Shopkeepers and traders protest in the street against the economic conditions and Iran's embattled currency in Tehran. The Iranian rial's drop has increased import prices, affecting traders and causing spontaneous protests'. Western powers and Israel accuse Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. The current protests against the high cost of living have not reached the level of the nationwide demonstrations that shook Iran in 2022. In 2019, protests broke out in Iran after the announcement of a sharp increase in petrol prices.

Hart’s superyacht – reportedly worth more than $250 million - shapes up well against some of the other large and luxurious vessels, even ones owned by some of the world’s richest men and women. Graeme Hart's 103m superyacht Ulysses. Rank Group, which Hart owns, houses businesses that operate internationally in the packaging, consumer goods and building supplies industries. In 2023, two listed United States companies majority-owned by Hart made a combined US$9.2 billion ($15b). Kurt Bayer is NZ Herald South Island Head of News based in Christchurch.

A granddaughter of President John F Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Schlossberg was the second child of Caroline Kennedy, a former US ambassador to Australia and Japan, and Edwin Schlossberg, an artist and designer. After leaving the Times in 2017, Schlossberg began freelancing and, in 2019, published Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have. Her mother was only 5 when her father, President Kennedy, was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. As a freelance journalist, Schlossberg contributed to publications including The Washington Post, The Atlantic and Vanity Fair. While battling cancer, Schlossberg held her profession up as a point of pride.

Hope’s contribution to Marlborough spans more than five decades, encompassing youth development, the arts, environmental protection, health governance and local government. Gerald Hope has been made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Earlier in his life, Hope was deeply involved in youth initiatives, helping establish youth programmes in the 1970s and maintaining links with the Marlborough Youth Council to this day. Hope also played a key role in establishing the Marlborough Environment Awards, recognising good stewardship by farmers and landowners. Ben Smart and Olivia Hope.

Martin Guptill celebrates his double century, going on to get 237 not out, during the ICC Cricket World Cup quarterfinal match against West Indies. Barclay was chairman of Northern Districts Cricket before being appointed to the New Zealand Cricket Board in 2012, becoming chair in 2016. She has held executive roles with the Ngongotahā Rugby League Club for 55 years and Bay of Plenty District Rugby League for 40 years. She led the transformation of Puketāwhero Park into the central hub for rugby league in Rotorua, including project management and building development. Whittle is a life member of the Auckland Rugby League Referees Association and of Auckland Rugby League since 2008, and was recognised with a Distinguished Service Award from New Zealand Rugby League in 2000.

“The people you talk with are the most important of all.”Since departing the mid-morning slot on Newstalk ZB, Smith has hosted his own-named podcast, now with more than 300 episodes. John Roughan has also been appointed a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to journalism. He joined the New Zealand Herald in 1981 and was posted to the Parliamentary Press Gallery two years later. He wrote his final column in the New Zealand Herald in May 2023 after 27 years. He was a New Zealand Press Council member from 2014 to 2018, representing the Newspaper Publishers Association and in 2014 wrote a biography of then Prime Minister Sir John Key.

Orini Rd was closed overnight between Rutherford and Tenfoot Rds as the Serious Crash Unit carried out a scene examination. Serious crash closes part of Southern Motorway, AucklandUPDATE 1:22PMSH1 from Hill Road to Takanini southbound motorway is CLOSED. NZ’s annual road tollThe two new road deaths take this year’s official Christmas holiday road toll to four, after two deaths were reported yesterday. The second road toll death was recorded yesterday, after a single-vehicle crash on SH2 in Tangoio, Hawke’s Bay. New Zealand’s annual road toll this year is now 271.

Dixon credits the “Scott Dixon Contingency Group” as the investment effort that helped get him moving and not just as a career launch pad, but as something that became a model for others. Scott Dixon celebrates after winning the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series Gallagher Grand Prix. “The Indy 500 is the one that’s hard to top and that definitely took a long time to sink in. Sir Scott Dixon and Lady Emma Dixon. Not because it turns Scott Dixon into Sir Scott Dixon, but because it confirms what the best of New Zealand sport has always looked like: excellence, graft, humility and the instinct to pull someone else through the door behind you.

British boxer Anthony Joshua was injured in a car crash in Nigeria that killed two people, police say. A Nigeria traffic compliance agency has said that preliminary investigations showed the car involved in an accident in which former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua survived had a burst tyre before hitting a stationary truck. The British boxer was in a “stable condition” in hospital after the car accident that killed two close associates, his promoter said. Joshua, 36, was admitted at Lagos’ Duchess International Hospital, according to the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE) in Ogun state, where the accident occurred. TRACE spokesman Babatunde Akinbiyi told AFP that “from the preliminary investigation that was conducted, definitely there was overspeeding on the part of the SUV Anthony Joshua was travelling in”.

Photo: Supplied/ Department of the Prime Minister and CabinetDame Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM):Here is the full list of everyone receiving a 2026 New Year Honour:DANESH-MEYER, Professor Helen Victoria, CNZM - for services to ophthalmologySHAW, Coral May - for services to public service, the judiciary and the communitySPOTSWOOD, Dorothy Myrtle - for services to philanthropyKnight Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit (KNZM):DIXON, Scott Ronald Glyndwr, CNZM - for services to motorsportDRURY, Rodney Kenneth (Rod) - for services to business, the technology industry and philanthropyLE GROS, Professor Graham Stephen, CNZM - for services to medical sciencePARKIN, Christopher Wilton (Chris), CNZM - for services to philanthropy and the artsCompanions of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM):BARCLAY, Gregor John (Greg) - for services to sports governanceBATEUP, Neil Frank, ONZM - for services to the rural sectorCOMER, Leith Pirika, QSO - for services to Māori, governance and educationDE VILLIERS, Professor Charl Johannes - for services to accountancyHAYWARD, Dr Bruce William, MNZM - for services to geology, particularly micropaleontologyLAWTON, Professor Beverley-Anne (Bev), ONZM - for services to women's healthMARTIN, Distinguished Professor Gaven John - for services to mathematics and educationMOUGHAN, Distinguished Professor Paul James - for services to scienceQUINN, Anthony Zan (Tony) - for services to motorsport and the communityROA, Professor Thomas Charles (Tom), JP - for services to Māori language and educationTAULELEI, Rachel Emere, MNZM - for services to business, Māori and governanceTROTT, Donald Stanley Mackintosh, ONZM, JP - for services to operaOfficers of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM):ALLAN, Reverend Dr Patricia Ann - for services to survivors of abuseCARR, Graham - for services to the deer industry and the communityCORNER, Matthew David (David) - for services to people with intellectual and learning disabilitiesCOWAN, Christina (Chrissie) - for services to Māori, particularly blind and low vision peopleDAVIES, Brian Rex - for services to motorsportDIXON, Rodney Phillip Mathew (Rod) - for services to athleticsDOWNING, Lloyd Walker - for services to agriculture and governanceEGAN, Anthony Richard (Tony) - for services to the agricultural industry and the communityESPINER, Deborah Ann - for services to people with disabilities and educationGARDINER, Ian Donald - for services to the communications industry and mountain safetyGERMANN, Stewart Lloyd - for services to franchise lawGREENWOOD, Neville Charles - for services to the sheep industryHAMILTON, Judith Helen - for services to rowingHARMAN, Richard Michael Arthur - for services to journalism and broadcastingHART, Julie Anne - for services to women and victims of family violenceHARTNETT, Frances Margaret (Fran) - for services to people with disabilitiesHAZLEHURST, Sandra Glenis - for services to local governmentHETARAKA, Te Warihi Kokowai - for services to Māori and artHODDER, Jack Edward, KC - for services to the lawHOOPER, Shirley Gail - for services to netball and artistic swimmingHOTERENE, Waihoroi Paraone (Waihoroi Shortland) - for services to Māori and Māori language educationLLOYD, Lynley Elizabeth (Lyn) - for services to renal nutritionMACFARLANE, Andrew Webster (Andy) - for services to the deer industryMACLEOD, Professor Roderick Duncan (Rod), MNZM - for services to palliative careMILLER, James Bruce - for services to corporate governanceMOLLER, Lorraine Mary, MBE - for services to athleticsMUELLER, Professor Dr Jens Helmut Friedrich, MNZM - for services to educationPORTER, Suzanne Jane - for services to the arts and event managementPOTTER, Iain George - for services to sport and healthPOWELL, Tenby George Bolland, ED - for services to business, governance and humanitarian aidRITCHIE, Karen (Karen née Campbell) - for services to people with HIV/AIDS and Rainbow communitiesROBINSON, Cecilia Charlotte Louise - for services to business and womenSAEID, Dr Mohammad Arif (Arif) - for services to refugees and youthSMITH, Valerie Christine (Val) - for services to outdoor bowlsWRIGHT, Paul Bertram - for services to the real estate industry and philanthropyMembers of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM:BURGESS, Kevin John - for services to governance, the community and sportCHISHOLM, Donna Elise - for services to journalismCLARKE, Eroni - for services to the Pacific community and rugbyCULLEN, Peter John - for services to law, governance and youthDIXON, Rosemary Helen - for services to schools debatingDRUMMOND, Roger Bruce Douglas - for services to rugby and MāoriDYNES, Dr Robyn Ann - for services to agricultural scienceEADE, Dr Lorraine Shirley (Lorr) - for services to Māori, governance and the communityEDGAR, Judene Louise, JP - for services to governance, local government and the communityEYNON-RICHARDS, Jane Frances, JP - for services to the communityFARRAR, Jade Carlo - for services to people with disabilities

German businesses were closed for Christmas on Thursday and Friday last week, and investigators suspect the gang may have spent the holidays and weekend inside, breaking open the deposit boxes. Police officers stand in front of the savings bank branch in the Buer district of Gelsenkirchen. A police spokesman told AFP that the break-in was “indeed very professionally executed”, likening it to the heist movie Ocean’s Eleven. Policemen and concerned customers stand outside the bank in Gelsenkirchen after a Christmas holiday break-in. The police spokesman said that “disgruntled customers” were outside the bank branch which did not open for security reasons, after threats had been made against the employees.

Drury credits Napier Boys’ High School teacher Bob McCaw for sparking his interest in technology in the early 1980s. “I got to take it home on the weekend and play with it, which was pretty cool,” Drury remembers. Drury - then a member of the Government's Flag Consideration Panel - during a public meeting at Baycourt in Tauranga in 2015. Now based in Queenstown, Drury stepped down as Xero CEO in 2018 and left the company’s board in 2023. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.

Scott Dixon, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, has been knighted in the 2026 New Year Honours. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGESScott Dixon has raced his way to a knighthood in the latest distinction of an illustrious motorsport career. Arguably New Zealand’s most successful modern motorsport champion, the IndyCar driver has been awarded a KNZM in this year’s New Year Honours. Outside of motorsport he is a regular supporter of various charities in New Zealand and internationally, particularly fundraising for children’s charities. He was awarded the Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2009 New Year Honours, as well as being appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2019.

He has just raised the bar for the family again, becoming a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Sir Rod, 59 (Ngāi Tahu), has been recognised for services to business, the technology industry and philanthropy, but said the honour was yet to sink in. After graduating high school, Sir Rod moved to Wellington where he studied accounting and information systems at Victoria University. He also helped drive digitization initiatives such as online GST and the New Zealand Business Number. Sir Rod was also proud the culture he created within Xero had enabled the business to keep growing "and do what’s right for people in the business", citing its mental health advocacy as a prime example.

That left Dad’s father, Fred Clark, as the only surviving child in the family, as two other siblings had died very young. When my father reached school age, the public education system had not reached the then remote, back-country community where his family farmed. My grandparents valued education, and sent Dad and his older brother, Tom, to Auckland together to board at Mount Albert Grammar School. In 1987, Dad and Mum sold the family farm and moved to Waihī Beach. The gathering at the Waihī Beach RSA highlighted George Clark's experiences through significant historical events and his evolving political views, Helen Clark writes.