NZ

Eleven of the 21 crew on board the Rio De La Plata are confirmed to have the virus.

Public Health staff took the test swabs in Tauranga from the crew as part of the requirements for entry for the vessel to its next stop - Napier.

The Ministry of Health said in a statement that it was likely at least some of the 11 crew were active cases of COVID-19 and further test results, expected today, would help determine how many of the crew were likely to be historical cases and no longer infectious.

Fiji reported 1100 new cases and 13 more deaths today, bringing to total death toll to 254.

Of the deaths, 252 of them have come from the April outbreak of the Delta variant of Covid-19.

Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said New Zealand paid for 100,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine directly from the Spanish government to meet Fiji's immediate vaccine needs. The vaccines were due to arrive today.

"Our thoughts remain with Fiji during this incredibly challenging period," Mahuta said in a statement.

The movie, They are Us, will focus on the prime minister's response in the week following the attacks, and is set to star Australian actress Rose Byrne as Jacinda Ardern.

Ardern said in a statement that plenty of stories from 15 March could be told, and she does not consider hers to be one of them.

New Zealand's Muslim community has come out against the film, saying the focus on the prime minister, rather than the victims, is wrong, and it is just Hollywood profiting off the community's pain.

The Fiji men's team haven't played an international match since the World Series were cancelled 15 months ago, while the Fijiana haven't played since the Sydney Sevens in February last year.

The players have instead been competing in a domestic sevens series to keep match-fit ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

The inaugural PacificAus Oceania Sevens will be held at Queensland Country Bank stadium, from 25 to 27 June, with four men's and four women's teams from Fiji, New Zealand and Australia.

New research shows beverage exports to the islands have increased significantly to more than 39 million kilograms a year.

At the same time, New Zealand taxpayers are stumping up for the region's escalating healthcare costs exacerbated by that, the report said.

The biggest cause of death in the Pacific is diet-related chronic diseases, with the region having some of the highest rates of type two diabetes (47 percent) and obesity (75 percent) in the world.

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said the rollout in the Cook Islands would begin on 19 May. It was expected to take six to eight weeks, and would then be followed by programmes in Niue and Tokelau - both are also part of the realm of New Zealand.

The government today pledged to provide additional Covid-19 vaccines to Pacific Island nations, so their total delivery would reach at least 1.2 million people in the region in the coming year.

Cabinet ministers have this afternoon signed off on a 17 May start date, pending final confirmation by New Zealand's Director-General of Health and the Cook Islands Secretary of Health.

It will be subject to final checks such as airline and airport preparedness.

New Zealand would be providing the Cook Islands with enough vaccine to immunise its population. That roll-out would also commence later this month but is not considered a pre-condition for the bubble.

Australian courts recently found Google's privacy settings misled consumers over whether their location data was being stored on Android devices, because although the information was in the terms and conditions - it was not clear.

Law firm Bell Gully senior associate Richard Massey said the case would be of interest to New Zealand's regulators.

Western Australia plans to keep treating New Zealand arrivals like international travellers and enforcing mandatory quarantine - bursting some potential travellers' hopes of travel bubble bliss.

Among them is Moira Green, who launched straight into plans to see her two sons and granddaughter in Fremantle after the announcement of quarantine-free trans-Tasman trips on Tuesday.

Her travel agent broke the news she'd still have to spend two weeks and at least $2500 staying in government-run quarantine if she wanted to get to the state.

FIFA has cofirmed New Zealand's host cities are: Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin.

Australia and New Zealand will jointly host the 32-team tournament with 12 cities from both countries having bid to host games.

The 64 games will be split between the two countries with the tournament opener at Auckland's Eden Park while Sydney will host the final.

Nine cities will host games, Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Dunedin, Hamilton, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Wellington.