The Reserve Bank confirms major changes to mortgage rules, tips on how to feed your whānau for $40 per person a week, and a turf war has been ignited over a mummy's missing arm.
1 Reserve Bank confirms major changes to mortgage rules
The screws are tightening for home buyers, with the Reserve Bank announcing new restrictions on the amount people can borrow.
The bank confirmed today it will introducelong-signalled Debt To Income ratios (known as DTIs) from July 1 this year.
Both owner-occupiers and investors will face the new restrictions but it'll be tighter for those wishing to borrow for investment properties.
DTIs are calculated by the total debt divided by total gross income.
2 Woman battling cancer grateful she can still call NZ home
A Filipino woman who was earlier told her health didn't fit the requirements for a work visa has been allowed to stay in New Zealand in a decision she describes as a "miracle" that'll give her family certainty.
Stiffany Adanza, 47, had earlier been told she didn't meet the acceptable standards of health required to be granted a post-study work visa because of the potential costs of her treatment for chronic myeloid leukaemia.
In documentation seen by 1News the agency told Adanza that she was now deemed as being an "acceptable standard of health".
Adanza said she was grateful to the department for considering the new information.
3 ACT MP to sell shares to remove 'distraction'
ACT MP Todd Stephenson says he will sell all of his shareholdings to "ensure no distraction exists", after questions were raised about his investments in pharmaceutical companies.
Stephenson is a parliamentary private secretary to Associate Minister of Health David Seymour, who is responsible for Pharmac, which buys New Zealand's medicines.
The NZ Herald today reported Seymour has met with representatives from three pharmaceutical companies since taking on the role, two of which are linked to Stephenson — who worked for multinational healthcare companies overseas before becoming an MP.
4 How to feed your whānau for $40 per person a week
When it comes to meal planning, Jordan Hammond, a 21-year-old student nurse, takes thrift to the next level.
She's in her final year of study and has a part-time job, but is on a limited income and manages to feed her household of two on $80 a week. She's sharing her tips in the second episode of RNZ's new podcast Thrift.
It helps that she loves to cook, inherited some good housekeeping skills from her parents, and honed her budgetary skills flatting with three blokes at university.
Click here to see how she does it.
5 Naked passenger forces Virgin flight to turn around
A passenger on Virgin flight VA696 between Perth and Melbourne was arrested yesterday after allegedly running up and down the aisle naked mid-flight.
Australian Federal Police said the passenger knocked a crew member to the floor during the incident.
The flight was then forced to turn around an hour later.
ONE MISSING LIMB
Mexico's federal archaeology agency has accused the conservative-governed city of Guanajuato of mistreating one of the country’s famous mummified 19th-century bodies.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH, said that during recent renovations at the museum where the mummified bodies are on permanent display, the arm of one of the mummies, well, came off.
ONE 'SUSPICIOUS' LISTING
The Warehouse has removed a listing from its site that appeared to include photos of marijuana plants — even though it says it's "not sure" what type of plants they are.
The listing was noticed by shoppers on Monday night.
It was advertising polyester plant trellis netting, coming from a supplier in China.
But the four photos of plants included all looked like marijuana.
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