marokopa where they lived, but credible sightings of them were rare.Phillips has not been formally identified, but authorities believed he was the man killed.Police officer was shot and critically injuredA police officer was shot in the head and critically injured during a confrontation with Phillips after he robbed an agricultural supplies store early Monday morning, New Zealand’s Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers told reporters in the city of Hamilton. The child with Phillips at the time of the robbery was taken into custody.The officer was undergoing surgery at a hospital. His injuries were survivable, Rogers said, but he was shot “multiple times with a high-powered rifle” and further surgeries were expected.Fugitive’s other two children found hours after shootoutThe whereabouts of Phillips’ other two children was unknown immediately after the shooting and authorities held serious concerns for them, Rogers said earlier.About 13 hours after their father was killed, however, Rogers told reporters that the children had been found unaccompanied at a remote campsite in rugged forest. The child taken into custody Monday had cooperated with the authorities, allowing them to narrow the search area, she said.The farm supplies store targeted Monday was in a small town in the same sprawling farming region of Waikato, south of Auckland, as the settlement of about 40 people from where the family vanished. The case has fascinated New Zealanders and the authorities made regular unsuccessful appeals for information.Sightings of Phillips were limited to surveillance footage that showed him allegedly committing crimes in the area. He was wanted for an armed bank robbery while on the run in May 2023, accompanied by one of his children, in which he reportedly shot at a member of the public.Authorities believed Phillips had helpPhillips did not have legal custody rights for his children, Detective Senior Sgt. Andrew Saunders told reporters in 2024. Authorities said they had not had access to formal education or health care since their disappearance.Law enforcement always believed that Phillips had help concealing his family and some residents of the isolated rural area expressed support for him. A reward of 80,000 New Zealand dollars ($47,000), large by New Zealand standards was offered for information about the family’s whereabouts last June, but it was never paid.Family had gone missing beforeDecember 2021 was not the first time Phillips prompted national news headlines after disappearing with his children. The family went missing that September, launching a three-week land and sea search after Phillips’ truck was found abandoned on a wild beach near where he lived.Authorities eventually ended the search, concluding the family might have died, before Phillips and the children emerged from dense forest where he said they had been camping. He was charged with wasting police resources and was due to appear in court in January 2022, but weeks before the scheduled date he and the children vanished again.The police did not immediately launch a search because Phillips, who is experienced in the outdoors, had told family he was taking the children on another trip. He never returned.The search intensified again after several sightings of Phillips in 2023 in the same region where he had vanished. He was last seen on surveillance video in August this year as he robbed a grocery store in the night, accompanied by one of his children.Children’s mother issues a statementThe children’s mother issued a statement to Radio New Zealand on Monday in which she said she was “deeply relieved” that the “ordeal” for her children had ended.“They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care,” said the woman, who has been identified in New Zealand news outlets only by her first name, Cat.

    WELLINGTON, New Zealand —

    A man who evaded authorities with his three children in the remote New Zealand countryside for nearly four years was shot and killed by a police officer Monday, law enforcement said.

    One child was with Tom Phillips at the time of the confrontation and the other two children were found in the forest hours after the shootout, in which an officer was critically injured.

    The December 2021 disappearance of Phillips and his children — now about 9, 10 and 11 years old — confounded investigators for years as they scoured the densely forested area where they believed the family was hiding. The father and children were not believed to ever have traveled far from the isolated North Island rural settlement of Marokopa where they lived, but credible sightings of them were rare.

    Phillips has not been formally identified, but authorities believed he was the man killed.

    Police officer was shot and critically injured

    A police officer was shot in the head and critically injured during a confrontation with Phillips after he robbed an agricultural supplies store early Monday morning, New Zealand’s Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers told reporters in the city of Hamilton. The child with Phillips at the time of the robbery was taken into custody.

    The officer was undergoing surgery at a hospital. His injuries were survivable, Rogers said, but he was shot “multiple times with a high-powered rifle” and further surgeries were expected.

    Fugitive’s other two children found hours after shootout

    The whereabouts of Phillips’ other two children was unknown immediately after the shooting and authorities held serious concerns for them, Rogers said earlier.

    About 13 hours after their father was killed, however, Rogers told reporters that the children had been found unaccompanied at a remote campsite in rugged forest. The child taken into custody Monday had cooperated with the authorities, allowing them to narrow the search area, she said.

    The farm supplies store targeted Monday was in a small town in the same sprawling farming region of Waikato, south of Auckland, as the settlement of about 40 people from where the family vanished. The case has fascinated New Zealanders and the authorities made regular unsuccessful appeals for information.

    Sightings of Phillips were limited to surveillance footage that showed him allegedly committing crimes in the area. He was wanted for an armed bank robbery while on the run in May 2023, accompanied by one of his children, in which he reportedly shot at a member of the public.

    Authorities believed Phillips had help

    Phillips did not have legal custody rights for his children, Detective Senior Sgt. Andrew Saunders told reporters in 2024. Authorities said they had not had access to formal education or health care since their disappearance.

    Law enforcement always believed that Phillips had help concealing his family and some residents of the isolated rural area expressed support for him. A reward of 80,000 New Zealand dollars ($47,000), large by New Zealand standards was offered for information about the family’s whereabouts last June, but it was never paid.

    Family had gone missing before

    December 2021 was not the first time Phillips prompted national news headlines after disappearing with his children. The family went missing that September, launching a three-week land and sea search after Phillips’ truck was found abandoned on a wild beach near where he lived.

    Authorities eventually ended the search, concluding the family might have died, before Phillips and the children emerged from dense forest where he said they had been camping. He was charged with wasting police resources and was due to appear in court in January 2022, but weeks before the scheduled date he and the children vanished again.

    The police did not immediately launch a search because Phillips, who is experienced in the outdoors, had told family he was taking the children on another trip. He never returned.

    The search intensified again after several sightings of Phillips in 2023 in the same region where he had vanished. He was last seen on surveillance video in August this year as he robbed a grocery store in the night, accompanied by one of his children.

    Children’s mother issues a statement

    The children’s mother issued a statement to Radio New Zealand on Monday in which she said she was “deeply relieved” that the “ordeal” for her children had ended.

    “They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care,” said the woman, who has been identified in New Zealand news outlets only by her first name, Cat.

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  • Woman accused of killing her 2 kids, stuffing their bodies in suitcases goes on trial

    Wellington, New Zealand — A trial opened in New Zealand on Monday for a woman accused of murdering her two children and leaving their bodies in suitcases for years before they were discovered.

    Hakyung Lee is charged with killing Minu Jo, 6, and Yuna Jo, 8, in June 2018. She was extradited from South Korea to face the charges, which she denies.

    The children’s remains were found inside luggage at an abandoned storage unit in Auckland in August 2022. Lee, who is a New Zealand citizen, had traveled to South Korea and changed her name in 2018, shortly after the children are believed to have been killed.

    She was born in South Korea and went by the name Ji Eun Lee previously.

    A jury was chosen on Monday for Lee’s trial at the High Court in Auckland, which is expected to take four weeks. Prosecutors are due to outline their case on Tuesday and said they would call 40 witnesses.

    New Zealand news outlets reported that Lee was representing herself, although two lawyers were on standby to help her if needed. She didn’t speak during the hearing on Monday and shook her head, rather than answering through an interpreter, when asked how she pleaded to the charges.

    Not guilty pleas were entered by Justice Geoffrey Venning, who is presiding.

    Police and forensic investigators gather at the scene where suitcases with the remains of two children were found after a family not connected to the deaths bought the suitcases in an online auction for an unclaimed locker, in Auckland, New Zealand, in this still image taken from video.

    TVNZ / Handout via REUTERS TV


     The children’s cause of death remains unknown. Court documents said they might have been killed by prescription sleeping medication prescribed to Lee and detected in their bodies by forensic investigators but another cause of death hasn’t been ruled out, according to Radio New Zealand.

    Lee’s husband died in 2017 after a period of deteriorating health, according to RNZ. The Reuters news agency says reports citing court filings say he died of cancer.

    Justice Venning told the jury on Monday that they would likely be asked to consider the matter of Lee’s sanity at the time of the alleged killings, news outlet Stuff reported.

    Venning said the trial would be distressing to Lee and has granted her permission to watch proceedings from another room in the courthouse, Stuff said.

    The children’s remains were discovered after Lee stopped paying rental fees for the Auckland storage unit when she ran into financial difficulties in 2022, RNZ reported. The locker’s contents were auctioned online and the buyers found the bodies inside.

    Lee, who is in her 40s, was arrested in September 2022 in South Korea and extradited two months later. She had granted consent in writing to be extradited after a formal request from New Zealand to return her to face trial, South Korean officials said at the time.

    South Korea’s Justice Ministry said it had provided New Zealand with unspecified “important evidence” in the case.

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  • New Zealand father on the run almost 4 years with his kids shot dead by police, authorities say

    Wellington, New Zealand — A man who evaded authorities with his three children in the remote New Zealand countryside for nearly four years was shot and killed by a police officer Monday, law enforcement said.

    One child was with Tom Phillips at the time of the confrontation and the other two children were found in the forest hours after the shootout, in which an officer was critically injured.

    The December 2021 disappearance of Phillips and his children – now about 9, 10 and 11 years old – confounded investigators for years as they scoured the densely forested area where they believed the family was hiding. The father and children weren’t believed to ever have traveled far from the isolated North Island rural settlement of Marokopa where they lived, and credible sightings of them were rare.

    Phillips hasn’t been formally identified, but authorities believe he was the man killed.

    Police officers and area residents stand at a roadblock near where a police shootout occurred near the town of Piopio in New Zealand’s Waikato region on Sept. 8, 2025 in which, authorities said, Tom Phillips, a New Zealand father who spent nearly four years as a fugitive with his children, was killed in a police shootout.

    DJ MILLS / AFP via Getty Images


    A police officer was shot in the head and critically injured during a confrontation with Phillips after he robbed an agricultural supplies store early Monday morning, New Zealand’s Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers told reporters in the city of Hamilton. The child with Phillips at the time of the robbery was taken into custody.

    The officer was undergoing surgery at a hospital. His injuries were survivable, Rogers said, but he was shot “multiple times with a high-powered rifle” and additional surgeries were expected.

    The whereabouts of Phillips’ other two children were unknown immediately after the shooting and authorities had serious concerns for them, Rogers said earlier.

    About 13 hours after their father was killed, however, Rogers told reporters that the children had been found unaccompanied at a remote campsite in a rugged forest. The child taken into custody Monday had cooperated with the authorities, enabling them to narrow the search area, she said.

    The farm supplies store targeted Monday was in a small town in the same sprawling farming region of Waikato, south of Auckland, as the settlement of about 40 people the family had vanished from.

    NZEALAND-CRIME

    Members of the media stand on the side of a road where a police shootout occurred near the town of Piopio in New Zealand’s Waikato region on Sept. 8, 2025.  Authorities said Tom Phillips, a New Zealand father who spent nearly four years as a fugitive with his three children, was killed in the shootout.

    DJ MILLS / AFP via Getty Images


    Tom Phillips saga captivated New Zealand

    The case has fascinated New Zealanders and the authorities made regular unsuccessful appeals for information.

    Sightings of Phillips were limited to surveillance footage that showed him allegedly committing crimes in the area. He was wanted for an armed bank robbery in May 2023, accompanied by one of his children, in which he reportedly shot at a member of the public.

    Phillips didn’t have legal custody rights for his children, Detective Senior Sgt. Andrew Saunders told reporters in 2024. When Phillips and the children vanished, police said was over a custody battle. Authorities have said the children hadn’t had access to formal education or health care since their disappearance. 

    Law enforcement always believed that Phillips help concealing his family, and some residents of the isolated rural area expressed support for him. A reward of 80,000 New Zealand dollars ($47,000), large by New Zealand standards, was offered for information about the family’s whereabouts last June but was never paid.

    December 2021 wasn’t the first time Phillips prompted national news headlines after disappearing with his children. The family went missing that September, launching a three-week land and sea search after Phillips’ truck was found abandoned on a wild beach near where he lived.

    Authorities eventually ended the search, concluding the family might have died, before Phillips and the children emerged from dense forest where he said they had been camping. He was charged with wasting police resources and was due to appear in court in January 2022, but weeks before the scheduled date, he and the children vanished again.

    Police didn’t immediately launch a search because Phillips, who is experienced in the outdoors, had told family he was taking the children on another trip. He never returned.

    The search intensified again after several sightings of Phillips in 2023 in the same region where he had vanished.

    Phillips and his children were spotted in October 2024 when a group of teenage pig hunters saw them trekking through the bush and filmed the encounter on their phones.

    He was also seen on surveillance video last month as he robbed a grocery store in the night, accompanied by one of his children.

    The children’s mother issued a statement to Radio New Zealand on Monday in which she said she was “deeply relieved” that the “ordeal” for her children had ended.

    “They have been dearly missed every day for nearly four years, and we are looking forward to welcoming them home with love and care,” said the woman, who has been identified in New Zealand news outlets only by her first name, Cat.

    Phillips’ family had previously appealed to Phillips to turn himself in and return the children.

    “There’s a lot of love and there’s a lot of support, and we’re ready to help you walk through what you need to walk through,” his sister, Rozzi Phillips, told New Zealand news site Stuff in an exclusive interview last month.

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  • New Zealand airport puts three-minute limit on goodbye hugs

    New Zealand airport puts three-minute limit on goodbye hugs

    Emotional farewells are a common sight at airports, but travelers leaving the New Zealand city of Dunedin will have to be quick. A new three-minute time limit on goodbye hugs in the airport’s drop-off area is intended to prevent lingering cuddles from causing traffic jams.“Max hug time three minutes,” warn signs outside the terminal, adding that those seeking “fonder farewells” should head to the airport’s parking lot instead.Video above: This trick could save up to $500 on your next flightThe cuddle cap was imposed in September to “keep things moving smoothly” in the redesigned passenger drop-off area outside the airport, CEO Dan De Bono told The Associated Press on Tuesday. It was the airport’s way of reminding people that the zone was for “quick farewells” only.The signs had polarized social media users, De Bono said.“We were accused of breaching basic human rights and how dare we limit how long someone can have a hug for,” he said, adding that others had welcomed the change.The signs were meant as an alternative to those at other airports warning of wheel clamping or fines for drivers parked in drop-off areas. Some in Britain have imposed fees for all drop-offs — however brief.Dunedin’s airport — a modest terminal serving a city of 135,000 people on New Zealand’s South Island — preferred a “quirky” approach, De Bono said.Three minutes was “plenty of time to pull up, say farewell to your loved ones and move on,” he said. “The time limit is really a nicer way of saying, you know, get on with it.”A 20-second hug is long enough to release the wellbeing-boosting hormones oxytocin and serotonin, De Bono said. Anything longer was “really awkward.”But passengers need not worry unduly about enforcement. “We do not have hug police,” De Bono said.Visitors might, however, be asked to move their lingering embraces to the parking lot, where they can cuddle free of charge for up to 15 minutes.

    Emotional farewells are a common sight at airports, but travelers leaving the New Zealand city of Dunedin will have to be quick. A new three-minute time limit on goodbye hugs in the airport’s drop-off area is intended to prevent lingering cuddles from causing traffic jams.

    “Max hug time three minutes,” warn signs outside the terminal, adding that those seeking “fonder farewells” should head to the airport’s parking lot instead.

    Video above: This trick could save up to $500 on your next flight

    The cuddle cap was imposed in September to “keep things moving smoothly” in the redesigned passenger drop-off area outside the airport, CEO Dan De Bono told The Associated Press on Tuesday. It was the airport’s way of reminding people that the zone was for “quick farewells” only.

    The signs had polarized social media users, De Bono said.

    “We were accused of breaching basic human rights and how dare we limit how long someone can have a hug for,” he said, adding that others had welcomed the change.

    The signs were meant as an alternative to those at other airports warning of wheel clamping or fines for drivers parked in drop-off areas. Some in Britain have imposed fees for all drop-offs — however brief.

    Dunedin’s airport — a modest terminal serving a city of 135,000 people on New Zealand’s South Island — preferred a “quirky” approach, De Bono said.

    Three minutes was “plenty of time to pull up, say farewell to your loved ones and move on,” he said. “The time limit is really a nicer way of saying, you know, get on with it.”

    A 20-second hug is long enough to release the wellbeing-boosting hormones oxytocin and serotonin, De Bono said. Anything longer was “really awkward.”

    But passengers need not worry unduly about enforcement. “We do not have hug police,” De Bono said.

    Visitors might, however, be asked to move their lingering embraces to the parking lot, where they can cuddle free of charge for up to 15 minutes.

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