NZ First ministers are refusing to back down over 'xenophobic' comments in the House, things 'about to get scary' for coffee industry, and Dame Sophie Pascoe calls time on her golden swimming career.
1 NZ First refuses to back down over 'xenophobic' comments
New Zealand First ministers are refusing to back down from comments they made towards immigrant MPs in the House this week.
MPs were debating the Prime Minister's statement on Tuesday when Shane Jones yelled "send the Mexicans home" across the floor.
Winston Peters then told Green MPs Lawrence Xu-Nan and Francisco Hernandez to "show some gratitude" for being in New Zealand.
The Green Party has now written to the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the House asking they take action, saying the comments were "outwardly racist and xenophobic".
2 Covid 'brain fog' likely factor in train's near-miss
A locomotive engineer experiencing brain fog in the wake of a Covid-19 infection likely played a role in a KiwiRail coal train's near miss with another train in the South Island early last year, an investigation has found.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) report concluded the locomotive engineer was likely to be cognitively impaired when he ran a stop signal and narrowly avoided a collision with a train coming in the opposite direction near Arthur's Pass.
3 Trump says he'll send 'worst criminal aliens' to Guantanamo
US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed the Laken Riley Act into law, giving federal authorities broader power to deport immigrants in the US illegally who have been accused of crimes.
He also announced at the ceremony that his administration planned to send the “worst criminal aliens” to a detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
4 Things 'about to get scary' for coffee industry
Things are about to get "very scary" for New Zealand's coffee and café industry, one roaster and café owner is warning.
Richard Corney, managing director of Flight Coffee, which also operates café The Hangar, had already warned that New Zealand retail coffee prices are unsustainably low.
He now says the sector is in "uncharted territory" as coffee commodity prices hit levels not seen since the late 1970s.
5 Princess Beatrice welcomes baby girl
Buckingham Palace has announced the safe arrival of Princess Beatrice’s second child, Athena.
The baby girl was born on January 22 at 12.57pm at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London. She weighed 4 pounds and 5 ounces (2kg).
In a post to Instagram, Mapelli Mozzi said Athena is "tiny and absolutely perfect", and the family is "already completely besotted with her".
ONE WHOLESOME RESCUE
A pair of dogs who went missing after a wasp attack in Waikato have been reunited with their owner — after being found by an "eagle-eyed" waka ama crew.
The two dogs from Huntly were walking with their owner alongside the Waikato River when they were set upon by wasps. Panicked, the animals bolted to escape the swarm but became stranded on a sand bank.
Waahi Waka, a local waka ama group, spotted the dogs on the river and ferried them to safety in their boats.
ONE LEGENDARY CAREER
Dame Sophie Pascoe, New Zealand’s most successful Paralympian, has today announced her retirement from competitive swimming.
The 32-ywE-OLD leaves the sport as an 11-time Paralympic gold medallist and multiple world champion.
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