Paris bids adieu to the Olympics, the Government introduces benefit sanctions, and a man receives a full circumcision without consent.
1 Au revoir: Paris Olympics close with star-studded closing ceremony
Paris closed out two and a half weeks of Olympic sports and emotion with a star-studded show in France's national stadium this morning. Dame Lisa Carrington and Finn Butcher led the New Zealand team into the Stade de France as our flag bearers.
Carrington has earned three gold medals for New Zealand this Games, extending her record as the country's most successful Olympian, while Butcher made history as the first ever men's kayak cross gold medallist.
Tom Cruise, Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers all made appearances as part of the handover from the City of Light to the City of Angels. A gold medal from Kiwi cycling champion Ellesse Andrews last night solidified New Zealand's most golden Games, but even that wasn't enough for us to make it onto a representation of the world map.
All eyes point to the 2028 Los Angeles Games, where a few old disciplines will be revived along with some new surprises.
2 Government introduces benefit sanctions
New sanctions are on the way for beneficiaries who do not meet their obligations, including putting half a person's benefit on a payment card for a limited range of "essential" products and services, and community work.
Social Development Minister Louise Upston said the move will push people into work and provide tougher consequences for those who repeatedly fail to meet benefit obligations.
The changes were announced following Cabinet approval alongside the introduction of a '"traffic light" warning system for beneficiaries proposed and campaigned on by the National Party ahead of the election last year.
3 Wellington in firing line as squally thunderstorms move up east coast
A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for six hours from 12.43pm for Tararua, Wairarapa, Wellington, Marlborough, Canterbury Plains, and the Canterbury High Country.
MetService said a squall line with "embedded thunderstorms" moves north over northern Canterbury, the east coast of Marlborough, Wellington, and Wairarapa this afternoon.
"Due to the fast moving nature of this line and the embedded storms, there is a risk of severe thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts of around 130km/h.
4 Man received full circumcision without consent
The man was first seen by a consultant urologist via a telehealth appointment – due to a thin, white, scaly inflammatory patch on the foreskin of the penis, known as balanitis xerotica obliterans, or XBO.
The consultant said there was a chance circumcision would be required once the surgery started, but the man said he would not consent to one.
5 Helicopter on 'unauthorised' flight when it crashed into Cairns hotel roof
A pilot has died and hundreds of guests were forced to evacuate from a Cairns hotel after a helicopter crashed onto the roof in the early hours of Monday morning.
Propellers dislodged when the helicopter impacted the Double Tree Hotel, one landing on the road outside and another landing in the hotel's pool. No one on the ground was injured.
ONE PLANETARY CONJUNCTION
Mars and Jupiter are about to make their closest approach to each other this decade, appearing to nearly touch in the night sky early tomorrow morning.
From our perspective here on Earth, they will appear so close that a hair could separate them. In reality, the gas giant and its red neighbour will be more than 575 million kilometres apart in their respective orbits.
ONE RURAL COMEDY DUO
They’ve been touring woolsheds doing dog comedy for more than a decade, and now Emma Newborn and Amelia Dunbar – aka The Bitches' Box – are hitting the big smoke and making a movie.
Seven Sharp's Rachel Parkin caught up with them.
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