Joe Biden fights pressure to quit the presidential race, the NZ Government announces new testing for schoolchildren, and how your workplace chat messages could come back to bite.
1 Biden blames debate performance on jet lag, pushes back on pressure to quit race
"I wasn’t very smart. I decided to travel around the world a couple of times," Joe Biden said. The President added that he "didn’t listen to my staff" about travel and joked that he "fell asleep on stage" during the debate.
But Democratic leaders are increasingly signaling that they're not buying attempts to brush off Biden's performance in the face-off as a momentary lapse, after he gave halting and nonsensical answers and trailed off at times.
2 Government announces phonics checks for students from first year at school
During a visit to Silverstream Primary School in Upper Hutt, Education Minister Erica Stanford revealed that, from 2025, all children will do phonics tests.
She said the checks are to “help teachers understand how well a child can read words by sounding out letters”.
3 Feral cats are like 'devils on meth' — Canterbury hunt organiser
Last year, the North Canterbury Hunting competition made global news when it created a feral cat hunting category for children.
An organiser of the competition says they are doing their part for conservation in the area. The hunt has drawn criticism from animal rights advocates, with some protesters even showing up and clashing with hunters when it was held over the weekend.
4 House sellers giving up rather than taking lower prices
"Lots of homeowners think their home is worth a lot more than it is so they take it off the market," one real estate agent says.
More than 35% of homes listed for sale in Auckland and Northland are being subsequently withdrawn from sale, according to an economist. And the regions have the highest rates of "delisting" in the country.
5 School students rescued from West Auckland bush overnight
Five high school-aged students began their hike from Auckland's Piha on Monday, and the alarm was raised when they didn't arrive yesterday afternoon, some 8km south in Whatipu.
ONE UNFORTUNATE TEXT
Ministry of Justice workers who referred to a woman as a "b****" in an online conversation she was later sent a copy of, are a reminder to take care with workplace communications, one employment lawyer says.
Here's what you need to know about how other people could access your workplace communications, including chat messages.
ONE HARRY BACKLASH
Prince Harry is to be honoured with the Pat Tillman Award, but the mother of the soldier whose name is on the prize doesn't approve.
The award is presented to a person with a strong connection to sports who has served others in a way that echoes the legacy of the former NFL player and US Army Ranger, who died aged 27 in Afghanistan 20 years ago.
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