Police have named the person who was found dead on a beach on the Coromandel Peninsula last month. Police have named the person who was found dead on a beach on the Coromandel Peninsula last month. Photo / NZMEPolice have named the person who was found dead on a beach on the Coromandel Peninsula last month. He was Suy Lao, 43, from Auckland, and was previously reported missing on December 22 near the Waikawau boat ramp. title="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/dive-squad-and-drone-join-search-for-rock-fisher-missing-in-firth-of-thames/QNKHANFLAFFALBQ5IVTARRC6UY/">Emergency services were alerted at 8.45am on December 22 after reports a rock fisher was in difficulty in the water.

Ben Duckett was also filmed apparently drunk and disoriented late at night by an England fan. It can now be revealed that Brook, England’s Test vice-captain, was already on a final warning for his behaviour before arriving in Australia. The altercation occurred in Wellington on October 31 after the 26-year-old was refused entry to a nightclub because security suspected he was drunk. Brook became embroiled in a row with a bouncer and was struck, although he did not suffer any injury. England slumped to 31 for four batting first with Brook out for six off 11 balls.

Queenstown is shaping as one of the better options for sun for the rest of the summer, Earth Sciences New Zealand says. File photoEarth Sciences New Zealand (ESNZ - formerly Niwa) is expecting the rest of summer to remain warm and wet for many regions. Despite the prediction of warmer weather, the North Island was still likely to get a few downpours, Fedaeff said. When all the weather factors combined, it looked like inland Otago was the perfect holiday spot for the rest of the summer. Sea surface temperatures around the country cooled markedly during December but remain generally above average, which meant nights would be particularly warm for the rest of the summer.

StraitNZ spokesman Will Dady said the company is “extremely disappointed” and said passengers had been put up in cabins overnight and served “refreshments”. She said passengers were not allowed to go down to their cars on a below deck, “so nobody had much stuff with them”. A passenger said they had little sleep after being stranded on the ferry overnight due to a ramp issue. The Wellington to Picton crossing ordinarily takes 3.5 hours, with Bluebridge making 50 sailings per week but the company’s sailings are currently booked out until January 25. It is the second time the issue has occurred in recent months, with passengers stuck for hours after the Connemara’s ramp became stuck on a crossing to Picton in late November.

Firefighters had to decontaminate a worker injured and splashed with medical waste in a gas explosion in Dunedin's industrial area this morning. The worker was washed down with fire hoses outside the Dunedin branch of Interwaste which handles waste for healthcare facilities and "biosecurity risks". Photo: Stephen JaquieryA Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said they received a report of a boiler exploding and a gas leak at the company's Ward St premises. He confirmed one person had been decontaminated after getting ‘‘debris’’ on them, believed to be medical waste. Ward St has been closed.

PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERYPolice attend the scene of a crash where a car towing a trailer filled with concrete blocks crashed into the divider barrier of the Southern Motorway near Fairfield yesterday. A police spokesman said police were called to the scene about 9am. No injuries were reported. The road was partly blocked for a short time while it was cleared of the concrete blocks, he said.

Armed police keep an eye out in South Rd yesterday for two men wanted in relation to several vehicle thefts. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERYA fugitive police have warned the public not to approach is believed to be at the centre of a city-wide manhunt involving armed officers and road spikes. People across Dunedin yesterday reported seeing armed officers in pursuit of an erratically driven white Subaru after a string of vehicle thefts, including a courier van. The officers, who the witness said were armed with Glocks, also had road spikes "ready to go". While travelling to investigate the stolen van, officers observed a nearby Subaru suddenly take "evasive action to get away from police".

“Decent little shake,” wrote one person on X. “Nice sharp shake,” wrote another. In Wellington, the earthquake began as a low, subtle shake that grew in strength, lasting roughly 20 seconds. A resident of Waitarere, north of Levin, said there was “lots of noise for a while, then a big wobble”. The shake comes two weeks after another tremor that rumbled the lower North Island.

“Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America,” he added. Multiple strong explosions were heard in Venezuela's capital Caracas amid rising tensions with the United States on January 3, 2026. “But make no mistake, bombing another nation’s capital and removing their leader is an act of war, plain and simple. “Only President Trump had the backbone to pull it off, to pull out an indicted, illegitimate president that was holding Venezuela hostage.”Since Trump returned to office, war powers resolutions on Venezuela have been rejected twice in the Senate and twice in the House. Over the last century, only one congressional resolution has successfully imposed a broad, lasting limit on unilateral presidential military action abroad: the War Powers Resolution of 1973, passed over then-President Richard Nixon’s veto.

Roxburgh teenager Trey Whitu shows off the trophy he won at the Otago Māori Golf tournament last year. Next week, Trey will compete in the 88th National Māori Golf tournament at Waitangi. Trey Whitu, 16, heads to Waitangi next week to represent Otago at the 88th National Māori Golf tournament. Trey secured his place at the national competition with a win at the Otago Māori Golf, in Dunedin, last year. Next month Trey, and fellow Roxburgh Golf Club member Jacob Maisuria, will play for an amateur spot in the New Zealand Open.

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Zuru CEO Nick Mowbray takes us inside its empire in Los Angeles where thousands of toys are on display. A Malibu leader has expressed concern that billionaire New Zealand brothers may price residents out of their community after the pair snapped up 16 plots burned in wildfires. Nick and Mat Mowbray, founders of toy company Zuru that also has interests in consumer goods and housing, bought plots on La Costa and Carbon beaches in Malibu for US$65 million ($110.7m), The Real Deal real estate news website reported in August. The properties are located amid wide stretches of Los Angeles that were devastated by wildfires in January 2025. Malibu City Councilman Steve Uhring told Los Angeles TV station KABC he’s concerned residents who lost their homes will be priced out of the area because he believes the New Zealanders will build mega-mansions on these plots.

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The places most at risk of breaking January heat records were in Northland, Coromandel and Hawke’s Bay, MetService meteorologist Michael Pawley said. For more information: https://t.co/qHyE5zySvx pic.twitter.com/TiaxF7viX7 — MetService NZ (@MetService) January 8, 2026The hot weather alerts join a slew of wind and rain warnings and watches issued across the lower North Island and most of the South Island this weekend. MetService said New Zealand's high temperatures were caused by remnants of the Australian heatwave earlier this week. Fedaeff said that, when extreme heat events affected New Zealand, they typically started with hot weather over Australia. Hot start for 2026For the first few months of this year, above-average temperatures are expected, particularly in the north and west of the North Island.

By Finn Blackwell of RNZWater Safety NZ says it's not worth risking your life for views after footage of two people jumping off the Auckland Harbour Bridge emerged online. Walker wanted people to understand the danger. "The more challenging thing that we'd love people to think about is even the strongest swimmers can encounter issues with currents and tides in locations like under the harbour bridge," he said. "It's one thing to do the jump, it's another thing to get back safe..."Video has emerged of two people jumping off the Auckland Harbour Bridge. NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) told RNZ the bridge jump in the video was illegal and dangerous.