Citizen's arrest laws opened up to tackle retail crime, Ma'a Nonu joined the French club Toulon, and a rare chance to see seven planets aligned in the night sky.
1 Citizen's arrests opened up to tackle retail crime, Government announces
Retailers and members of the public will soon have beefed-up rights to detain and arrest suspected thieves by using "reasonable force", the Government has announced.
It says the measures will help tackle retail crime.
The planned changes drew condemnation from two major business lobby groups, with one saying "people will get hurt or even killed" as a result.
2 Motocross community mourning death of young rider
The New Zealand motocross community is mourning the death of a young rider who suffered a serious head injury while racing earlier this month.
Eli Hankins suffered the injury while racing at a track in Tuakau, near Pukekohe, on February 16 and was flown to Auckland's Starship in a critical condition.
"The MX world is one big family — it's what makes our sport so special, so we hope this page helps send that special support to Eli's family," Pukekohe Motorcycle Club said.
3 Abuse survivor wants sculpture removed from Dunedin Hospital
A woman who alleges she was sexually abused as a child by a well-known New Zealand artist wants one of his sculptures removed from Dunedin Hospital.
The grandmother - who does not want to be named - has asked Te Whatu Ora Southern not to move John Middleditch's 1980 Water Sculpture to the new hospital.
In 2012, she requested the then-Southern District Health Board remove the large water feature but was told she had no proof when she informed the art advisor that Middleditch had been convicted of assaults on children in the 1970s.
4 Ma'a Nonu joins French club Toulon until the end of the season
Former New Zealand great Ma'a Nonu is joining Toulon until the end of the season, the French club said overnight.
Toulon announced the signing on X, along with a photo of the 42-year-old Nonu holding up the club's red jersey. He is joining as a "medical joker", the French rugby term for a player who arrives during the season as an injury replacement.
5 Asteroid no longer a threat to Earth, scientists say
Scientists have finally given the all-clear to Earth from a newly discovered asteroid.
After two months of observations, scientists have almost fully ruled out any threat from the asteroid 2024 YR4, NASA and the European Space Agency said today.
At one point, the odds of a strike in 2032 were as high as about 3% and topped the world's asteroid-risk lists.
ONE COSMIC PHENOMENON
Stargazers will be in for a treat over the next few nights, with all seven of the other planets in the solar system visible across the night sky.
The rare phenomenon, called a "grand planetary alignment", will be visible over the next few evenings.
It will be the last time Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury and Saturn can be simultaneously seen so clearly until 2040.
ONE SET OF OLD HABITS
After two rounds of Super Rugby Pacific, the defending champion Blues, who lost two games in total last year, are 11th of 11 teams — with zero competition points.
Is a Crusaders-type collapse on the cards? Probably not, writes Patrick McKendry.
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