Police say the accident occurred in Auckland The park has been disbanded as someone made “a number of disturbing comments”. This comes after police evacuated Albert Park and all streets immediately surrounding the park as a precaution on Wednesday afternoon. Police cordoned off Albert Park in central Auckland (Things)At least five police cars were seen blocking a road near Albert Park at about 1.10pm on Wednesday. Until then, all employees should avoid the area.”Albert Park was evacuated, as a precaution, on Wednesday afternoon, police said. Auckland Transport has also warned bus users that due to an “emergency services incident”, a number of bus routes have been diverted.

This post is an excerpt from a much more detailedreport that I published over at Carbon Brief today. I thought it would be useful to have a more focused discussion here on why 2023 was so exceptionallyThis is a re-post from the Climate Brink ...

Photo: 123RFA Wellington mum says she is relying on bread and pasta to keep food costs down and fill tummies at home. This comes as the Commerce Commission investigates the two big supermarket chains over pricing and promotional practices. Wellington mum and community worker Chanelle Pokoati said the high cost of groceries has made bread a crucial staple for her family. We eat a lot of pasta, rice, potatoes, and bread. He said right now, the lack of supermarket competition meant low wage earners were bearing the brunt of high grocery costs.

A Christchurch woman says she woke up in the back seat of a car parked on Signal Hill as a man was raping her. The defendant, a 20-year-old from Dunedin, pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual violation by rape and said while the woman had been "wobbly" the intercourse was consensual. The woman says she does not remember the details of meeting the man or the drive to the Signal Hill lookout. The man accused of rape says the intercourse was consensual and counsel Meg Scally admitted the Crown’s case was "quite confronting". Asked by Ms Scally whether it was possible she had communicated consent but may not remember, the woman said: "No.

Don’t get taken in by the notion that new methane emissions are benign. It is close on three times the size of the global methane cloud 150 years ago, although most of that increase has nothing to do with agriculture. Just accept that only half of the warming effects occur within the first 12 years. The scientists who developed the GWP* equation have not said that new methane emissions are benign. Abraham has enough methane decay in his cloud to almost balance his ongoing emissions so his assessed liability is very small.

Scott Moyes brings over a decade of industry experience to Daylight in his new role as Senior Copywriter. “I’m stoked to be part of such a bright, passionate, and talented team here at Daylight. 2024 is going to be a massive year of making work that makes a difference. He’s passionate about the work and incredibly thoughtful in his approach – qualities we truly value here at Daylight. He also froths the Warriors hard, a quality we also deeply admire,” says Charlie Godinet, Daylight ECD.

All have all joined in recent months with the expectation of the Thompson Spencer agency trajectory of growth to continue in 2024. Hunter has joined the Thompson Spencer Media team and is highly experienced in both traditional and digital media, a weapon at television planning and also knows her way around the ever-evolving digital space. Tuigamala has a wealth of experience in planning and coordinating TV and social media shoots as well as large-scale activations. Her internationally-inspired creative thinking will provide significant additional value to Thompson Spencer clients. “We are excited to have three absolute ‘rockstars’ join us and further strengthen our offering in 2024 as a full service agency and creating memorable advertising for our clients across the globe,” says Melanie Spencer, Group CEO of Thompson Spencer.

This post is an excerpt from a much more detailedreport that I published over at Carbon Brief today. I thought it would be useful to have a more focused discussion here on why 2023 was so exceptionallyThis is a re-post from the Climate Brink ...

Tāmaki Makaurau's multi-dimensional instrumentalists Yoko-Zuna swung by the 95bFM lounge last Friday, gifting listeners a preview of the good stuff to come at this Thursday's A Live Tribute To Dr. Dre event at Ponsonby Social Club. Watch them play a straight up swaggering rendition of the West Coast G-funk impresario's iconic 'California Love' from Tupac Shakur's All Eyez on Me, plus masterful takes on 'The Watcher' (from 2001's The Chronic) and the bawdy 'Ain't No Fun' (from Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle), documented for 95bFM Drive's Friday Live by Corey Fuimaono, Liam Hansen, and Rick Huntington. Go catch Yoko-Zuna busting out even more killer classics live on 25th January...A Live Tribute To Dr Dre Performed By Yoko-ZunaThursday 25th January - Ponsonby Social Club, AucklandTickets available HERE via UTR

Photo: NZ HeraldPolice have laid a third shoplifting charge against embattled former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman. The charge relates to an alleged incident at a Wellington shop last October. "Police can advise a third charge has been laid as part of a shoplifting investigation subject to public interest," police said in a statement today. "The woman previously charged will now face an additional charge of shoplifting, relating to alleged offending at a Wellington retailer on 22 October 2023. Ghahraman was already facing two shoplifting charges relating to alleged incidents on December 21 and 23 at exclusive Ponsonby clothing store Scotties Boutique.

A Christchurch musician has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman. Manu Francois, 34, appeared in the Christchurch District Court this morning for the first time since his arrest. Police allege Francois, who lives in the West Melton area, sexually violated a woman over the age of 16 between December 1 and 31, 2013. Francois is described online as “a New Zealand rapper, singer-songwriter, music producer, multi-instrumentalist and model”. He was born in St Lucia and has split his time between the Caribbean island, where his father lives, and Christchurch, where his mother is from.

Photo: Getty ImagesThe Reserve Bank (RBNZ) is proposing to impose a new type of mortgage lending restriction on banks from the middle of the year. "We believe introducing DTI restrictions will reduce financial stability risks, support house price sustainability, and fill a gap that is not covered by existing policies. "Introducing DTI restrictions will also allow us to loosen LVR settings without increasing risks to financial stability." The RBNZ believed DTI restrictions would only really affect the housing market once it picked up. The RBNZ was empowered by the previous Labour-led Government to impose DTI restrictions.

“Another announcement followed that none of the UK airports could take us, so we were going to Paris, and that actually got a cheer,” Mr Cassidy said. Mr Cassidy and his sister arrived home just after 2am on Monday, more than 12 hours after they originally thought they would be arriving in Dublin. Those on board Ryanair flight FR633 from Copenhagen to Dublin on Sunday, however, might consider Mr Cassidy and his fellow passengers lucky. That plane was diverted from Dublin to Manchester, and after spending four hours grounded there, passengers endured a further three hours circling Dublin as the pilot attempted to land. Another Ryanair flight that was scheduled to make the short half-hour trip across the Irish Sea from Manchester to Dublin ended up making a three-hour detour circling Dublin, Belfast and then ultimately ending up back in Manchester having not reached its destination.

As readers will be aware, New Zealand faces some severe economic and social challenges. Tax- Labour’s 2019 Tax Working Group pulled together the best tax brains in the country to make recommendations on tax policy. In addition, we need to consider the merits of a low-level land tax, applied at least to unoccupied residential land. New Zealand thus faces a cruel dilemma: The need for policy consensus is urgent given the challenges ahead, but the political framework for that consensus is absent. Until, as a nation, we can reclaim the middle ground New Zealand’s future will remain at risk of a very uncomfortable economic and social adjustment.

This year we speak to individuals who made their mark on 2023 and brought us truly impactful work. Raymond Otene McKay (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine, Ngaati Maahuta), is Co-Founder and CCO at Run Aotearoa. We asked him what he thought of 2023, and what he hopes to see in 2024. What piece of work are you most proud to have been involved with in 2023? I admire his tenacity in successfully putting together the first Māori Tech Awards, securing a million dollars in funding, and continuing to push for representation in STEM and tech for our Māori SMEs and communities.