The first day of competition at Te Matatini gets underway, Macron interrupts Trump on Ukraine funding at a joint news conference, and former Breakers player and coach Kevin Braswell dies.
1 Te Matatini: First day of competition gets underway
Te Matatini 2025 kicked off today, with an unprecedented 55 haka groups arriving in New Plymouth to perform and compete.
The annual kapa haka festival started this morning and will run until Saturday, March 1.
Watch live on TVNZ2 and TVNZ+ and follow the latest updates on 1News.co.nz.
2 Macron interrupts Trump on Ukraine funding at joint news conference
French President Emmanuel Macron told US President Donald Trump that Europe provided "real money" to Ukraine during a joint news conference after the two leaders met at the White House.
Macron interrupted Trump as the US President was saying: “Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine. They’ll get their money back.”
Putting his hand on Trump’s arm, Macron corrected: “No, in fact, to be frank, we paid 60% of the total effort. It was through - like the US - loans, guarantees, grants. We provided real money, to be clear.”
3 Former Breakers player and coach Kevin Braswell dies
Former Breakers player and coach Kevin Braswell has died.
The Breakers confirmed his death overnight on their Facebook page.
The post read: "Today we mourn the passing of Breakers legend Kevin Braswell. KB, a former player, championship winner, 6th man of the year and head coach passed away over night. Our thoughts and aroha go out to his family at this time."
4 Arrests amid Lake Rotokākahi pipeline protest
Seven people were arrested amid a protest opposing a controversial pipeline at Lake Rotokākahi in Rotorua overnight after people allegedly refused to leave the worksite.
Rotorua Lakes Council contractors resumed work last night to enable the last 1.3km of pipeline in the Tarawera Sewerage Scheme to resume being laid. The site is considered tapu by local mana whenua.
Yesterday, protesters gathered, and an iwi group is making a last-minute legal bid to stop construction work.
5 Far-right party surges in German election - here's what to know
The Alternative for Germany party has surged to the best showing by a far-right party since World War II in yesterday's German elections, becoming the strongest political force in parts of the country.
Other parties say they won't work with the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), which fielded its first candidate for Germany's top job in co-leader Alice Weidel.
But the second-place finish cemented AfD's status as a factor that other politicians can't ignore.
ONE CLOSE CALL
An Auckland woman almost lost a deposit for her first home after scammers posed as her lawyers by using detailed information to trick her.
It's an example of the type of sophisticated email impersonation scams Netsafe says are becoming increasingly complex.
ONE BIG SNEAKER HEIST
Thieves have targeted freight trains running through the deserts of California and Arizona in a string of audacious heists, resulting in the theft of more than US$2 million (NZ$3.5 million) worth of new Nike sneakers, including many that haven't hit the retail market yet, according to officials and court documents.
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