“By the end of the day, we have our next weather system coming on to the South Island,” Makgabutlane said. “That weather system slowly moves up the South Island and reaches the North Island. The lower and eastern South Island, and the lower North Island, are forecast to see the strongest winds. Makgabutlane said showers from the weather system were forecast to move from the South Island on to the North Island overnight on Monday and early Tuesday. Meanwhile, temperatures are set to be cooler across much of the South Island, with Invercargill at 16C, Timaru at 17C, and Christchurch reaching 19C.

Death stuns close-knit communityLines’ death stunned the close-knit hop-growing community and the wider Nelson-Tasman region, it was reported at the time. Wakefield hop grower Peter Lines was killed last June, a month before his 68th birthday. The fifth-generation hop grower was a grandfather to eight and great-grandfather to two. Coroner Amelia Steel said the fatality happened during efforts to mitigate the impact of debris in the rising Wai-iti River next to the Lines’ hop farm. He was a fifth‑generation hop grower on land his family had farmed since 1842.

Dan OhsA rise in stabbing and gunshot wounds in the South has contributed to a ‘‘record’’ demand for ambulances and paramedics. St John Southland-Otago district operations manager David Milne said ambulance assistance due to stabbing or gunshot wounds was up 69% in Southland — from 13 incidents in 2024 to 22 in 2025. There was a 24% rise in Otago, where the numbers rose from 29 to 36 stabbing or gunshot incidents. Falls were now one of the leading reasons for ambulance demand and disproportionately affected older people. Higher-acuity cases continued to dominate ambulance demand — patients with serious, but not immediately life-threatening conditions accounted for 43% of incidents nationally.

Photo / Angela BarnettUnlike hikes in Aotearoa, solar-powered vending machines dot the Kumano Kodō, just far enough apart to make you rush when one appears. Some sell hot coffee in cans, others cold Coke, ice cream (the teenagers couldn’t believe it), and occasionally beer. Photo / Angela BarnettOne small jizō was dedicated to Ogin, a young geisha who met a man named Toyonojo in Kyoto in 1816, and she followed him to the Kumano Kodō. Yet, this is the gift of the Kumano Kodō; an opportunity to walk through frustration, to let it go or practice moving your mind on to other things. Views along the Kumano Kodo trail.

Dan OhsA rise in stabbing and gunshot wounds in the South has contributed to a ‘‘record’’ demand for ambulances and paramedics. There was a 24% rise in Otago, where the numbers rose from 29 to 36 stabbing or gunshot incidents. ‘‘Demand on our emergency ambulance service has never been higher.’’Nearly half of all ambulance responses involved people aged 65 and over, he said. Falls were now one of the leading reasons for ambulance demand and disproportionately affected older people. Higher-acuity cases continued to dominate ambulance demand — patients with serious, but not immediately life-threatening conditions accounted for 43% of incidents nationally.

Photo: ODT FilesTranspower representatives will meet members of the Gibbston community next week to discuss their concerns about a second power line running through the valley. Three options would involve a second line between Cromwell and a new substation at Arrow Junction, near Arrowtown. A fourth option was for a 105km line between Roxburgh and Queenstown’s Jacks Point, via the Remarkables Range. The new line would ‘‘roughly follow’’ the existing 40.3km line from Cromwell, although the company would consider options for its alignment. However, Mr Webb said the present preferred option was ‘‘the shortest distance between two points’’, where power was available from Transpower’s existing 220kV network.

A resident of a Dunedin street has described people ‘‘bolting’’ from a crash where a woman was found lying unconscious in the street. Stone St resident Matt Thomson says his front porch was damaged after a car crashed into a power pole outside his house early yesterday morning. ‘‘The tyres are screeching and we’re waiting for the bang.’’The Audi with an unconscious woman came to rest on this fence after snapping off a power pole in Stone St. He awoke early yesterday to an ‘‘almighty bang’’ and then overheard a man saying: ‘‘No. Thousands of vehicles went up and down Stone St each day — it was only the occasional driver who did ‘‘silly things’’, he said.

The Northland disaster recovery model involves services coming out to the people, starting with representatives from a wide range of organisations meeting locals at Mōkau Marae. Health services, particularly mental health support, were a key focus of the hui. Volunteer doctors from Whangārei’s emergency department were working with Ki a Ora Ngātiwai to bring health services out to the area. Emergency Recovery Fund details:The Emergency Recovery Fund is opening on Monday with an initial $130,000 available for communities in Whangārei’s Hikurangi-Coastal Ward, plus Ngaiotonga, Te Rāwhiti and Whangamumu areas of the Far North District. This is to help cover the costs of initial recovery efforts from the storms.

A Welshman on a working holiday visa has cut his stay short after crashing his car into a power pole while drink-driving. Gwion Enwyl Emberton, 19, was before the Gore District Court last week on one charge of drink-driving last November. The court heard he was on a working holiday visa, working as a contractor in Heriot and had a full UK driver’s licence. Emberton had already contacted the power company to organise payment for the damaged pole, Ms McCullum said. He was fined $500 plus court costs and disqualified from driving for six months.

Farrah Kernan, 18, was arrested last week after she allegedly assaulted her mother Cynthia with a pork chop. US teenager charged after allegedly assaulting her mother with pork chopFarrah Kernan, 18, was arrested last week after she allegedly assaulted her mother Cynthia with a pork chop. Photo / Martin County Sheriff's OfficeA Florida teen has been charged after she allegedly assaulted her mother with a pork chop. Farrah Kernan, 18, reportedly became involved in a “verbal dispute” with her mother, Cynthia Kernan, at their Jensen Beach home last Thursday, according to Local 12 News. An arrest affidavit stated Cynthia called 911 and told officers that the argument began after Farrah had been day drinking.

Allan says care for those who have been abused has also improved in church contexts. She was recognised for encouraging the church to “adopt policies and procedures for dealing with professional misconduct, complaints of sexual abuse and clergy education”. Allan told Real Life she became “virtually unemployable in the Anglican set-up” after a trip to the US to see how churches were responding to abuse. “There was some misunderstanding about the power of clergy,” she told Real Life. Real Life is a weekly interview show where John Cowan speaks with prominent guests about their life, upbringing, and the way they see the world.

A motorcyclist is dead after a crash with a car on a Canterbury highway. Police were notified of the two-vehicle crash, on Mouse Point Rd (State Highway 7) in Tekoa Range, Hurunui, about noon today. "Sadly, despite emergency services' best efforts, the motorcyclist died at the scene," a police spokesperson said in a statement. Police closed both lanes of SH7 between Springs Junction and Rotherham Road South following the crash. "The road remains closed, between Hanmer Springs and Culverden, while the serious crash unit carries out a scene examination.

Supplied photoAnother victim of the fatal Mount Maunganui landslide has been formally identified. At an identification hearing at Tauranga District Court this evening, coroner Louella Dunn formally identified the 20-year-old tourist. The family say they have received "overwhelming support" from community, officials, local iwi, and people in Sweden. On Wednesday, the first victim was formally identified as Max Furse-Key. Rescue efforts at Mount Maunganui have resumed after being paused for a second time when technology that had been installed to monitor land movement was triggered.

Closer to home, The Spinoff recently anointed housing minister Chris Bishop the king of “abundance” politicians for his pro-growth reforms. Such infrastructure is often designed to provide extra capacity at peak times. But it also poses a wider challenge to the abundance agenda. In reality, we need more homes, hence the welcome upzoning of recent years, itself a prefiguration of the abundance agenda. And the abundance agenda is – it bears repeating – not entirely wrong.

Photo: RNZNational and Labour are joining forces to get modern slavery legislation into Parliament, using a new process to skip the biscuit tin for the first time. "It's time that New Zealand has a coordinated framework to deal with modern slavery, and this bill does just that," he said. "Workers in New Zealand and around the world should never face the horrors of modern slavery. That's the reality - we found a way to move past the fact that particular political party is not willing to take steps to stop modern slavery." Thousands enslavedOne tracker estimates 8000 people in New Zealand were living in modern slavery, comparatively low compared to other countries - placing it 148th out of 160 states for slavery prevalence.