New Zealand | DD News

April 27, 2026 8:44 AM

India, New Zealand set to sign key FTA to double trade, boost ties

India and New Zealand are set to sign a long-awaited free trade agreement (FTA) on Monday to significantly boost bilateral trade, investments and market access across sectors. The agreement will be signed at Bharat Mandapam in the presence of Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and his New Zealand counterpart, Todd McClay. The pact is aimed at doubling bilateral trade to $5 billion over the next five years and is expected to open new avenues for Indian exporters, particularly at a time when g...

April 15, 2026 9:56 PM

Finance ministers, stung by hit to economies, call for full Iran war ceasefire

Finance ministers from almost a dozen countries led by Britain called on the U.S., Israel and Iran to implement their ceasefire in full on Wednesday and said the conflict would weigh on the global economy and markets even if it was resolved soon. A joint statement, signed by the finance ministers from Australia, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Spain, Norway, Ireland, Poland and New Zealand as well as Britain, was agreed a day after the International Monetary Fund cut its global economi...

April 11, 2026 12:36 PM

New Zealand braces for Cyclone Vaianu, flooding possible for Auckland

Cyclone Vaianu, approaching New Zealand, could cause flooding in its most populous city Auckland, the nation's weather forecaster warned on Saturday, as authorities issued evacuation orders for parts of the country's North Island. Vaianu, forecast to bring heavy rain and winds of up to 130 kmh (80 mph), was expected to hit on Sunday, then pass west of the remote Chatham Islands on Monday, the weather forecaster said. It warned that Auckland, a city of 1.7 million people, could expect up to 110...

March 23, 2026 10:52 AM

New Zealand endorses new private T20 league, wants more focus on women

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has named the proposed NZ20 franchise league as its preferred option to replace the nation's 21-year-old Super Smash but wants women's competition included in the proposal. The new league's backers have proposed a six-team league of privately owned franchises and hope to launch the first tournament by January 2027. NZC said its board had given in-principle support for NZ20 contingent on resolving key commercial, governance and structural matters. "While not a final c...

February 23, 2026 6:51 PM

British national among 19 killed in Nepal bus crash

A passenger bus fell from a hilly road in west Nepal before dawn on Monday, killing 19 people including a British national, police said. Only nine of the dead have been identified so far, they said, adding that the bus was carrying 44 people in all. A New Zealander and a Chinese national were among the 25 injured when the bus headed to the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, from the tourist town of Pokhara fell 200 metres (650 feet) from the road at Behighat in Dhading district, 80 km (50 miles) west ...

February 12, 2026 6:44 PM

India urges medtech startups to go global as trade pacts open access to 70% of world GDP

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday urged medical technology startups to expand beyond the domestic market and tap India’s free trade agreements that now provide access to nearly 70% of global GDP, most of it at zero duty for Indian products. Speaking at the Pfizer INDovation Startup Showcase in New Delhi, Goyal said nine free trade agreements signed over the past three years cover 38 countries, including major developed and emerging markets, creating unpreceden...

January 23, 2026 3:47 PM

New Zealand continues hunt for victims at campground hit by landslide

New Zealand emergency crews continued to search on Friday for victims of a landslide that ripped through a busy campground on the country's North Island the day before due to heavy rains. The landslide hit Mount Maunganui on the island's east coast at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday (2030 GMT Wednesday), bringing soil and rubble down on the busy campsite. Police reported that as many as nine people may be missing including children. Families enjoying the summer school holiday were among the campers. Rec...

January 22, 2026 4:37 PM

New Zealand rescuers seek landslide survivors as weather havoc kills two

Rescue workers combed rubble on Thursday at a campsite in New Zealand as they searched for the missing, children among them, following a landslide triggered by heavy rains that snapped power links to thousands and caused widespread damage. Homes were evacuated and roads closed as the rain lashed almost the entire eastern seaboard of the North Island, killing two people, while police put the number of those missing after the landslide in the single digits. Rescuers at the campsite in the touris...

January 21, 2026 4:33 PM

New Zealand PM Luxon calls November 7 poll, promises economic prosperity

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called a general election for November 7 and kicked off his re-election campaign on Wednesday asking voters to choose continuity and promising economic prosperity. The conservative government, a coalition between the major centre-right National party and minority parties New Zealand First and ACT, has been in power since the 2023 election. "Kiwis will have to weigh up who is best placed to provide stable and strong government in a very volatile and ...

January 21, 2026 4:22 PM

Severe weather in New Zealand’s North Island prompts evacuations

Authorities urged evacuations in some low-lying areas of New Zealand's North Island on Wednesday and police searched for a missing man who was swept away in a river after continued heavy rain and strong winds triggered flooding, swollen rivers and landslides. Local councils across the north asked residents in flood-prone areas to move to higher ground and others to prepare to evacuate if needed. Several roads were closed because of slips and flooding, the New Zealand Transport Agency said. Ima...