New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern will spend a second night in hospital with her "very alert and hungry" newborn daughter who Twitter wags have dubbed the "prime miniature".

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday pushed for a "progressive" free-trade agreement with the European Union in the coming months, while saying British ideas about turning the Commonwealth into a trading platform were a "longer run aspiration".

New Zealand is halting all new offshore oil and gas exploration as part of its efforts to deal with climate change, the centre-left government said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc had a meeting with New Zealand’s Speaker of the House of Representatives Trevor Mallard on March 13, during which both leaders agreed that the two countries’ legislations should maintain traditional cooperation and close coordination at international and regional parliamentary forums.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and his New Zealand counterpart, Jacinda Ardern, agreed on major directions to boost future Việt Nam-New Zealand co-operation in all fields during their talks in Auckland, New Zealand, on Tuesday.

Việt Nam and New Zealand on March 13 issued a Joint Statement on advancing the comprehensive partnership toward the strategic partnership during Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc’s official visit to New Zealand on March 11-14. The following is the full text of the joint statement.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc together with his spouse Trần Thị Nguyệt and a high-level delegation left Hà Nội on March 11 to visit New Zealand from March 11-14 at the invitation of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Relations between New Zealand and Việt Nam are developing from strength to strength and there is significant potential to grow the relationship further, said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and his spouse will pay official visits to New Zealand from March 12-14 and Australia from March 14-18. 

New Zealand has sweltered through its hottest summer on record and can expect more of the same if climate change continues unabated, the government's scientific agency said yesterday.