Disgraced Hollywood studio boss Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty at his sexual assault trial in New York.
The verdict comes after weeks of harrowing testimony from a string of women and follows years of whispers about his “casting couch” behaviour in Hollywood. The jury of seven men and five women took five days to find Weinstein guilty.
Sign up to get the Morning Briefing delivered direct to your inbox - here.
Coronavirus pandemic on the cards?
The coronavirus outbreak is edging closer to pandemic status with more cases of the disease emerging around the world. While most of the infections are in China, other countries, including South Korea, Italy and Iran are also battling outbreaks.
With more than 760 people now infected with Covid-19, South Korea has raised its coronavirus alert to the "highest level", while there’s been some dispute over the spread of the virus in Iran. The country’s deputy health minister says 12 people have died from Covid-19 so far, however another lawmaker has been quoted as saying the death toll is four times that number.
Italy has also seen a surge in cases , with the number going from three to more than 200 over the weekend. At least four Serie A matches have been cancelled, the Venice Carnival has been suspended and several shows at Milan Fashion Week are being held behind closed doors with no guests, as the country scrambles to contain the disease.
At this stage, New Zealand is still free from coronavirus cases, with the travel ban on foreigners arriving from China extended again yesterday .
Economic fallout spreads
The Government is also advising against non-essential travel to parts of South Korea, with Air New Zealand halting flights to Seoul amid the coronavirus outbreak. It comes as the airline announced yesterday that it expects to suffer a drop in earnings between $35 million and $75 million in the 2020 financial year.
And that financial pinch is being felt around the world as concern over the economic impact of the coronavirus spreads, with the Dow plunging 3.4% when stocks opened and the Nasdaq losing nearly 4.3%.
As a growing number of companies warn the virus will stop them from meeting their targets for the first quarter of the year, this CNN feature shows how the coronavirus is a daily reminder of China's global reach.
SPCA releases ‘list of shame’
The SPCA has released its annual 'list of shame' , featuring 12 of the worst cases of animal abuse, abandonment and neglect seen in the past year. Cases include a dog blinded from being thrown against a wall, a starved horse close to death, and multiple home surgery jobs gone wrong. But life has got considerably better for some of those animals - Seven Sharp’s Carolyn Robinson paid a visit to the dog who was number one on the list of shame, while Stuff met another dog who’s now thriving after his tail was illegally docked.
Other news of note this morning:
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is due to meet her Fijian counterpart in Suva today. Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver says the visit to Fiji will test NZ’s climate change compass .
Katherine Johnson, the Nasa mathematician portrayed in the movie Hidden Figures, has died .
While the Rotorua Daily Post says attendance at schools in the area is at a nine-year low , one Rotorua mum is lobbying for change after her son was warned he’d be stood down from school over his moustache .
And finally...
We end with a matter close to my own heart: how best to stack a dishwasher . Should you pre-rinse? How much should you pre-rinse? Where should the saucers go? Seven Sharp’s Hilary Barry and Jeremy Wells discover all this and more when they go toe-to-toe in a dishwasher stacking contest.
SHARE ME