New Zealand government
People queue in their cars to get tested for COVID-19 at a pop-up testing clinic at Bondi Beach in Sydney Friday, June 25, 2021. Parts of Sydney will go into lockdown late Friday after a coronavirus outbreak in Australia’s largest city continued to grow. (Dean Lewins/AAP Image via AP)
Parts of Sydney going into lockdown as virus outbreak grows

By Nick Perry Jun. 24, 2021 11:26 PM EDT

FILE - In this June 3, 2020, file photo, containers are loaded onto a ship for export at Lyttelton Port near Christchurch, New Zealand. Trade ministers from the Pacific rim were discussing ways to build back better from the pandemic in an online meeting Saturday, June 5, 2021, hosted by New Zealand. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
Asia-Pacific trade ministers mull vaccine access, supply

By Elaine Kurtenbach Jun. 05, 2021 03:42 AM EDT

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, left, poses for a photo with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern prior to talks in Queenstown, New Zealand, Monday, May 31, 2021. (Derek Cheng/NZ Herald via AP)
Down Under leaders minimize China spilt, urge virus probe

By Nick Perry May. 31, 2021 02:44 AM EDT

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, center, attends a Powhiri (welcome ceremony) at a hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand, Sunday, May 30, 2021. Growing friction with China and how to reopen borders after the pandemic will likely be among the topics discussed by the leaders of Australia and New Zealand in their first face-to-face meeting since the coronavirus outbreak began. (George Heard/NZ Herald via AP)
New Zealand hosts Australia PM in 1st meeting since outbreak

By Nick Perry May. 30, 2021 01:49 AM EDT

New Zealand Finance Minister Grant Robertson, front right, walks with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, left, to deliver his budget to parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, Thursday, May 20, 2021. New Zealand plans to rebuild its Antarctic base and spend billions more on welfare payments as part of a spending program aimed at lifting the economy out of a coronavirus slump. (Mark Mitchell/NZ Herald via AP)
New Zealand spending plan includes rebuilding Antarctic base

By Nick Perry May. 19, 2021 11:25 PM EDT

Children watch as veterans march in the Anzac Day parade in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 25, 2021. Australians and New Zealanders paid tribute to their war dead Sunday as both nations prepared to withdraw from their longest war in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australia and New Zealand commemorate war dead on Anzac Day

By Rod Mcguirk Apr. 24, 2021 07:41 PM EDT

FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2019, file photo, New Zealand's then Justice Minister Andrew Little speaks to the media in Wellington, New Zealand. Now the Health Minister Little said Wednesday, April 21, 2021, that New Zealand will overhaul its fragmented healthcare system to create a new national service similar to the one revered by many in Britain. (AP Photo/Nick Perry, File)
New Zealand to consolidate health care into national service

By Nick Perry Apr. 20, 2021 10:14 PM EDT

A photo of Britain's Prince Philip is among flowers left by the public outside the gates of Windsor Castle, a day after the death of Britain's Prince Philip, in Windsor, England, Saturday, April 10, 2021. Britain's Prince Philip, the irascible and tough-minded husband of Queen Elizabeth II who spent more than seven decades supporting his wife in a role that mostly defined his life, died on Friday. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
The Latest: Tweet recalls queen's loving anniversary speech

By The Associated Press Apr. 10, 2021 03:59 AM EDT

FILE - In this March 3, 2018, file photo, a view from outside Angkor Wat temple is seen in Siem Reap, northwestern Cambodia. Cambodia is closing the Angkor temple complex to visitors because of a growing COVID-19 outbreak. On Thursday, April 8, 2021, the Health Ministry said 113 cases were reported from local transmission, with two deaths. The ministry traced the outbreak to a foreign resident who broke hotel quarantine to visit a nightclub. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File)
Asia Today: Modi gets 2nd vaccine dose as India hits record

Apr. 08, 2021 12:25 AM EDT

A ferry sails across the Sydney harbour past the HMAS Arunta, an Anzac-class frigate of the Royal Australian Navy, moored in Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, April 6, 2021. New Zealand announced the start date for a long-anticipated travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand that will allow people to travel between the two countries without going through quarantine, allowing families to reunite and giving a big boost to the struggling tourism industry will begin April 19. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
New Zealand to open travel bubble with Australia on April 19

By Nick Perry Apr. 06, 2021 12:28 AM EDT

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during the opening of Raytheon Australia's Centre for Joint Integration in Adelaide, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Australia announced Wednesday it would begin building its own guided missiles in close collaboration with the U.S. as it seeks to boost its defense capabilities. Citing the "changing global environment,” Morrison said it would partner with a weapons manufacturer to build the missiles in a plan that would create thousands of jobs as well as export opportunities. (Morgan Sette/AAP Image via AP)
Australia to build guided missiles to boost defense capacity

By Nick Perry Mar. 30, 2021 11:49 PM EDT

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2018, file photo, an Uyghur woman uses an electric-powered scooter to fetch school children as they ride past a picture showing China's President Xi Jinping joining hands with a group of Uighur elders at the Unity New Village in Hotan, in western China's Xinjiang region. Australia and New Zealand on Tuesday, March 23, 2021 welcomed the United States, European Union, Canada and Britain taking joint action to impose sanctions on senior Chinese officials over human rights abuses in China’s far western Xinjiang region. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
China summons foreign diplomats in protest over sanctions

By Rod Mcguirk And Ken Moritsugu Mar. 23, 2021 07:00 AM EDT

Newspapers headlining Prince Harry and Meghan’s explosive TV interview are displayed for sale outside a shop in London, Tuesday, March 9, 2021. Britain's royal family is absorbing the tremors from a sensational television interview by Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex, in which the couple said they encountered racist attitudes and a lack of support that drove Meghan to thoughts of suicide. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
The Latest: Indians not shocked by royal racism allegations

Mar. 09, 2021 11:09 AM EST

A woman embraces a police officer as people protest, calling for the resignation of President Mario Abdo Benitez over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the state of the public health system, in Asuncion, Paraguay, Monday, March 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
The Latest: New Zealand opens 1st big vaccination clinic

By The Associated Press Mar. 08, 2021 04:41 AM EST

An army doctor prepares to inject the Sinovac vaccine from China during a vaccination at Fort Bonifacio, Metro Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. The Philippines launched a vaccination campaign to contain one of Southeast Asia's worst coronavirus outbreaks but faces supply problems and public resistance, which it hopes to ease by inoculating top officials. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
The Latest: Ontario seniors won't get AstraZeneca vaccine

By The Associated Press Mar. 02, 2021 06:55 AM EST

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. (Tom Brenner/Pool via AP)
The Latest: At 100, Captain Tom Moore honored at funeral

By The Associated Press Feb. 27, 2021 12:15 PM EST

A vial of the Pfizer vaccine is scanned before administered at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Vaccination Hub in Sydney, Australia, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Australia has started its COVID-19 vaccination program days after its neighbor New Zealand with both governments deciding their pandemic experiences did not require regulation short cuts. (Toby Zerna/Pool via AP)
Vaccinations start without rush in Australia, parts of Asia

Feb. 22, 2021 03:31 AM EST

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, center, and Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield, right, talk to media in Wellington, New Zealand Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. As people in Auckland adjusted to a new lockdown on Monday, health officials said they'd found no evidence the coronavirus had spread further in the community, raising hopes the restrictions might be short-lived. (AP Photo/Nick Perry)
New Zealand ends lockdown after deciding outbreak contained

By Nick Perry Feb. 16, 2021 08:55 PM EST

Couples wear masks as they hold hands while renewing their marriage vows at Christ the King Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The Latest: Australia receives over 142,000 vaccine doses

By The Associated Press Feb. 14, 2021 08:46 AM EST

Health workers backed by trade unions protest outside the Hospital Clinico San Carlos in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021. The workers are calling for better working conditions during the coronavirus pandemic while defending the Spanish national heath service. (AP Photo/Paul White)
The Latest: Australia's 2nd largest city to begin lockdown

By The Associated Press Feb. 11, 2021 04:08 AM EST