New Zealand's new government is moving quickly to fulfill a campaign promise by banning foreign investors from buying homes. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Tuesday that she expects to introduce new laws within weeks that would take effect early next year. She said the government is determined to make it easier for New Zealanders to buy homes and to stop foreigners from driving up prices.

New Zealand's next prime minister Jacinda Ardern has set ambitious environmental policies to confront a warming planet. "I do anticipate that we will be a government, as I said during the campaign, that will be absolutely focused on the challenge of climate change," said Ardern, whose Labour party has signed a coalition agreement with the New Zealand First party.

You better lose yourself the moment you try to copy an Eminem song. According to a press release from the High Court of New Zealand, the New Zealand National Party must pay the New Zealand dollars equivalent of almost $413,000 for copyright infringement after it copied the rapper's hit "Lose Yourself" for an ad. "Eminem Esque" was featured in Party advertisements and played on television, the internet and at a Party conference in the lead up to the 2014 election.

New Zealand is facing a potential crisps shortage this summer, producers say, in a snack crisis being labelled the "chipocalypse". Persistent wet winter weather on the islands has hit potato production, resulting in higher prices. In some places, up to a third of the crop has been lost.

Fears grow of ‘potatogeddon’ after up to 30% of the crop are hit by heavy rains blamed on climate change

South Pacific landmass may have been closer to land level than once thought, providing pathways for animals and plants

Love! Revolution! Aliens! Hokitika!

GCSB couldn't say more without jeopardizing the national security of New Zealand.

The New Zealand Medical Association has called for a ban on selling alcohol in supermarkets, saying that having it next to groceries and food normalises a dangerous drug. Wine and beer have been widely available in most supermarkets around the country since 1990, although spirits can be bought only in bars and off-licences.

New Zealand firefighters will start leaving for Canada tomorrow to help bolster local efforts as scores of wildfires rage out of control across the country. Eighty people including firefighters from Fire and Emergency, the Department of Conservation and forestry contractors will fly to Vancouver over the next three days on a five-week mission to provide relief to Canadian firefighters stretched to capacity.

Selling wine and beer next to food ‘normalises’ a dangerous drug and should be sold at specific outlets

The National Security Agency (NSA) illegally used technology to spy on Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, according to new documents from New Zealand's Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB).

Kim Dotcom is about to upgrade his lifestyle, and he plans to move from Auckland, New Zealand to Queenstown, a city in the far south of the country, according to a few recent tweets. The Megaupload founder has been battling an American criminal copyright case from New Zealand for years now, and so far he's successfully resisted extradition. Dotcom was also hit with a civil forfeiture case filed by the Department of Justice, which was brought 18 months after the initial criminal charges.

An expedition has been launched to help solve the mysteries of Zealandia, an underwater continent to the east of Australia.

A New Zealand man has died after allegedly being forcibly tied to a bed in a Japanese psychiatric hospital for 10 days. Kelly Savage, 27, who also had US citizenship, died in May after a massive heart attack at the Yamato municipal hospital, where he was admitted on 30 April following a manic episode with psychotic features. His family believes the heart attack was the result of deep vein thrombosis, which he developed after...

A New Zealand tourist has been killed by the blast from a jetliner taking off at a seaside airport in the Dutch Caribbean territory of Sint Maarten, officials say.

Mark Dunajtschik signed an agreement with Capital & Coast District Health Board this morning to build the facility, which would have 50 inpatient hospital beds as well as space for families. Health Minister Jonathan Coleman welcomed the generosity of Mr Dunajtschik, who he said had been a substantial benefactor in the areas of health, sport and education for 40 years.

Using a 19th century cartographer’s field diary, researchers think they’ve found the location of a revered landmark thought to be destroyed. By Sarah Gibbens.

New red tape will kill signature hamburger at NZ's oldest licensed restaurant, says chef. New Zealand's oldest licensed premises has pulled a burger that's been the cornerstone of its menu – blaming it on bureaucratic red tape gone mad. Dan Fraser, executive chef at the Duke of Marlborough restaurant in the Bay of Islands, was left stewing after a visit from a Ministry of Primary Industries inspector on Thursday.

More parents have admitted mistakenly trying to feed their children dog food after a pet snack pack featuring a well-known kids cartoon was put next to chips in a supermarket. The store owners have apologised after dozens of horrified parents have said they bought the Scooby Snacks for their youngsters from the Whanganui Pak'n Save this week to eat at school and kindergarten.