A person has been taken to hospital in a moderate condition after their car left the road, crashing onto a North Otago beach. A Fire and Emergency spokesman said crews from Palmerston and Hampden responded to the incident on State Highway 1, near Hillgrove, about 12.50pm today. Initial reports had been of a more serious incident, but the single occupant was not trapped, the spokesman said. A Hato Hone St John spokesperson said one patient, in moderate condition, was being transported to Dunedin Hospital. A police spokeswoman said it appeared there was no significant road blockage at this stage.

Photo: ODT filesOne person has been critically injured in a crash involving an ambulance and a car in Northland. The St John ambulance had two officers on board, transporting a patient in a moderate condition from Mangawhai Heads to Whangārei Hospital. One ambulance officer was treated for moderate injuries and taken to Whangārei Hospital, along with a person in a critical condition. The other officer and the patient on the ambulance were not injured in the crash, and the patient was transported to hospital by another ambulance. "Hato Hone St John takes the health and safety of the public and our people very seriously.

Reuters has also identified several cases where Grok created sexualized images of children. When one X user said their social media feed resembled a bar packed with bikini-clad women, Musk replied, in part, with another laugh-cry emoji. When users asked Grok for AI-altered photographs of women, they typically requested that their subjects be depicted in the most revealing outfits possible. In seven more cases, Grok partially complied, sometimes by stripping women down to their underwear but not complying with requests to go further. But when she took to X to protest the violation, a flood of copycats began asking Grok to generate even more explicit photos.

Photo: SuppliedThe operators of compromised patient data app ManageMyHealth say they have received "independent confirmation" from IT experts the flaws in its code have been fixed. On Saturday it said just one part of the app - Health Documents - had been accessed by hackers, and not the whole app. "This is a concerning breach of patient data and Health NZ is working closely with ManageMyHealth to ensure it is being appropriately addressed," he said. "At this stage, there is no evidence any Health NZ systems, including My Health Account, have been compromised as ManageMyHealth has separate systems." ManageMyHealth said it was working with the police, Health NZ and the privacy commissioner, and setting up a dedicated 0800 number and online helpdesk to help affected patients.

A woman places a candle outside the "Le Constellation" bar in Crans-Montana after the deadly fire in southwestern Switzerland. Photo: ReutersScrutiny is intensifying over safety arrangements at a Swiss bar that burst into flames during a New Year's Eve party, killing at least 40. Witnesses reported seeing staff at the Le Constellation bar carrying so-called fountain candles atop bottles of champagne, and questions have also arisen about a foam material used to soundproof the ceiling of the basement where revellers danced. Local residents said the bar was popular with young people and the Swiss government said many of the dead were likely youths. One of them, Ashley Hauri, 23, said just before the fire broke out she had been on the verge of going to Le Constellation to catch up with friends.

Elon Musk's Grok is fixing flaws after it was used to create erotic images of children and women. Photo / Getty ImagesGrok under fire after complaints it undressed minors in photosElon Musk's Grok is fixing flaws after it was used to create erotic images of children and women. Photo / Getty ImagesElon Musk’s Grok says it is scrambling to fix flaws in the artificial intelligence tool after users claimed it turned pictures of children or women into erotic images. “We’ve identified lapses in safeguards and are urgently fixing them,” Grok said in a post on X on Saturday. The button allows users to modify any image on the platform – with some users deciding to partially or completely remove clothing from women or children in pictures, according to complaints.

A supermoon, like this one from 2025, will be visible to New Zealanders on Saturday night if skies are clear. Photo / SuppliedFirst supermoon of the year: Best time to see it above New ZealandA supermoon, like this one from 2025, will be visible to New Zealanders on Saturday night if skies are clear. Photo / SuppliedBy RNZStargazers can expect to see the first supermoon of the new year on Saturday night if skies are clear. Dr Ryan Ridden from the University of Canterbury said a supermoon is when a full moon is at its closest point to Earth. Ridden said anyone with a view out to the northeast should be able to see the supermoon, and moonrise is roughly 9.40pm.

“Last year the PSA asked the Privacy Commissioner to investigate the impact of cuts to Health NZ’s digital services workforce but he refused,” Fitzsimons said. ”We call on him to reconsider this given the Manage My Health data breach." ‘A very concerning breach of patient data’ - Simeon BrownMinister of Health Simeon Brown has called the ManageMyHealth breach “a very concerning breach of patient data”. “ManageMyHealth is a private company responsible for protecting patient data, and it is responsible for this incident. Between 6 and 7% of the approximately 1.8 million registered users, up to 126,000 people, may have been impacted by the security breach.

Photo: RNZThe Public Service Association says a security breach at privately run ManageMyHealth highlights the risk of cutting IT experts in public health. It said the government had "blundered" when they cut off the jobs of many IT experts "safeguarding the public health system". Health Minister Simeon Brown previously said government agencies were working with ManageMyHealth to fully understand the scope of the breach and to protect the privacy of patients. "This is a concerning breach of patient data and Health NZ is working closely with ManageMyHealth to ensure it is being appropriately addressed. "At this stage, there is no evidence any Health NZ systems, including My Health Account, have been compromised as ManageMyHealth has separate systems."

Hotel director Sourav Sharma. Hotel director Sourav Sharma has taken on the lease with plans to reinvigorate the hotel and buy it in the future. The Hurunui Hotel has been serving guests since 1868 and is the oldest continuously licensed pub in Canterbury. "All these things are in progress, by the middle of January we should have function area open," Sharma said. "My brother Harry who owns the Southbridge Hotel, the Coalgate Tavern as well as the Springfield Hotel.

With 11 million tonnes of plastic waste entering Earth's oceans annually, the contamination of ecosystems with microscopic particles, or microplastics, has also escalated alarmingly. Microplastics are plastic particles less than 5mm wide and break down further to nanoparticles. Environmental company The Goodside Project produces the Good Catch filters in Adelaide, with founder Karen Jones Hauser keen to do more. Fibres made up 72% of the waste, plastic fragments 17% and plastic beads 8%. Nearly two-thirds of plastic waste comes from products with lifetimes of under five years, with 40% derived from packaging, 12% from consumer goods and 11% from clothing and textiles.

Northern Rescue Helicopters transported two patients from the Brynderwyns to Auckland City Hospital. Photo / Northern Rescue HelicoptersAlready a subscriber? 3 Jan, 2026 04:03 AM 2 mins to readSerious crash on SH1 Brynderwyns: Four injured, road reopenedNorthern Rescue Helicopters transported two patients from the Brynderwyns to Auckland City Hospital. Photo / Northern Rescue HelicoptersFour people are in Auckland Hospital after a crash on State Highway 1, south of the Brynderwyns. “One additional patient, in moderate condition, is being transported by road ambulance to Auckland City Hospital.”Hato Hone St John was notified of the accident on SH1, Waipū, at 12.43pm.

The “specific gaps” that allowed hackers to access documents had been identified and closed, the company said. “This is a concerning breach of patient data and Health NZ is working closely with ManageMyHealth to ensure it is being appropriately addressed,” he said. “At this stage, there is no evidence any Health NZ systems, including My Health Account, have been compromised as ManageMyHealth has separate systems.”Shortly before midday on Saturday, he said an incident management team had been established to support ManageMyHealth. Brown said he had asked for advice from the Ministry of Health on options for an independent review of what occurred. “We have seen it before in the public health system with the Waikato Hospital ransomware attack in 2021, and yet this Government failed to heed that lesson in forcing Health NZ to cut the jobs of experts running digital services,” national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said.

A tree fell on a North Shore house after being struck by lightning. Photo / Hayden WoodwardA neighbour told the Herald that even though they were wearing headphones at the time, they heard “the loudest bang” they had ever heard in their life. “We knew that something had been struck really close, but I didn’t anticipate it to be the tree opposite our house,” the neighbour said. Photo / Hayden WoodwardThe neighbour described the storm as “sudden and violent” and was shocked by the power of the lightning. They are now clearing up debris on the street left behind by the tree, while neighbours watch on.

Photo: RNZ / Anna SargentThe new director of a historic Canterbury hotel that was shut for more than a year says he's determined to bring the iconic site back to life. Hotel director Sourav Sharma has taken on the lease with plans to reinvigorate the hotel and buy it in the future. Photo: RNZ / Anna Sargent"Some people had their first date here, some people had their kid's 10th birthday, you know heaps of different stories. The second stage would see a function area open, capable of hosting up to 100 people with its own bar and kitchen. "All these things are in progress, by the middle of January we should have function area open," Sharma said.