This week, starting today, is New Zealand Sign Language Week, celebrating the language that is used by the Deaf community. Just three years ago, NZ Sign Language (NZSL) became the third official language in New Zealand, after English and Maori. This...
Today the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Dr Alan Bollard, lowered the official cash rate (OCR) to 2.5%. This is down 50 points from the 12th March. It is also a huge change from July last year when the OCR was at a high point of 8.25%. In July 2007, t...
After the news that more than 100 people have died from swine flu in Mexico, New Zealand is now worried about travellers who have just returned from Mexico. Swine flu comes from pigs, not from eating pork. It comes at first from the animals but after...
Tomorrow is ANZAC Day, a day when New Zealanders and Australians remember soldiers who died in Gallipoli on 25th April 1915. See April 25th 2008 . 1915 was during the First World War. ANZAC Day, however, is a day to remember all New Zealand soldiers...
The New Zealand Geographic Board is thinking about changing the names of the North Island and the South Island. The Board members think that these two islands should have Maori names instead. Certainly, North Island and South Island are not very inte...
Last week, a boat with 49 Afghan men on board, caught fire off the coast of Australia. The people on board the boat were asylum seekers. An asylum seeker is someone who wants to live in another country but is not an official refugee. This is an illeg...
The Minister of Climate Change, Nick Smith, gave some strange information about our carbon emissions yesterday. (See September 23rd 2008 for information about the Emissions Trading Scheme.) Last year we put too much carbon into the atmosphere and wou...
Problems in Fiji affect New Zealand. Many New Zealanders go to Fiji on holiday, many Fijians live in New Zealand and we are part of the Pacific Islands Forum. (see January 27th 2009) The countries which belong to the Pacific Islands Forum want Fiji t...
New Zealand workers have a holiday on Good Friday (yesterday) and Easter Monday. Easter is a Christian holiday to remember when Jesus Christ was killed on the cross and came back to life again. This is called the resurrection. Easter is a holy time a...
The Prime Minister, John Key, is on his way to Thailand for the Asean conference which will be held this weekend in Pattaya, 100km south of Bangkok. Ten Asian countries including Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and China, will be represented at...
