Luxon calls for unlimited concerts at Eden Park, the number of people leaving New Zealand hits its "highest on record", and UK tabloids apologise to Prince Harry and admit to intruding on Diana.
1 Eden Park needs unlimited concerts, Luxon says in call for growth
Christopher Luxon says Auckland Council should open up Eden Park to unlimited concerts.
During his state of the nation speech, the Prime Minister said he wanted to talk about the economy "and almost nothing else", and brought up Eden Park.
"Kiwis spnd thousands flying across the Tasman to see massive concerts, go out to bars and restaurants, and boost the Australian economy when, back home, Eden Park sits empty because of council event rules," he said.
"There’s always a reason to say no, but if we keep saying no, we’ll keep going nowhere... We need larger ports. We need more concerts."
2 Number of people leaving New Zealand hits 'highest on record'
The number of people leaving New Zealand last year to live overseas reached its highest on record, according to new figures.
According to Stats NZ, there were 127,800 migrant departures (up 28%) in the year to November 2024 — "provisionally, the highest on record for an annual period".
A total of 72,900 New Zealand citizens left the country to live overseas during that period, with 56% going to Australia.
3 'Grisly scenes': 142 lambs killed by dogs at Auckland working farm
More than 100 lambs have been killed by three roaming dogs, and more injured, in two separate incidents at a regional working farm in South Auckland.
The attacks occurred on two days — on January 16 and January 19 — at Puhinui Reserve in Manukau.
Council's regional parks farming business manager Mozz Trueman said in a statement that the incident was "grisly".
4 Joe Biden's 'inspirational' letter to Trump revealed
The contents of the letter US President Joe Biden left for President Donald Trump has been revealed.
This week, shortly after Trump was sworn into office for a second time, he discovered Biden's letter in the Oval Office after a reporter asked if he had received one.
Trump showed the letter to the cameras, which displayed the number 47 hand-written on an envelope. He told reporters he would read the letter privately before deciding whether to release it to the public.
5 UK tabloids apologise to Prince Harry, admit intruding on Diana
Prince Harry claimed a "monumental" victory today as Rupert Murdoch’s UK tabloids made an unprecedented apology for intruding in his life for years, and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.
News Group Newspapers acknowledged its private investigators and journalists targeted Harry with phone hacking, surveillance, and misuse of private information. The company offered him a "full and unequivocal apology" for intrusion by the now-defunct News of the World and its sister tabloid The Sun.
ONE STERN WARNING
Police have issued a strong warning to young people after a video that appeared to show a young person at the top of a crane in the Auckland CBD was shared on social media.
The person, who claimed to be aged 16, filmed themselves while on a crane boom 220m above the ground.
ONE ANCIENT STATUE
A marble statue of a woman believed to be more than 2000 years old was found abandoned in a garbage bag near the Greek city of Thessaloniki, police said today.
A resident discovered the 80cm headless statue beside a rubbish bin in Neoi Epivates, outside Greece’s second-largest city. The man turned it over to local authorities, who contacted archaeologists to assess its significance.
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