Someone comes along and offers you $350,000 for it — 35% of the value. Unless you are truly desperate for cash, you will of course decline this offer, politely or otherwise. Suppose now you have a share in an asset worth $3.5 billion, and an offer of just over $1.2b comes in — another 35%. Well, the actual asset at stake here is the gold projected to be under the surface of a quite large expanse of Central Otago by an Australian mining company called Santana. What its sponsors are calling the Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project would, over many years, yield an expected $6b of marketable gold, generating profits after mining costs of around $3.5b.

Southland's regional council is ramping up monitoring of water levels as the region dries out and river levels lower. Environment Southland is shifting to a water shortage watch, which means staff are doing more assessments of water levels, soil moisture and groundwater, and analysing weather forecasts after a spate of warm, dry weather. Currently the worst affected rivers were the Ōtapiri Stream and Makarewa River around the Hokonui Hills, she said. "There is no immediate concern for our main water supplies or rivers predicted in the next couple of weeks." But she said the council would keep the public informed as well as working with key groups to work out how to best conserve water.

Keen aurora watcher Taichi Nakamura, who shared images of a spectacular display in the sky near Invercargill, said the "huge display" lasted most of the night. "The aurora kept pulsing and covered the entire sky, making it an exciting night being with the dancing light." Dunedin astronomer Dr Ian Griffin said the aurora were caused by a severe G4 geomagnetic storm. Photo: Taichi NakamuraDr Griffin said the storm meant more aurora may be visible across southern skies for the next few days. Sometimes, it will remove South Island electricity transmission lines from service to prevent damage to critical equipment.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo: RNZThe 2026 election will be held on November 7, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. The prime minister says National has done a lot in the last two years, but more hard work was ahead of them. Luxon said people could expect further affordable housing, infrastructure and community growth with National in power. He said National inherited a mess after a Labour-led government, but a lot of signs were pointing to a recovery.

Kiwi universities have been sliding in recent Times Higher Education rankings. Photo / John WeekesThe Times Higher Education study is one of the leading global rankings, with the latest report rating 11 subject areas according to 18 performance metrics. Baty said the subject rankings revealed an emerging shift in global higher education. Globally, the United States dominated the subject rankings, taking first place in eight of the 11 fields. China continued its rapid rise, claiming seven top-10 places across the subject rankings, up from four last year.

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Photo: Taichi NakamuraThe forecast aurora australis lived up to its billing in the deep South. Keen aurora watcher Taichi Nakamura, who shared images of a spectacular display in the sky near Invercargill, said the "huge display" lasted most of the night. "The aurora kept pulsing and covered the entire sky, making it an exciting night being with the dancing light." Photo: Taichi NakamuraDr Griffin said the storm meant more aurora may be visible across southern skies for the next few days. Sometimes, it will remove South Island electricity transmission lines from service to prevent damage to critical equipment.

‘No immunity’An Israeli foreign ministry statement defended the demolitions and said “the State of Israel owns the Jerusalem compound”. “UNRWA-Hamas had already ceased its operations at this site and no longer had any UN personnel or UN activity there,” the foreign ministry said. Although the UNRWA ban applies in east Jerusalem because of its annexation by Israel, the agency still operates in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. The Saudi foreign ministry also voiced its “strongest condemnation”. The UNRWA compound was a prison during the time of the Ottoman Empire, and later became property of the Jordanian Government, which subsequently transferred it to UNRWA.

Dunedin Central Police Station. Photo: ODT FilesA woman denied a ride to Balclutha by police ended up spending the night in the cells instead after allegedly attacking a nearby campervan. The 45-year-old showed up at the Dunedin Central Police Station at 12.30am this morning to ask for a lift back home in Balclutha, Sergeant Simon Reay, of Dunedin, said. Officers denied her request, and in response, the woman headed over to the nearby Woolworths carpark and began punching and kicking a campervan. She was held in police custody overnight and was charged with breaching bail, disorderly behaviour and resisting police.

Tamah Alley said Mr Jones, who also told the Otago Daily Times Central Otago was "pregnant with mining potential", had possibly misrepresented what the region was, and what it entailed. Mr Jones yesterday said he was "quite familiar with the Otago area" and would take up any invitation he received, subject to logistics. Mr Jones described Central Otago as "largely empty", while criticising a celebrity-backed fundraiser to oppose Santana Minerals’ Bendigo-Ophir gold project. Mrs Alley said Mr Jones had not acknowledged the "thriving industries" in Central Otago, which not only supported the local economy but GDP on a national scale. Cromwell Community Board chairwoman Anna Harrison said Central Otago was bustling, vibrant and full of growing communities who valued open spaces.

The advice comes amid high alert across the Tasman, following four shark attacks across New South Wales in less than 48 hours. New Zealand shark scientist and conservationist Dr Riley 'Shark Man' Elliott has run a long-standing, tag-and-trace programme across the country. Although shark attacks were not as common in New Zealand, compared to the warmer climes of Australia, other environmental factors heightened risk. The conservationist had spotted three Australian-tagged great white sharks during his Fiordland expedition. Elliott said shark attacks were tragic reminders that the ocean wasn't a playground.

France’s Emmanuel Macron warned against US attempts to “subordinate Europe”, and blasted as “unacceptable” Trump’s threats to impose tariffs of up to 25% on countries opposed to his Greenland plans. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 20. Photo / Elodie Le Maou, AFPTrump had earlier insisted Greenland was “imperative” for security. “So our response will be unflinching, united and proportional,” she said. EU leaders will hold an emergency summit on Greenland in Brussels on Thursday.

After knocking around in high school bands, he co-founded Midnight Oil, originally known as Farm, with his mate Jim Moginie in 1972. Hirst was known for his powerful drumming and activism, co-founding the band in 1972. Hirst and Moginie began as the band’s songwriting core, before Garrett later joined them in the creative engine room. We found this place, you know, almost 40 years ago.”Hirst was proud to have made music with all three daughters. Hirst was diagnosed with stage three pancreatic cancer in April 2023, just six months after Midnight Oil played their final gig at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion in October 2022.

Whole milk powder (WMP), the most influential product for Fonterra’s farmgate milk price, climbed 1% to US$3,449/MT, consolidating gains after a significant 7.2% rise at the previous event. Skim milk powder (SMP) strengthened further, up 2.2% to US$2,615/MT, following an already robust increase two weeks earlier. Butter rose 2.1% to US$5,314/MT, while anhydrous milk fat (AMF) increased 3.0% to US$6,191/MT, extending strong upward trends seen in the prior auction. Cheddar declined 1.4%, mozzarella recorded the largest fall at -2.3%, and lactose eased 1.8% after returning to the auction roster. Overall volumes traded totaled 27,821 metric tonnes, slightly lower than the previous event, with 114 winning bidders, unchanged from the prior auction.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, noted that banks and US tech “are at risk from EU tariffs” in response to Trump’s tariff blitz and warned this would hurt US blue chips. ‘Mistake’The move has raised questions about the outlook for last year’s US-EU trade deal, the ratification of which was frozen on Tuesday by the European Union parliament. “The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July. US Treasury chief Scott Bessent on Monday said that any retaliatory EU tariffs would be “unwise”. That body was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza but its charter gives it a much broader, global remit, with Trump in charge.