The Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key, says emergency teams in Christchurch are now focusing on recovering bodies, rather than finding survivors of the earthquake.
He has confirmed that 98 people are known to have been killed in the recent earthquake, and more than 200 others are still missing.
More than 100 people are believed to be trapped in rubble after a deadly 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch on Tuesday, killing at least 65 people.
Rescuers dug frantically for bodies and people trapped after a major 6.3 earthquake caused “multiple” deaths in New Zealand's second city of Christchurch Tuesday, crushing buildings and vehicles.
A pod of 107 pilot whales stranded on New Zealand’s south island have died, including 48 killed by authorities, reports said Monday.
At least fourteen whales from a pod of more than 80 beached on the New Zealand coast have died, with officials fearing others may be stranded elsewhere after freeing themselves on Saturday.
New Zealand has seen phenomenal cruise growth since 1995 and the 2010-2011 cruise season which started on 15 October with the Sapphire Princess, is forecast to be even larger than what the country has ever experienced.
Only nine of the 63 pilot whales which were found stranded on a beach of New Zealand’s northern island on Friday are believed to have survived. Thirteen whales were re-floated Saturday but four of them got back into difficulty and NZ Department of Conservation staff made the tough decision to euthanize them.
The financial dealings of New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser are under scrutiny amid revelations he owns thousands of shares in a Uruguayan-based dairy company that he actively promotes as part of his job, according to the NZ press.
The International Whaling Commission unveiled Thursday a draft proposal to bring all whaling operations under its full control and to strengthen and focus the work of the IWC on conservation issues including a compromise proposal which will cut Japan's annual Antarctic quota by three-quarters in five years.