Jacinda Ardern

A convoy of trucks and campers blocked the streets near New Zealand's parliament in Wellington today in protest of Covid restrictions and vaccinations. The action is inspired by the Freedom Convoy in Canada, AFP reported.

State of Emergency in Ottawa over the Freedom Convoy

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern admitted on Oct. 4 that New Zealand's widely praised "COVID zero" strategy had failed to halt a stubborn outbreak in Auckland and said a new approach was needed.

The hardline elimination policy had largely protected the country from the pandemic, with residents enjoying a near-normal domestic life alongside tight restrictions on international borders.

New Zealand will almost completely lift its blockade due to the coronavirus this week, with only the epicenter of the infection in the Auckland country remaining under strict restrictions, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.

The Islamic State-inspired radical responsible for a supermarket knife rampage in New Zealand was watched for five years and jailed for three before authorities exhausted all avenues to keep him detained, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed on Sept. 4.

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The 32-year-old Sri Lankan was only freed in July and had been under police surveillance since.

An ISIL supporter wounded six people with a knife

Terrorist attack in a supermarket in Auckland. An ISIL supporter stabbed six people in New Zealand's largest city. The police shot the perpetrator.

According to preliminary information, three of the store's customers are in critical condition. Another was seriously injured.

New Zealand authorities said on Sept. 3 they shot and killed a violent extremist after he entered a supermarket and stabbed and injured six shoppers.

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A coronavirus case that plunged New Zealand into a snap national lockdown was confirmed as the Delta variant Wednesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, as four more cases emerged.

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Ardern said one of the new cases was a nurse at Auckland Hospital, which had been placed in "internal lockdown" while all staff and patients were tested.

New Zealand suspended quarantine-free travel with Australia's Victoria state over a new coronavirus cluster on May 25, the fourth time the trans-Tasman travel bubble has been disrupted since it opened last month.

New Zealand has approved quarantine-free travel with Australia, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on April 6, completing a two-way corridor for travel between the largely COVID-free neighbors.

"I can confirm that quarantine-free travel will begin in just under two weeks, at 11:59 p.m. on April 18," Ardern announced after the date was confirmed by her cabinet.

A powerful series of undersea quakes struck north-east of New Zealand on March 5, but tsunami waves that forced many people on the country's North Island to flee to high ground passed without causing substantial damage.