Police in Queenstown have appealed to the public for information after several vehicles were broken into in Kelvin Heights overnight. In a statement on social media police said they were looking to speak with anyone who might have seen anything, or who had security cameras in the area of Cedar, Poplar and Oregon Drs on Saturday night.

Email reporters@odt.co.nzA Jetstar flight from Auckland to Dunedin was forced to turn back yesterday after encountering severe turbulence. A Jetstar spokeswoman said the captain of the flight reported "strong wind fluctuations" before deciding to return to Auckland as a precaution. They said aircrafts were built to withstand adverse weather and turbulence. Jetstar rescheduled an alternative flight forSunday and provided passengers with over night hotel accommodation. A man died last month and several others were seriously injured when a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore hit extreme turbulence.

Photo: Supplied / Invercargill City CouncilThe chances of discovering baby tuatara in an abandoned enclosure this week are being described as similar to "finding a needle in a haystack". On Wednesday, a contractor working on Invercargill's museum demolition spotted a baby tuatara in an area formerly used for the animals. The baby tuatara was about the size of a little finger and blended into the dirt, he said. This week's discovery precedes the opening of a new tuatara enclosure at Queens Park animal reserve on 8 June. The new facility will house 18 tuatara, meaning the council will need to look at other homing options for the newly discovered babies.

All vegetation fires in the South Island are now contained after a day in which strong winds and warm temperatures wreaked havoc for firefighters, with fire crews attending up to seven scrub fires across the South Island. Earlier todayMetService earlier on Saturday warned of "severe gale west to northwesterlies" for southern parts of the country. Strong wind watches were in force for Inland Canterbury Plains, Queenstown Lakes District, Central Otago, Stewart Island and coastal parts of mainland Southland, Clutha and Dunedin, as well as southern parts of the North Island. "A front over the south of the South Island continues to move northeast. Hands urged South Islanders not to burn outdoor fires in the high winds.

Shiwen, who wasn't among the pre-race favourites, announced her arrival on swimming's greatest stage with a world record in the arduous 400m individual medley event. Shiwen's time of four minutes, 28.3 seconds beat the world record by more than a second and her previous best by five seconds. Her final length of 28.93 seconds even beat Ryan Lochte, who swam the last length in 29.1 seconds in his gold medal-winning race in the men's 400 individual medley. But, Foster downplayed any kind of possibility of foul play, and said such feats could be achieved. Balding's question attracted huge criticism on social networking site Twitter, with many branding her question as demeaning to the hard work done by the Chinese athletes.

- Today his mother Kelly is sharing his tragic story to highlight what she believes is a critical shortfall of mental health help in New Zealand. Sean Kessels wanted to live and get better but was overwhelmed by his severe mental health issues. “I was trying to get help - the crisis team, everything.”The next day Sean was at his father’s house in Auckland. “I found out recently that before he died, Sean had been trying to ring and get help too.”Sean Kessels was 26 when he died. Photo / SuppliedKelly rushed to the house where Sean died, arriving as police carried out their grim duties.

Japanese retail sales made good gains in April, up +2.4% from a year earlier and above the +1.9% rise expected. The NZ Government 10 year bond rate is down -9 bps bps at 4.87%. A week ago this rate was 4.84%, a month ago it was 4.96%. And that is -US$8 less than a week ago, but +US$32 higher than at the start of May. That is nearly +¼c higher that a week ago, +2½c higher than at the start of May.

From Farah Hancock at RNZ:A NZ First donor wants Fast Track legislation to free up permanently protected land for quarrying. J Swap, a company involved in quarrying, wants land protected under QEII covenants to be available to quarry. It also gave $5000 to NZ First’s Shane Jones in August 2023 and $3000 to National’s David MacLeod in September 2023. It gave NZ First $11,000 in December last year. It lodges a submission saying that QEII land should be subject to the Fast Track Projects Bill.

Breakfast co-host Jenny-May Clarkson has issued an emotional plea to Kiwis to check their bowel health after revealing a surprise finding at her latest colonoscopy procedure. The 50-year-old TV presenter is no stranger to speaking candidly about the dangers of bowel cancer after she lost her older brother, Jeffrey Coffin, 56, to the disease in 2018. “My bro died of bowel cancer 6 years ago. I had a polyp removed today.”A bowel polyp is also known as a colonic or colorectal polyp and is a small growth on the lining of the bowel. While they are common and often not serious, they can sometimes develop into bowel cancer.

EDITORIALOn Friday morning, New Zealand time, former US president Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts in his hush money trial in New York. The jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records, in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn actor who said the pair had sex. Former US president Donald Trump (centre) at Manhattan criminal court awaits the jury's verdict during his criminal hush money trial in New York. Polling conducted on the impact of a guilty verdict, prior to the decision on Friday, showed only about 4 per cent of Trump voters would change their mind if he was found guilty. The jury may have given Trump a guilty verdict – but we have to wait until later this year to see whether that really matters.

Published on May 31st, 2024In sport, securing a home final is usually considered an advantage, but Team New Zealand thinks its decision to take the defense of the America’s Cup offshore will give it an edge. The entry period was from December 1, 2021 until July 31, 2022, but late entries for the 37th America’s Cup could be accepted until May 31, 2023. The Defender was to announce the Match Venue on September 17, 2021 but postponed the reveal, finally confirming Barcelona on March 30, 2022. The 37th America’s Cup begins October 12, 2024. Additionally, 12 teams will compete in the 2024 Youth & Women’s America’s Cup.

Wallace appeared before the Parole Board for a progress hearing on Friday after being released from prison in late 2023. On Friday, Wallace was asked by board member Alistair Spierling if his position regarding the offending had changed. His lawyer, David Jones KC, advised the board there was an application being made to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). Another condition Wallace sought for the board to amend was to be allowed to stay overnight in Christchurch while the work continued in restoring McClean's Mansion. The parole board said that change to his conditions could be made.

The Government has revealed its final plans for tax cuts, with average-income households getting a cut of $102 per fortnight under the revised brackets. Finance Minister Nicola Willis unveiled the final confirmed changes as part of the Government's Budget 2024 earlier today. ADVERTISEMENTWillis said it meant New Zealanders would get their first tax cuts in 14 years, something she said was “well overdue” and would help hardworking people. Find out if you will receive a tax cut and by how much at this link: https://budget.govt.nz/taxcalculator/index.htmHow much a person receives from the tax changes will be different depending on their income and circumstances. (Source: 1News)She said most of the money used to help give people tax cuts came from "savings" or a reduction in spending on some government activities.

The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter in Southland will continue to operate until at least 2044 after striking a deal with Kiwi energy companies to supply renewable electricity until then. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS), which is owned by multinational mining group Rio Tinto, has often talked of closing due to low commodity prices and high electricity costs. In 2019, Rio Tinto announced a strategic review of the smelter after a year of losses and eventually decided it would halt operations in 2021. On Friday, the firm announced it had struck a deal for electricity supply to the smelter for the next 20 years, ending the ‘will-they-won’t-they’ drama for a generation. This price was “consistent with long-term electricity supply agreements” for large South Island industrial users and materially higher than in the transitional agreement, it said.

Tax cuts were delivered almost exactly as promised during the election campaign. She added $3.2 billion of new spending in Budget 2024 but will only add $2.4 billion in each subsequent one. “We wouldn't have done tax cuts, because it just wasn't worth it in the current economic environment,” Edmonds said. Labour leader Chris Hipkins said any small benefit New Zealanders received from the income tax cuts would be consumed by other costs which would go up. It’s not the tax cuts per se but the fact that the fiscal impulse is larger,” he said in a note.