A report reveals what happened on the Aratere bridge before its grounding, Wellington will lose a famous hand-face sculpture Quasi, and the sneaky online shopping trap to watch out for this Christmas.
1 Aratere report reveals what happened on bridge before ferry grounding
Less than three minutes passed between crew on the Aratere switching on an autopilot and the Interislander ferry grounding, an interim safety report has found.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has released an initial report into the incident in June, where the Aratere hit the shoreline shortly after departing Picton.
No-one was injured and the vessel was refloated two days later, with damage to its bow.
TAIC will release a final report with further analysis and any possible recommendations at a later stage but today's release sets out facts gathered so far.
2 Yanfei Bao trial: Farmer tells of seeing car go where she was later found
A court has heard that, a year before Yanfei Bao's body was found on a rural property in Christchurch, the owner of the land had followed strange car tracks across his yard to the exact same spot.
Farm owner Craig Eggleston has given evidence at the murder trial of Tingjun Cao, that he saw an unknown vehicle leaving his property just after 5pm on July 19 last year.
Speaking at the High Court in Christchurch, he said was working on his digger at the time. He admitted he couldn't see the occupants of the car, the make or model, but described it as a fairly modern, silver sedan with a roundish shape.
Eggleston said he found the sighting of the sedan "suspicious".
3 Olympic champion Dame Lisa Carrington scoops top honour
Dame Lisa Carrington has been awarded one of the Olympic movement's highest honours — the Association of National Olympic Committee's Outstanding Sporting Career Award.
The kayaker, the most decorated New Zealand Olympian with eight gold medals, received the award at a ceremony in Portugal.
4 At least 95 people die in devastating flash floods in Spain
Flash floods in eastern Spain swept away cars, turned village streets into rivers, disrupted rail lines and highways and killed at least 95 people in the worst natural disaster to hit the European nation in recent memory.
Rainstorms caused flooding in a wide swath of southern and eastern Spain, stretching from Malaga to Valencia.
Emergency services in the eastern region of Valencia confirmed a death toll of 92 people this morning. Another two casualties were reported in the neighbouring Castilla La Mancha region, while southern Andalusia reported one death.
5 KiwiRail unveils new locomotives to replace ageing fleet
KiwiRail has unveiled the first two of its new DM class locomotives in Christchurch today which will gradually replace the current DX fleet, which is on average nearly 50 years old.
In total, 66 of the DM class locomotives have been ordered from Stadler in Spain.
After testing and commissioning at the Middleton depot, the South Island will receive 47 of the new locomotives, while the remaining 19 will be used in the North Island.
KiwiRail said the order will be fulfilled in batches until late 2026.
ONE SAD DAY FOR WELLINGTON
Quasi, a giant hand-face sculpture by New Zealand artist Ronnie van Hout, is leaving Wellington after spending five years atop the city's art gallery in Civic Square.
The artwork was commissioned in 2016 for the roof of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, following the 2011 earthquake. It moved to its new home on top of the City Gallery in 2019.
Weather permitting, the sculpture will be removed from the City Gallery roof on Saturday.
ONE SNEAKY ONLINE SHOPPING TRAP
As if Christmas shopping wasn’t stressful enough, we must also now worry about all the ways people are trying to scam us while we’re browsing online.
There was a dramatic spike in malvertising and adware around the world during last year’s holiday shopping period, according to cybersecurity brand Norton.
Malvertising is the Grinch that could steal your Christmas cheer – and your money. 1News explains what it is and how to avoid it.
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