Wellington - The President of Vanuatu, Baldwin Lonsdale, has died of a heart attack, the Vanuatu Daily Post reported Saturday. He was 67.

It's not often that something from the past, lost due to a cataclysmic event is ever found again. But two researchers are certain they have rediscovered what was known as the 'Eighth Wonder of the World', New Zealand's famed pink and white terraces.

Wellington - US President Donald Trump has told his top diplomat to ignore trouble in Washington and re-engage with Russia to rebuild ties, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday.

Wellington - A search and rescue exercise turned real for a US Coast Guard crew who found six Tongan fishermen missing at sea for a week, New Zealand officials said Friday.

California-based Rocket Lab successfully shot a rocket into space from their private launch facility in New Zealand on Thursday at 4:20 p.m. local time, reaching space three minutes later.

The final countdown has started for what may well be an historic event for New Zealand, with the first-ever firing of a rocket into space, potentially putting the small country right up there beside the big boys.

Penguin populations around the world are in decline and now New Zealand's Yellow-eyed penguins slip toward extinction. At their rate of decline, Yellow-eyed penguins will vanish from the Otago Peninsula of New Zealand in about 40 years.

Auckland - A new study, investigating the low rates of dementia among the Māori people, suggests the Maori haka and language could help to keep dementia at bay.

Wellington - New Zealand plans to scrap the crime of blasphemy after calls from across the political spectrum for reform in response to an Irish investigation into British comic Stephen Fry.

Wellington - Rapper Eminem launched court action against New Zealand's ruling political party on Monday, accusing it of using an unlicensed version of his hit "Lose Yourself" in a campaign advert.

Auckland - With a jaunty victory dance, 101-year-old Man Kaur celebrated winning the 100 metres sprint at the World Masters Games in Auckland on Monday, the 17th gold medal in the Indian athlete's remarkable late-blooming career.

Wellington - New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English defended his love of pizza topped with tinned spaghetti and pineapple on Friday after the recipe sent fans of the Italian treat into an outraged frenzy.

The large earthquake that struck New Zealand in 2016 has been declared the most complex earthquake ever, according to scientists. This has implications for how earthquakes are monitored and responded to in the future.

Wellington - New Zealand's strong economic growth is placing strains on the environment that threaten to undermine its "clean, green" reputation, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned Tuesday.

Wellington - A convicted murderer and child molester in New Zealand won a lawsuit Thursday arguing prison authorities breached his rights by confiscating a toupee he used to disguise himself when fleeing the country.

Wellington - A New Zealand river revered by Maori has been recognised by parliament as a "legal person", in a move believed to be a world first.

Wellington - New Zealand's High Court ruled Monday that Kim Dotcom was eligible for extradition to the United States over online piracy allegations linked to his now-defunct Megaupload web empire.

Sydney - Typical. Last week New South Wales was the hottest place on Earth. We had the usual heat, floods, fire and more. Now, we have snow. Australian weather doesn’t like to be boring, or predictable.

All school children are taught there are seven continents on the planet, but there may soon be an eighth continent, Zealandia. A new study suggests that a mostly submerged landmass in the southwest Pacific should be classified as a continent.

Wellington - The grim task of clearing hundreds of washed-up whale carcasses was under way in New Zealand Tuesday, with the beach closed over fears the bodies will fill with gas and explode as they decompose.