Covid response minister says it would be a waste to stop aiming for elimination after plan was questioned by foreign mediaSee all our coronavirus coverageNew Zealand’s Covid response minister says the country will not “throw in the towel” with its elim…
Why we’re happy hobbits in Jacinda’s ‘mysterious socialist hermit kingdom’ | Max Rashbrooke
Some British media have been mocking New Zealand for going into Covid lockdown over one case, but it’s hard to find downsides to the approachPhysician, heal thyself. This phrase has been in my thoughts ever since global media outlets, most of them Brit…
The Tampa affair, 20 years on: the ship that capsized Australia’s refugee policy
When a Norwegian freighter rescued 433 asylum seekers from a sinking vessel en route to Christmas Island, it sparked a crisis that led to hardline border policies and indelibly shifted the response to boat arrivalsEven to Abbas Nazari’s disoriented sev…
‘We’re beating this together’: Jemaine Clement on Covid, crime and his friend Taika Waititi
The co-creator of Wellington Paranormal and Flight of the Conchords is busy with new projects and looking forward to bingeing friends’ workIt’s a blustery Wellington night and we’re on the brink of the second nationwide lockdown of the pandemic. There’…
‘No second chances’: Can New Zealand beat Delta?
Jacinda Ardern has led a global Covid success story, but other countries have come unstuck when facing the Delta variantSee all our coronavirus coverageAs epidemiologist Michael Baker scrolled through a growing list of New Zealand’s Covid-exposed locat…
Apple launches a new iOS app, ‘Siri Speech Study,’ to gather feedback for Siri improvements
Apple recently began a research study designed to collect speech data from study participants. Earlier this month, the company launched a new iOS app called “Siri Speech Study” on the App Store, which allows participants who have opted in to share their voice requests and other feedback with Apple. The app is available in a […]
‘We were very blessed’: in the Cook Islands, pandemic proved a welcome respite from tourists
Despite the loss of income, some people say they enjoyed the peace of border closures while the environment had a chance to recoverFor nearly a year and a half after the onset of the pandemic, the Cook Islands didn’t see a single tourist.In early 2020 …
Coronavirus live news: Japan reports record cases ahead of Paralympics, New Zealand cluster grows
Critical care beds are reaching capacity in Japan while New Zealand is racing to contain a cluster in Auckland that has grown to 21Jabbed adults infected with Delta ‘can match virus levels of unvaccinated’Japan sees record number of Covid cases days be…
Austin Mitchell obituary
Maverick Eurosceptic Labour MP who fought hard for the fishing industry in his Great Grimsby constituencyThe Labour politician Austin Mitchell got his timing wrong. Had he entered the Commons 10 years before he did, he might have knuckled down and beco…
Spotify expands its radio DJ-like format, Music + Talk, to global creators
Last fall, Spotify introduced a new format that combined spoken word commentary with music, allowing creators to reproduce the radio-like experience of listening to a DJ or music journalist who shared their perspective on the tracks they would then play. Today, the company is making the format, which it calls “Music + Talk,” available to […]