Producers of crude oil, owners of oil refineries and the New Zealand government are among those making more money as the price of fuel hits a record high at the pump.

According to gas price comparison app Gaspy, the average price of 91 fuel is $3.60 and diesel is sitting about $3.23.

An investigation by the Guardian in August found eight of the biggest oil companies amassed profits of more than US$90 billion (NZ$159.8b) in three months as the US-Iran conflict sent energy prices soaring.

Energy expert and former Marsden Point refiner manager David Keat told RNZ there were a few parties cashing in for different reasons.

"Anybody who's producing crude is doing very, very well in terms of windfall profit. They're getting probably the biggest share.

"The second group would be anybody who has an oil refinery, they're making extraordinary refining margins in this period."

Govt taking 15% from each transaction

The New Zealand government was also an "honourable mention".

"Because of course, if the price goes up, they still charge 15% of that price as GST, so they're doing all right."

Keat said oil refineries and producers were the ones that profited the most but it was not the well known companies like Mobil, BP or Shell that were making the highest sum.

He said these companies produce only around 12% of the world's crude oil.

"The big players are all the state-owned oil companies or state-affected, like the Russian and Chinese oil companies are state-influenced... European countries, and they all have a national oil company. So Saudi Arabia, UAE, but also Nigeria, Guyana, other countries. All those national oil companies are making a huge amount of money."

In response to a global increase to fuel prices, US President Donald Trump recently struck a diesel deal with Russia who is set to supply 300,000 tons of diesel now, with more later, to the US and global markets.

Keat said this was about 2% of one day's global demand.

"The market will just look straight through it. Even the 3 million tons that he's talked about coming at some stage is about a quarter of one day."

Trump's Russia deal is 'smoke and mirrors'

He said this was "smoke and mirrors" and there was no net increase in diesel supply.

"The Russians haven't suddenly got more diesel. Even if they're bringing down the reserves, that would be short term and at the expense of the Russian people themselves."

Keat said predicting where oil prices would go from the recent spike was difficult but there were some trends in the US Iran war, which appeared to be in a "stalemate".

"They've been very, very careful not to destroy any more oil infrastructure. If they do that, then really all bets are off."

"This is going to carry on, obviously, through the midterms. You can see the Iranians may well want to keep the pressure on Trump. So that could go on for another year or two until he's out of office."

Keat added that a mitigating factor was oil production outside of the Gulf was slowly growing as the world adjusted.

"The oil system will slowly come into balance."

NZ's choice is clear

"New Zealand, sadly, doesn't have an oil refinery anymore. So we're kind of at the mercy of the international markets."

Keat said the answer was actually pivoting to non-hydrocarbon sources for electricity, including electric vehicles.

rnz.co.nz

A Christchurch man has been charged following a spate of alleged thefts targeting electric vehicle charging stations across the city.

Canterbury rural area commander Inspector Peter Cooper said police had received numerous reports of charging cables being cut and stolen from stations in recent weeks.

“The offending has caused significant disruption to EV users and substantial costs to charging network providers through damage and replacement of infrastructure," he said.

“Police have been working closely with victims and industry partners to identify and locate those responsible to hold them to account."

A 26-year-old man was arrested and faced multiple charges, including five counts of theft over $2000.

He was due to appear in the Christchurch District Court tomorrow.

Despite the arrest, Cooper said were continuing to investigate other incidents across Christchurch and had not ruled out further arrests.

He urged anyone who had noticed any suspicious activity around EV charging stations, or had information about stolen equipment, to contact police via 105.

Residents along the Budhi Gandaki River in north-central Nepal evacuated as flash flooding destroyed homes and other structures in the area.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority evacuated villagers and warned others to move to safer areas while remaining on alert.

The agency said at least five people are reported missing so far. The flash flood also damaged or destroyed four bridges, swept away about three dozen houses and damaged the construction site of a hydropower plant.

Scary moment new flash flood wipes out buildings in Nepal - watch on TVNZ+

Several power and communication towers were also damaged along the riverside.

Nepal's army said in a statement that it was continuing to rescue stranded people using helicopters and ground troops. They had rescued 49 people by Sunday afternoon (local time).

The agency said the flash flood was caused by a landslide that initially blocked the Budhi Gandaki River near the village of Chumchure. The dam formed by the landslide breached, triggering the flood.

The Budhi Gandaki River merges into the Trishuli River and is a key waterway near the capital Kathmandu.

Videos on social media show houses and sheds being swept away by the swollen river flowing between tall mountains. It was not immediately clear how many of the small villages in the mountainous area were impacted. Social media posts indicate the government warning prompted an evacuation in Arughat, a riverside town on the highway connecting Kathmandu to other parts of the country.

Nepal is still recovering from a devastating flood in August along the mountainous Nepal-China border that left more than 1400 people dead and thousands more missing.

The office of Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Monday announced an end to search and rescue operations for additional victims. Authorities will instead concentrate on recovery, including restoration of roads and bridges cut off by floods, particularly in remote areas where damaged infrastructure has made aid deliveries difficult.

The government estimates the rebuilding effort will cost US$4.77 billion (NZ$8.51 billion). Nearly 33,000 people have been affected and about 7500 homes were damaged or destroyed.

Some farmers say they're "quite frustrated" by patchy and unreliable rural mobile phone coverage after the 3G network was fully switched off earlier this year.

A newly-released Federated Farmers Rural Connectivity survey of nearly 650 farmers found half of farms now have mobile coverage on less than half of the property since the 3G network was switched off in March.

Federated Farmers telecommunications spokesperson Mark Hooper said last year's report already showed service levels were "hit and miss", and things had gotten worse.

Farmers unable to call 111 as rural coverage gaps persist - Watch on TVNZ+

"A third of farmers told us they have a place on their farm that previously worked on 3G but no longer does. For most, these holes in service aren’t just on one part of the farm."

He said patchy or non-existent coverage created "obvious risks when there’s an accident or emergency, especially when people are working alone".

"Nearly two in three farmers told us they can’t rely on reaching 111 from most of their farm, and 8% said connecting to emergency services wasn't possible anywhere on the property," Hooper said.

As one survey respondent from Southland commented: "Our main yard by the road had perfect coverage, now you need to stand on one leg and hold your tongue a certain way to have any chance of making a call."

Hooper said many farmers had to spend thousands to replace equipment that relied on that network including irrigation and pivot controls, cow collars and other farm systems.

The report found two in three farmers paid for workarounds such as satellite broadband, while only 15% of those surveyed regarded satellite-to-mobile as an adequate substitute for a cell tower.

"Earlier talk from telcos that rural residents don’t have to worry about the shutdown of 3G networks has proved hollow," Hooper said

"The assurances were that the vast majority of areas previously covered by 3G now have 4G and 5G. Our survey shows how different wireless frequencies travel across the landscape, and whatever other factors might be at play, have left too many farming families and businesses with significantly lower standards of service and reliability.

"It’s of considerable concern to hear feedback that reporting problems to providers often doesn’t result in a fix - with some providers pretty much denying there’s an issue."

The survey, carried out in late August/early September, found of 126 farms that reported coverage and reliability problems, just two had the problem resolved.

"That’s very frustrating and indicates their concerns aren't being taken seriously."

Hooper said Federated Farmers is holding urgent meetings with telcos to get a better understanding of what scope they have within existing infrastructure, or planned investment, to improve the situation.

"We have some sympathy for the argument that further extensive investment in 'old technology', such as new towers, when satellite calling/call support and the like is on the way, may not the best use of resources.

"But we’re also interested in the here and now, and what fine-tuning of existing infrastructure might be possible.

"At the very least, surely we can get more farmers hooked back up to the service standards they had with 3G."

More than 40 farmers said they had nowhere on their property where they can reliably reach 111.

One farmer said they’d failed a WorkSafe audit because patchy coverage on their property meant they couldn't check on their staff every two hours.

"While the telcos have an agreement that if a 111 call fails on one network, the call will be redistributed across whichever networks reach that spot, it cannot create coverage where none reaches," Hooper said.

Telcos respond

NZ Telcommunications Forum chief executive Paul Brislen, who represented all phone companies across the country, told Breakfast they had done "a huge amount of work with the rural community in the lead-up to the 3G shutdown to make sure they were ready".

He said "customers should be able to find 4G wherever they used to find 3G".

"And in some places we've got 5G as well in the urban areas. So these kind of things are often attributed to the 3G shutdown, but I'm not sure that that is the case. So we need to do some investigations," he told Breakfast.

He said not being able to get through to 111 "shouldn't be happening at all".

"We've increased the amount of coverage of 4G throughout the country to the point where the Commerce Commission now says there's more 4G available than 3G was at its peak. So there shouldn't be this kind of problem," he explained.

"I would strongly urge farmers who are having this kind of issue to report to their telco so that we can do some investigation and figure out what's going on. But that shouldn't be happening at all," he added.

"It’s worth knowing about the Rural Connectivity Group (RCG) and the work that’s gone on putting cellphone towers in really remote areas of the country. This is done in conjunction with the government because these are largely areas where very few people live all year round, so they’re not commercially viable. We’ve built more than 600 towers to add coverage to rural roads, tourism hotspots and remote communities."

US President Donald Trump said that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an "energy ceasefire" in the 4½-year-old war, but he offered no details on it and Kyiv reported attacks by Moscow on energy sites after his statement.

Trump's brief social media post said only that the ceasefire took effect immediately, adding: "Do not break it!"

Moscow did not immediately comment. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that while his country "welcomed" the announcement by Trump as "good news for everyone", Russia was still hitting energy infrastructure in Kyiv and in the city of Kharkiv.

"Unfortunately, Ukrainian skies have been infested with Russian 'shaheds' all day today," he said in an evening address, referring to drones launched by Moscow. "There have been glide bomb strikes and strikes on our energy infrastructure too. A power plant in Kharkiv was attacked this evening."

The presidential office confirmed the Kharkiv attack came after Trump's ceasefire post.

Zelensky said Ukraine was "ready to refrain from striking Russian energy infrastructure — and we count on the same readiness from Russia."

Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians power, heat and running water during the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow's full-scale invasion. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as "weaponising winter".

Zelensky said Ukraine has proposed many de-escalatory steps but Russian President Vladimir Putin "had one answer to all of them — 'nyet'. We do hope that he will finally say something different to America, Ukraine, and the entire world."

He said Kyiv is maintaining contact with the US, and he thanked Americans for their support. He said on X that he had spoken about the development with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

In an interview broadcast earlier Sunday, Zelensky said Kyiv was ready to stop striking Russian refineries if Moscow halted attacks on Ukraine's energy system, and he asked Trump to press the Kremlin to agree.

"We are asking President Trump, [to] give them [a] signal, not [to] attack energy infrastructure of Ukraine," he told ABC's This Week.

On September 14, Trump claimed on social media that both countries had agreed "not to hit" each other's energy infrastructure but offered no details on that proposal either. While Zelensky had said Ukraine was ready to comply if Russia did, nothing came of the proposal.

Trump spars with Zelensky

Trump said it was time for Ukraine to get a new president, suggesting Zelensky has not done enough to end the war and blaming him for high diesel prices in the US.

Zelensky said in response to Trump's comments that Ukraine could hold elections if Russia agreed to a 60-day ceasefire.

"Give us two months, 60 days off. Total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organise elections," he said, adding that Ukraine would be ready to accept whatever choice its people made.

"With all respect to President Trump, it's up to our society, up to our people to choose one or another leader," he said. Holding an election during the war would be unlawful and that Ukraine would need security guarantees to allow for safe voting, Zelensky added.

Ukraine has been under martial law since Putin launched the full-scale invasion in February 2022, and the Ukrainian Constitution bars elections while it remains in force. Beyond the legal barrier, a nationwide vote would be vulnerable to Russian attacks, and organising one is widely seen as logistically impossible, with roughly a fifth of the country held by Russia, millions of Ukrainians displaced abroad and soldiers on the front line. Zelensky's term formally expired in May 2024, but the constitution allows him to remain in office until a new president is sworn in.

The exchange came as Kyiv pressed its campaign against Russian infrastructure, with a drone attack on Sunday shutting down a data centre in the city of Vladimir, east of Moscow, run by technology giant Yandex. It was the third strike on the company's facilities in four days.

Russia and Ukraine have been waging a long-range aerial war while their armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line.

Trump, who on Friday struck a deal with Putin to buy diesel from Moscow in an attempt to address high fuel prices ahead of US midterm elections, has been urging Zelensky for weeks to stop striking Russian energy infrastructure.

He has sought to blame record US diesel prices on Ukraine rather than the US-led war in Iran, which has driven up world energy prices. Ukrainian and European officials reacted to the diesel deal with dismay, saying it will help pay for Russia's war effort.

Ukrainian strike on Russian data centre triggers outages

The Ukrainian drone attack on the Yandex data centre in Vladimir caused outages across the company's services, leaving users in dozens of Russian cities and in Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia unable to order taxis or access banking services, according to Russian independent news outlet Astra.

"Operations at the data centre have been completely halted. There were no injuries," said the Yandex Cloud Telegram channel, which updates service availability.

Moscow residents described disruption to everyday tasks. Pavel Belyavskiy, a driver for Yandex Taxi, said it was unclear whether orders were coming through at all, and that he had to cancel several rides after waiting a long time because he could not reach the passenger.

"I'd press the 'call' button to contact them, but nothing happens," he said. "There's nothing I can do, so I'm just forced to cancel."

Igor Mann said he tried to check on an order on the Yandex Market shopping platform but the page was unavailable, and connecting through a virtual private network did not help. "Nothing worked," he said.

Another Muscovite, Eduard Malyavko, said the outages had a "direct impact" and weren't just about "convenience". He said they affected "healthcare, and everything else".

On Thursday, a drone attack took a Yandex data centre offline in the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow. The next day, Ukrainian drones hit the company's major data centre in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, disabling part of the facility, Yandex said.

Yandex, often described as Russia's Google, runs the country's most popular search engine and a wide range of digital services, and is heavily involved in Russia's artificial intelligence development.

Zaporizhzhia death toll rises to 23

Elsewhere, search and rescue operations ended in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia after a Russian bombing, according to Ivan Fedorov, former regional head and co-chair of the regional defence council.

Zelensky said 23 people were killed in the attack, including four children. More than 30 people were wounded, Fedorov said, with eight still hospitalised.

A man was killed and two women wounded in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia's Bryansk border region, local officials said.

Labour has announced a new election policy aimed at cutting back-to-school costs by limiting the number of branded uniform items families must buy, and offering more places to buy them.

If elected, Labour's policy would require schools to limit the number of compulsory branded uniform items that families needed to purchase.

Follow the campaign trail at our live updates.

“Schools can maintain their identity without forcing parents to pay a premium for a logo. If a plain navy polo does the job, parents shouldn’t have to pay more for the branded version,” Labour education spokesperson Ginny Andersen said.

"I’ve heard from families who get through Christmas only to face another big bill when school starts. Uniforms, lunches, transport - it all adds up."

Hipkins denies copying ACT as Labour unveils school uniform policy - Watch on TVNZ+

The policy allowed for affordable, generic alternatives to meet school uniform requirements from alternative retailers such as Kmart and The Warehouse, and to track and publish uniform costs so affordability progress can be measured.

“Families shouldn’t need to turn to hardship support just to get their kids ready for school. We can take practical steps to bring those costs down," leader Chris Hipkins said.

A similar uniform policy was announced by ACT in early June, which also pledged to limit the amount of branded items state schools can require families to buy.

Under ACT's policy, parents could buy basic, high-use items, such as shorts, skirts, pants and socks, from retailers such as The Warehouse and Kmart rather than more expensive school-specific options.

ACT education spokesperson Laura McClure said it was "encouraging" to see Labour back cheaper school uniforms and that "the answer to the cost of living isn't always more Government spending".

"Sometimes it's as simple as removing unnecessary restrictions and allowing competition to do its job."

She called on other parties to get behind the "common sense change".

"ACT doesn't mind Labour copying our homework when it means parents can keep more of their hard-earned money."

A Mount Maunganui resident says dog access rules are frequently being breached on Ōmanu Beach.

By Ayla Yeoman of Local Democracy Reporting

Brian Dey, who lives near the beach, said there was about one dog per 10 people in Tauranga, and the other nine people deserved a dog-free beach.

He said the beach had dog access rules, but they were not communicated clearly enough or dog owners ignored them.

“Yesterday when I looked out the window, there were 15 dogs on the beach in front of the surf club.”

There is a “no dogs” sign at the beach entrance, and a Ōmanu Beach carpark sign specifies “strictly no dogs” within 200m of the surf club. The penalty for breaching this is a $300 fine.

Dey said dozens of dogs were off-leash on the beach every day.

“The city council signage is a waste of time.”

He said the beach would be loaded with people in the summer with kids playing in the sand, “but that’s the same sand that dogs have been peeing on”.

“We should be able to avoid that.”

He was not against dogs but argued there should be a space without them for people to enjoy.

Dey suggested people walking dogs along the beach should exit, walk along the Oceanbeach Rd footpath and rejoin once they had passed Ōmanu Beach.

There were unleashed dogs on the beach when Local Democracy Reporting visited.

Tauranga City Council animal services team leader Oscar Glossop said dogs were not allowed on the Ōmanu foreshore area in front of the surf club.

He said dogs could pass through on a leash as long as they were under control and not causing a nuisance or danger to other people or animals.

“Most dog owners are responsible and enjoy walking their dogs on the beach.

“If we receive reports of breaches, or our officers observe them, we’ll investigate.”

The Dog Management Bylaw said dogs should be on a leash at all times in the Ōmanu Beach carpark and were prohibited in front of the surf club between two beach access markers.

It said there was an exception for dogs to transit through the area on a leash.

Glossop said the bylaw was up for review in December 2028.

Surf Lifesaving New Zealand and the Ōmanu club were approached for comment.

– Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

A police officer of nearly four decades, who pleaded guilty to possessing objectionable publications, is seeking to be discharged without conviction.

By Lucy Xia of RNZ

Auckland-based officer Matthew Rogers was one of three police staff to be charged following the rapid review carried out by police in October 2025.

The review was sparked by the resignation of former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming, after child sexual exploitation and bestiality material were found on his work devices.

Court documents revealed that between August 2023 and October 2025, Rogers used a police-issued device to conduct searches for pornographic and sexualised material.

Searches included "nude teen", and there were nine images he'd viewed that matched what was previously categorised as Category 2B Child Sexual Abuse Material.

At a sentencing hearing on Monday at the Manukau District Court, Rogers' lawyer Todd Simmonds KC prefaced his arguments for discounts and a discharge without conviction, emphasising that nothing put forward is an attempt to minimise what's occurred.

He asked Judge Clare Bennett to consider the context of "relatively modest" number of images involved in Rogers' case, the fact that images weren't downloaded, and that the scale of offending is "not an apple with an apple" compared to the McSkimming case which involved thousands of objectionable images.

"This could be far, far worse is the short point I make," he said. Simmonds said what mattered most for Rogers is that the presence of a conviction would make a "material difference" to his future employment, and is seeking discharge without conviction.

He said Rogers resigned a couple of months ago after nearly 40 years of service to the community.

Conviction could impact job prospects

Simmonds said many job applications require applicants to disclose previous convictions, and that this is not a case of the horse having bolted with previous reporting on Rogers' offending, but that a conviction would still make a material difference to Rogers' job prospects.

When Judge Bennett asked what kind of work Rogers would be seeking, Simmonds replied that Rogers doesn't have an answer to that yet and is looking to explore what opportunities come his way.

Police prosecutor Kristy Li said they need to see evidence of Rogers not being able to secure employment and how the consequences of a conviction will make a difference to Rogers' future work.

She asked for the sentencing to be adjourned to wait for that material.

Simmonds said he will clarify that with Rogers, and Judge Bennett has adjourned the sentencing to November.

Rogers has been remanded at large.

Meanwhile, Simmonds also made a series of arguments for mitigating factors for a reduction to the potential sentence of 12 to 18 months as a starting point sought by the prosecution.

He proposed a 25% reduction for Rogers' early guilty plea.

Simmonds said Rogers' nearly four decades of service to the community also speaks to his previous good character; adding that Rogers is genuinely remorseful in his own way, and asked for a discreet reduction for those factors.

In total, Simmonds is seeking a total discount of 40% for his client.

He acknowledged that there were aggravating features of Rogers' offending and that there was a degree of pre-meditation in some of the search terms used.

National has officially put new tax cuts on ice if re-elected, with Nicola Willis saying reducing debt in her fiscal plan must come first and relief would be considered when Government books are in better shape.

The party's finance spokesperson released National's fiscal plan this afternoon as she continues to beat the drum on restraint around spending commitments.

National has reconfirmed it intends to return the government's books to a surplus in 2028/29, with new promises to pay for it partly through cuts to foreign aid and welfare.

Willis, who is also National’s finance and economic growth spokesperson, said the party could see a route to tax relief but would not take it yet.

“National’s approach has got us this far, but our plan needs three more years to bed in. That is how we help Kiwis secure their future,” she said in a media release.

“While our fiscal plan shows a pathway to potential tax relief for working New Zealanders, now is not the time to cut taxes.

“National’s priority is to get on top of the debt first so that our kids and grandkids aren’t left with a bigger bill and to ensure we have a bigger buffer to withstand future global shocks.”

The plan stated any future National government, if elected, would consider tax relief once the books were “back in the black”, but it made no firm commitment.

"New Zealanders have worked hard through a tough few years. National’s plan is about rewarding that hard work, letting more of what people earn stay in their pockets, and building a more secure future for families and businesses," Willis said.

"Our plan will set New Zealand up for the future and put us in a stronger position to withstand the next severe weather event, natural disaster or global shock.

"Getting debt down is essential to delivering lasting prosperity for New Zealand.

"Less debt helps keep inflation and interest rates down, which means lower mortgage and business borrowing costs. That gives households more breathing room in their budget, and businesses the confidence to invest, build and hire.

Net core Crown debt is forecast to peak at 43.9% of GDP in 2027/28, before falling to 39.5% by 2030/31.

Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds dismissed the plan as “more cuts, more chaos, and absolutely nothing for the cost of living”.

Same limits but different-sized commitments

National and Labour have both signed up to a $2.4 billion operating allowance and a return to surplus for the government books in 2028/29.

The gap between them is how much each would tax and spend within those limits. Willis has been keenly sceptical of Labour's numbers in recent weeks.

Labour’s fiscal plan raised about $11 billion in new revenue over the forecast period, mostly from its capital gains tax and repealing National's Investment Boost tax break.

National would fund its plan partly with about $1 billion in spending reduction, including cutting $431.2 million from the foreign aid budget and $583 million from what it has called “stronger welfare expectations and case management”.

Meanwhile, in health, National set aside $15.4 billion for extra health spending, and said health made up 88% of its spending commitments. Its total included $604 million more for Pharmac’s medicines budget and lowering the bowel screening age to 50.

Most of it, $14.6 billion, is to cover rising health costs from inflation, wages and population growth, based on Treasury’s Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update.

Labour’s plan put its additional health funding at $15.5 billion, almost the same total, but split quite differently. Labour put about $2.5 billion towards new health policies, including three free GP visits a year and free prescriptions, and $13 billion towards rising costs.

That is $1.55 billion less than National for cost pressures, with all of the gap in 2030/31, the last year of the forecast. Labour's Chris Hipkins has previously said the party's policies, such as more GP visits, would aid in reducing pressure on hospitals.

National’s cost-pressure funding climbs to $5.94 billion by 2030/31.

Another stark figure in the plan was that National set aside $25.2 million over four years in operational spending for policies it had yet to announce. Labour’s plan released weeks ago held $968 million for future announcements.

Both parties leave far larger sums unallocated within their operating allowances with about $7.5 billion for National and $10.5 billion for Labour.

National says its share would cover things like pay rounds for teachers and police and new investment. Labour would have to use that allowance to fund new pay equity claims under the system it has promised to bring back and additional health system pressure.

Speaking today, Willis repeated National’s pledge of no new taxes and took aim at her opponents over their ambitions for a different path of spending.

“National is the party of low tax,” she said.

“Labour and its coalition partners have proposed at least nine new taxes which will cost the average household $2263 a year.”

Labour has proposed a capital gains tax but denies it wants any others.

Labour hits back

Speaking to media, Edmonds said the plan wasn't “worth the paper it’s written on”.

"More cuts, more chaos, and absolutely nothing for the cost of living, which is the number one issue to New Zealanders," she said.

"This is just more hollow promises from the National Party, who have broken almost every promise they made to New Zealanders in 2023. They have made the economy worse, not better. This three-page fiscal paper is not even worth the paper it's written on."

Asked whether holding off on tax cuts proved National’s tax cuts this term had been irresponsible, she said Willis had broken a promise not to borrow for them.

“In her first Budget, she had to borrow $12 billion for those tax cuts,” Edmonds said.

“We had been telling her since 2023 that New Zealand couldn’t afford it, but she still charged ahead and borrowed more.”

On Labour’s own position, Edmonds said tax relief would be considered when the fiscal and economic environment allowed for it, but getting back to surplus came first.

“The reason why you want to get into surplus is to make sure you have enough room within your books in case the shock happens,” she said.

US President Donald Trump must cancel any remaining television commercials paid for with millions of dollars in taxpayer money to promote his political message, a federal judge ordered Sunday night (local time), even as the administration said the ad campaign was coming to an end.

US District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon in New York sided with a coalition, including the nonpartisan watchdog Common Cause, that challenged the ads and called them an illegal misuse of funds. She told the administration to cancel any remaining ads, including any set to air Sunday night, in granting a temporary restraining order.

"Defendants shall not enter into, renew, or expand any agreement authorising the development, creation, dissemination, placement, or airing of the challenged advertisements" during the two-week duration of her order, the judge said.

The White House did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment Sunday night. In a court filing late Saturday, the Justice Department argued that the temporary restraining order was unnecessary because "the alleged offending conduct will end tomorrow".

The Department of Homeland Security tapped US$20 million (NZ$35.6 million) in taxpayer money for the ads. Legal experts have suggested that violated a federal statute against congressionally appropriated money being used for "publicity or propaganda" and potentially other laws.

"We are pleased the court acted swiftly to prevent more taxpayer dollars from being used for such blatantly unlawful political propaganda," the plaintiffs said in a statement issued by Democracy Forward, the nonprofit legal organisation that represents them. "There is no legal justification — and no precedent — for the president to use the machinery of the government and funds set aside by Congress for other uses to influence electoral outcomes that further his own agenda."

In a court declaration Saturday, senior DHS official Holly Mehringer wrote that the money came from funds appropriated by Congress that are "available for, among other things, 'commemorating efforts and events related to border security.'"

The White House has defended the ads as public service announcements akin to what past administrations have done to promote various policies. But the recent ads differ from many past public service announcements because they aren’t aimed at helping members of the public benefit from specific government programs.

The ads, which began airing in late September, glorify Trump and echo his political messaging going into the midterms. One features a clip of Trump talking about the threat of communism and another is a replay of an ad from his last presidential campaign. The fifth ad in the campaign began airing Tuesday, focusing on the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

The use of public funds to pay for the ads drew heavy criticism — including from some in the GOP.

"It shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-SD, told reporters.

The Democratic National Committee has separately sued the Republican administration over the ads.

Amid the backlash Trump said he would start paying for the ads with a campaign account. A White House official said there were no immediate plans to reimburse the government for money already spent.

All Black Beauden Barrett has opened up about the challenges he faced in working his way back into the All Blacks starting side after largely being left out during the South African tour last month.

Barrett was selected to start at fullback for the All Blacks for the first time this year, and contributed well in their 50-19 victory against the Wallabies at Eden Park on Saturday.

The 146-Test All Black only featured in one Test match for the All Blacks on "Rugby's Greatest Rivalry" tour, alongside a couple of midweek games against the South African domestic sides.

"It did challenge me mentally a little bit with not being selected and just feeling a little bit off the pace," said Barrett.

'It's important to bounce back'

"When you're in the 23 or the 15, you're in the thick of it and you feel that flow, the connections, the combinations and all of that.

"I'd be lying if I said that it hasn’t affected me, but the important thing is to bounce back, focus on what I do well, and be consistent."

Barrett said his confidence has come from getting back into the training environment, having been afforded the opportunity after Richie Mo'unga's injury on Monday last week.

"At the end of the day, it's about the All Blacks winning, so if I'm contributing outside of the 23 or within it, then that's my role in the team."

Barrett said there's been no mixed messages from All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie.

"He's liking how he's training, happy with my contribution, and it was clear that I wasn't up in the pecking order, so I had to work for it or wait for my opportunity."

The All Blacks fullback also said he didn't spend time listening to any negative outside noise about his selection at fullback ahead of the Eden Park Test match.

"You feel a bit of an undertone; it's there, but I don't waste my time with that to be fair."

Return of the brothers

Barrett returned to the All Blacks' starting side at Eden Park alongside his brother Scott Barrett, who came into the squad for the first time this year after an extended injury period.

"Having missed out on recent Test matches, it meant a lot to get back out there and to play alongside my brothers, especially with Scott’s return – that always feels really good but this one was super special."

He also had praise for brother Jordie Barrett's man-of-the-match performance in Auckland and said he was "hands down" the best second-five in the world at the moment.

"He's been incredible this season in every single Test match. I'm inspired by his work rate, his physicality, and his involvement – his influence in this team is arguably second to none.

"I'm just proud as a big brother in the way that he's leading – you don't get to see that from outside the environment, but he's certainly matured into a world-class player."

The All Blacks second-five played a key role in his side's ball retention from Cam Roigard's box kicks in what was a "good night at the office".

"We talk about it a lot: the importance of winning that battle, and if it's not clean, then it's winning the spillages.

"Cam kicked really well; whether it was kicking out or making that a contestable kick, we were able to win that battle, which we like because it triggers a spark attack, which we like to play from."

Injury ward forces changes

Rennie was forced to make four injury changes to his squad before heading off to Sydney, with Asafo Aumua (concussion), Anton Segner (concussion), Ethan Blackadder (calf), and Leroy Carter (ankle) all not able to make the trip over.

Four injury replacements in the form of George Bell, Du'plessis Kirifi, Anton Lienert-Brown and Jamie Hannah arrived with the squad in Sydney on Sunday to prepare to face the Wallabies in the second Bledisloe Cup Test at Accor Stadium.

However, the All Blacks aren't the only New Zealand side taking on Australia this week in Sydney, with the Kiwis set to clash with the Kangaroos in the Rugby League World Cup opener at Allianz Stadium.

Barrett said some of the All Blacks squad were "buzzing" as they ran into members of the Kangaroos squad staying at the same hotel, and they were keen to head along and support the Kiwis for their Trans-Tasman battle on Thursday night.

A man has been hospitalised following a firearms incident in the Christchurch suburb of Shirley this afternoon.

Emergency services were called to an incident near the intersection of Marshland Rd and Hercules St at around 3pm.

Senior Sergeant Christopher Wakelin said a man had been taken to hospital in a moderate condition.

"While police are conducting initial inquiries into the incident, we do not believe there is any threat to public safety at this stage," Wakelin said.

Hato Hone St John said an ambulance, an operations manager and a rapid response unit attended.

Ambulance staff treated one patient at the scene and transported them to Christchurch Hospital.

Inquiries into the circumstances of the incident were ongoing, police said.

Thieves have stripped two historic boats at Paeroa's maritime park of their brass fittings, taking portholes, railings and original drive gear that staff fear cannot be replaced.

Staff at the Historical Maritime Museum & Park near the confluence of the Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers discovered the theft at around 8am on Monday when they arrived for work.

Park manager Fleur McDermott told 1News the thieves had taken every piece of brass from both vessels – Ariana and Norita.

"Both of them have been fully stripped of even the drive gear, portholes, the railings all around the boats, everything. Anything that was brass – gone."

Ariana, a 34-foot wooden launch, was built by Lane Brothers in Auckland’s Judges Bay in 1923 and has been taking passengers on cruises along the Waihou and Ohinemuri rivers. Norita is a replica vessel.

McDermott said both boats had carried original fittings, with some of the stolen pieces "near impossible" to track down again.

"There's certain things that have been taken from those boats that we will never find again, especially the lever where you make the boat go forward and backwards."

The park is insured, but McDermott said a pay-out would not fix the loss.

"We're more devastated that we don't know whether we're going to be able to bring them back to what they were," she said.

"It's just so heart-breaking that they're about to get rid of some history that can never be replaced, that'll be melted down to become nothing. It's more valuable to us than anyone."

'The hub of Paeroa'

McDermott posted about the theft on the park’s Facebook page on Monday afternoon and said so many people had rallied around that she had yet to catch up with all the messages.

"It’s really warming. I feel like the maritime park’s like the hub of Paeroa. There’s something very special about it, so it’s nice to know that we’ve got community backing."

McDermott said the theft had left staff worried about the rest of the collection, which includes engines from the early 1900s that volunteers have got running again.

"It's made us very uneasy now because obviously we have a lot of things that are of significant historical value."

She said the park would now look at whether it could afford security systems "to make sure that everything does remain safe or as safe as it can be".

Police attended on Monday morning. McDermott said officers had come straight down after she reported the theft and shared the park's dismay.

"They really were so disappointed."

Waikato Eastern area response manager Senior Sergeant Aaron Fraser told 1News police had received a report about the theft and it was in the case assessment stage.

Watch for stolen brass

McDermott has phoned scrap metal dealers and visited second-hand shops in the area, asking them to buy any of the items if someone tries to sell them, with the park promising to pay them back.

"We don't want it to end up where we can never find it either. It's sort of a Catch-22 really, but we just want it back."

She asked people to keep an eye out, saying the more people who knew about the theft, the harder it would be for the thieves to sell the items.

A planned expansion at a Māori-language immersion school will face an independent hearing after the neighbouring Rotorua Airport refused to approve the project on safety grounds.

By Mathew Nash of Local Democracy Reporting

The Crown entity responsible for New Zealand school properties says the school needs the expansion and is seeking independent aviation advice to address concerns.

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ruamata is on Te Ngae Rd near the airport, and sits beneath flight take-off and landing paths.

The kura, which takes pupils from new entrants to the end of high school, has 281 enrolled students.

The proposal would see the school build a new multi-purpose gymnasium and move a teaching space as part of an expansion.

However, the Rotorua Lakes Council-controlled airport, an affected party in the resource consent process, declined to approve the proposal, citing unresolved safety concerns.

Airport chief executive Nicole Brewer said it had done a thorough assessment involving international aviation regulations, external consultants and airport users before reaching its decision.

“Based on the initial assessment, we were not in a position to provide affected-party approval, as there were unresolved safety matters.”

She said the concerns related to the potential consequences of an incident during take-off or landing, as well as noise effects and wake turbulence associated with low-flying aircraft.

“Our understanding is that this process will now go to an independent hearing for assessment and decision, and we believe this is the appropriate next step in this case.”

She said the decision was “not a reflection” on the school itself.

“We recognise how important the kura is to its whānau and the wider community, and we support its growth in principle.”

The Ministry of Education said the project would support the “current and future learning needs” of the school.

“The project is intended to increase capacity at the kura and support growing demand for Māori-medium education in the area,” Bay of Plenty Waiariki director of education Tui Rolleston said.

The final number of additional student places would be determined during the detailed design stage.

The New Zealand School Property Agency took over responsibility for school property infrastructure on October 1.

Chief executive Gus Gilmore said the development would provide much-needed space for sports, learning and cultural activities.

“The proposed buildings have been designed with input from an acoustic consultant and are consistent with our requirements and applicable building standards.”

Proposed buildings approved under aviation rules

Gilmore said the agency took the health and safety of students, staff, whānau and visitors seriously and was satisfied the development met necessary requirements.

“In response, we are working with the Ministry of Education to address the matters raised, and assistance from an independent aeronautical specialist is being sought.”

Gilmore said the proposed buildings had been approved under aviation rules that governed height restrictions for structures near airports.

“Other airport-related effects raised through the resource consent process will also be addressed in the evidence prepared for the hearing.”

The airport’s decision had delayed the project and could increase costs, he said.

Councillor Te Rika Temara-Benfell questioned the airport’s decision in a recent council meeting and, speaking to Local Democracy Reporting this week, again expressed his hope for a solution.

“The school is already there.

“I fail to understand how additional buildings would pose more of a health and safety risk than the buildings and classrooms already on site.”

Many Māori-immersion schools were under-resourced and faced strong enrolment demand.

“How do we stop being a barrier to our kura getting what they need?

“Many of our kura have long waiting lists and students wanting to learn through te reo Māori.”

He said the council was looking at ways it could “support the school” through the process.

A resource consent hearing date has yet to be set, with the application to be determined by an independent commissioner or panel appointed by the council.

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ruamata was approached for comment.

– Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

Police have named the swimmer who died in a water-related incident at a Manawatū beach last week.

He was Ryder Hayden Coley-Clark, 7, from the Whanganui District.

"Our thoughts are with his whānau and friends at this difficult time," police said.

Emergency services were called to Tangimoana Beach Rd at around 2.30pm on Friday following reports of two people being swept out to sea.

One person managed to make it back to shore safely, but another was found dead at about 3.50pm.

Hato Hone St John said an ambulance, a rapid response unit, an operations manager and a helicopter responded to the incident.

Ambulance staff assessed one patient in a minor condition.

Coastguard said it provided drift and current modelling to help direct the search and issued a call over marine radio for nearby vessels to assist.

The New Zealand Defence Force, Surf Life Saving New Zealand and members of the public also responded.

Tangimoana Beach is located at the mouth of the Rangitīkei River, around 30km west of Palmerston North.

Last month, two people died and another was injured when a boat capsized near the river mouth.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham says it is clear that Russia interfered with Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, adding it was important to put Moscow’s tampering on the record because countries across Europe are facing the same threat.

In excerpts from The Rest is Politics podcast released Monday, Burnham said that when he became prime minister in July he asked his advisers whether Russia had interfered with the 2016 referendum. The full podcast is scheduled to drop on Tuesday.

"I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was," Burnham said. "These things are important now to put clearly on the record and I believe help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia."

Russia has long said it does not meddle in other countries’ elections or referendums.

Burnham’s comments come as UK intelligence agencies warn about the increasing threat of Russian interference in Britain’s democratic institutions. The intervention is believed to be the first time a British prime minister has publicly acknowledged Russian interference in the Brexit vote.

Burnham said he spoke to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz about possible links between Russia and the far-right Alternative for Germany party when the two leaders met last week in Berlin.

"You know he was saying to me that the AfD are clearly linked to Russia, funded I believe," Burnham said.

"There is certainly misinformation, disinformation that is emanating from Russia into German politics," he added.

Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee found in 2020 that the government failed to fully assess the impact Russian state-run media and "troll" accounts could have had on the EU referendum.

Overall, 60% of people were in favour of the policy and 28% against.

Try out Vote Compass to see where your views match the parties' policies

Results from the online tool showed support for the pledge extended beyond National’s own voters, including a majority of undecided, centrist and left-leaning respondents.

Among those who said they intended to vote Labour, 52% agreed jobseekers should face random drug tests to keep their full benefits, while 38% disagreed.

National announced last Thursday it would run 10,000 random tests in the first year if re-elected, with a second failed test triggering a clinical alcohol and drug assessment.

Vote Compass asked people on that day and the next if they agreed with the statement: “Jobseeker Support recipients should be randomly selected for drug testing in order to retain their full benefits.”

Across all 5437 respondents, 60% agreed, and 28% disagreed, with more respondents strongly agreeing (35%) than disagreeing to any degree. Ten per cent said they were neutral, and the rest said they didn't know.

Undecided voters backed the policy 61% to 20%.

Greens voters only to say no

People intending to vote Green were the only party group to oppose the policy outright.

For those who said they support the Green Party, 61% disagreed with the drug testing policy, including 42% who strongly disagreed, while 25% agreed.

On the other side of politics, support peaked for the policy among ACT-leaning respondents at 90%, two-thirds of whom strongly agreed. Those surveyed who were National-leaning followed on at 86%, then NZ First ones at 68%.

Opportunity supporters split almost evenly, with 44% in favour and 42% against.

Too few people intending to vote Te Pāti Māori took part in Vote Compass over that period for their results to be reported.

Left-right backing

The pattern of support for National's policy held when people placed themselves on a left-right scale. Those who rated themselves at the centre backed drug testing 69% to 18%, while a third of those who placed themselves on the left agreed, and 53% disagreed.

Male (63%) and female (59%) voters gave similar levels of support.

But support did rise slightly with age, and among voters aged 65 and over, 64% agreed, and 9% strongly disagreed.

People surveyed who indicated they were Māori backed the policy 49% to 38%, compared with 64% to 27% among NZ European respondents.

National's social development and employment spokesperson Louise Upston said when announcing the policy: "For many New Zealanders drug testing is already a normal part of their employment so it's entirely reasonable for work-ready Jobseekers to meet the same basic expectations."

But Labour’s social development and employment spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime said: “Rather than creating jobs and growing the economy, National is changing the rules and making it harder for people to get the support they need."

Results are based on 5437 respondents to Vote Compass between October 8 and 9, 2026 who answered the question about random drug testing of Jobseeker Support recipients. Data were weighted to align the sample characteristics with those of the New Zealand adult population on the following characteristics: sex, age, ethnicity, education, region, and past voting record. A margin of error does not apply to non-probability samples. The modelled error estimate for the overall sample is ±2.3%, 19 times out of 20. Results based on subsamples of the data should be expected to contain greater error. The modelled estimate is based on the Kish effective sample size and does not account for potential non-probability selection bias.

The 29-year-old was in the city over the weekend for two sold-out shows at Spark Arena, bringing his The Great Divide tour to a close.

A video shared to Facebook by Skydive Auckland showed Kahan taking in the views from above the city before jumping out of the plane.

"Now I'm pretty nervous," he admitted moments before taking the plunge.

His nerves seemingly disappeared once he was in the air.

"That was f***ing sick!" he exclaimed. "That's like, f***ing crazy dude. Like a dream where you don't die."

Back on the ground, Kahan was equally enthusiastic about the experience, smiling while describing it as "the sickest thing I've ever done by far".

At 18,000ft, the plunge above Auckland was the highest-altitude tandem skydive available in New Zealand.

Kahan also played footage of the jump to fans during his second Auckland show on Saturday night.

The Vermont-born singer-songwriter rose to international fame with his 2022 folk-pop album Stick Season, with its title track becoming a global hit.

He had since earned two Grammy nominations and released his fourth studio album, The Great Divide, in April this year.

Kahan performed at Spark Arena on Friday and Saturday night, with the Auckland concerts marking the end of his tour.

In a Facebook post, the singer described Auckland as his new favourite city.

"I sky dived then played two shows in my new favourite city. Gonna miss you guys I don't want to leave," he wrote.

Earl Spencer's new book claims the 1983 tour of Australia and New Zealand marked a turning point in the marriage of Charles and Diana, as the then-prince was resentful of his wife's popularity.

In Swan Song: My Sister, Diana, Spencer alleges Charles was "extremely jealous of Diana's star power", as royal fans had a fondness for her.

"While most husbands would have been delighted and proud to have such an asset for him and his royal brand, the [then] prince was extremely jealous of Diana's star power," Spencer wrote.

When the royal couple visited Australia and New Zealand together for the first time, "Diana's huge popularity with the Australian crowd had riled her husband".

The contrast in popularity was even dramatised in an episode of The Crown, where Josh O'Connor – as Charles – shouts: "This was supposed to be my tour!".

Although a fictional depiction, the scene exaggerates the real tensions between the royal couple, that seemingly stemmed from a wedge that had been driven between the couple during their 1983 visit.

The 40-day tour took place in an already tense time, clashing with a growing republican movement across Australia, as well as calls for the nation to leave the Commonwealth.

There were also concerns about Diana taking baby Prince William with her on the tour, as she did not want to be separated.

The claims are among several made by Spencer in the book. He also alleges that after Diana's death, the then-Prince Charles told him in an argument "we'll forget her soon enough".

Buckingham Palace rejected the claims with a statement accusing Spencer of "grief clouded reasoning".

"While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss," the statement read.

Spencer also criticised the royals for a "lack of obvious care" for Harry after his mother's passing.

"He needed Diana’s hugs, of course, and they would forever be denied him," he wrote. "But instead of calm and nurture, he was allowed to spin out of control."

Then in a BBC interview, he claimed the media's treatment of Harry and Meghan Markle mirrored that of Diana's.

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters, South Korea’s military said, adding to a recent streak of weapons demonstrations that has heightened tensions during a prolonged freeze in diplomacy.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired from an area around the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, where the country has used its airport as a major launch site in recent years.

The joint chiefs did not immediately specify how many missiles they detected or how far they flew. Japan’s Defense Ministry said it detected at least two missiles and assessed that the weapons landed in waters outside the country’s exclusive economic zone.

The launch came days after South Korea on Friday flight-tested its first domestically developed hypersonic weapon, designed to fly at least five times the speed of sound and evade missile defence systems, which President Lee Jae Myung described as an important step in strengthening the South’s conventional defence capabilities.

While maintaining a hard line toward Seoul, North Korea has been ramping up weapons testing as it seeks to expand its arsenal of nuclear-capable systems, including an October 3 test of what the North described as a hypersonic intermediate-range missile designed to evade missile defences in South Korea and Japan.

North Korea has also conducted other missile tests and live-fire drills and commissioned a new warship as leader Kim Jong Un continues to flaunt his nuclear weapons program while rejecting US and South Korean offers to resume long-stalled diplomacy.

Tensions were further worsened after three South Korean soldiers were injured in land mine explosions last month near the heavily armed inter-Korean border. The South’s military and the US-led United Nations Command concluded the blasts were caused by devices planted by North Korea, which has denied responsibility and ridiculed the South’s demands for an apology.

Kim in recent years has halted all diplomacy and cooperation with South Korea and described the neighbour as a permanent enemy during a prolonged stalemate in larger nuclear negotiations with Washington.

He has so far rebuffed US President Donald Trump’s calls to revive their diplomacy, which broke down in 2019, with his government demanding that Washington abandon its “hostile” policy toward Pyongyang and drop demands for North Korea’s denuclearisation as a precondition for talks.

The tensions have been a setback for Lee, who favours engagement with North Korea and has tempered his rhetoric toward the North even as public anger grows over the mine blasts.

Lee has also called for strengthening South Korea’s conventional defence capabilities while reducing its reliance on the United States. Washington unilaterally decided to scale back a major military exercise with South Korea in August, with Trump citing his “very good relationship” with Kim.

A man has been charged with murder and a homicide investigation launched following a fatal crash in Te Puke at the weekend.

Emergency services were called to the intersection of Te Puke Highway and Rangiuru Rd at around 10.50am on Saturday following a single vehicle crash.

Despite the efforts of emergency services, one person was pronounced dead at the scene while a second person was taken to Tauranga Hospital in a serious condition.

Detective Senior Sergeant Natalie Flowerdew-Brown said the serious crash unit had since carried out a scene examination.

"A homicide investigation has been launched, and police continue to make inquiries into the crash," she said.

A 25-year-old man was due to appear in Tauranga District Court today.

Flowerdew-Brown said police were continuing to appeal for information about the vehicle, described as a white 2005 Toyota Caldina – particularly its movements in the Brown Rd area.

Police previously said the vehicle had been travelling along Brown Rd "at high speed" before crashing near the intersection.

"Any information, no matter how small, could be crucial for our inquiries," Flowerdew-Brown said.

Anyone who witnessed the vehicle or had relevant CCTV or dashcam footage was encouraged contact police on 105 referencing file number 261010/7623.

The NRL says it has been "blindsided" by New Zealand Rugby's urgent bid to stop Papua New Guinea's incoming NRL franchise from using the Chiefs name – while NZR claims it has been left "shadow-boxing" in unsuccessful attempts to engage with rugby league officials over the trademark dispute.

By Dana Johannsen of RNZ

The opening salvos in the escalating legal battle were heard before Justice Karen Grau in the High Court in Wellington on Monday, as the NZR seeks an interim injunction to prevent the use of "PNG Chiefs", "Chiefs" or similar names in New Zealand.

The NRL has accused New Zealand Rugby of waiting up to 10 months to act on its concerns over Papua New Guinea's incoming NRL franchise using the Chiefs name, arguing the delay makes its urgent High Court injunction application unfair.

But NZR said it has repeatedly tried to engage with NRL and PNG Chiefs officials to resolve the dispute, only to be met with a lack of meaningful response. It argues the urgency has increased as the PNG club's official launch approaches.

Justice Grau is expected to rule later on Monday whether NZR's application should proceed urgently, with a two-hour hearing scheduled for later this week, or whether the matter should be heard in full early next year.

Counsel for the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC), which is representing the interests of the NRL and the PNG team, Joe Edwards, said the escalation to formal legal proceedings had come as a surprise.

Edwards told the court the ARLC was notified of NZ Rugby's concerns about PNG adopting the Chiefs name four days after the initial team launch in October last year. He added ARLC outlined its position in December last year, but heard nothing further from NZ Rugby until last month.

"This has come out of the blue and blindsided people," he said, arguing that if the matter was genuinely urgent, it should have been raised months earlier.

He asked the court to instead set the matter down for a substantive hearing, questioning why NZ Rugby was seeking urgent relief after such a lengthy period.

"We're querying why there is urgency now when they've had so long to file."

NZ Rugby counsel Earl Gray rejected the suggestion the application was a "blindside move", saying a draft statement of claim had been provided to the defendants on September 28.

"This was a last ditch effort to get resolution or at least engagement ... there was no response to that," Gray told the court.

"At the moment we've just been shadow-boxing because we've had no engagement."

Gray also argued NZR only recently became aware of the PNG club's plans for an official brand launch on October 21, which prompted the need for urgent action.

"The date of the announcement ... has been the trigger, because we all know the launch of a brand and logo is the start of a real ramping up," Gray said.

Chiefs versus Chiefs

At the centre of the legal battle is NZ Rugby's claim that allowing the PNG team to use the Chiefs name risks confusion and damage to a brand the Waikato-based Super Rugby club has built over more than 30 years.

The legal battle threatens to disrupt the PNG club's plans to formally unveil their inaugural jersey and branding in Port Moresby next week. The PNG team, which is set to join the NRL in 2028 as the competition's 19th franchise, is backed by a $600 million Australian government funding package.

NZR have argued that allowing another professional sporting franchise to use the same name in the same trans-Tasman market risks undermining a brand it has spent three decades building.

NZR chief executive officer Steve Lancaster said for 30 years the Chiefs and their players have built an "incredibly strong identity that is widely recognised and loved by fans".

"We want to be absolutely clear, this is not about rugby league's growth in the Pacific. We welcome the development of the Pacific region through sport and the passion that the people of Papua New Guinea have for both rugby and rugby league."

"For 30 years the Chiefs and their players have built an incredibly strong identity that is widely recognised and loved by fans. We have raised our concerns with the ARLC directly and consistently over the last year in attempting to find a resolution. We now have a responsibility to protect the Chiefs brand," he said.

The Waikato side has used the Chiefs name since 1996 and holds registered trademarks covering its logo in New Zealand and internationally, including Australia.

The Super Rugby club's position appears to be backed by IP Australia, which has reportedly raised repeated concerns about the PNG's club's attempts to secure trademark protection for its name.

The ABC reported earlier this month the NRL has received three adverse reports in response to the PNG club's trademark applications, with IP Australia declaring there is a "real and tangible danger" of brand confusion.

However, ARLC executive chair Peter V'landys has criticised NZR's position as "mind-blowing hypocrisy", pointing to the use of the Blues name by both rugby league and rugby union teams.

"The NSW Blues have been around since the 1900s," V'landys told The Australian.

"They've been using the Auckland Blues since the 1990s and never consulted us. They took our name, the Blues, and we were never concerned then they go ahead and do this.

"When we registered the Chiefs they have acted with mind-blowing hypocrisy."

The Black Ferns are excited to play in front of their home supporters again as they host France in Hamilton this weekend.

The Test match on Saturday is the first of three Test matches as part of the WXV World Series.

The team returns home after their three-Test Northern Hemisphere tour, which followed their standalone Test against South Africa in Johannesburg.

Black Ferns head coach Whitney Hansen is optimistic heading into this weekend's Test in Hamilton after her team's time away.

“It’s always really special to be home. I think you have different challenges when you're on tour, but sometimes it’s easier to be away,” said Hansen.

“Nothing compares to the positives and inspiration that you take as well as the wairua when you're at home, and that essence of getting to play in front of family and friends and knowing that you’re protecting home."

The Black Ferns will be looking to get back to winning ways after their heartbreaking 26-19 loss against England at Twickenham late last month.

Hansen said she has the tough job of selecting her matchday 23 for the opening Test match, with an unusual hour-and-a-half-long selection meeting preceding her team naming for the England Test.

“What we’re looking at now is starting to question what our strongest lineup is. I don't think every position is sewn up - we’ve got so much competition in those spaces and that needs to be tested too.

“We’ll still look to keep continuity; I think it would be silly to move away from what’s been working… but also make sure we’re growing depth in those positions and we’re giving that exposure and experience to a wider group than just the 23.”

Hansen said she's excited to see what France brings on Saturday, describing them as an "absolute threat".

The Black Ferns faced France in Lyon earlier this year, holding off the home side to win 28-14.

The first of the Black Ferns' three Tests against France is on Saturday, with kick off at 3:05pm.

A couple who helped a girl to safety after she was assaulted in Invercargill are being urged to come forward.

Acting Detective Sergeant Chris Guild said the assault at Queens Park occurred on October 2, and two young people arrested in relation to the incident appeared in Invercargill Youth Court last week.

"Police are now appealing for any witnesses of the assault to please come forward. In particular, we want to speak with the good Samaritans who picked up the victim and took them home," he said.

The pair was described as a couple in a vehicle that was possibly orange or a similar colour. They picked up the victim sometime between 10pm and midnight on October 2.

"Police have been unable to confirm where exactly she was picked up from, but believe it was either on Kelvin, Gala, or Herbert Street around Queens Park," Guild said.

Anyone with information about the incident, or who witnessed anything else out of the ordinary on that night should contact police online, or by calling 105.

The arrested pair were due to reappear in court on October 23.

Five 15-year-olds were taken into custody after an alleged car theft and spiking in West Auckland early on Monday.

Police were called to reports of two people allegedly stealing a vehicle on Te Atatū Rd in West Auckland at around 3am.

Senior Sergeant Jon Winthrop said police units were looking for the vehicle and "spotted a car with a broken quarter light on Edmonton Rd".

Police attempted to make a traffic stop but the vehicle fled.

"Eagle took over and followed the vehicle as it travelled around west Auckland and onto the motorway," Winthrop said.

As the vehicle exited State Highway 20 at Walmsley Rd, it was spiked by police and stopped on James Fletcher Drive shortly after.

“All five of the occupants exited the vehicle and were taken into custody without issue,” Winthrop said.

All five occupants were aged 15 and were being referred to Youth Aid Services, police said.

All passengers and crew aboard the MV Akwa in the Solomon Islands have now been taken off the vessel and made it to shore in a multi-nation rescue mission.

The vessel which was travelling between islands in the Temotu Province lost its main engine and had been adrift since Friday morning, with a Starlink on board allowing some passengers to livestream their plight on social media and alert authorities.

The 73 passengers and crew on board have now been rescued and transferred to the HELPR-1, a Vanuatu based health response vessel, and transported to Vanikoro in the Temotu Province.

Temotu's Provincial Government thanked all international partners involved in the rescue , including the French and Australian Governments for air dropping essential supplies to the MV Akwa, the Vanuatu Government for sending HELPR-1 and the Chinese Government and cargo ship Sunnine 3 for diverting from its original destination to deliver food and water.

Several passengers were able to swim out and bring the supplies back to the life rafts, although one large package couldn't be retrieved because of the large sharks swimming around it.

Sunnine 3 also dropped uncooked chicken and noodles to the group and a video was posted showing it being cooked up and children enthusiastically eating.

"This humanitarian response was an important contribution to the welfare of the passengers during their time of distress...your willingness to assist people in distress at sea will be remembered with sincere appreciation," a government spokesperson said in a statement.

The disabled vessel was being towed by patrol boat Gizo and the rescued passengers are to be taken from Vanikoro to Lata.

National will officially unveil its fiscal plan this afternoon, setting out how it would pay for its election promises if re-elected.

Read the full story here.

Follow the campaign trail at our live updates.

Labour has already released its own costings, which promise a return to surplus in 2028/29 alongside a capital gains tax and free GP visits.

The plan comes as both major parties try to convince voters they can be trusted with the books in the run-up to election day

In the lead-up to the election, chronic homelessness has emerged as a major focal point in urban areas, and it's not just a problem our biggest cities are grappling with.

Te Tai Hauāuru is the second largest Māori electorate in land area, stretching across the western North Island. It includes the cities of Palmerston North, Porirua, Whanganui and New Plymouth.

In New Plymouth, the main city centre in the Taranaki region, homelessness has grown by 50% since the 2018 Census to 78 in 2023. But staff at a local shelter told 1News the data was not capturing the true scale of the problem.

Living a rough life

James Walker is part of the community of rough sleepers in the city.

"The last 30 years I haven't really worked and I just want to do something. I want to work like everyone else, and I want a job, and I want to make a difference in the next 50 years so that my kids can look at me.”

He is upfront about his struggles, admitting to drug use and past indiscretions, including damaging “a few” houses “thirty-odd years ago”, that has meant he has fewer choices in life.

“I just feel ashamed about where I'm at and I feel like a disappointment,” he said.

Born in Opunake, he said his father was violent towards his mother growing up, and they split when he was still a child. He ended up “in and out” of social welfare.

Growing up he felt “out of place” because he was treated differently.

"I was that kid in school that was so hypo that no teacher wanted to have me in their class for too long," he said.

Walker said it felt as if rough sleepers like himself had already failed before they even started, that there were "beautiful human beings" who were misunderstood.

"We care about people just as much as people who don't like us care about their people… I just feel like they feel like we've become a nuisance in their society. It's like… they've just got sick at the sight of us.”

While he may call Auckland his second home, for Darin*, Taranaki is where he's from – born and bred. "I'm from here, I'm from the mountain."

Darin said life as a rough sleeper can be slow with nowhere to go. His biggest challenge is staying out of trouble.

"Can't go anywhere, can't leave New Zealand. So, it is like, I mean, most of us got bad records anyway, so we can't go anywhere else. But life, you just got to do the best you can, and yeah. Just live day-by-day, I guess.”

He said he tries to avoid anything to do with politics because there is "nothing left" for him and the "older ones" who are slowing down.

"There's no jobs for us, there's no, I don't know, man. People like me can't get into places, that's one thing. Doesn't matter what, we walk into somewhere and they look at you and they might ask you to leave, and you probably ask them, ‘what's the reason for?’ I don't know, we're just being judged."

'Broken hearts that keep beating'

Of the community they belong to, Walker said everyone was going through the same struggle, but people find it difficult to express it in words.

"I've spent a lot of time just sitting by myself thinking about what I would say if I got a chance to say something… every time I thought about it, I'd think, ‘oh, nah, shame’. But I was thinking, ‘Nah, there's no pride to be had in holding back’, you know?

“No voices will get heard if we don't speak up and everyone's hurt right now, they're all broken hearts that keep beating.”

He has tried to put himself in the shoes of business owners, he said.

“How would I feel, you know, homeless people outside of my shop and I'm trying to run a business? But like, I probably wouldn't be too happy that it'll slowing my business down.”

He recognised businesses were struggling and he wanted to think about solutions that could work for everyone, ideally, where rough sleepers become a part of the society that is trying to "shut us off", he said.

“Because there's no second plans. But there's not many ideas about what they can do. The only thing that's come up is [the shelter].”

A place to shelter

Te Whare o Tapatahi, a local homeless shelter for men at the Y Taranaki, opened 11 months ago to meet an urgent demand. Over half of their clientele are Māori. The men are fed, given a safe space to sleep, shower, and launder their clothes.

Kylie Ewing, senior social services manager at the Y, said they work with chronic rough sleepers who have experienced significant or ongoing trauma, and suffer from mental ill-health and addiction issues.

“They're normally the most visible and they're normally the ones that have the most interactions with the general public.”

The rate of severe housing deprivation per 10,000 for the New Plymouth district is reported to be less than 1.5%, according to the latest census data.

But Ewing is sceptical of census findings that only records data from a single day.

While numbers fluctuate, Ewing said they’ve had 124 unique individuals that have stayed and had kai at the shelter, but in terms of service delivery to all participants, the number is over 6000.

“Our experience within less than a year of encountering 124 that have come in and engaged in our services means I don't believe that we've fully captured that, all of the people. So, I think the numbers are bigger than what have been indicated in the past.”

'It's 46 pages long'

Some of the barriers rough sleepers face are huge and systemic, said Ewing. She said policymakers needed to think about the end user and make policies fit for purpose.

“If our purpose is to provide emergency housing to our most vulnerable, how do our policies and processes, how do they support that purpose, and are they for the people?”

For example, she said some of the rough sleeping community find filling out forms frustrating with some having “pretty low” literacy or “form blindness”. They will often feel whakamā (embarrassed, ashamed) and resentment at having to fill them out.

“If quite a few of our guys are on the Jobseeker benefit, they have to then apply for x-amount of jobs within a certain time period. They also have to redo this application multiple times a year. It's 46 pages long.”

She said they would either not complete the task or would not attend the appointment which agencies will then have to react to their choices, escalating the issue.

Accessing other forms of housing also come with significant barriers.

In 2024, tougher eligibility rules to get into emergency accommodation were introduced, including ongoing requirements to prove a need.

“Often they won't even apply for emergency housing because they don't believe they're worthy of getting it,” said Ewing.

“And when they have applied in the past, they have that feeling reinforced by them being declined.”

Transitional housing

As of August, there were 65 contracted transitional housing places in Taranaki.

Billie Simpson, assistant regional manager for the Salvation Army’s supportive housing team, said the demand for transitional housing is “quite high” and she receives multiple emails every day seeking housing.

“We have been fortunate enough to have quite a few Kāinga Ora builds completed, and we also have some iwi-based builds that are literally across the road from us at the moment that are being completed. But the demand is so much higher than what we can supply.”

She said there were a range of reasons an applicant might be declined, including criminality to bad financial background.

“They're all parts that when you go and apply for a house, if you haven't addressed those things, or if you've got mental health challenges and they haven't been addressed, you won't be able to present yourself in a way that would come across to landlords favourably.”

Even if they secure housing, Ewing said they have found that often complex issues do not disappear if rough sleepers find a home – the opposite, in fact.

“They find that when they have got a room that they are isolated, or they feel isolated. All of those issues that they were able to ignore by potentially using come crashing in on them.”

That’s often when they are at their most vulnerable, she said, and it is when her staff can provide wraparound support and invite them to the shelter for kai and community.

Te Whare o Tapatahi – a shelter called 'home'

Darin spends time at the shelter when he’s in New Plymouth, even though he has a “good spot” out on the street.

He describes the pod beds as like “stepping in jail”, but it “doesn’t bother anybody” seeking a warm bed for the night and food on the table, especially during winter.

Walker said there were some teething problems at the start - "as there is with anything" – but the staff are “lovely” and “it's been really good”.

The shelter has become a place the men have called home, said Ewing. Staff have had conversations with rough sleepers about their hopes and dreams for the future.

“Often their dreams are, ‘What is a perfect day for you? Where does it start?’ We explore things like, ‘Who would be around you, what would be the meal?’ And things like that."

She said they would talk about what they would do if they won a million dollars, but the “practical-ness” of their lives meant they were not able to dream. She said one rough sleeper said they would go to the islands, but another one pointed out, “there's no way you're going to get a passport”.

For Walker, who has recently turned 50, his dreams are practical but inspired by staff and his experience of Te Whare o Tapatahi: he wants to work at the shelter and with the people. And he recognised the need to “clean up” his life to make it happen.

“I mean, that's all I want. You know, it's something, something that's better than what I've had,” he said.

Ewing wants to expand the shelter’s service to open seven nights, and she wants to open a similar facility for wāhine, and a day centre that provides wraparound support. Furthermore, she wants to see those services feed into a papakāinga where rough sleepers can have homes.

She said homes would look different depending on the stage of life and needs of each individual. For one, a bed in a room is all they might need.

"And they come to us for the kai and the showers and the laundry and everything else.

“Whereas someone else might look like a completely self-contained home, like a three-bedroom home for a family, but we're all in that same community, all together.”

Why should taxpayers pay? A 'no-brainer'

Ewing understands the cost involved of running a shelter and says there is a lot of “back and forth” on why people should pay to help rough sleepers when they “choose” to be homeless.

“When you get to know them, and you get to know their stories, there's very little about their life that is a choice. It's between a bad choice and an even worse one.”

But she said it was important for people to care, especially when the return of investment into a programme that helps chronic rough sleepers or homeless people transition into housing is $7 to one, she said.

“That's a no-brainer. It costs, but it's where do we accept the cost to be at? Do we accept the cost to be at somewhere where we are supporting a fellow human being to have the best out of their lives that they can possibly have, or are we having that cost in Corrections, are we having that cost in police time, EDs, mental health?

“Because we are paying for it, and at the moment we're choosing to put our money at this end rather than supporting the individual to be the best that they can.”

So, while the shelter needs to be community-driven and led, the biggest barrier to keeping the doors open is the cost, said Ewing.

“We've been incredibly lucky to have local funders such as New Plymouth District Council, Toi Foundation, and also lottery funding as well to enable us to do what we're doing at the moment. But to be sustainable and to be open seven nights, we desperately need government funding.”

Government funding

Last week, the government announced the Y Taranaki would receive $3 million over the next three years to expand the support they provide through Te Whare o Tapatahi.

Joanne Dusterhoft, chief executive of the Y Taranaki, said the funding is a game changer.

“We are thrilled to receive this funding. It gives us greater certainty to continue and build on the work already underway, supporting some of Taranaki’s most vulnerable people and helping create pathways towards greater stability, wellbeing and connection.”

She said the three-year investment provides greater certainty for the shelter and its staff.

“This funding means we can continue building on the work already underway, strengthening the support we provide and reaching more people who need our help.”

*not his real name

Four years on, Jahrome Hughes is still shouldering responsibility for New Zealand's heart-breaking Rugby League World Cup exit.

Hughes can't shake the guilt he feels for his role in the 16-14 semi-final loss to Australia that devastated the Kiwis back in 2022.

The halfback says he is using that anguish as fuel for this year's tournament, especially their opening game, a rematch against their trans-Tasman rivals.

"Getting so close in 2022 in the World Cup and losing to Australia in the semi-final, I still hold a bit of fire in my belly from that," Hughes said.

"I take a lot of blame for losing that game."

Since then, the playmaker has won the 2024 Dally M medal in Melbourne colours and led the Kiwis to a thumping 30-0 victory over Australia in the 2023 Pacific Championships.

But the 31-year-old hasn't pulled on a Kiwis jersey since that 2023 triumph.

A neck injury kept Hughes out of the 2024 national squad, and shoulder surgery side-lined him from New Zealand's successful 2025 Pacific Championships.

Wearing the black and white jersey again will be very special for the proud Māori.

"I've dreamed of putting these colours on since I was a young kid," Hughes said.

"I've had a couple of years away from them. It just makes you realise you can't take this jersey for granted.

"The last couple of years have been tough, different injuries and not being able to play.

"I'm one of the older guys now, but I felt like a little kid coming back into camp yesterday and seeing everyone."

It has been 18 years since the Kiwis hoisted the World Cup trophy, with Australia winning the past three editions.

Hughes hopes to continue driving momentum behind rugby league in New Zealand, fanning the flames lit by the success of the Warriors in the NRL.

"Just thinking back to 2008 when I was a kid and seeing how that win made me feel, if we were able to lift that trophy at the end of this World Cup, the things it would do for the kids back home in New Zealand and all the supporters back home, it would be truly special," he said.

"Especially seeing the way our game has grown over there. It's a credit to the Warriors, all the hype they've got over there and all the new fans they've got. They're doing a great job.

"For us to win it, it would be really special, not just for us players but for the whole country."

The All Blacks have extended their impressive Eden Park unbeaten streak to 54 Tests with a comfortable 50-19 victory over the Wallabies in the first Bledisloe Cup Test in Auckland.

The home side needed a positive performance after their 3-1 series loss against South Africa, and they looked a transformed side under the Eden Park lights, with relentless attack putting the Wallabies to the sword in a dominant second-half performance.

After a tightly contested first half which ended 17-14 to the hosts, the Wallabies were well and truly in the fight; however, a clinical second 40 from the All Blacks inflicted Les Kiss' first loss as Wallabies coach.

The All Blacks will keep the Bledisloe Cup for the 24th year in a row, before they head to Sydney for the second Test next week.

The visitors put pressure on the All Blacks early and finally got through the All Blacks defence as they shifted the ball to the left for fullback Tom Wright, who exploded through a hole and used his pace to give the Wallabies an early lead.

The home side were underwhelming in the opening stages of the Test, committing multiple offside infringements while defending their line and were shaky at lineout time.

It was a frantic opening 40 minutes, as both sides looked to play open, running rugby, especially the All Blacks as they often chose to play with the ball in hand from inside their 22.

A positive from the first half for the All Blacks was their seemingly improved kick chase, with Jordie Barrett and Quinn Tupaea causing the Wallabies problems defensively under the high ball.

Damian McKenzie was immense at 10, getting his hands on the ball early and running at the Wallabies defence before offloading to Peter Lakai, who was able to crash over to the line and level the scores.

The All Blacks were ruthless from the restart, with Tupou Vaa’i finishing off another broken-play try, and McKenzie heavily involved in the buildup once again.

However, the Wallabies were able to close the gap to just three points just before half-time as Ben Donaldson linked up with his captain, Harry Wilson, who ran a brilliant support line to score next to the posts.

The Wallabies did well to earn post-contact metres in the first half, with Jeremy Williams a standout for the green and gold.

Beauden Barrett looked comfortable at fullback, particularly on defence, with the 146-Test veteran saving the All Blacks at the back on multiple occasions.

The All Blacks worked hard to crack the Wallabies' defence in the second half, and finally halfback Cam Roigard was able to strike with a quick snipe from the back of the ruck close to the line.

The Wallabies' fitness was tested as the All Blacks kept up their relentless attack with multiple phases against their tiring forward pack. New All Black captain Codie Taylor capitalised on his side's dominance with his 25th Test try next to the posts.

The Wallabies fizzled out in the last 20 minutes, with the All Blacks dominating possession, territory and the scoreboard.

Great support play from Leroy Carter earned him a try, carrying Rob Valetini with him. However, the big loose forward fell on the All Black winger's ankle in the process, forcing him off the field with a nasty-looking injury.

Will Jordan had the final say as he scored his 56th Test try to help the All Blacks reach 50 points at their fortress.

McKenzie was also impressive off the tee, only missing one kick from his eight attempts.

A failed HIA for Scott Barrett was another injury concern for the All Blacks, likely ruling him out of the second Test next weekend.

The Wallabies will have to pick themselves up and prepare for the second Bledisloe Cup Test in Sydney next Saturday.

All Blacks 50 (Peter Lakai, Tupou Vaa’i, Cam Roigard, Codie Taylor, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby, Will Jordan tries; Damian McKenzie 6 cons, pen)

Wallabies 19 (Tom Wright, Harry Wilson, Josh Nasser tries; Ryan Lonergan 2 cons)

Halftime: 17-14

New Zealand Cricket has announced its format for the final Super Smash season, set to start on December 27.

The competition format has been altered from previous years, as there will no longer be matches played every day throughout the season.

The Super Smash will feature 10 rounds played across 10 match days over the summer, with three men's and women's games each match day.

There will still be double-headers with the men’s and women’s matches being held at the same venue.

The Super Smash is set to be replaced by the proposed franchise NZ20 domestic competition, with the inaugural season likely to start in December next year.

Following the 10 match days, there will be a familiar finals series format consisting of an Elimination Final and Grand Final, set to be held at Eden Park’s outer oval on Auckland Anniversary weekend, January 28-30.

TVNZ will broadcast 24 of the 64 matches live and free on TVNZ+ and TVNZ Duke, including all of the finals matches in Auckland.

Every other match will be live streamed on NZC's YouTube channel.

In the men's competition, the Northern Brave will be looking to defend their title after defeating the Canterbury Kings by five wickets at Hagley Oval in the final earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the Wellington Blaze will have their sights set on an eighth title in 10 seasons after they defeated the Auckland Hearts by five wickets to win last season's competition.

NZC chief executive Geoff Allott said the final season was a chance to celebrate what the competition has provided in New Zealand.

“For more than 20 years, the Super Smash has been the breeding ground for our best players and has given fans a chance to see the depth of talent across our system,” he said. 

"This season we want to celebrate that history and all the players who have been part of the Super Smash's whakapapa.

"We’re incredibly excited to celebrate more than 20 years of Super Smash history this summer, with the finals taking place in Auckland.”

Chinese electric vehicles’ ultrafast charging is only getting faster.

On Wednesday, Geely Auto unveiled technology that can charge an electric vehicle battery from 10% to 70% in just 4.5 minutes, a leap analysts called a significant development for the Chinese auto group.

Geely is joining the ranks of BYD, which last year overtook Tesla as the world's biggest EV maker, as well as CATL, the world’s largest EV battery maker, both of which this year rolled out around 5-minute EV ultrafast charging.

By comparison, some of the fastest-charging EVs available in the US currently can take roughly 20 minutes, analysts said.

"China is way, way, way ahead in terms of multiple players engaged in the charging competition," said Lei Xing, an independent analyst of China's auto industry based in Easthampton, Massachusetts.

Geely, BYD and CATL lead ultrafast charging race

Chinese automakers are seeking to eliminate the "ultimate barrier" to EV adoption – range anxiety – by narrowing the gap between EV charging and the roughly five-minute refuelling experience of gasoline vehicles, explained Stephen Chan, an analyst at S&P Global Ratings.

At a launch event Wednesday, Geely Auto announced its new system that can charge an EV from 10% to 70% in 4.5 minutes, and 10% to 97% in just 8 minutes and 40 seconds.

BYD in March launched a new generation of its "blade" EV battery that it said can charge an EV from 10% to 70% in 5 minutes, and from 10% to 97% in 9 minutes. In April, CATL rolled out technology that can charge an EV from 10% to 80% in 3 minutes and 44 seconds, and from 10% to 98% in 6 minutes and 27 seconds.

Despite the breakthroughs, experts cautioned there are other obstacles.

"The real challenge is whether the battery can accept that level of current quickly and repeatedly without overheating, excessive degradation or internal bottlenecks," said Chris Liu, a Shanghai-based senior analyst at Omdia, a technology research and advisory group.

EV makers face intense competition inside China

With more than 100 domestic passenger car brands, Chinese auto makers face intense competition. Domestic car sales have fallen for months in China as automakers are exporting more cars overseas. A focus on technological advancements like ultrafast charging is a way to set themselves apart and try to improve sales.

But success will depend on factors including the scale of companies' charging network.

For one, the majority of China’s public charging stations still operate below 1 megawatt, while Geely, BYD and CATL's ultrafast charging technologies rely on higher charging power to reach their full potential, said Chan at S&P. That means network expansions or grid updates will remain as hurdles for large-scale adoption.

Some in the industry are already taking ambitious steps. China's BYD, for instance, is targeting 20,000 superfast charging stations by the end of this year, followed by 30,000 more in 2027 and 40,000 in 2028, bringing the total to 90,000 stations by that time, according to a Deutsche Bank analysis.

China leading the world in EV fast-charging

Other countries including the US is still behind China when it comes to ultrafast EV charging.

In the US, EV fast-charging sessions typically take roughly 20 to 40 minutes to charge from 10% to 80%, according to S&P, although newer models from brands like Hyundai, Kia and Porsche can reduce charging times to approximately 18 to 20 minutes under optimal conditions.

"Overall, while the battery-charging network in the US is growing at a rapid pace, it is still well behind China’s ultrafast charging speeds by orders of magnitude," said Neal Ganguli, a partner and managing director in the automotive and industrial practice at consultancy AlixPartners.

But Ganguli also believes the US may not be attempting to match China’s "megawatt race" in EV charging at least in the near future, but to pursue a "more moderate" path to upgrades.

A man has appeared in court charged with murder following two deaths in Christchurch early on Saturday.

58-year-old forklift operator Rodney Stewart Smith didn't enter a plea to two murder charges when he made his first appearance in Christchurch District Court today.

Two people were found dead and two others seriously injured shortly before 1am on Saturday at a social housing complex in Olliviers Road in Phillipstown.

Smith, who appeared via audiovisual link from prison, is facing two murder charges, one attempted murder charge, and one of wounding with intent.

He also faces a fifth charge of intentionally damaging the tyres on a car belonging to one of the people he's accused of killing.

He didn't seek bail or name suppression, and has been remanded in custody to appear the High Court on October 29.

New Zealand is three months out from the "worst time for any business owner", and businesspeople are being warned to be proactive to avoid the crunch.

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ

A new survey of New Zealand accountants has found the provisional tax system is out of step with how businesses, earn, spend and manage cashflow.

John Cuthbertson – tax and financial services leader at Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand – said one survey respondent had said January 15 in particular was the worst time for a business owner.

This is the date that both GST and income tax payments are due, while revenue was often down because business had been slower over the Christmas period and many clients were just coming back from holiday.

He said the payment dates did not reflect commercial reality and there was misalignment with business cashflow.

"The good news is the system doesn't need to be rebuilt from scratch. Practical changes to improve flexibility could make a significant difference for businesses and the accountants who support them."

Three-quarters of accountants find the date challenging

The research showed 81% of accountants thought their clients' cash flow constraints could affect their ability to pay provisional tax on time. Seventy-seven percent cited that January 15 date as particularly challenging.

In total, 98% of accountants had dealt with a payment issue in the past 12 months including missed payments, clients being charged use of money interest or cash flow related difficulties.

Tax Management New Zealand chief executive Matt Edwards said the biggest barriers were not in tax knowledge.

"They're about timing, visibility and having the right tools to act on information quickly."

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand said the January 15 date should be revised, there should be flexible payment options and better use of technology.

Edwards said too many businesses did not treat their tax obligations as part of their cash flow. "I wish they did."

He said the solution could come from more proactivity and enabling accountants to do more without additional investment.

"It is difficult for an accountant to have a single page view of exactly where all their clients are sitting in regards to their tax obligations. That requires an investment of time. If their engagement doesn't cover that, it's an invsetment of time they are not remunerated for and generally you don't se enough proactivity around that."

He said the survey showed the system was not broken but there was room to optimise it.

"Tax policy always changes over time and is optimised over time. But I think it's not systematically broken, and I think that's proved in the data. It's the administration burden, particularly on the accounting fraternity to actually manage it that creates the problems. And I think that can be solved through technology rather than necessarily just tax policy.

"I think the tools are there to make this easier. I just don't think we've deployed the tools in the most productive way at the moment."

A projectile struck a passenger terminal at the international airport in Riyadh overnight, a day after a missile hit the same terminal and killed 12 people, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said. The Houthis claimed responsibility for those attacks and others.

Saudi authorities said there were injuries in the latest attack on the King Khalid International Airport complex for terminals 3 and 4 for domestic flights. Sunday's missile attack was the deadliest in a Gulf Arab nation since the Iran war began, with another 300 people wounded, some critically. The airport was still closed.

The sharp escalation in the new front in the war threatens to draw in greater US military involvement, as President Donald Trump has said he is weighing joining the fight against the Houthis. There was no immediate White House comment.

India's embassy in Saudi Arabia said one of its citizens died of injuries sustained in the attack, which would bring the toll to 13. Saudi authorities later said King Fahd International Airport in Dammam also had been attacked, with few details. The city is on the Persian Gulf near Bahrain and Qatar.

The latest strike in Riyadh came shortly after the Houthis said the airport in the rebel-held Yemeni capital of Sanaa had been struck again, and blamed the Saudis.

At stake, again, in this escalation are global supplies and prices of oil as well as commercial shipping through a crucial alternative waterway to the Iran-threatened Strait of Hormuz — along with civilians and aviation throughout the region.

Trump said he planned to speak to Saudi crown prince

Trump also said he planned to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been seeking assistance.

A US intervention could prompt the Houthis to halt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen and further restrict the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf. The rebels seized key areas along the strait last month and the Saudi-led coalition has been trying to seize them back.

Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air defence support to the region, regional officials told The Associated Press last month, with one noting that the US has seen its own stock dwindle during the war with Iran.

The attack occurred as the Saudis hosted a major international energy conference in Riyadh, with other high-profile events including an investment gathering on the horizon. Saudi Arabia under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has sought to open more to the world as a business and tourism destination, but the Houthi attacks threaten those efforts.

"There is no way that somebody will break our back. We are like a phoenix, we come out of the ashes all the time," the Saudi energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, told the conference.

He added that the kingdom is also working on pipelines in addition to the East-West one that was attacked and closed for days last month, with no details.

Houthis have targeted Saudi air, military and oil facilities

Earlier, the Houthi-run health ministry said a child was killed and six people wounded in a suspected Saudi airstrike on a house in Sanaa. The ministry also said 91 Yemenis have been killed by the Saudi-led coalition in five weeks, 60% of them women and children.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities on the claims.

The Houthis claimed the attack on the airport in Dammam as well as attacks on oil and gas facilities in the kingdom’s east. They have targeted the Riyadh airport, which has no military facilities, every day since Wednesday.

The rebels again warned "all airlines, experts, employees, workers and travellers against using Saudi airports and airspace, as they are vulnerable to attack and have become a theatre of operations for our forces". Several international airlines have suspended flights for varying periods.

The dead in the airport attack included several nationalities

Saudi authorities said the dead in the attack included four Saudi citizens, two Bangladeshi nationals, a Palestinian, a US citizen, an Egyptian, a Jordanian, a Syrian and a Sudanese.

The Egyptian woman was a flight attendant for Saudi airline Flynas identified as Azza Ramzy, according to Egyptian state-run TV.

The Syrian woman was a widowed mother who had been living in Saudi Arabia, relative Nisreen Oweida told The Associated Press. The Syrian Embassy identified her as Buthaina Ahmad Oweida.

Iran can use the Houthis to pressure a key US ally

Until recently, the Houthis had been largely on the Iran war's side-lines, but they have developed their military capabilities in recent years to become one of Tehran’s most powerful allies. Now, they are helping Iran to pressure a key US ally.

The Saudis and the Houthis began fighting in 2015, when the kingdom entered Yemen's civil war on behalf of the internationally recognized government. Relative calm after a 2022 ceasefire ended in July when the Houthis resumed attacks, saying the Saudis fired on the Sanaa airport as a plane from Iran was trying to land.

The attack revived anger over the Saudi-led blockade that has largely isolated Houthi-run areas. The rebels say they have now imposed a blockade on Saudi Arabia.

Fighting has escalated, with the Saudi-led coalition providing air support for Yemeni government forces attempting to reverse recent Houthi gains near the Bab el-Mandeb, a crucial alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has attacked ships.

Ahmed Nagi, the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Yemen, said the Houthi pressure tactics could backfire: "Rather than pushing Riyadh to step back, attacks on critical Saudi infrastructure could make the Saudis more determined to continue the campaign."

A UK wildlife park has confirmed the tiger that killed a man who entered its enclosure will not be euthanised.

The man was seen entering a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster on Saturday (local time) before he was mauled to death.

The incident was reported at around 1.35pm and the tiger "subsequently attacked the man, resulting in serious injury", local police said. Despite the efforts of emergency services, the man was pronounced dead at the scene, reports said.

In a statement, Yorkshire Wildlife Park thanked those who expressed concern and said their "thoughts and heartfelt sympathies" were with the family of the man who was killed.

"The park will be closed today and the staff team who were deeply affected by events will receive specialist support," the statement read. It also confirmed the tiger, named Altai, was "safe and well and will not be euthanised".

Foreign secretary and MP for Doncaster North, Ed Miliband, said he was "deeply saddened" and sent his "thoughts and deepest condolences to the family of the individual who died".

A visitor at the park wrote in a social media post that she saw the man before the incident, and that he was "happily enjoying" his visit.

"The man who I saw on the bridge with his earpods in dancing was happily enjoying seeing the tiger," the post read.

"He asked a total stranger to take a picture of him with the tiger in the background."

South Yorkshire police said the man’s family was aware of the incident and were being supported, and encouraged people not to share videos of the incident.

An international student fired on the spot at an Auckland jewellery store says students need more protection.

By Ke-Xin Li of RNZ

Yucen Xi was awarded $27,890 after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found her employer Silvertime Trading Limited (STL) unjustifiably dismissed her on July 19, 2025.

Xi said the legal process was challenging, but she was determined to pursue justice.

"I need to prove that even [if] I'm holding a student visa, I can still go for justice."

Xi was employed by STL as a client advisor to work at Qeelin, a fine jewellery store in Newmarket.

The jewellery brand is owned by publicly listed company Kering - a global luxury group which also owns brands including Gucci, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Bottega Veneta.

On July 19, 2025, Xi was asked to attend a 6pm meeting with area manager Edwin Wu.

She was not informed what the meeting was about, but decided to record the meeting.

According to a transcript viewed by ERA, Wu asked Xi to resign.

In the recording, Wu said as store manager, he was "the decision-maker".

"Two warnings, including this warning I'll give you," he said.

"I give you two choices, first amicable separation - you resign yourself - second, two warnings are termination.

Today you directly hand over the key," Wu told her. "If you resign, you give me the key…if you want termination, it will be done quite ugly."

The transcript showed Wu told Xi she will not receive compensation because she was fired, and he called mall security after Xi allegedly refused to leave.

Xi did not complete her shift and was escorted out by security in front of employees from other stores.

ERA member Simon Greening noted in the transcript, Wu referred obliquely to STL's grooming policy and an allegation that Xi had not complied with the policy previously - but there was no evidential basis to establish Wu's concern.

The ERA found STL acted egregiously towards Xi, and its failure to act in good faith during the meeting was "deliberate, serious and sustained".

Xi, a chemistry master's student at the University of Auckland, said her mental health was severely impacted by her employer's conduct.

She said it left her depressed and anxious.

The humiliation, financial pressure, and risk of being unable to complete her studies due to the stress, made her unable to speak to anyone for a week.

But what frustrated her more was the lack of care shown by the brand and parent company.

"I feel like Qeelin doesn't really care about this because every time we have [issues], we need to directly report it to [the manager]," she said.

"So if Edwin (the manager) is bullying us, we need to report it to him - that basically means nothing."

Xi said she was never informed on how to raise official complaints, never met their HR, and had no contact with Qeelin head office other than when ordering stock.

Both Qeelin and Kering have policies around cultivating a respectful work environment.

First Up asked whether they were aware of Silvertime Trading Limited's conduct, and whether any actions will be taken.

Neither company has responded.

First Up also approached Wu and Silvertime Trading Limited director Haixiang Alex Zhang.

The company's representative before the ERA, employment advocate Aimee Cai, said they would not be responding to queries.

Student workers 'may not be aware of rights'

Anu Kaloti from the Migrant Workers Association (MWA) said to come study in New Zealand, international students often go through long and rigourous processes before they even arrive.

The opportunity is precious to these students, and many of them do not come from well-off families.

"These are vulnerable members of our society here in Aotearoa and they may not necessarily be aware of their rights as employees," Kaloti said.

"In many cases, even when they are aware of their rights, they don't dare to challenge their employer who may be treating them unfairly or exploiting them, they put up with situations of exploitation because they can't afford to not work at the same time as also studying here."

At least 139 people, including children, have died after a boat carrying more than 300 migrants capsized off the coast of Djibouti in east Africa, the International Organisation for Migration said.

That number only includes those buried by authorities in Djibouti. Others have been buried by the migrants themselves but they won't be added to the official count until authorities can verify the bodies, Alexandre Coissac, IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti, told the AP via the phone.

"What is terrible is that they were buried with no names, in a common grave, like in a war situation," Coissac said. "They all have a mother, a father, and we may never learn what happened."

Coissac said the migrants boarded the ship in the evening of October 8 and that it sank very soon after, close to the shore, "mainly because it was overcrowded".

"The local authorities did their best," Coissac said, "but they were overwhelmed with all the bodies that kept coming at once towards the shore."

He said authorities were bringing the surviving migrants to the IOM rescue centre in Obock where they receive medical assistance after swallowing sea water, and psychological support.

"They're all in a state of shock," Coissac, who visited the area of the shipwreck, said. "I tried to talk to some of them but it's very difficult."

Some of the migrants in the IOM center are already aware that their family members died during the shipwreck. Others were given access to phones to call loved ones back home to notify them they are alive.

At least 84 people remained missing in one of the deadliest shipwrecks yet on the popular but perilous crossing from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, where many migrants seek work in rich Gulf nations.

The boat was travelling from Djibouti to Yemen when it capsized on Thursday night or Friday morning (local time), according to the IOM. More than 80 people survived, all of them Ethiopian nationals, it said.

The Geneva-based UN migration agency said the vessel had 305 people on board and warned that the death toll could still rise.

Personal items likely belonging to the migrants, including shoes, were seen on a beach in a video shared by IOM. Rescue work continued as fears grew for the missing.

Tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa travel every year through Djibouti and across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait towards Gulf countries in search of safety and economic opportunities, the IOM said in its statement.

That movement has continued despite newly escalating fighting in Yemen, on the other side of the strait.

"This is a devastating loss of life," said Coissac. "This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities."

In recent weeks, at least 2000 Yemenis have received aid in Djibouti as the fighting has escalated in Yemen between the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

That's the opposite direction from the movement of the migrants who died in the shipwreck and the typical migration patterns of recent years: The tens of thousands who cross from eastern Africa toward Yemen each year have typically been looking for work in places like Saudi Arabia.

Over 900 migrants died or went missing along the route last year, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.

"No one gets into a boat like that unless they believe there is no other safe way," IOM Director-General Amy Pope said. "We cannot keep treating these deaths as normal. Safe and legal pathways save lives. I am asking governments and donors to act before the next boat goes down."

There's no dancing around Anton De Pasquale's last-lap fuel disaster at the Bathurst 1000.

"We f***ed up," Team 18 team principal Adrian Burgess said.

A distraught Burgess could barely digest the heartbreak at Mount Panorama after a fuel miscalculation cost De Pasquale and Team 18 a maiden Bathurst 1000 victory on Sunday.

It was Brodie Kostecki who took the chequered flag thanks to defending Supercars champion Chaz Mostert, who set up an electrifying finish when he crashed out at Forrest's Elbow with five laps to go.

Triple Eight star Will Brown and co-driver Scott Pyne finished second, followed by Matt Stone Racing rookie Zach Bates in third with Aaron Seton.

Mostert's crash brought out the first safety car of the famously carnage-riddled marathon, but Burgess couldn't even pinpoint exactly when the crew realised they were in trouble.

"We were f***ed already. We knew we were," Burgess said.

It was much the same for a dejected De Pasquale.

While Kostecki sobbed through the team radio after crossing the finish line, De Pasquale sat emotionless as he waited for a tow back to pit lane, having run out of fuel while leading on the last lap.

"Once I knew how much fuel short we were, I knew we were cooked," De Pasquale said.

Adding to De Pasquale's heartache was that Team 18 had the time to fuel the No.18 Chevrolet Camaro before Mostert's crash.

When De Pasquale came out of pit lane from his sixth and final stop, he led the field by 15.5 seconds.

"We've had an error somewhere in the fuel calculations. It's pretty clear. There's no point glossing over it," Burgess said.

"We probably had a bigger gap than we thought we had.

"You think, 'Shit, I should've sat in the pit lane for another two seconds' and we wouldn't be having this conversation.

"But that's hindsight and I don't have that crystal ball."

Burgess also wouldn't be drawn on 'what ifs?'

"If it [the safety car] had gone one more lap longer, we probably would've got home," Burgess said.

"But we shouldn't have been in that position in the first place because we had the tools, we had the car, we had the drivers.

"We've had a f**k-up. It's not acceptable... but this is the mountain.

"Ah, I can't explain it."

Protein has been everywhere lately. You may have seen food products promoting high protein content, or reels online telling you how to boost your intake.

By Margaret Murray for The Conversation

One of the ways protein supports our health is by helping a meal fill us up (satiation) and keeping us feeling fuller for longer between meals (satiety). It does this by influencing our appetite hormones and other metabolic processes.

But protein is not the only nutrient that helps with satiation and satiety. And if we focus too much on protein, we may miss the big picture and forget about other important nutrients.

It’s time to put the spotlight on dietary fibre and where to get it – especially as most of us aren’t eating enough.

Let’s take a look at how much protein you need, how much fibre, and how they compare in keeping you feeling full.

First, do we really need more protein?

The recommended dietary intake of protein for Australian adults aged 19–70 years is 46 grams a day for women and 64g a day for men.

Across your day, this could look like eating:

- 200 millilitres of natural yoghurt (10.6g protein)

- a beef burger (31.5g protein)

- 20g almonds (3.9g protein)

- and for men – an extra 75g of cooked chicken thigh (18.2g protein).

Data from the 2023 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey indicated that, on average, Australian women are eating 78.7g protein a day and men are eating 103.4g protein a day. This means most Australian adults are eating plenty of protein, above the recommended daily intake, even for those aged over 70 who need more.

What about fibre?

Dietary fibres are a class of carbohydrates that are resistant to human digestive enzymes. This means they’re not digested and absorbed like other carbohydrates (such as sugars and starches), allowing them to play other roles in the body.

Among the many beneficial health effects of dietary fibre – such as reducing the risk of heart disease, improving cholesterol levels and supporting healthy gut bacteria – it can also help to keep you feeling fuller for longer after a meal.

Not all dietary fibre is the same. Different types of fibre perform various functions in the body, based on how soluble they are in water (solubility), how much they thicken into a gel (viscosity), and whether gut microorganisms can ferment them (fermentability).

For example, the soluble viscous fibres present in many fruits and vegetables slow the passage of food through the stomach and intestine, helping to prolong satiety – that feeling of fullness between meals. They also slow the release of sugar into the blood after eating carbohydrates, which helps regulate blood sugar levels and delay hunger.

Both soluble viscous fibres and insoluble fibres (found in vegetable skins and wholegrain bread, for example) contribute to the physical expansion of the stomach after eating. This sends signals of fullness and satiation to the brain, helping us know when to stop eating.

Dietary fibres may also influence the production of appetite hormones, which promote satiety.

How much fibre do we need?

In Australia, it’s recommended adult women eat 25g of fibre a day and adult men eat 30g.

To get extra health benefits – such as reducing your risk of chronic (long-term) disease – a higher fibre intake of 28g a day for women and 38g a day for men is recommended.

Australians are not eating enough fibre

Data from the 2023 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey indicated that, on average, Australian women are eating 19.2g a day and Australian men are eating 22.3g a day. Both are well below the recommended values.

Improving fibre intake is not just about increasing the overall quantity you eat, but also about getting a variety of different fibres with different properties.

You can get more soluble viscous fibres into your diet by eating fruit (such as apples, oranges and bananas), oats, legumes and pulses (including beans and chickpeas), and vegetables (think: peas, avocado, sweet potato and carrot).

Or you can take fibre supplements, such as Metamucil or Benefiber. People who can’t eat gluten should consult with a health-care professional first, as some supplements may contain gluten.

You can increase your intake of insoluble fibres by eating the skin of fruits and vegetables, wholegrain products (such as bread, pasta, brown rice and quinoa), nuts, seeds, and wheat or rice bran.

To get fermentable fibres in your diet, include things such as oats, legumes, unripe bananas, or cooked and cooled potato, rice, or pasta (cooking and cooling changes the structure of some of the carbohydrates, making them resistant to digestion).

Some good overall tips for improving your fibre intake are to:

- choose wholegrain, wholemeal and/or high fibre varieties of grain-based foods like bread, rice and pasta whenever possible

- enjoy a variety of different fruits and vegetables, aiming for two pieces of fruit and five servings of vegetables each day

- eat nuts and seeds as a snack

- look for ways to include legumes and different types of wholegrains with meals.

If you are planning on increasing your fibre intake, you should take it slow and also drink plenty of water to avoid potential digestive problems.

So which is more filling, protein or fibre?

Both contribute to increased feelings of fullness through multiple mechanisms.

And while protein has been generally accepted as the most important nutrient for satiety, one small study comparing fibre and protein directly found they were just as good as each other when it came to that lasting feeling of fullness between meals.

We would need more research directly comparing the two to determine which is more filling.

The takeaway

Choosing foods that are rich in either dietary fibre or protein – or even better, both, such as lentils, beans and nuts – will help to fill you up and keep you feeling fuller for longer between meals.

But since most Australians aren’t eating enough dietary fibre, increasing your fibre intake is likely to be more beneficial for your overall health than increasing how much protein you eat.

Margaret Murray is a senior lecturer in nutrition at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia.

This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence.

The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including a man’s killed by a tiger at the UK zoo, and Trump’s plan to rename the Pacific.

Winston Peters says he's confident of getting a fireworks ban across the line, despite opposition from his current coalition partners.

A man has been killed after jumping into a tiger enclosure at a zoo in the UK.

Donald Trump says he wants to rename the Pacific Ocean.

Liam Lawson's finished seventh at the Singapore Grand Prix.

It was a successful weekend for Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson who finished seventh in the Singapore Grand Prix overnight to follow his fifth in the sprint race.

In the feature race the 24-year-old Kiwi made up a place on the first corner and then held on to grab more valuable points for himself and his Racing Bulls team.

"Very proud of the team, it's been a pretty intense few weeks, it's been great to have the last few weeks go to plan, and today to have points in both a sprint and a race for us is great, so very, very happy," Lawson told media afterwards.

Lawson remained ninth in the standings with 75 points, 22 points behind Red Bull's Isack Hadjar and 34 points ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen was the driver to beat once again, but Kimi Antonelli continued to march toward the title.

Verstappen won the sprint race and followed up with his 50th career pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, all at a circuit where he'd never won or been on pole in the past.

"This is the one I wanted," he said.

Besides Verstappen, the day’s other big winner was Antonelli, who widened his lead over George Russell when his Mercedes teammate crashed out from the lead in the sprint. The Italian qualified fourth, setting him up for another solid score tomorrow, when Russell must serve a grid penalty.

An upgraded Red Bull car has been key to turning Verstappen's season around but it still has one big flaw.

Verstappen said Red Bull will need to work on its “horrendous” starts after he lost the sprint lead off the line, just as he did in Malaysia last week — when he still took his first win in 2026.

“We don’t accelerate off the line,” he said. “Up until now we always have terrible starts so we need to understand what’s going on there.”

A chaotic sprint and quiet qualifying

In an action-packed race which also saw Lando Norris collide with his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, Russell beat Verstappen off the line at the start in wet conditions but lost control when he put a wheel on a painted line at the end of the first lap, spinning across the track and into the barrier.

The British driver tapped his hands against the car in frustration as he climbed out.

"I'm fine. Sorry, sorry, sorry," he told Mercedes over the radio.

Verstappen eased to the win after that, with Ferrari duo Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc second and third.

Qualifying was a quieter affair but still an even fight between Verstappen and the Ferraris, with McLaren and Mercedes a little off the pace.

Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar has been one of F1's better drivers since his return from injury last month but was a spectator Saturday, watching from the garage after a car problem early in the session.

In the final part of qualifying, Verstappen's first lap proved to be good enough as he held on to take pole by 0.054 of a second ahead of Leclerc, with Hamilton third and Antonelli fourth.

Russell qualified sixth but that means little because his penalty sends him to the back of the grid on a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult.

Another small step toward the title for Antonelli

Antonelli was fourth, extending his lead over Russell from 84 points to 89, after he picked up two positions on the last lap when Norris and Piastri collided ahead of him.

Norris tried an ambitious overtake down the inside of his teammate but badly misjudged it and sent the Australian spinning into the barrier. McLaren chief executive Zak Brown shook his head in dismay on the pit wall.

Russell has a grid penalty for Sunday's Grand Prix, meaning the 20-year-old Antonelli could take another big step toward becoming F1's youngest-ever champion. Antonelli has been struggling to get used to Mercedes' package of upgrades on his car in recent weeks.

Russell wasn’t the only driver to be caught out in the wet conditions. He was one of eight non-finishers after a spate of collisions and technical problems, with Hadjar stopped by car trouble.

Norris recovered to claim a point in eighth in the last sprint of 2026 and avoided a penalty for the collision with Piastri when the stewards said the Australian shared some of the blame.

The start was delayed because of heavy rain, making it the second week running that an F1 race has started late. Last week's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was first held up by a downpour, then because several cars' software failed to cope with the wet conditions.

The FIA issued a software update which was also being used in Singapore this week.

- Additional reporting by 1News

Manchester City players were jeered and taunted by Liverpool fans on Monday in their first game since the club was found guilty of a raft of financial breaches.

But by the end it was the away section, decked out in blue and waving giant inflatable bananas, cheering loudly after a 3-0 win at Anfield in the Premier League.

"In this moment all the organisation needs this kind of win," City coach Enzo Maresca said. "It's good for us as a coaching staff, it’s good for the players, it’s good for the fans, it’s good for the organisation. I think this kind of a win is good for all the club."

It is not yet known what the future holds for City after an independent panel found the club artificially inflated its revenue by more than US$1 billion (NZ$1.77 billion) to help sign some of football's biggest stars and dominate the Premier League. But for now it is sitting pretty at the top of the standings with a 100% winning record and looking down on its rivals.

Second-half goals from Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki saw City take advantage of Liverpool going down to 10 men following a red card for Ryan Gravenberch around the hour mark with the score at 0-0.

City is the early pace-setter this season, three points ahead of defending champion Arsenal in second, with victory a welcome relief for the embattled club after the fallout from the biggest scandal in Premier League history.

After the final whistle, that relief was evident in the smiles on the faces of Haaland and Maresca as City's players and staff went to show their appreciation to their celebrating fans, which included Haaland's father Alfie.

'Our noise'

"It was not easy for the players after the last two or three weeks," Maresca said. "We need to learn how to deal with the outside noise because of the situation and the noise will be always there.

"So we need to learn how to deal with that, but at the same time we need to try to make our noise. That is win games like we have done today because at the end of the game, I think our fans they were singing, so the noise was from us."

City was accused of providing misleading information about its finances over a nine-year period from 2009-18 — a span in which it won three league titles and signed superstar players like Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne.

It has appealed, but potential sanctions could include a massive fine, points deductions or even expulsion from England’s top flight.

Welcome to Anfield

In many ways a trip to Anfield to face fierce rival Liverpool in its first match since the verdicts was among the worst assignments City could have been handed. Yet such an emotionally charged game may have been the perfect way to ensure minds were only focused on the field.

The game swung after Gravenberch was sent off for a second yellow card.

Haaland had already missed a one-on-one, but made no mistake with a first-time finish from Doku's deflected cross in the 65th minute - three minutes after Gravenberch's red.

Doku curled a shot into the top corner three minutes later and Cherki scored the third when shimmying in the box.

"I think we played two different games today. One game until the red card where the players have been very good and we were the best team, but a goal hasn’t materialised. The second game from there, City were better than us," Liverpool coach Andoni Iraola said.

It was a statement win for City - especially after such a hostile reception.

"They should be stripped of everything they’ve won," Liverpool fan Sav Agathangelo said outside the stadium. "The moment has gone for me to say in the season when we finish second, we’re champions.

"I would strip them of everything but I wouldn’t necessarily award it to runners-up or anyone else."

City’s team bus has been targeted by Liverpool fans in the past. On this occasion City largely avoided the home fans by taking an alternative route to the stadium.

Inside, however, there was quickly a taste of things to come as the City lineup was jeered and the boos were even louder by kickoff, with chants of "cheat, cheat" and taunts of "going down".

Yet by the time Cherki scored, many Liverpool fans had seen enough, heading for the exit with still more than 10 minutes left to play.

"This is a lovely moment and the feeling after the game will stay with us for a long time," Haaland said.

Two people riding a motorcycle have died following a collision involving a vehicle near Matamata in Waikato last night.

Emergency services were called to the crash near the corner of State Highway 29 and Pond Rd at about 8pm.

"The motorcyclist and their passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, and another person was transported to hospital in a moderate condition," a police spokesperson said.

The serious crash unit has been advised.

Inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the crash were ongoing.

For about four decades a South Island predator carried out the most horrific offending against those close to him, including raping his daughter, step-granddaughter, sisters, and former partners. RNZ's national crime correspondent Sam Sherwood reports.

By Sam Sherwood of RNZ

Warning: This story discusses details of long-term sexual and physical abuse.

Standing inside the dock at the High Court, the man stood quietly in his prison clothes as his lawyer formalised the guilty pleas and discussed arrangements for sentencing.

There was no mention in the brief hearing of the extent of his offending before he walked back out of the dock to be sent back to prison where he will stay until he is sentenced later this year.

Inside a court document released to RNZ is the full story of the man's offending, detailing 20 charges he has pleaded guilty to, with offending that began in the 1980s through to the 2020s.

It includes eight charges of sexual violation by rape (seven of which are representative), a representative charge of rape, and eight charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection (six of which are representative).

He also pleaded guilty to a representative charge of making objectionable material, a representative charge of doing an indecent act on a young person and one charge of wounding with intent to injure.

His offending includes raping his daughter, his step-granddaughter, two of his sisters, and two ex-partners. He also committed indecent acts on a distant relative.

The man now in his 50s has interim name suppression. RNZ is not reporting the locations of his offending or the court in which he is being sentenced, to avoid the victims being identified.

Twenty years of violence

The court document begins by discussing the man's offending against an ex-partner who he began dating in the early 1990s when she was 17. It did not take long before he became violent, "physically, emotionally and sexually".

The woman, who had four children with the man, left in about 2015.

"During the relationship, which lasted around 20 years, the defendant offered violence towards the victim by hitting, pushing, and kicking her. On one occasion he smacked her in the face over making a coffee."

In one incident, while pregnant with her first child, the man punched her in the eye and kicked her in the stomach, telling her he hoped her baby died.

The woman thought she was going die during one assault when he put his hands around around her neck, squeezing so it was difficult for her to breathe.

The summary of facts says by the mid 2000s the man raped her multiple times.

The man also pleaded guilty to a representative charge of sexual violation by rape in relation to another former partner.

The woman was 15 when she began a sexual relationship in 1990 with the man, who was then 21.

"The victim recalls feeling controlled by the defendant. She recalls the defendant being a jealous person. He didn't like her joking or laughing with anyone of the opposite sex.

The summary of facts refers to three occasions where the man raped her.

The relationship ended when she turned 16.

Man raped daughter 'whenever he had the opportunity'

The man also offended against one of his children.

The summary of facts says his daughter lived with him in several different houses from when she was born until she was about 16 and left home.

The offending started in about 2006/2007 when she was five and lasted until she was 15.

"While [she] was around 5 to 6 years old, she recalls her father raping her whenever he had the opportunity."

After the first attack he told her what happened was "secret between them, and she wasn't allowed to tell her mother".

The court document refers to one incident when her father was driving down a gravel road.

"Knowing what was going to happen, she jumped out of the car and ran off. He then drove away leaving her there frightened in the pitch black."

The man started letting his daughter go out drinking alcohol with friends between the ages of 13-15.

"She recalls getting home drunk on several occasions, where he would proceed to rape her while she was intoxicated. [She] described him as thriving off any situation she was intoxicated."

In the early 2020s, the man also offended against his step granddaughter.

The girl was two when her mother began dating the man's son.

The relationship lasted about five years before she and her mother moved to another city.

Since then, the girl travelled once a month to stay with her stepfather and the man who lived in the same house.

She would often sleep in the man's bedroom, which had a second mattress prepared.

When the girl was aged between 6 and 8, he raped her for the first time. He also took multiple photos of the victim being raped as well as other photos of her.

'Disgusting creep'

The man also raped two of his sisters.

One of his sisters recalled living with the family at a property when she was about 13 in the 80s.

"It was here the defendant carried out the sexual activities he wanted with her on a frequent basis until she was around 18 years old."

He started assaulting another sister when she was about 11 up until she was 17.

"The victim recalls the defendant often saying disgusting comments to her including 'old enough to bleed, old enough to butcher'."

When the victim, then in her mid 20s, was about eight months pregnant with her first daughter, the man drove her to deliver something [firewood] after a family gathering. The woman reluctantly went with him after her father insisted.

On their way, he took her to an area he had previously raped her when she was a child and asked to have sex with her.

"The victim told him to 'f.. off' and that he was a 'disgusting creep'. The defendant replied that 'the other girls still let me do it'."

She again told him to "f... off" and said he was "sick in the head".

"To which the defendant replied 'I know I am' while smiling."

The man also admitted a representative charge of indecent act on a young person under 16 in relation to a distant relative.

In response to questions from RNZ, police confirmed the investigation into the man began following an in-person report on 18 January 2024.

"The defendant was arrested and charged with sexual violation offences related to that report on 7 May 2024.

"Further investigations uncovered additional victims and resulted in 94 charges laid in total."

As a teenager, Gillian Maegan Montalbo's pimples weren't too bad — just a few bumps on her forehead and nose.

But as an adult in the workforce, the breakouts returned and intensified. The acne on her cheeks and chin made her hesitant to look her bosses in the eye.

"It really took a toll on my self-esteem and my self-confidence," said Montalbo, a marketer and content creator who lives in the Philippines.

Pimples and acne are an uncomfortable hallmark of teenage years, but adults can have breakouts too. Acne can also happen on other parts of the body like the chest and shoulders. And then there's bacne, the internet's term for back breakouts.

The best treatments vary from person to person depending on what's causing the acne and how it looks. And breakouts can leave behind dark marks and scars that take even longer to heal.

Pimples come and go, but if breakouts stick around and cause discoloration or changes in skin texture, it's a good idea to see a dermatologist.

"We know how to treat acne. We know the cause of it. So don't suffer alone," said Dr Crystal Aguh, a dermatologist and director of the Ethnic Skin Programme at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

The causes of acne can vary

Teenage acne tends to affect the forehead, nose and cheeks. Older adults and women in particular can experience hormonal acne that pops up along the jawline and chin, Aguh said. Taking steroids can also trigger acne for some people.

Pimples happen when tiny pores in the skin get clogged by oil, bacteria and dead skin cells. They can fade over the course of weeks to months, but if patches persist and spread, it could be a sign of acne, which dermatologists consider a medical condition.

"Essentially, you’re not getting a break from a breakout," Aguh said.

Acne is caused by many factors including genetics, hormones, environment and even diet — like eating excessive amounts of dairy. The causes of facial and body acne are similar, although skin bacteria sometimes plays a larger role in body acne.

Breakouts can look like milder, painless white bumps or dark specks known as whiteheads and blackheads, or more painful red bumps and deeper cysts — a mark of cystic acne.

There are OTC and prescription treatments for acne

Don't pick or pop your pimples, no matter how strong the urge or how satisfying it might be.

"Everyone wants to pick and squeeze. That will almost always make things worse," said Dr. Lauren Fine, founder of Fine Dermatology in Chicago.

Picking can drive inflammation deeper into the skin and cause acne to spread. It also increases the risk of marks and scarring. For darker-skinned people, those marks take longer to go away because their skin produces extra pigment when stressed, Aguh said.

Treatments for acne range from over-the-counter creams and lotions to prescription-strength medications. Dermatologists say it’s somewhat easier to treat acne on the face compared to the rest of the body because the face has more sweat glands and doesn't dry out as easily. It's also harder to apply some treatments like creams to hard-to-reach areas like the back, so doctors often prescribe oral medications.

For milder forms of face acne, dermatologists may recommend face washes or creams containing benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid or retinoids like adapalene.

For more frequent breakouts, they might prescribe higher-strength regimens like antibiotics or medicines with tretinoin. Isotretinoin may be an option if those medicines don't work, or for cases of severe cystic acne.

Treatments for adult hormonal acne, particularly in women, can differ from what's done for teens. Some dermatologists recommend birth control, which can help stabilise hormones, or treatments like spironolactone.

Shots of cortisone can help treat active acne spots in a pinch, but they aren't a long-term fix, Fine said.

Pimple patches containing a gel called hydrocolloid can absorb fluids from oozing pimples and stop you from picking at them. Aguh said they are suited only for mild forms of acne; Fine said the patches have given some of her patients discoloration and she doesn't recommend them.

Treat discoloration with exfoliants and face washes

Experts say exfoliants and face washes containing glycolic acid can help discoloration fade. Over-the-counter products containing adapalene and retinol creams can also help.

For more serious scarring, dermatologists can recommend more aggressive treatments like lasers that probe deeper into the skin.

It can take time to develop the right treatment plan, and longer still to see results. When starting a new treatment, some people can also experience skin purging: breakouts that happen when a product quickly brings clogged pores to the surface of the skin.

Montalbo’s acne cleared up within a year after seeing a dermatologist, but she was still dealing with acne scars. After that, she had to rebuild her self-confidence.

She said a strong support system was essential to getting through some of the hardest moments. Her dad, who also struggled with acne, was the one who encouraged her to see a doctor and find the right products. She also had a close friend who travelled with her overseas for a vacation during the worst of the breakouts, and mentioned in passing that she'd never even noticed Montalbo's acne.

"When you are with the right people, they won’t mind how you look," Montalbo said. "Because to them, what’s important is how you treat them."

Dick Johnson Racing ace Brodie Kostecki has won the Bathurst 1000 after Anton De Pasquale ran out of fuel on the last lap.

Chaz Mostert set the stage for a tense finish in Sunday's great race after crashing into the wall at Forrest's Elbow with five laps to go.

It was a dogged Kostecki who made the most of the first safety car of the gruelling 161-lap marathon, overtaking Zach Bates en route to De Pasquale, before the latter's last lap calamity.

Triple Eight star Will Brown finished second, followed by Matt Stone Racing rookie Bates in third.

An emotional Kostecki shed tears as he spoke to co-driver Todd Hazelwood after crossing the finish line.

"I love you guys," a sobbing Kostecki said over the radio.

The duo end Dick Johnson Racing's seven-year drought at the Bathurst 1000.

Labour would bring back locally made school lunches from 2028 if elected and work to restore rural school bus routes, leader Chris Hipkins announced earlier today.

Later in the day, Hipkins also revealed he had privately backed campaigning on a capital gains tax ahead of the 2020 election, but then-PM Dame Jacinda Ardern ruled it out.

His party added the two commitments Hipkins announced today to its cost-of-living action plan amid a barrage of new policy over the past several weeks.

The plan also gathers earlier promises of three free GP visits a year, capped public transport fares and a three-year fuel tax freeze ahead of the November 7 election.

Under the plan, school kitchens, iwi and hapū partners or local caterers would make the meals from term one 2028. The programme would keep covering the 244,400 students at 1014 schools already in the scheme.

Labour would fund it at $5 a meal, or $6.50 for students in Years 9 to 13.

Speaking at a food warehouse in South Auckland, Hipkins said the coalition’s switch to a mass-produced model had failed.

“It’s resulted in kids getting food that’s not fit for purpose, basically inedible in many cases. We’re going back to a locally produced free and healthy school lunch model.”

Speaking in Birkenhead later in the day, he said thousands of jobs had been created under the original scheme, with some schools installing kitchens and employing parents.

“This government, in one fell swoop, did away with all of that," he said.

"They went to a mass-produced slop option for school lunches.

"Our kids got cheated out of having a good, healthy lunch."

It's notable however Labour’s fiscal plan does not fund the lunches beyond 2029/30 and Hipkins was asked whether that left a fiscal cliff for the next government. He said Labour had set up the original scheme as a pilot so it could work out the true cost.

“We’ll want to iron out all of the wrinkles in that, and then we will work out the best way of funding that sustainably. But we are committed to the school lunches programme.”

He said Labour would look at extending lunches to more students, or to every school, “over time”, but was not promising that this election.

Capital gains tax

At the Birkenhead meeting, Hipkins accused National of telling lies about Labour’s tax policy and defended its plan for a capital gains tax (CGT).

Asked by an audience member why the last Labour government had passed on a CGT, he revealed he had backed one ahead of the 2020 election.

Acknowledging Labour did not usually discuss internal decisions, he said he had supported the idea six years ago when publicly the then government did not.

“Internally, I was in favour of campaigning on a CGT in 2020," he said.

"We didn’t do that, obviously. We’ve always been clear that we will only make changes to the tax system that we have a public mandate for. And Jacinda didn’t want to campaign on that in 2020, and so she ruled that out.”

Dame Jacinda had ruled out a capital gains tax under her leadership in 2019.

"In 2023, we ran out of time. Basically, by the time I had taken over from Jacinda, it was too late to be able to campaign properly on a CGT."

He said Labour had announced its policy last November because it needed at least a year to explain what was in it and push back on what he called a scare campaign.

The tax would apply to residential property, excluding the family home, and commercial property with all the revenue going into health.

At the public meeting, Hipkins also signalled Labour had a further policy to help first-home buyers still to come.

National responds

Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said Labour had set also aside about $5 million a year to restore rural school bus routes, but the figure could change.

“We need all the information, and it was really difficult to get that information out of government being in opposition.”

Hipkins said the money sat in the fiscal plan’s unallocated “future announcements” line.

Where Labour could not restore a route, it would work with rural communities and councils to find another way to get children to school.

“For those families sending their kids to school in rural communities, those are such a vital connection for them,” he said.

In response National's campaign spokesperson Simeon Brown said Labour’s plan on cost of living wouldn't come free.

“Labour’s promises aren’t free. They come with $18.8 billion in extra spending, and every Kiwi household will pay for it through higher taxes and higher inflation," he said.

“Only National has a long-term plan to grow the economy so wages rise faster than inflation, while keeping spending under control with no new taxes.”

Hipkins also confirmed Labour would not revive its 2023 pledge of free early childhood education for two-year-olds.

He said Labour would keep the coalition’s FamilyBoost rebate instead, because the coalition had moved the childcare funding into that scheme.

“The families who are getting that rebate at the moment are finding that useful. I don’t want to take that away from them.”

Hipkins also responded to NZ First’s pledge to lift the minimum wage by at least the rate of inflation for the next three years.

He said the minimum wage had been cut in real terms over the past three years while NZ First was in government, with Winston Peters deputy PM for half of that time.

National's Nicola Willis and Labour’s Barbara Edmonds have agreed to a cross-party accord on the future of retirement, with the pension age on the table.

The two women want to be finance minister after the election and both went head-to-head in Q+A's Finance Debate earlier this morning.

Moderator Jack Tame pressed the pair whether they would join a group that looks at the whole system, including superannuation, KiwiSaver and housing for older Kiwis.

Labour finance spokesperson Edmonds said yes straight away.

"Absolutely. I’d love to," she said. "There used to be a political accord in the early ’90s between the major parties in parliament. And I think that’s really key to get some certainty because this is long-term thinking."

Willis agreed, but with a condition.

"Yes, on one condition – that there is honesty from Labour about the fact that the current settings are not going to be sustainable for the next 30 years."

The Retirement Commission recommended a cross-party accord last year, calling for a system-wide look at retirement.

Retirement Commissioner David Boyle told 1News today the country had “a once in a generation opportunity to find a solution not only for New Zealanders and their retirement needs today but also for tomorrow”.

Edmonds accepted that the age of eligibility would be part of the talks but said it couldn’t be looked at on its own.

“It is a part of the retirement system. But you cannot have that in isolation,” she said.

“At the moment, the isolating part is that they want to raise super without consideration otherwise for the rest of it.”

Willis said the pair had made the same promise before.

“Barbara and I stood on a stage two years ago and agreed to the same thing. Within an hour, a press release had come out saying it wasn’t happening. So I hold my breath.”

Edmonds said “it was very different”, before confirming her support for “a political accord around the retirement system”.

'Ostriches with their heads in the sand'

Superannuation will cost more than $30 billion a year by 2030, according to economic forecasts, about $1000 a second. By that point, super and interest on government debt combined are forecast to take up 28% of total tax revenue.

National wants to lift the eligibility age gradually from a set date in the future and Willis said Labour’s position of preserving it over its next term was “not fiscally credible”.

“The population is ageing, and there are going to be fewer taxpayers for every retiree. We can afford superannuation right now, but in the future, the settings are going to have to change,” she said.

“They continue to be ostriches with their heads in the sand, pretending that nothing will ever have to change.”

Edmonds pointed to Labour’s role in setting up KiwiSaver and the Cullen Fund. She said National’s suspension of contributions to the NZ Super Fund in 2009 had cost billions.

“Superannuation is only unaffordable if we can’t make New Zealanders want to stay here and to contribute to the other side, which is the revenue," she said.

'Very big conversation to have'

At a Labour campaign announcement later on Sunday, Edmonds told media that what she had agreed to was an accord on the whole system, not just superannuation.

“It’s not just super, it’s KiwiSaver, it’s housing, it’s healthcare. We need to look at the full retirement system as a whole,” she said.

“This constant picking apart of just superannuation and the age of eligibility is not a sound conversation to have because it also ignores the fact that we’re going to need more revenue anyway.”

Reporters asked whether Labour and National could take a joint position on retirement to the 2029 election. Edmonds said that would depend “on where the parties in Parliament get”.

“This is a very big conversation to have with some very long-term decisions,” she said.

“I am absolutely open to having it with the parliamentary parties, but it has to be within the wider retirement system, not just picking apart super.”

Opportunity and Te Pāti Māori also support a cross-party discussion. The Greens are also onboard if it looked at the whole picture and wasn't just about raising the super age.

Meanwhile, ACT wants to slowly raise the super age by three months a year. Party leader David Seymour said the fix had always been put off to “soon in the future”.

“We’ve waited too long,” he said.

“Now I make no apologies for being the only one who gets up every year and says, ‘Guys, we have a big problem, and we need the courage to take it on’ - not agree that we might do something in the future, a future that never quite seems to come."

Speaking in Mosgiel, NZ First's Winston Peters took aim at both major parties.

“We can go on paying the elderly and looking after the young properly, but we can’t go on with a failed economy by two parties that have had 40 years plus of failure".

For the full debate, watch the video above

Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air

The World Health Organization said Sunday it still doesn’t know what caused the death of a young worker at a lab in Russia that focuses on plague and other illnesses.

The UN health agency has cited initial, unconfirmed reports suggesting pneumonic plague, a severe disease less common than the better-known bubonic plague linked to the Black Death in the Middle Ages. Pneumonic plague spreads from person to person, causing a severe form of pneumonia, but recovery rates are high if it is detected and treated in time.

WHO, in its first full Disease Outbreak News since the case emerged earlier this month, called for a continued investigation.

Russian health officials, it said, had conducted more than 5500 tests and found no evidence of any dangerous pathogenic microorganisms.

"Additional clinical, epidemiological and laboratory information, including confirmation of the diagnosis in the deceased laboratory worker, is required to improve confidence in the assessment," WHO said.

WHO continued to refer to "a purported second case" that, in emailed explanations to The Associated Press, it previously attributed to two tabloid news outlets in Britain and Serbia that cited unspecified reports in Russia.

Russia has denied any such second case.

It’s been a year since a ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump and Arab allies promised to end the war in Gaza, and Israel is still launching deadly strikes on the devastated territory.

The agreement halted major military operations, freed all remaining hostages and increased humanitarian access. But it has failed to deliver on promises of a new Palestinian administration aided by international forces, the disarmament of Hamas and an end to Israel’s control over more than half the territory. Almost nothing has been rebuilt.

Israel has tied any progress on the other issues to Hamas' complete disarmament, while the militant group — and the Trump administration — say they should happen simultaneously. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hardened his stance over the summer, openly defying Trump, his most important ally, ahead of Israeli elections later this month.

The wrangling has left Gaza's 2 million Palestinians in limbo. Most are sheltering in rodent-infested tent camps, the rubble of their former neighbourhoods or war-damaged buildings at risk of collapse.

Early success raised hopes of ending the war

The 20-point ceasefire agreement, reached after months of negotiations under the Biden and Trump administrations, ended major military operations and led to the return of all the remaining hostages taken in Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1200 people that day and abducted 251. Israel responded with massive bombardment and a ground invasion that has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, maintains detailed records and is seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its toll but says women and children make up around half the dead.

After the deal was announced, Trump called for a new era of harmony in the Middle East. "We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us," he said at a summit marking the deal.

The agreement called for much more

The agreement called for Hamas to hand over power to a committee of Palestinian administrators vetted by the Board of Peace, a new body chaired by Trump and charged with implementing the ceasefire.

The militants officially dissolved their government in July but left the civil service intact and remain the dominant power in the roughly 40% of Gaza not controlled by the Israeli military. Israel has meanwhile barred the new Palestinian administration from entering Gaza via Egypt.

The formation of an International Stabilisation Force was announced in February but has yet to materialise. Indonesia, which pledged the largest troop contingent — 8000 soldiers — put those plans on hold last spring as the world's focus shifted to the Iran war.

Israel was supposed to withdraw from Gaza but has instead seized more territory, pushing the so-called yellow Line of Control westward toward the Mediterranean Sea. It has also carried out regular strikes on individuals it accused of violating the ceasefire, approaching the yellow line or having taken part in the October 7 attack — strikes that have often killed civilians.

Israeli strikes have killed over 1400 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Sporadic attacks have killed five Israeli soldiers in Gaza in the same period.

More deadlock after Netanyahu defied Trump

In July, Trump announced a deal to disarm Hamas, portraying it as a breakthrough in the long-stalled process.

That deal, an extension of the original ceasefire, called for Hamas to disarm "in a gradual, sequential and time-bound manner" that is "linked to an Israeli withdrawal, in phases". Hamas confirmed for the first time that it had agreed to disarm, also linking it to Israel halting its strikes and withdrawing from Gaza.

Days later, Netanyahu announced that Israel would not withdraw from any part of Gaza until after Hamas has been completely disarmed, explicitly rejecting the agreement announced by Trump.

The rare instance of friction between the two allies came as Netanyahu seeks to shore up his nationalist base ahead of October 27 elections that could end his nearly unbroken 17-year rule, the longest in Israel's history.

Netanyahu has come under fire over security and intelligence failures leading up to the October 7 attack, with opponents accusing him of having been soft on Hamas. That gives him little space to make even minor compromises on Gaza, at least until a new government is formed, which could take months.

In the meantime, virtually nothing has been rebuilt in Gaza, Hamas is weakened but still in power, and a return to fighting cannot be ruled out.

Frustrated rugby fans booed passing trains at Eden Park last night as delays to city-bound services left thousands queuing after the All Blacks thrashed the Wallabies.

Eden Park bosses are now calling for “urgent attention” to transport infrastructure around the stadium as Auckland Transport (AT) blames a late closure of the nearby level crossing for leaving some fans waiting long stretches for a train.

Have footage or were in the crowd? Email news@tvnz.co.nz

Stadium chief executive Nick Sautner told 1News: “Our patrons and our hirers are paying for a service, and the service needs to be better."

The All Blacks won 50-19 last night to keep the Bledisloe Cup and extend their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 54 tests.

But many of the sold-out crowd then faced a confusing wait to get home.

One described "huge queues to get into the city and not a single train".

They said in the time three trains had left for Ōtāhuhu, none had left for the city, and two trains marked “out of service” had passed through the station.

“They keep saying ‘five mins’,” one said. "Shocker."

Another said the situation was “munted”, saying the crowd started booing passing trains.

Rugby fan Laura told 1News there were children crying on her train because it was so crowded, and another said staff appeared “quite overwhelmed”.

"It's my first time using the train to get to an event, won't be doing that again in a hurry," another woman said.

1News understands crowds around Kingsland station were cleared by 10.15pm, within usual timeframes for a sold-out Eden Park test. But that came after some gave up waiting and abandoned plans to catch a train amid heavy crowds.

AT issued an alert to passengers at 9.27pm saying there were "significant delays" at Kingsland station for East West line trains heading towards the city centre and east.

It directed fans to special event buses, saying they had shorter wait times.

Another alert later suggested city-bound passengers take a South-City line train from platform one and transfer trains to get to the city.

Witnesses said South-City line trains had been quieter, and city-bound trains moved people once they arrived but were slow to reach Eden Park.

Level crossing issues to blame - AT

AT general manager of rail services Mark Lambert said traffic management problems were the primary reason behind longer waits.

"East-West trains to the city and east were not ready to leave immediately after the game because a delay to closing Morningside Dr level crossing to cars meant trains could not get in place to line up at Kingsland station on time," he said in a statement.

"The timing of the Morningside Dr closure was part of the agreed traffic management plan, which AT does not implement, and it was disappointing this caused delays to trains.

"This meant that some fans were waiting up to 40 minutes for an East-West train."

Since the start of October, Auckland Council has been responsible for roads and other transport infrastructure, with AT now only operating public transport services.

Lambert said waits for other trains and special event buses had been about 10 minutes, and the “vast majority” of fans were cleared within an hour.

He said 15,000 people caught trains, out of 19,710 who used special event transport.

Half the platforms

Last night’s test was the first time AT had run direct southern trains from Kingsland after a match, under a new plan introduced since the City Rail Link (CRL) opened.

At previous All Blacks tests, both of the station's platforms were used for trains heading to the city. Under the new plan, one platform was dedicated to trains bound for Ōtāhuhu instead. Meanwhile, the city-bound trains headed for the CRL used platform two.

On Thursday, AT operations centre event planning lead Todd Hurley said fans should expect queues after the final whistle at the game.

"Just like sporting events around the world customers should still expect queues and busy crowds as 50,000 people will be leaving the match at once," he said.

"A six-car train can carry about 1000 people, so it takes time for each train to load."

Fans with match tickets had free bus and train travel from 3pm.

'Urgent attention'

Following the match, Eden Park chief executive Nick Sautner issued a statement calling on Auckland Council and AT to give "urgent attention" to transport infrastructure around the country's national stadium.

"It's magnificent to have a venue like Eden Park, but we expect a world-class experience from the street to the seat, and that's not the case currently."

Speaking to 1News today, he said the “street to seat experience” had been compromised by infrastructure at Kingsland and Morningside stations.

"There's no question there's concern waiting for 45 minutes on platforms and also confusion in relation to the services available," the chief executive said.

"Now we know that's a new piece of infrastructure. There's going to be teething problems, but there's no question that Kingsland railway station is now no longer fit for purpose and needs a review."

Sautner said about 40% of Eden Park’s operating costs related to transport.

“Given the significant cost involved, we expect the transport services and infrastructure supporting our events to reflect that expenditure and deliver the standard of experience fans should expect from a world-class city,” he said.

"The CRL is a gamechanger for Auckland, but we need to ensure the infrastructure connecting people to the stadium can support the opportunities it creates."

Sautner said the next six months would bring one of the stadium’s largest-ever event calendars, from international cricket to concerts by Guns N’ Roses and Robbie Williams.

With three sold-out Bruno Mars concerts and State of Origin also coming to the stadium in 2027, he acknowledged future upgrades would not be ready in time for next year, but said attention needed to be given to them now.

"From our side, our patrons and our hirers are paying for a service, and the service needs to be better, so I'm encouraging all stakeholders to get together and work through a solution, whether it be a short-term solution, given the calendar of content we've got over the next six months.

"But then also, let's put together an infrastructure plan for the next five years for this precinct to ensure that we can get the value of capture and creation in this area."

Auckland Council director of transport and infrastructure Steve Mutton said events like last night’s test "demonstrate the critical role Kingsland and Morningside stations play for both major events and everyday travel".

"As Auckland Council plans for significant growth in this part of Auckland, we’re considering the transport and infrastructure investments needed to support future residents, workers and visitors, including potential rail station upgrades and level crossing removals," he said.

- additional reporting by James Ball and Simon Mercep

About 5000 students a year would have to stay at school longer under a National plan to make teens finish Year 11 before they can leave, starting in 2028 if re-elected.

Party leader Christopher Luxon and education spokesperson Erica Stanford announced the policy in Auckland’s Northcote electorate this morning, alongside a plan for nationally consistent school start and finish dates.

Students can currently leave school once they turn 16, and many reach that birthday during Year 11, which was currently the year teenagers would gain NCEA Level 1.

Luxon said National wanted those students to stay on, earn a qualification and leave with the literacy and numeracy they needed to get a job.

“We don’t want 16-year-olds dropping out to sit on the couch. Staying in school isn’t a burden, it’s a head start to higher incomes and more job opportunities.”

Under the policy, students who turn 16 during Year 11 would have to finish the year.

Those who turn 16 in Year 12 would still need to stay until their birthday.

Stanford said the last months of Year 11 mattered because the new foundational award in literacy and numeracy would be assessed at the end of the year.

From 2028, Year 11 would also include compulsory English, maths and science teaching.

“Those few months at the end of Year 11 are crucial. We have now got a year-by-year, knowledge-rich curriculum. They were missing out on crucial learning," she said.

“The foundational award in literacy and numeracy... is set at the end of the year and based off the whole year’s learning. That’s why we need them to stay to the end.”

The change ties in with National’s plan to scrap NCEA.

National has also released its full education manifesto earlier today alongside the announcement around school leaving and school dates changes,

Exemptions to stay

Students heading into a job, apprenticeship or training would still be able to apply for an early leaving exemption. Stanford said about 1000 students a year were signed out this way, from a cohort of around 65,000.

She rejected concerns the policy could hold back teenagers bound for trades training.

“It is quite a process. You need to fill in forms to show that you are going into further training or study. You can’t just be going to nothing.”

According to Stanford, 1106 exemptions had been approved in 2025, about 90% of them for further education or training.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins, a former education minister, responded to the policy at a campaign event today.

“I want to keep kids in education and training for as long as we can to give them the skills that they need,” he said.

But he suggested examining if the exemption process might need to be made easier.

“We don’t want to say to kids who don’t enjoy school and don’t thrive at school that they shouldn’t go into an apprenticeship. That’s actually a really important outcome.”

Asked about teenagers who leave school to help support their families, Luxon said “we have enough support systems in place for kids to complete”.

Same dates for every school

National would also set consistent start and end-of-year dates for all schools from 2028.

Stanford said she knew the problem firsthand, having had children at more than one school. Schools currently have a start window of about two weeks.

She said some schools had also been closing at random times during the year and adding days at the end, which she said was not allowed under the law.

“The end of the year, around Christmas time, is not the best time for learning. We need students to be at school all year, every day, learning.”

Hipkins said schools were already supposed to have standardised holidays.

“I’m not really sure what the problem is they’re trying to fix, other than the fact that some schools, particularly secondary schools, choose different start and end dates... we pretty much have standardised term dates now.”

The US Department of Justice is investigating whether the decision of the White House television press pool to halt coverage of President Donald Trump last month violated antitrust law, an agency spokesperson said Sunday.

Emily Covington, a spokesperson for the department, said group boycotts among business competitors might violate US law. "The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organisations have violated the antitrust laws," she said.

The announcement came after the television pool of five broadcasters last month ceased presidential coverage after the administration barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.

Messages were sent Sunday to the five outlets seeking comment: ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and NBC.

The White House press pool, which is a rotating cast of news outlets that covers the president, has become a proxy for the wider fight over whether the president, or anyone, can control the content of news reports — a type of free speech, pillar of American democracy.

Last month's developments marked an extraordinary escalation in Trump’s efforts to restrict news reporters and outlets that he finds insufficiently supportive.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued over the days-long ban. It was lifted after a judge handed the three news organisations a reprieve, which is in place until Wednesday.

Television pool coverage of the White House has also resumed.

Jose Zamora, the Committee to Protect Journalists' regional director of the Americas, on Saturday criticised the administration's decision to investigate.

"The government should not use antitrust investigations to intimidate news outlets defending press access," Zamora said on X. "The public’s right to know depends on that access."

New Zealand First are promising to scrap the Accredited Working Visa and replace it with a "shortage-led" Skilled Work Visa if re-elected.

Entry into New Zealand under the scheme would be tied to an occupation, region and "demonstrated need", not an employer getting accreditation.

In a statement, the party said skilled migrants were needed where New Zealanders could not "reasonably fill" a job. The current system had become a "general recruitment channel" for jobs with little connection to a genuine skills shortage.

"The policy will put New Zealand workers first, lift confidence in the immigration system, protect migrant workers from exploitation, and preserve a clear route for employers who genuinely cannot find critical skills here," the party said.

"Immigration must serve New Zealand's economic interests, fill identifiable shortages, and complement our workforce, not become a general source of labour for ordinary jobs. Nor be used as a back door to bring in friends and family or exploit the system."

If re-elected, New Zealand First will:

- Scrap and replace the Accredited Employer Working Visa

- Limit access to genuine shortages

- End routine retail access

- Apply a New Zealand worker safeguard

- Restore a proper wage floor

- Require real domestic recruitment

- Strengthen employer accreditation

- Target enforcement where risk is highest

- Publish meaningful transparency data

- Protect workers without rewarding bad sponsors

The party said New Zealand had around 171,000 unemployed people and an underutilisation rate of 13.8%.

"There will still be genuine shortages, in particular occupations and regions, but employers seeking migrant workers for routine roles should have to prove that they have made a serious effort to employ or train New Zealanders.

"We are a country with an immigration system, not an international labour-hire agency with a flag."

The party said if New Zealanders could be trained to do a job, they should be.

"If the shortage is real, prove it. If the skill is critical, New Zealand will welcome it.

"But if the job is routine, the evidence is fiction, and the so-called shortage can be solved by offering a proper wage, the answer will be no," the party said.

The policy was announced at a public meeting in Dunedin.

rnz.co.nz

A person has died following a house fire in South Auckland just before noon today.

Emergency services were called to the blaze at a property on High St in Ōtāhuhu around 11.45am.

Fire and Emergency NZ responded with three fire trucks to extinguish the 6mx12m fire.

Police confirmed this afternoon one person had been “removed from the fire and sadly, despite medical attention, died at the scene”.

There was “nothing to immediately indicate” the fire had been suspicious, police said.

A fire investigator remained at the scene, Fire and Emergency said.

A teenager is under police guard in hospital being treated for burns, allegedly incurred at the scene of a suspicious fire at a Melbourne Korean barbecue restaurant.

Police said two males were seen breaking into the restaurant in Springvale, in Melbourne's southeast, about 12.15am on Sunday (local time).

A spate of firebombings and arson attacks has swept the city in the past week, including an incident in which six cars were set alight at separate locations in a single night.

Fire crews arrived at the scene in the early hours of Sunday to find smoke billowing from the window of the restaurant.

The two males fled the scene in a car.

Shortly later, a teenage boy was found with burns at a fast-food restaurant in Heatherton, about a 10-minute drive from the Springvale fire scene.

Emergency services were called to the scene and treated the boy.

The 15-year-old was arrested and taken to hospital under police guard.

Police said a crime scene had been established and the investigation was ongoing.

Glass on the restaurant's door was smashed and a red jerry can was visible inside the property on Sunday as investigators pored over the site.

Days earlier, a 13-year-old boy was left fighting for life after suffering burns to 90% of his body during an alleged firebombing in Taylors Hill, a residential suburb 22km northwest of Melbourne.

The boy was found in a vehicle after what police believe was an attempt to flee the site on Thursday.

Police have since arrested two 16-year-old boys and a 15-year-old boy for questioning over the incidents.

That incident was part of a busy night for investigators, who responded to reports of six cars being set alight in different locations.

Arson and Explosives Squad head Chris Murray told reporters during the week that police were committed to finding others involved in the Taylors Hill arson and holding them responsible for the teen's injuries.

"We have a young boy whose life is currently hanging in the balance," he said.

"Let me be clear: this is not a game – no amount of money is worth risking your future or your life. Lighting a fire means putting yourself in danger."

Victoria has experienced a spate of arson attacks on vehicles, homes and businesses which police believe is linked to organised crime.

Young people may be recruited online or over encrypted apps to carry out crimes on behalf of criminal syndicates.

In September, a 23-year-old man was found with severe burns in the carpark of a tobacco shop following an alleged firebombing in Melton, on the outskirts of Melbourne's northwest.

There have been more than 150 tobacco store fires in Victoria since March 2023.

Pike, 50, suffered burns and blisters to her arms and her prognosis remains uncertain after executioners tried to give her two lethal doses of pentobarbital, her legal team said.

She was sentenced to death for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer.

Although other states have moved forward with attempting to execute inmates a second time, in those cases, the first try had been halted before any drug actually began flowing.

Outgoing Republican governor Bill Lee has paused executions in Tennessee and ordered an outside review of the failed September 30 attempt to put Pike to death.

His office did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on whether the state would try again to execute her.

Death penalty experts say it's hard to know what will happen if the state decides to move forward with a second attempt.

"Whether or not it would be lawful for the state of Tennessee to attempt to execute her again is a complex question that will take significant time, attention and analysis of her defence team, the prosecution team, the state government in Tennessee and multiple state and federal courts," said Stephen Johnson, a criminal defence attorney in Tennessee who is president-elect of the National Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers.

Mental competency could be a first hurdle

Pike regained consciousness almost six days after the failed attempt to kill her.

Her legal team had believed she was brain dead, but after she woke up, she was aware of what happened and was "angry and confused", her lawyers said Wednesday.

Her attorneys will surely explore the medical and psychiatric impact of receiving two doses of the lethal injection drug and being on a ventilator for several days to determine if she is "now legally competent to even be executed", Johnson said.

That will likely include neuropsychological and forensic psychiatric evaluations and potentially other medical tests, and then there would "undoubtedly be significant litigation" over those issues, which can take years, he said.

Other cases could serve as a guide, but none are quite the same

There have been dozens of troubled executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre, including several attempts that did not end in death.

Alan Miller and Kenneth Smith both survived lethal injection attempts in Alabama in 2022.

Both argued that a second execution attempt violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment as applied to them individually, which courts found "plausible" in early litigation stages.

However, the US Supreme Court did not agree to decide this question, and both were ultimately executed by nitrogen gas in 2024.

Two other inmates, Thomas Creech of Idaho and Tony Carruthers of Tennessee, remain on death row after failed attempts to administer lethal injection drugs.

But Pike's case is distinguishable from others where a second execution attempt was made because she "bore the brunt of lethal drugs", said Jordan Steiker, co-director of the Capital Punishment Center at the University of Texas.

He said other cases involved "the psychological trauma of facing an execution effort" but not "grievous harm".

A similar case that predates modern death penalty era

Louisiana executioners tried to put to death 17-year-old Willie Francis in 1946 but called off their efforts after an improperly prepared electric chair failed to kill him.

But he was executed by electrocution the following year after the US Supreme Court ruled that a second execution attempt did not violate double jeopardy under the Fifth Amendment or constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment, attributing part of its reasoning to the "malfunction" of the electric chair.

The court notably said, "Accidents happen for which no man is to blame". But a dissenting justice called the experience of being subjected to a second execution attempt "death by instalments".

It's not clear whether this case would be viewed as controlling precedent because the Court has not revisited this ruling using its modern "evolving standards of decency" approach to the Eighth Amendment, Steiker said.

"So I think the guide today would be whether or not it would be viewed as repulsive according to contemporary community standards to attempt a second execution."

Complex legal issues

Experts said they are not aware of any state or federal statute that explicitly bars a second execution attempt after a first one fails.

John Mills, a lawyer who represents people facing the death penalty, said a crucial question would be whether a second attempt to execute Pike would amount to torture.

He said federal courts have declined to intervene in "less egregious" cases, but noted that Pike's lawyers had previously warned that her medical conditions could complicate a lethal injection and make it agonising.

"Facing her death a second time having thought she was going to die and then instead being tortured raises a strong claim that a second attempt to kill her would amount to torture, violating the Eighth Amendment," Mills said.

Steiker said he believes Pike's case would be "uncharted territory" if Tennessee moves forward with a second attempt.

"The most obvious way to avoid litigation over this would be for the governor to commute the sentence," he said.

The ACT Party's fiscal plan promises to cut debt and spending, raise the superannuation age by three months every year, and cut disability benefits by $653 million.

By Russell Palmer of RNZ

The superannuation changes would also put contributions to the NZ Super Fund on hold and would include "compassionate access" for those who had spent "a substantial portion of their career in physically demanding jobs".

Similar to the plan unveiled at the last election, the document sets out a goal of returning to 2017 per-capita spending, adjusted for inflation and population growth.

This would be achieved partly by abolishing "demographic" ministries, bringing disability benefits "under control", cutting foreign aid and back-office spending, and preventing migrants claiming benefits for five years after entering the country.

Operating allowances – spending – would be reduced by $400m a year, while non-welfare spending would be reduced over three years to 2017 levels – adjusted for inflation and wage growth, with increases in health, education, defence, police and children's services remaining untouched.

Two policies in the plan remained mysterious: one costing $100 million a year, and the other being some kind of tax relief costing $264m in its first year rising to $303m in 2031.

Leader David Seymour announced the plan at The Ever Room photography studio on Auckland's Karangahape Rd, saying it was fully costed and showed ACT was "taking the hard road of truth-telling this election".

"Taxpayers know the Government has too much debt. When you're paying over a million dollars an hour in interest on government debt, it's not time to make a virtue of saving money slowly," he said.

"Labour and their allies seem to believe greater spending is needed ... ACT rejects that thinking for two reasons. The New Zealand Government already spends as much as, or more than, most of our Pacific Rim neighbours and competitors. More fundamentally, nobody who has seen how government works would think it can make better decisions than families and businesses."

The promise to scrap KiwiSaver tax is tempered by scrapping the scheme's subsidies, and revenue from the Emissions Trading Scheme would be paid out rather than reinvested in cutting emissions.

The document laid out the plans to curb disability benefits by $12m in the first year, rising to $124m, $231m and $286m in subsequent years.

The party would achieve this by requiring "independent medical certification against clear criteria" to access them, with "phased reassessment of existing recipients".

"People with genuine, enduring conditions will retain appropriate long-term support. Consistent assessment helps distinguish those unable to work from those who can work with support, protecting the safety net and reducing avoidable dependency.

"Our costing is based on bringing the number of mental health claimants back to its pre-pandemic level, relative to the working-age population, over four years."

New spending in the plan includes the party's already-announced policies like electronic money management for beneficiaries, a $2b cancer centre, an overstayers investigation unit, $2m for cameras to detect "anti-social noise", $150m capital contingency for a new secondary school in Epsom, and $500 investment funds for Year 11 students.

Dame Jacinda Ardern’s former press secretary says he argued with her in the back of a Crown car that her government was “doing too much” during the Covid pandemic era and needed to focus in on the economy.

Andrew Campbell writes about his years as Ardern's right hand man in a new memoir, In The Room.

Campbell served as chief press secretary through much of Ardern's time in office, including during the March 15 attacks, the Whakaari White Island eruption and Covid.

What Ardern’s former top aide has revealed about the Covid years - watch on TVNZ+

He told Q+A that the setting for the argument with the PM during the pandemic era made it “very uncomfortable, cause you’re sitting right next to each other”.

“I was suggesting, in fact, that I thought the government was doing too much. It needed to do less. We needed to focus on the economy,” he said.

According to the book’s publicity material, Dame Jacinda told Campbell on his final day: “Every Prime Minister needs someone who will challenge them – and that was you.”

Campbell said Labour “failed to pivot to the economic response of Covid anywhere near soon enough”. He said that by the end of 2021, “we were largely vaccinated” and the government should have “removed things like mandate[s] sooner”.

Though he qualified his answer by saying Dame Jacinda's government did "an incredibly successful job" on the things that mattered most, and that the problem was the cumulative weight of decisions rather than any single one.

Vaccine mandates for workers in sectors including health and education were introduced in late 2021, alongside the “traffic light” framework and vaccine passes.

'Removing liberty’

Campbell said he realised early on that the pandemic response would cost Labour votes.

“You can’t ask people to take these actions and then expect them to vote for you. Like, I mean, you’re removing liberty. And whilst in the immediate election after that, that didn’t come true, that eventually did,” he said.

Labour won a landslide in 2020 but was voted out in 2023.

“In order to win the battle against the virus, inevitably, you have to burn a huge amount of political capital,” Campbell said.

He said Dame Jacinda's daily briefings and constant availability drew public support at first, until people grew “sick of hearing the same message”.

The 1pm podium briefings, often alongside then-Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, became a fixture of life during the 2020 lockdowns.

Campbell said Dame Jacinda was the one who pointed out that her level of exposure “was obviously ultimately going to have a consequence, and it did”.

He also rejected the suggestion that the media had been “on a string” during the pandemic, naming a list of stories exposing flaws with the response.

“My recollection of actually a lot of that period wasn’t that they were on a string, but they were exposing PPE problems, or breaches at the border."

'A conviction politician'

Campbell admitted he had misread the kind of leader he was working for. Dame Jacinda, he believed, had been trying to model “a different type of leadership”.

“One of my failings actually in the job was that I didn’t really fully appreciate that the whole time I worked for her, and I wonder whether we could have done things a bit differently had I kind of been more alert to that.

“Had I understood her as more of a disruptor, as someone who was really a kind of a conviction politician, [who] was wanting to change the status quo, not just manage it, I think some of the communications advice might have been a bit different.”

The warmth the public saw in Dame Jacinda was genuine, Campbell asserted.

“None of that’s manufactured. You can’t manufacture that. It was completely authentic. It is who she is. She’s a very warm, a very kind person.”

She was also a tough editor when it came to her communication. Speech drafts Campbell thought were “pretty good” often came back “with red ink through them”.

“I think it was a fundamental part of the success of the government, actually, was her ability to communicate effectively," he said.

“If you are needing people to take an action, they have to feel that. They have to be comfortable with taking that, and they’re not just going to do that because you tell them to or you give them a bunch of numbers that tell them to.”

He also rejected the notion that Dame Jacinda was now unpopular.

Her approval ratings were at times “astronomical”, and newer more recent polling still had her as “the most popular politician in New Zealand".

Campbell also weighed in on the existing political environment.

"The current government has actually made a very relatively benign environment compared to the six years we had look extremely hard. I mean, that's remarkable given they've had a much much easier hand than we had," he said.

His advice to today’s leaders went back to Dame Jacinda's “relentlessly positive” 2017 campaign.

“If there was one thing I would encourage all of the leaders to think about is to actually be less negative,” he said.

“I think there’s a negativity in politics at the moment. I think a politician that can come forward and actually be positive, and live those values and not buy into the negative, that would be powerful.”

Campbell had previously worked for the Greens and New Zealand Rugby. He now lives in the UK, where he works for a multinational renewable energy company.

Watch the full interview in the video above

Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air

Labour says all of its election promises will be fully paid for as it reveals a fiscal plan that leans on scrapping National's Investment Boost and a previously announced capital gains tax to help fund its spending.

The plan, released ahead of the November election, keeps the $2.4 billion operating allowance set at Budget 2026, and it also forecasts a return to surplus in 2028/29, the same year as existing forecasts under the National-led coalition.

Labour said all of its promises are "fully costed and fully funded" while closely similar debt and surplus commitments detailed by the Government.

The ten-page document is the party's answer to attacks from National on an alleged "hidden bill" questioning how a centre-left coalition could pay for new promises.

Labour's costings show $24.5 billion of spending over five years, offset in part by almost $11 billion of new revenue, with the rest absorbed by existing Budget allowances.

Today's announcement also follows repeated pledges from Labour that the detail would come after the pre-election fiscal update, which Treasury released last Tuesday.

Notably, the plan has no specific line item for future pay equity settlements, the single biggest cost National had pinned on Labour.

The party says those will be funded through future Budgets as agreements are reached.

Where is the money coming from?

Labour expects to raise almost $11 billion in new revenue over the forecast period. These would come from four initiatives according to its plan.

• $7.7 billion from repealing Investment Boost, the Government's flagship tax incentive for business investment - of which National has been quick to defend in the past.

• $2.8 billion from its capital gains tax

• $365 million from reversing the changes to tobacco excise duty

• $100 million from other savings

The capital gains tax would be a 28% tax on gains from commercial and residential investment property made after July 1, 2027.

The family home, farms, KiwiSaver, shares, business assets and inheritances would be exempt, and Labour says nine out of 10 New Zealanders would never pay it.

Labour first announced the tax a year ago and has pledged every dollar gained from it to health spending. With around $15 billion of health spending in the plan, most of it is matching the coalition's existing cost-pressure track.

That spending would include meeting rising cost pressures at the same level as the current Government, three free GP visits a year through a new Medicard proposed by Labour, and bringing back the free prescriptions scheme.

When questioned on the lack of extra health funding beyond the coalition's track, Hipkins said free primary care would ease pressure on hospitals by keeping people healthy.

"Providing free primary healthcare to New Zealanders will be the biggest advance in the delivery of healthcare in New Zealand in a generation," he said.

He said Labour would also end what he called National's hiring freeze in the health system within the plan's existing envelope.

What is money being committed to?

Labour has pledged to reverse half of the Government's public service savings planned for the next Budget and all of the following round at a cost of almost $2 billion.

Hipkins said Labour expected about half of the first year's cuts would already have been made or be underway by the time it took office, and it would not reverse those.

"But we are going to stop the future cuts," he said.

Other commitments in the plan include:

• $591 million for school lunches, though no funding is booked for 2030/31, which Labour says follows the same accounting treatment the Government uses

• $760 million in rent subsidies for 6000 new state houses, alongside $2.9 billion in capital for Kāinga Ora over four years which is counted in capital allowances

• about $1.56 billion to lift the GST registration threshold to $80,000 and let businesses write off assets worth up to $10,000

• $226 million for Apprenticeship Boost and $84 million for Māori trades training

Labour has also pencilled in $968 million for "future announcements".

The plan leaves about $10.5 billion of future operating allowances unallocated over four years, including about $1.5 billion in 2027/28 and $1.1 billion in 2028/29.

That unallocated for money would also need to cover other cost pressures outside health, such as defence or public sector pay rounds. Labour asserts the remaining space leaves room to respond to future pressures and also pay equity claims.

Additionally, Labour's plan includes about $2.5 billion for an immediate $4 an hour pay rise for 65,000 care and support workers in an interim increase.

However, it leaves future pay equity settlements to future Budgets, saying it "would undermine the process" to announce a figure in advance.

Pay equity settlements left out

The plan does not include a specific figure for future pay equity settlements, despite Labour's pledge to reinstate the pay equity legislation within its first 100 days.

Labour says it is confident those costs can be met within the flexibility built into the plan, but would not say how much it expects them to cost. The party was continuing to argue in its plan that naming a figure would weaken negotiations.

"It would undermine the process to announce in advance how much had been set aside for individual claims."

Hipkins said the $4 rise was an interim increase, about half of the $8 an hour unions had pushed for, and was not a final deal.

"I'm not going to say to them that they're going to have to wait that much longer," he said, adding a final settlement could take a year to negotiate.

The party's finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said transitional rules may be needed so 33 claims that had been underway would not have to start again, while Hipkins said there would be no retrospective back pay for the years of repeal..

Pay equity was the largest single item in National's "hidden bill" claims against Labour, which cited a Treasury estimate of almost $11 billion for reinstating the former regime.

That document, which came out before Labour's plan, claimed an $18.2 billion gap between Labour's spending intentions and its capital gains tax revenue.

Labour also plans to freeze fuel tax for three years and cap weekly public transport fares at $20 in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and $10 elsewhere.

The fare cap would be funded by reprioritising 1% of the National Land Transport Fund. The plan's costings table does not list a separate figure for the fuel tax freeze.

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said Taiwan cherishes peace but will not give up its freedom, in a speech marking the island’s National Day on Saturday as tensions over Taiwan persist between the US and China.

Lai's speech soon drew Beijing's criticism, accusing him of disregarding facts and misleading the public.

Taiwan has faced growing military and political pressure from China, which views the island democracy as a breakaway province to be retaken by force if necessary. In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping told his US counterpart Donald Trump that he hoped the US would adhere to "the correct position of opposing 'Taiwan independence'" during his visit to Washington.

Lai said China has exerted pressure in an attempt to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, and the island’s "resolve" is not just about its own survival in the face of "authoritarian expansion". It’s also about whether the international community still believes that force cannot override rules, he said.

Lai said Taiwan’s increased defence investment is intended to deter war, not provoke it.

"We are strengthening our self-defence not to abandon dialogue, but to ensure that dialogue can take place on the basis of parity and dignity," he said.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when a civil war brought the Communist Party to power in Beijing. Defeated Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan. The island has operated with its own government since then.

Lai is trying to drum up support for Taiwan's concerns

China has pressed Washington to halt arms sales to Taiwan, most prominently during a May summit in Beijing between Trump and Xi. After that meeting, a record US$14 billion (NZ$24.9 billion) US arms package to the island stalled.

In September, Xi asked the US to handle the Taiwan issue "prudently".

Lai said Saturday that Taiwan welcomed dialogue between China and the US to manage their competition and reduce the risk of conflict and war, but pointed out that maintaining peace requires a correct understanding of history.

"There must be respect for the right of the people of Taiwan to exist," he said. "Democracies in the Indo-Pacific must join forces to ensure the status quo of peace and stability in the region is not changed."

China blasts Lai for advocating Taiwan's independence

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry reported that 21 Chinese military aircraft and seven navy ships operated around Taiwan in a 24-hour period ending at 6am Saturday (local time), with 13 of the aircraft crossing the median line in the Taiwan Strait and entering the island’s air defence identification zone.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhang Han criticised Lai for what she called stubbornly clinging to a "Taiwan independence" mindset in his speech, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.

Zhang said Lai hyped up the idea of a threat from the mainland and promoted the false narrative of "democracy versus authoritarianism", accusing him of attempting to pursue independence through military means and by relying on foreign forces.

He was stoking confrontation across the strait and undermining peace and stability, she said, according to Xinhua.

Foreign guests, including Eswatini King Mswati III and Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith of Indiana, offered their congratulations in Taiwan, Lai's office said. Eswatini is Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Africa. A Japanese parliamentary delegation also visited the island and joined the celebrations.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi infuriated Beijing last November by saying that any Chinese move against Taiwan could prompt a Japanese military response.

The National Day celebration marks the establishment of the Republic of China, which overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911. The Nationalist government relocated to Taiwan in 1949, as Mao Zedong’s Communists swept to power on the mainland during the civil war.

A cyclist who died in a crash with a car near Christchurch on Friday has been named, as police continued to seek the driver of a small white hatchback.

On October 9, emergency services were called to Dyers Pass Rd in Governors Bay at around 10.20am after receiving reports of a crash.

A cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.

He was today named as 79-year-old Michael James Hancock of Christchurch.

Police were continuing to appeal to the driver of a small white hatchback who officers believe may have information that could assist in the investigation.

The driver had been travelling south on Dyers Pass Rd towards Governors Bay at the time of the incident.

Anyone with information, CCTV or dash cam footage was asked to contact police on 105.

The latest attack on the international airport in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh killed 12 people and injured over 300 others, civil aviation authorities said early Sunday, with some in critical condition. A Saudi-led coalition blamed Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighbouring Yemen.

It was the deadliest attack in any Gulf Arab country since the start of the Iran war, whose fronts have expanded to include the recent surge in fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.

A missile struck a King Khalid International Airport complex housing terminals 3 and 4 for domestic flights, a regional official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to speak to the media.

The Saudi statement said the dead included four Saudi citizens as well as two Bangladeshi nationals, a Palestinian, a US citizen, an Egyptian, a Jordanian, a Syrian and a Sudanese. It said the injured were being treated at several hospitals.

Footage posted on social media following the attack and analysed by The Associated Press shows at least one ambulance and another vehicle outside the airport.

Trump said he would consider joining strikes against rebels

The attack — the latest of several in the past week on the airport — is expected to increase Saudi pressure on allies including the United States to provide military support for the kingdom, which has seemingly tried to avoid all-out war with the Houthis.

Shortly after the attack on Saturday afternoon, US President Donald Trump said he was evaluating whether the US should join Saudi strikes against the rebels. “We may. We’re going to look at it,” he said. “We just found out about the recent attack. So we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.”

Trump later Saturday said he planned to speak to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and said “what happened in Saudi Arabia is not acceptable”. Asked if the US might get involved, Trump responded, “We’ll find out.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged in a social media post that an American citizen had been killed in the attack, which he condemned.

“These reprehensible attacks demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life. They must stop now,” he said.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis blamed them for the attack, calling it a “fully-fledged war crime” and vowing a firm response. The airport has no military facilities.

There was no immediate statement from the rebels, who earlier Saturday accused Saudi Arabia of striking Sanaa International Airport in the Houthi-held Yemeni capital.

The Houthis claimed attacks earlier in the week on King Khalid International Airport that killed three Saudis, including a pilot. The surge in attacks, including against other Saudi airports, military facilities and oil infrastructure, has come in the week since a Saudi-led coalition launched a major military offensive against the Houthis.

Saudi civil aviation authorities earlier Saturday said airport operations were suspended. The airport had a heavy police presence, with all entrances blocked, and lights around the complex were dimmed. Flights diverted elsewhere, the Flightradar24 tracker said. Countries including the United States, Britain, Germany, Australia and Canada warned citizens to avoid the airport.

Also Saturday, US Central Command said a fighter jet struck and disabled a commercial cargo vessel with a precision munition in the Gulf of Oman, part of US efforts to maintain a naval blockade of Iranian ports. The Panama-flagged M/V Ocean Molica had departed an Iranian port and did not heed repeated warnings. The ship’s crew was unharmed, CENTCOM said.

For Iran, the fighting puts pressure on a key US ally

The attacks on Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, have rattled markets and the region. And yet the Saudi energy ministry hours after the latest one was still promoting a major international energy conference set to begin in Riyadh on Sunday.

Until recently, the Houthis had been largely on the sidelines of the Iran war. Now the rebels are a way for Tehran to apply pressure on a key US ally.

The Saudis and the Houthis began fighting in 2015 when the kingdom entered Yemen’s civil war on behalf of the internationally recognised government. Relative calm after a 2022 ceasefire ended in July when the Houthis resumed attacks, saying the Saudis fired on the Sanaa airport as a plane from Iran was trying to land. That revived anger over the Saudi-led blockade that has largely isolated Houthi-run areas.

Now fighting has escalated, with the Saudi-led coalition providing air support for Yemeni government forces attempting to reverse recent Houthi gains along the Red Sea. Those gains gave the rebels better surveillance of shipping on a corridor that is a crucial alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been attacking ships.

While the Houthis have said they are only targeting Saudi shipping as part of a blockade in retaliation for the one imposed on them, concerns about wider attacks persist. The Houthis previously attacked dozens of ships after the war in Gaza began, calling it solidarity with Palestinians. A US bombing campaign sharply limited that.

Saudi Arabia has run low on interceptors, officials say

Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air defence support to the region, regional officials told the AP last month, with one noting that the US has seen its own stock dwindle during the war with Iran.

Officials have said US assistance has included intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for the latest offensive against the Houthis.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia said its foreign minister and Omani counterpart spoke by phone about the importance of “supporting diplomatic solutions to de-escalate tensions” in the region. Oman, which lies across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, has played a mediator role at times in the region.

Saudi flight disruptions are growing

The Houthis this week warned global airlines “for the last time” about the potential consequences of operating in Saudi airspace, which they described as a theatre for their military operations.

Before the latest attack, Air India, FlyDubai, Lufthansa Group and Pakistan International Airlines were among airlines suspending flights to and from Riyadh and other Saudi airports for varying periods.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency had expanded its guidance on Saudi airspace, noting the Houthis’ ability to strike targets deeper inside the kingdom, including Riyadh, and a “greater focus on aviation infrastructure”.

The missile and drone attacks and interception efforts “create an increased risk of misidentification of civil aircraft”, it said.

Two regional officials said Houthi attacks on the Riyadh airport on Thursday damaged three planes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to brief the media. The Saudi national carrier said one of its aircraft was damaged while it was on the ground, with no passengers on board.

Meanwhile, Saudi authorities warned the public this week that “filming, publishing or sharing information related to countering missiles and drones and their impact sites exposes you to legal liability”.

The government of Panama declared a state of emergency as the aftershocks of two powerful earthquakes that roiled the country shook communities for hours. Officials did not attribute any deaths to the quakes but reported damages in all 10 of Panama's provinces and two Indigenous territories.

The 7.7- and 6.6-magnitude earthquakes on Friday (local time) toppled buildings near the epicentre and prompted evacuations across the Central American country. Seismologists recorded more than 100 aftershocks, including ones measuring magnitude 5.8, 5.5 and 5.2.

The earlier quake, also felt in neighbouring Colombia, was centred about 10km southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba, in the central province of Herrera, according to the US Geological Survey. It struck at a depth of 10km.

Presidential Minister Juan Carlos Orillac announced the emergency during a news conference in the capital, Panama City. He said homes, schools, healthcare facilities, roads and hotels were among the damaged facilities.

Malitzie Rivera, deputy director of the National Civil Protection System, told reporters the state had reports of 27 people with injuries, ranging from minor to moderate.

Hundreds of homes were damaged

Most of the damage was concentrated in the central provinces of Veraguas, Herrera, Cocle and Los Santos.

The Civil Protection agency tallied roughly 420 homes and about the same number of public schools damaged. It also reported that seven hotels, at least 13 churches and nine bridges were affected by the earthquakes.

In La Villa de Los Santos, a colonial-era community about 64km northeast of the epicentre, homes and a historical Catholic church collapsed. People who spent the night on the streets were waiting for the government's guidance on what to do next.

"We’ve been here since 1pm yesterday; we haven’t moved," Tony Jiménez, whose home partially collapsed, said while sitting with relatives under a tent. “It was a terrible thing. I can tell you with absolute certainty that in my 90 years, I had never experienced anything like it. It was intense — truly intense.”

The collapsed Church of San Atanasio was declared a National Historic Heritage Site in 1938.

Images of crumbling buildings and deep fissures slicing through roads added to fears across a Latin American region battered by a series of devastating earthquakes in recent months.

Two back-to-back 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes roiled Venezuela’s La Guaira state in June, killing more than 6500 people and leaving 17,000 homeless. In August, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia killed at least 289 people.

The notably lower toll in nearby Panama may have been due to the country's strict building codes, especially governing construction of skyscrapers in the capital, said Carlos Valdés, head of the Seismology Department at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Rising sea levels prompt evacuations

Officials did not report any missing people on Saturday but said some communities remained cut off due to landslides and road damage.

On Isla Caña, off the Pacific coast of Los Santos, approximately 300 people were evacuated because of rising sea levels and rough surf. Meanwhile, in the city of Penonomé, around 150km from the capital, a shelter was housing 13 people, including five children. The earthquakes caused a partial collapse and cracks at the cathedral in the district’s main square, as well as damage to the governor’s office building and the Dos Continentes hotel.

In Panama City, one of the water treatment plants supplying the area operated at 20% capacity on Saturday, and tent facilities with cots were set up at six hospitals.

Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, one of the region’s busiest airports with more than 20 million passengers in 2025, temporarily suspended operations after the first quake but said Friday but reopened hours later.

But hundreds of travellers on major Panama-based airlines like Copa Airlines were left stranded in airports around the region. Their connections through Tocumen — one of the biggest travel hubs in the region — were cancelled or delayed. In Mexico City’s airport, airline employees scrambled as families with babies were sleeping on the floor Saturday while one woman from Venezuela shouted in panic that the flight through Panama was one of the only ways she could return home to Caracas.

The Panama Canal Authority said operations were continuing normally along the global trade route. It said its priority was the safety of employees, vessels and crews and that specialised technical teams were inspecting facilities for possible damage.

The last major earthquake to cause widespread damage in Panama struck in 1991. A magnitude 7.4 quake, centred in nearby Costa Rica, killed 23 people, injured 559 and left thousands of people homeless in the border Bocas del Toro region.

Earthquakes are common, especially along Panama's border with Costa Rica and its Pacific coast, because of the interaction of several tectonic plates, including the Cocos, Nazca and Caribbean plates.

Panama lies along the “Ring of Fire”, a 40,000-km arc of volcanoes and fault lines around the Pacific Basin, where most of the world’s earthquakes occur.

Countries offer help

Messages of support and offers of assistance flooded in from across the region shortly after the earthquakes. Mulino on Friday thanked fellow Latin American leaders for their support, saying he had spoken with the presidents of Chile, Uruguay and Guatemala, among others.

The US Department of State on Saturday said it mobilised a disaster response team to help local authorities with search and rescue expertise as well as aerial and on-the-ground assessments. The US government also pledged US$5 million (NZ$8.9 million) for humanitarian assistance.

US Southern Command also said two helicopters supported by the State Department's drug-control bureau had delivered 907kg of food to Panamanian communities affected by the earthquakes.

A man killed eight people including a pregnant woman, children and other relatives at his home in Erie, Pennsylvania, before taking his own life as well, authorities said.

Warning: This story contains details some may find disturbing.

Erie Police Chief Rick Lorah said the 45-year-old man was related to seven of the victims in the previous day's shooting, while the eighth was a friend of the pregnant woman.

Video and audio evidence recovered by investigators included muffled gunshot sounds coming from inside the home just before two "distressed" women arrived and began pounding on the door shortly before 5pm Friday (10am Saturday NZT), he said. The gunman then came out and shot them as they ran toward him, before returning inside.

Police arrived to find the two women dead outside. Inside they found the bodies of a 5-year-old boy; a 1-year-old girl on the first floor; two more women and two young men in a stairwell; and the shooter on the second floor.

"Out of respect for the victims and the families, I will not discuss the details of what our officers encountered inside that home," the chief said at a news conference. "But I want our community to understand the gravity of what happened and the profound impact this tragedy has had on those involved and on our community as a whole."

Lorah declined to discuss motive but said investigators would talk to other relatives and examine the cellphones of the women who were killed outside the home.

"They knew something was going on at that house," he said. "We have to figure out what that is."

Lorah said officers arrived within minutes of receiving an alert via ShotSpotter, a controversial gunshot detection system that relies on artificial intelligence and a network of microphones to identify gunshots. No additional shots were fired after that.

"Sounds that may have been mistaken for gunfire came from flashbang devices — chemical munitions — used by SWAT officers," he said.

Governor Josh Shapiro said he offered his administration's "full support" to Erie Mayor Daria Devlin, who spoke directly to the victims' families during the news conference.

I’ve spoken with Mayor Devlin and offered my Administration’s full support following the tragic mass shooting in Erie last night — killing nine of our fellow Pennsylvanians.

My heart breaks for this family. Lori and I are praying for their loved ones and the entire Erie…

— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) October 10, 2026

"I am so deeply sorry. What happened to you was horrific, and there is nothing that any of us can say today that will make this any easier," she said. "But you do need to know that our entire community is with you, we’re grieving with you. And we are here to support you."

District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz urged the public to refrain from speculation as the investigation continues.

"Please do not allow rumours, speculation or unverified information to add to the pain that these families are already experiencing," she said.

Erie is about 190 kilometres north of Pittsburgh.

A man died after he entered the tiger enclosure at a wildlife park in northern England and was attacked by one of the animals, police said.

Emergency medical personnel responded to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park near the city of Doncaster after the incident was reported at about 1.35pm Saturday (local time), but the victim died at the scene, South Yorkshire Police said in a statement.

The tiger was not injured and remained inside the enclosure during the incident, police said.

The wildlife park was evacuated after the attack and officers remained at the scene Saturday night as they investigated.

"We are working closely with the authorities to ascertain exactly what happened," the wildlife park said in a statement posted on its website.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park began operations in 2009, with its Land of the Tigers attraction opening in 2011.

The attraction is a purpose-built two-acre reserve for endangered Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers. The enclosure includes a 300-metre raised walkway that allows visitors to watch the big cats roam through woodlands and grasslands or playing in a waterfall pool, the park says on its website.

Tech Week is in full bloom in San Francisco, packing the city’s restaurants this week with venture capitalists and AI founders ebullient about the White House’s stance on regulating artificial intelligence — namely, don’t do it.

And after months of debate about leading AI companies’ unchecked AI agents meddling with everything from US government websites to healthcare data, the nation now finds itself further from governing AI systems than it was a few years ago.

US President Donald Trump brought tech titans to Washington last month for a luncheon and ceremonial signing of a voluntary safety pact he described as “almost a constitution” surrounding “Super Intelligence”, the administration’s new preferred term for AI.

The 308-word agreement lays out that advanced AI labs should follow safety protocols and set up internal teams to monitor their own progress, but the administration has yet to provide details on how, in OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s words, to keep “bad things” from happening.

Safety challenges were not top of mind inside a crowded event space in San Francisco on Wednesday, where founders and funders said the government’s hands-off approach would net higher profits for companies building AI-powered defence and security systems.

Panellists praised the government’s bullish industry support at one meeting aimed at “investing in the forefront”, part of the blitz of pop-up events organised by Andreessen Horowitz, a venture firm whose head is a Trump science and tech adviser.

"I want to start with one figure that I think really emphasises the investment opportunity of defence, and that’s US$1 trillion (NZ$1.7 trillion). The US government, for the first time, is allocating US$1 trillion (NZ$1.7 trillion) to its defence spending.

"And US$13.5 billion (NZ$24.08 billion) of that will go to autonomous systems and AI,” said Kyle Stanford, a venture capital research director at PitchBook, a market intelligence platform.

“That has obviously brought a lot of capital into defence tech spending, more than we’ve ever seen.”

New concerns emerge on AI safety

A day later, three researchers at OpenAI's headquarters said the ChatGPT maker had fired them, posting that “fear and unclear rules stymie AI safety work”.

Separately, David Robinson, a leader on OpenAI’s safety team until he recently resigned, said he was worried about letting the advanced labs police themselves.

“This is no substitute for hard law, and it does give a lot of freedom to the companies,” Robinson said. “The time between model generations is measured in weeks … and I think we have some very serious safety challenges in front of us in the nearer term.”

Trump has staked his political capital on the AI industry’s success, saying its unbridled development is key to winning the AI race against China.

On the first day of his second term, the Republican president repealed a Biden-era executive order aimed in part at guarding against the risks that AI systems pose to consumers, workers and national security.

His administration has since reoriented federal policy away from oversight and toward rapid growth, including by cancelling previous requirements for AI developers to share safety test results with the federal government.

In December, Trump signed an executive order aimed at blocking AI regulations at the state level, saying a patchwork of rules could stifle the industry.

Even as Silicon Valley companies have disclosed their models’ involvement in troubling cyberattacks throughout the year, the burgeoning tech sector has continued to drive economic growth.

Concerns about AI safety centred on existential risk, rather than current real-world harms, landed at the centre of debates last month, when a relatively unknown Anthropic engineer quit and called for a pause on tech development to keep “superhuman” systems from eluding controls.

Then, Anthropic and OpenAI CEOs echoed the call to slow AI development.

To some critics, their public manifestos appeared aimed at currying favour with investors ahead of their public listings and the midterm elections, when the political tides could turn with many voters opposed to data centres.

“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the USA. has that, in spades!”

Trump posted in response on Truth Social, warning voters not to “kill the Golden Goose”, a term he has used to refer to both AI and data centres.

White House pact preserves wide latitude for AI firms

As calls mounted for stricter control of AI, the administration brought tech executives to the White House for lunch, followed by a ceremonial signing of the agreement on AI safety.

“I'm seeing tremendous self-policing,” Trump told reporters after the event.

The document was signed by representatives of OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google, SpaceXAI and Nvidia.

OpenAI is committed to embedding external assessors and finalising contracts with third-party safety assessors, said a spokesperson, who referred AP to a company post stating that the researchers were fired for violating “clear policies on handling sensitive information”.

Google referred to CEO Sundar Pichai's post that the company does appropriate testing and evaluations and is collaborating “to establish norms and build public confidence”.

Meta recently updated its standards for training, evaluating and releasing its most capable AI models, and spokesman Andy Stone pointed to the company's efforts to refine its board of directors’ governance structure.

Nvidia and SpaceXAI did not respond to requests for comment.

Anthropic, which voluntarily disclosed Friday that its agents had meddled with US government websites, is bringing in independent evaluators and discussing collaborations with industry groups, a spokesperson said.

In a statement, the White House reiterated Trump’s comments about working with industry to balance innovation and security and did not directly answer questions about how the administration plans to monitor the AI companies’ implementation.

Following the new Anthropic disclosure, it added that the Trump administration expected full transparency from the company, saying notification and remediation were “not optional".

"It is a critical national security obligation.”

Under Democratic president Joe Biden, leading AI companies also made voluntary commitments to promote “safe, secure, and transparent development” of their models that included specific guidelines for tests and transparency reports.

The current accord lacks that, said Sarah Myers West, a former senior AI adviser to the Federal Trade Commission.

“Across the board, this self-regulatory approach has consistently done one thing, which is failed to work. It’s failed to in any meaningful way ensure that these companies are honestly even keeping their house in order, let alone ensuring that they are compliant with existing law,” said Myers West, now co-executive director of the New York-based nonprofit AI Now.

“All that they’re getting is grace from this government.”

After last month's luncheon with Trump, the FTC said it had opened an investigation into OpenAI, Anthropic and other companies over dangers their technology may pose to consumers. The FTC didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump recently appointed National Intelligence Director Jay Clayton and FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson to serve on his new “Super Intelligence Force”, which the president said would keep the US dominant in AI development.

He posted Thursday that the White House would consider anyone who does not refer to AI using his preferred term as “THE ENEMY!”

Members of Congress, as well as civil liberties and consumer rights groups, have pushed for more regulations on AI, saying there is not enough oversight.

Graham Steele, a former assistant secretary in the US Treasury Department, said even if AI companies set up internal evaluation teams or hire outside evaluators, such a structure can make them vulnerable to undue pressure on their work.

“We live in a democratic society. Are they the right ones to have the power to be able to make decisions that have broad, structural, social, and political consequences?” Steele said.

Police are appealing for information after a crash on Te Puke Highway killed one person and seriously injured another on Saturday morning.

At about 10.50am, a white Toyota Caldina was being driven down Brown Rd "at high speed" when it crashed near the intersection of Te Puke Highway and Rangiuru Rd, Detective Senior Sergeant Natalie Flowerdew-Brown said.

One person died at the scene.

A second person was taken to Tauranga Hospital in a serious condition.

Anyone who may have witnessed the crash or saw the car on or around Brown Rd in the moments before 10.50am was asked to contact police on 105 or anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

"Police would also appreciate being able to review any dashcam or CCTV footage you may have of the vehicle," Flowerdew-Brown said.

Young people facing "crisis-level unemployment" aren't likely to get any relief simply from the economy improving, the NZ Institute of Economic Research says.

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ

It says the emergence of AI and other technological changes have added another layer of uncertainty that is likely to affect young people's unemployment even as the landscape improves.

It has released an update that notes that unemployment among 15- to 19-year-olds has increased to 25.3% and among 20- to 24-year-olds it has risen to 12%, while the overall unemployment rate has stayed relatively stable.

It said that while young people were always more exposed to downturns because they had less experience, the current situation was different because while the 15- to 19-year unemployment rate was near historical highs, the overall employment rate was well below 1990s levels.

Senior economist David Hamill and principal economist Sarah Hogan said young people were facing "crisis level" unemployment, underutilisation and rates of being not in employment, education or training.

They said policy decisions during and after Covid had played a role. The current government had prioritised fiscal restraint over support, they said, and policies that focused on strengthening the incentives to work overlooked the shortage of job opportunities.

They said the current push to move young people off benefits and into work would only be successful if there were jobs to go to.

The NZIER said the solution might not be as straightforward as economic recovery.

"AI uncertainty can affect both employers and young people.

"Employers may be putting hiring on hold, especially for the workers they expect are most replaceable by AI, and young people are likely to be questioning the value of investment in education and training.

"The education and training sector has always been slow to adapt," Hogan said.

"But the impacts of that are worse when technology is moving very fast and in ways that make it unclear what skills employers and workers will need in the near future."

It said the share of migrants filling low-skill jobs had been increasing before Covid and the Government had eased restrictions allowing employers to bring more migrants in for minimum wage jobs even though the advice from officials was that a wage premium was needed to minimise the displacement of young New Zealanders.

They said construction and retail, food and accommodation had both significantly shifted the composition of their workforce in a way that favoured migrants on temporary work visas over young New Zealanders.

"Many young people may be locked out in a perfect storm," Hamill said.

"We can't be certain about the role of each individual factor, but there appears to be a complex combination of cyclical and structural risks at work, including a sluggish recovery, business uncertainty, unhelpful policy responses, pre-existing structural problems, accelerating technological change, and increasing reliance on temporary migrant workers in some sectors where young people are also concentrated."

Given the likely role of structural factors, the crisis may persist to some extent even during an economic recovery. Young people currently in the labour market need greater support, and the government needs a workforce strategy fit for the future, be successful if there were opportunities and little had been done to create those.

The Reserve Bank has also indicated it is watching the emergence of AI as a factor for youth unemployment rates.

US President Donald Trump says it was time for Ukraine to get a new president, suggesting Volodymyr Zelensky has not done enough to end his country’s war with Russia and blaming him for high diesel prices in the US

“I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal because he could have made many deals and for some reason he never does,” Trump said.

The president, who on Friday struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to buy diesel from Russia in an attempt to address high fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections, has been urging Zelensky for weeks to stop strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.

He has also sought to blame record US diesel prices on Ukraine rather than the US-led war in Iran, which has elevated world energy prices.

“He wants to make problems for the world. He wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel,” Trump said, before departing for Tennessee, where he was set to rally Republican voters.

Ukrainian and European officials on Saturday reacted to Trump's diesel deal with dismay, saying it will help pay for Russia's war efforts.

Diesel prices have skyrocketed due to a collision of events, including the difficulty of getting oil out of the Middle East since the start of the Iran war, which has raised the price of all oil products.

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted last month and published October 1 found that Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of Iran, and blame him for higher prices.

Trump also suggested that if he had been US president in 2022, “that war would have never started. There was no reason that war with Ukraine and Russia started. It started due to incompetence.”

Zelensky has “lost 30% of your country and you’ve had over a million people go between the two of them, over 2 million people killed. That’s a war that should have never started. And I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump said.

Independent estimates are that about 20% of Ukraine's territory is under Russian control.

British defence officials recently estimated that about half a million Russian soldiers have been killed in the war; there are no reliable recent estimates about how many Ukrainians have died.

20 people killed in Russian bombing in Ukraine Saturday

Trump's extraordinary intervention came after Russian strikes killed at least 20 people in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian officials said Saturday.

Three children were among those killed when Russian aerial bombs hit residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said Saturday. At least 18 people were wounded.

Russia and Ukraine are locked in a long-range aerial war while their armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line, more than 4 1/2 years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Ukraine is struggling to counter escalating Russian bombardments that have killed more than 60 people over the past four days.

Anger in Kyiv at Trump’s deal with Putin

“Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote Saturday on X.

He said every additional billion dollars Russia earns from exports would help pay for weapons components, drone upgrades, missile production and the recruitment of mercenaries, and that Moscow would only be ready to stop when its ability to fight diminished.

Zelensky said Ukraine was coordinating steps to counter the extra revenue Russia will receive, and that he had spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron about shoring up air defences, warning of an increased risk of further missile strikes in the coming days.

Trump announced Friday that Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.” Russia will deliver an additional 3 million tons “within a short period of time” after that, he wrote.

In Kyiv, people gathered at a memorial to fallen soldiers on Independence Square greeted the deal with a mix of anger and resignation.

“Trump has once again shown his true face,” said Oleksandr Petrenko, 26. “He didn’t care about the situation, the shelling or the destruction of our homes. All he’s interested in is oil or the fuel prices and how much Americans have to pay.”

For Oksana Yakunina, a financial adviser from the central city of Kropyvnytskyi, the announcement “didn’t really come as a surprise.”

“Trump has been working with Putin for a long time,” she told The Associated Press.

European allies question US-Russia deal

Ukraine's European allies also expressed dismay at the deal and said they stood by their commitment to sanctions.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Stockholm regretted the agreement, “as energy revenues are central to the Russian war chest,” and noted that the European Union would adopt its most comprehensive sanctions package yet on Monday, with 1600 listings targeting Russia’s military-industrial complex.

The German government “remains committed to the sanctions imposed on Russia and is working with its European partners on further sanctions,” spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said, adding that support for Ukraine “remains unwavering.”

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski questioned whether Russia could deliver at all. Citing his embassy’s reports of fuel shortages even in Moscow, and “serious sources” saying Ukraine has damaged about half of Russia’s refining capacity, he asked on X: “So where will the surpluses for export come from?”

Trump’s announcement was in stark contrast to a sweeping Russia sanctions law he signed last month that aimed at clamping down on the oil and gas revenues that fuel Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Trump announced the deal as his envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Ukrainian officials in Miami on Friday to discuss a proposal to end the war.

Speaking about Friday’s announcement, a senior Ukrainian official told AP that the Ukrainian side was not aware of the deal before the announcement.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to discuss the issue publicly, said Saturday the diesel deal announcement was not tied to anything under discussion in Florida.

He confirmed the Ukrainian delegation had left Florida and were on their way back to Ukraine.

An Anthropic artificial intelligence model submitted a false tip to a Philadelphia police website about an unsolved homicide case, authorities and Anthropic said.

It's the latest example of AI models acting in unintended ways and manipulating government and other websites during tests.

In a report, Anthropic also disclosed a separate incident when its AI model submitted forms to an undisclosed government website instead of stopping before submission.

The incident in Philadelphia occurred on July 18 when the AI model Claude Haiku 4.5 was tasked with generating and performing example tasks on randomly selected webpages, Anthropic said.

Claude filled out a form on police site PhillyUnsolvedMurders.com indicating it might have information regarding an unsolved murder listed on the site.

Philadelphia Police said in a statement they were unaware of the incident until Anthropic notified them on Wednesday.

Then they found the submission in the website’s tip records and confirmed it was marked spam and never forwarded to police.

There are rising concerns about AI companies’ unchecked AI agents meddling with everything from US government websites to healthcare data.

Critics have been calling for more regulation.

In September, another AI company, OpenAI, disclosed six reports of "unexpected or concerning" behaviour in artificial-intelligence models.

"Unsolved cases involve real victims, grieving families and investigators working to secure answers," the Philadelphia Police Department said in a statement.

"Technology companies must take all appropriate steps necessary to prevent their systems from submitting false information to law enforcement."

Anthropic said in its report that most of the reported behaviours are forms of what it calls "persistence" — "in which Claude, when it cannot complete a task as given, works around a restriction instead of stopping".

The company said it was modifying its training to "reduce the likelihood of further misbehaviour".

Anthropic said it briefed the White House on cases that involved US government agencies at the federal, state and local levels, and notified each agency involved.

Police are appealing for information following a serious assault in South Auckland yesterday, which left two people injured, including one critically.

Emergency services were called to Harwell Pl in Māngere following reports of an altercation outside a private address.

Detective Senior Sergeant Veronica McPherson said a firearm was understood to have been involved.

Hato Hone St John treated two patients and transported them to hospital, one in a critical condition and one with moderate injuries.

In an update today, McPherson said police were now seeking the public’s assistance to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident

"If you have information that could assist police, please contact us via our 105 service, referencing P067894182," she said.

McPherson said the two people who required medical attention were now understood to both be in a stable condition.

An injured person was initially taken to the nearby Māngere Community Health Centre on Waddon Pl before being transported to hospital.

Footage captured by 1News yesterday showed armed police officers guarding a vehicle outside the medical centre with what appeared to be a bullet hole through its boot.

An 81-year-old man being treated for pneumonia was placed in a hospital's visitor room without proper medical equipment or a working call bell, his family says.

Concerns have already been raised about overcrowding at North Shore Hospital in Auckland.

Sarah* told 1News her father was admitted to the hospital last week and was placed in a family room intended for visitors in Ward 10.

She said the room, which contained a table, sofa and a TV, had no oxygen or suction equipment, and not enough electrical outlets to power his hospital bed and IV pumps simultaneously.

The room also did not contain a working call bell. Instead, Sarah said her father was given a small silver bell — similar to one found at a hotel reception desk — which could not be heard outside the room.

"I thought the room was just a short term thing," Sarah told 1News. "Then I realised 'No, this is his room. This is where he's going to be left at night.'"

Sarah said her father was confused and unsteady due to his illness, and was struggling to reach the toilet without assistance. On one occasion, he was unable to get help from staff in time and was left needing to change himself.

His condition later deteriorated with vomiting, shaking and a rising temperature, prompting Sarah to raise concerns with nursing staff.

Her father was then moved into a standard hospital room.

“I feel really strongly that in hospital at the moment you need to have someone to advocate for you,” she said.

Sarah, who has a nursing background, said she understood the ongoing pressures facing hospital staff but believed the room was unsuitable for patients requiring high levels of care.

She said staff at North Shore Hospital appeared to share her concerns, but had limited solutions due to a high volume of patients.

"I don't think they're getting much of a choice either."

Sarah said she had continued to see other patients occupying the room during visits to her father — often up to three at a time.

"If they're going to use that room, I'd like to see equipment in there and ways that the person can raise a concern," she said. "I really worry that someone could fall over."

'Alternative spaces' used during high demand

Health New Zealand confirmed to 1News it received a complaint relating to Sarah’s father’s care on October 2 and had since been in contact with the family.

It declined to comment on the details while the complaint process was ongoing.

Health New Zealand Waitematā group director of operations Brad Healey said North Shore Hospital was among many hospitals nationwide experiencing periods of high demand.

"In these situations, a range of measures may be used to ensure patients continue to receive timely care, including the temporary use of alternative spaces," Healey said.

"Patient safety remains our top priority, and any area used for patient care must be suitable for that purpose and supported by the appropriate clinical oversight."

Healey said work was continuing to improve patient flow, increase capacity and support staff.

'Patients are right to expect better'

Concerns about patients being treated in spaces not intended for hospital care at North Shore Hospital have been raised previously.

In August, TVNZ reporter Gill Higgins detailed her own three-week stay at the hospital, describing exhausted staff, outdated facilities and communication problems.

Higgins also revealed she had spent two nights in a visitors' lounge because no ward space was available.

At the time, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation declared a state of emergency over unsafe staffing levels in the hospital's emergency department.

Responding to Higgins' account at the time, Health NZ northern region executive director Andrew Brant acknowledged the pressures facing patients and staff.

"Patients should not have to navigate long waits, stretched services or systems that do not connect smoothly while they are unwell," he wrote.

He said hospitals were experiencing some of the highest levels of demand in recent years, with Waitematā emergency department presentations reaching a record 13,869 in July.

Health NZ had begun recruiting more than 50 additional full-time equivalent nursing positions across North Shore and Waitākere hospitals, alongside measures to improve patient flow and reduce delays.

"Patients are right to expect better and we're working to deliver it," Brant said.

*A pseudonym has been used to protect the woman and the patient's identity.

The first of two friendly matches between the Football Ferns and Panama has been called off after two powerful earthquakes struck the region yesterday.

In a statement, Panama's football federation (FEPAFUT) confirmed the match had been cancelled following discussions with the country's national sports authority, Pandeportes.

"The decision was made as a preventative measure and prioritising the safety of the players, the staff of both teams, the fans and all of the people involved," the statement read.

The game was due to be played at Estadio Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez in Panama City at 10am today (NZT).

It was due to be the first game of a two-match series, with the second still scheduled to go ahead on October 14 at 1.30pm.

Two 7.7 and 6.6 magnitude quakes struck Panama shortly before 7am, causing buildings to collapse and triggering evacuations in the region.

The National Emergency Management Agency confirmed there was no threat of a tsunami for New Zealand following the quakes.

New Zealand Football released a statement on social media yesterday confirming all Football Ferns players and staff had been accounted for.

"New Zealand Football is in contact with local authorities, team management and match organisers and will continue to monitor the situation," it said.

"Should there be any further updates, New Zealand Football will provide them through its official channels."

Watch the Football Ferns' friendly match against Panama live and free on TVNZ+

Kiwi F1 driver Liam Lawson will start eighth in tomorrow's Singapore Grand Prix after another strong qualifying performance, following a fifth-place finish in the earlier sprint race.

The Racing Bulls driver advanced to the final stage of qualifying (Q3) and clocked a fastest lap time of 1m 32.369s around the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Lawson initially went ninth-fastest during Q3 but was promoted to eighth after Mercedes' George Russell received a hefty 40-place grid penalty for an engine change.

"It wasn't a great lap. I pushed a bit too hard in Q3," Lawson said after the session.

"We had a really quick car today and had the potential to be one place higher. It's not the end of the world, [but] you want to put together the best lap in Q3, and I didn't.

"It's a bit frustrating, but it's a long race tomorrow."

Lawson will line up one place ahead of teammate Arvid Lindblad, who qualified 10th on his first visit to Singapore.

At the front of the field, Red Bull's Max Verstappen continued a strong weekend by claiming pole position, with a fastest lap time of 1m 31.373s — just 0.054s ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton qualified third, followed by championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes in fourth.

Lawson fifth in chaotic sprint race

Earlier in the day, Lawson finished fifth after starting from eighth in a chaotic wet/dry sprint race, claiming his best-ever sprint finish and equalling his highest race result in Formula 1.

The Kiwi benefited from a crash between McLaren teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the final moments of the race, which opened the door for Lawson to move up the order.

Verstappen went on to win the sprint race from pole position. He was overtaken by Russell on the starting lap, but the Mercedes driver crashed into the wall to hand Verstappen his first Singapore victory.

Hamilton and Leclerc rounded out the podium for the wet-and-wild sprint race, which saw a total of nine out of 22 drivers fail to finish the rain-affected affair.

Lawson's fifth-place finish continued his impressive run of form, following his seventh-place result at last weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.

He will be eager to secure another points-scoring finish as uncertainty remains over whether he will retain his Racing Bulls seat next season.

The Singapore Grand Prix will take place Monday at 1am (NZT).

Exercise physiologist and personal trainer Courtney McCormack works at Salus Strength, a small Auckland gym where the focus is on high-intensity, low-volume strength training. A lot of her clients are older people looking to preserve or develop their strength to ensure a longer, more active life. McCormack shares seven basic truths about movement in middle-age and beyond, and explains how to fit it into your life, without drama.

1. Improved body strength can lower the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease

The correlation between a strong body and a sharp mind isn’t just anecdotal – Courtney McCormack points to a UK Biobank study of 148,659 older adults which measured their grip strength.

“Grip strength is a simplistic but helpful over-arching gauge of total body strength,” she says. “And the study showed that people in the highest third of grip strength had a 31% lower risk of developing dementia and a 26% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

And the really good news? It’s never too late.

2. You can start right now

Think you’re too old to build muscle? Think again. “It really doesn’t matter what age you are. You will get benefits if you start exercising,” says McCormack.

“A lot of people have the mindset that ‘oh, it’s too late for me. I should have started 20 years ago when I was 50 or when I was 20, but actually, the science and the research coming out shows that whatever your age or physical condition, you can still do some form of exercise that’s going to improve your mind, improve your body, and give you better outcomes in life.”

3. Epic workouts are not required

Most people know that they can up their quota of aerobic exercise with a brisk walk or vigorous bout of vacuuming. But when it comes to resistance training, people often assume they need to join a gym or, at the very least, buy expensive home equipment.

McCormack says neither is required. “Resistance exercise is literally anything that will challenge the muscles to do more than they do currently,” she says.

The internet is rife with sites illustrating simple exercises that older adults can do at home using nothing other than their own body weight. Look for trustworthy sites with solid medical or sports affiliations.

Later, if you want to add some basic equipment, you could purchase a pair of 5kg or 10kg dumbbells and some elastic exercise bands, says McCormack. And again, the internet can show you how to use them.

She recommends working out at home for about half an hour, two or three times a week, maximum. “And just make sure you're pushing your muscles to the point of almost failure,” she says. “Aim for fatigue and a total body workout, using all your main muscle groups. But it really doesn’t have to be a daily thing.”

4. Muscles really matter

While aerobic exercise like walking, running, swimming or dancing is great (and is also proven to enhance mental capacity), a particularly powerful link has emerged between resistance exercise and the brain.

"Your attention, memory, problem solving, decision making – all those things are improved, when you get stronger.” says McCormack.

She points to another UK study in which155 older women engaged in 52 weeks of resistance training, just once or twice weekly. It was found that the exercise had an ongoing positive impact on their brain health, even a year after the exercise had ceased. The improvements were in executive function, memory and even brain structure, with reduced atrophy of cortical white matter – the part of the brain that, among other useful roles, helps to coordinate complex thought.

And then there are the many benefits below the neck.

“Not only does resistance training maintain muscle mass – which is great, the aerobic training can't do that – it reduces the risk of osteopenia (low bone mineral density) and sarcopenia (loss of skeletal muscle mass),” says McCormack.

Both resistance and aerobic training are also helpful in reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes. And aerobic training is particularly good for the lungs and the heart.

“So ideally,” says McCormack “People will do a combination of both.”

5. Future you will thank you

In our younger decades, we might think of exercise in terms of impressive achievements (long runs, advanced yoga poses) or optics (a sculpted stomach). There’s nothing wrong with those incentives, except that they’re all too easy for an older person, who’s made peace with their gradually waning strength and softening outlines, to dismiss.

But really, in your 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond, you have a much more powerful reason to get off the couch.

“We have plenty of clients over 60, and it's all about preserving their function,” says McCormack. “They often have their own personal goals, like wanting to lose some stomach fat, and that’s fine too. But the main thing for us is: Can they get off the floor? Can they play with and lift their grandkids? Can they carry their groceries upstairs?”

Fast forward another decade or two and the questions are even more essential: Can you raise yourself from a chair? Can you get out of bed in the night and lower yourself onto a toilet?

6. Strength training can actually reverse some forms of aging

McCormack gives a recent example of the power of resistance training. A client who'd been diagnosed with osteoporosis was, after several months of regular training, able to downgrade her diagnosis to one of the lesser osteopenia. “She improved her bone mineral density, and she's also got less back pain now, as a result."

For McCormack, seeing clients reduce pain and disease is a joy she shares with her boss and mentor Kyra Seiler. "She's shaped my focus on helping people live better, more independent lives for longer.

“We always see improvements in our clients, no matter how old they are when they start. With clients in their late 60s and 70s, some of them might have ailments, but they're still getting stronger. We just work around any injury they might have, whether it be a hip replacement or a bad knee; you can still build strength around it and possibly even improve their pain scores."

“We have one guy in his 60s who says he feels 21.”

7. Exercise makes you happy

Most of us have heard that running or walking helps release feel-good endorphins. But resistance training has an equally positive effect on lifting mood.

“And the higher the intensity of the workout, the more of an effect you get,” says McCormack.

“You get the release of dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and even some adrenaline. So it's really mood boosting, and we see that in our clients. They come in, they feel a bit moody, a bit down. And then they leave the session and they’re really sprightly. Like, ‘Bye! Have a good day!’

"It's an immediate effect.”

Consumer NZ's boss says Labour's airline policy should prevent travellers from being lured in by a headline price, then stung by extra fees at the checkout.

By Lauren Crimp of RNZ

But Air New Zealand has indicated it already adheres to some of the requirements within the policy.

Labour promised if elected it would force airlines to show full prices with fees included upfront, and automatically refund customers for cancelled or significantly delayed flights.

Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy said the Fair Trading Act already prohibited misleading pricing, but it was not clear.

He said Labour's policy would prevent so-called drip pricing.

"Where businesses attract you in with a headline price and then add fees and taxes and levies and all sorts of things along the purchasing journey, so that what you end up paying is much higher than what you originally thought you'd be paying.

"Anything that can stop that is a good thing for consumers," he said.

Duffy also welcomed Labour's plans to expand access to airport facilities.

"People may not realise, but airlines - particularly Air New Zealand - own a lot of the infrastructure at airports ... things like baggage carousels and the gangways that lead out to the airplanes," he said.

"That means that the airlines can stop competing airlines from accessing those facilities."

However, Duffy wanted clarification about the requirement for big airlines to automatically refund customers for cancellations and delays.

As it stood, airlines must compensate customers for costs incurred if a flight was cancelled or delayed for reasons within their control, he said.

"We'd be interested to understand whether this is actually an expansion to all cancellations and delays, or whether it would remain with this distinction between within the airline's control and outside the airline's control," Duffy said.

Labour confirmed that under its policy, travellers would be entitled to a refund for a cancellation even if it was caused by bad weather.

It was not proposing extra compensation for additional costs caused by a weather disruption, it said.

In a statement, an Air New Zealand spokesperson indicated the airline already followed some of these proposed rules.

On pricing, it said the prices customers saw on its website were in full, including GST and other airport and aviation charges.

"We don't use search history to determine fares," they said.

"When there is a flight cancellation within our control, for things like engineering or crew sickness, we automatically rebook customers, with the option of a refund or credit instead."

The spokesperson said for cancellations the airline could not control, like due to poor weather, it rebooked customers or offered a credit.

Labour also said it would require airlines to publish their performance around cancellations and delays, so customers could make informed choices taking reliability into consideration.

"We also publish our operational performance each month and have made significant improvements in punctuality," the Air New Zealand spokesperson said.

"Around 1% of our flights are cancelled for reasons within our control."

Christa Pike, who survived Tennessee’s attempt to execute her by lethal injection, has been moved back to prison, her attorneys said overnight.

Pike, 50, was discharged from the hospital and is back at the Debra K Johnson Rehabilitation Center, the women’s prison where she was housed for 30 years, her attorneys said in a written statement.

“She is grateful to the first responders and her medical team for their care in these extraordinary circumstances. She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery,” the statement said.

Pike had been hospitalised since surviving two doses of pentobarbital as the state attempted to execute her on September 30 for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer.

At one point she was on a ventilator and her attorneys did not expect her to survive.

However, they said Pike woke up and began talking and walking with assistance.

The Death Penalty Information Center says Pike is the first person to survive after receiving lethal injection drugs during an execution.

The Tennessee Department of Correction has not said what went wrong in the execution.

Medical and lethal injection experts have focused on whether a problem with the IV line caused the drug to pool in her tissue instead of entering her bloodstream.

Pike’s attorneys wrote in a court filing that “apparently at no point did any member of the execution team realise that the IV lines were not correctly placed.”

The failed execution brought renewed scrutiny to how Tennessee carries out death sentences.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has since postponed the state’s only other scheduled execution this year and ordered a review of what went wrong.

The state’s prison chief resigned in the wake of the failed execution.

As the process got underway, Pike was asked if she had a final statement and she spoke of being at peace. About five minutes later, she raised her head and said her arm hurt.

Later, she appeared to lose consciousness but could be heard breathing heavily until media witnesses were escorted from the witness room nearly 90 minutes into the execution.

An ambulance took her to a hospital.

It appears the All Blacks did learn a thing or two in South Africa after all - their 50-19 victory over the Wallabies at Eden Park, which allows them to retain the Bledisloe Cup for another year, contained all sorts of improvements, most notably their ability to catch a high ball.

By ​​Pat McKendry of RNZ

Their aerial prowess was just one aspect of a victory which helped them break a three-test losing streak and take their unbeaten record at their fortress to 54 tests. Their ability to finish opportunities - a major issue in South Africa - was also vastly improved.

They scored seven tries to Australia's three and may have scored one or two more had Will Jordan not looked to create opportunities for others rather than seek them himself. Naturally, he made the most of a very late one to put an exclamation mark on the win.

A rare try for replacement prop Pasilio Tosi was also scrubbed out for an earlier knock-on.

So, the drought for the poor old Aussies goes on - they lost the big trophy in 2003 and have not held it since - and, while they were in this test at halftime with the score 17-14 to the home side, they were blown away in the second half.

They could not deal with the speed of thought and action of men such as Damian McKenzie, who looked sharp at No.10, or the almost supernatural workrate of Jordie Barrett, the man outside him in the No.12 jersey.

Barrett was everywhere, with his midfield partner Quinn Tupaea not far behind, and, with Leroy Carter and Barrett having a vastly improved night under the high ball, the All Blacks got all the possession they needed and more.

Former skipper Scott Barrett got through a mountain of work and loose forwards Peter Lakai, Tupou Vaa'i and Wallace Sititi had the better of their vaunted opposites.

There were still issues, of course.

The All Blacks' lineout maul defence began shakily, and it was a big reason for Tom Wright's early converted try, but the response was impressive and built on a lightning quick ball against which the Wallabies had no answer.

The two tries in just over two minutes for Lakai and fellow loose forward Vaa'i were based both on lightning-fast ruck speed and the All Blacks' aerial superiority.

Jordie Barrett snaffled the first for the attack set alight by McKenzie and finished nicely by Lakai and there was another high ball win before the little No.10 cut capers again for Vaa'i's try.

At 14-7 up, the All Blacks had well and truly wrested momentum away from the visitors who needed to do something to slow the opposition's ball and succeeded only in giving away penalties.

McKenzie kicked the second one to push the All Blacks out to a 17-7 lead but back came the Wallabies through skipper Harry Wilson, the big No.8 scoring under the posts after the home side's defence was caught short up the middle.

It created an unsatisfactory end to the first half for the All Blacks, who passed with accuracy in the excellent conditions and looked like dynamite when attacking from depth (as did the Wallabies), but who too often misfired at lineout time.

It was end to end stuff early in the second half with Beauden Barrett twice getting into good positions to save the All Blacks.

Jordan was again probably overly generous in trying to pass to the supporting Sititi only to see it intercepted, but the pressure stayed on the Wallabies and Cam Roigard was the beneficiary from close range.

Tries for Codie Taylor, Leroy Carter and replacement outside back Josh Moorby followed as the score got into ugly territory for the Australians.

The defeat broke a six-game unbeaten streak for the Wallabies who arrived in Auckland confident of making history after their recent victory over a weakened Springboks but they came up against an All Black team determined to right a few wrongs.

They did it in style.

Whether you’re struggling with jet lag, are a shift worker who sleeps during the day, or someone with more severe insomnia, you might have wondered if melatonin can help you get a better sleep.

By Nial Wheate and Wai-Jo Jocelin Chan for The Conversation

Melatonin is a hormone made in the brain to regulate your daily sleep-wake cycle. It tells your internal body clock to get sleepy when it’s dark.

Melatonin supplements are a synthetic version of this hormone that people can take to help them sleep.

But they won’t work for all sleep conditions. So what can you take it for?

First, how does melatonin work?

Melatonin works by slowing or stopping neuron firing in the area of the brain called the hypothalamus. This is the brain’s master biological clock.

Your eyes detect when darkness falls, triggering the brain to produce melatonin.

Because you need lower light levels, or darkness, to trigger melatonin release, sleep can be a problem for people living at very high or low latitudes. In summer the sun may not set, or it is only dark for a few hours per day, and that affects melatonin production. And in winter the sun may never come up, or you get only a few hours of sunlight.

For those in the rest of the world, if you suffer from low levels of melatonin – which can happen as you age – it can make it harder to sleep.

When can melatonin help you sleep better?

There are several diseases and conditions that affect sleep, but only two have evidence that they are treatable with melatonin supplements.

Melatonin has been shown to be effective in reducing and preventing jet lag. It’s of most benefit if you fly across more than five time zones. This includes from Europe back to Australia and flying to the Americas from Australia. To be most effective, the melatonin should be taken as close to when you want to go to sleep as possible.

There appears to be some benefit to taking melatonin for those who have difficulty sleeping during the day due to shift work. It has been shown to improve the duration of your sleep after a night shift, but it doesn’t appear to improve other aspects of quality sleep, such as alertness, sleepiness, or fatigue at work.

General, or chronic, insomnia is when you regularly struggle to fall asleep, stay asleep, or when you often wake too early. Unfortunately, if you suffer from chronic insomnia, the evidence indicates melatonin supplements are unlikely to work.

The pain and discomfort of chronic kidney disease and cancer, and its treatment, can make it more difficult to sleep. But the science is unclear whether melatonin can help with sleep due to those conditions. So for either, it is best for you to speak with your doctor before trying a supplement.

People with dementia can have difficulty sleeping due to the disease’s ability to damage the brain’s internal clock. However, the science indicates that melatonin is not effective for this condition.

How to access the medicine

Melatonin is available in different doses and formulations in Australia and New Zealand.

While homeopathic products are available in both countries, they either do not contain melatonin or have a dose so low that they are ineffective. Any benefit will be from a placebo effect.

Pharmacists can supply controlled-release tablets that contain 2mg or less of melatonin for the short-term treatment of sleep problems for people aged 55 or over. These are available over the counter as a pharmacist-only medicine.

Controlled-release melatonin formulations release melatonin slowly and steadily in the body throughout the eight-hour sleep period. This is more suited for managing age-related sleep issues caused by reduced natural melatonin production as we get older.

Immediate-release products that contain 5mg or less of melatonin are also available. The short-lived peak of melatonin that comes from this formulation is more suitable for managing jet lag. Pharmacists can supply these to adults 18 years and older for jet lag.

All other formulations above these dosages are prescription-only. They are used for the short-term management of other types of sleep problems, including those that occur alongside neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.

What are the side effects?

Melatonin is generally well-tolerated. The side effects are generally minor and short-lived and include daytime sleepiness, headaches, nausea and dizziness.

Avoid taking melatonin before driving as it may affect your attention and reaction time.

A study has found that daily 1,000 to 6,600mg doses of melatonin may cause a loss of sleep and weight loss in people with depression and Huntington’s disease.

There is little research, and inconsistent results, about the side effects of longer-term melatonin use (greater than six months).

What else can help with sleep?

Other than taking melatonin, there are a few techniques that can be used to help with sleep. The first is to keep a regular bed and wake-up time, including on weekends. This can help to regulate your body clock.

If you’re unable to fall asleep after 20 minutes, get up and do something relaxing, then return to bed when you feel sleepy.

Avoid exposure to bright light from computers, televisions and phone screens one to two hours before bed, as this can prevent your body from releasing natural melatonin.

It’s also important to create a good sleeping environment. Make sure your bedroom temperature is cool, and the room is comfortable, quiet and dark enough.

Melatonin is a hormone made in the brain to regulate your daily sleep-wake cycle. It tells your internal body clock to get sleepy when it’s dark.

Melatonin supplements are a synthetic version of this hormone that people can take to help them sleep.

But they won’t work for all sleep conditions. So what can you take it for?

Nial Wheate is a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at Macquarie University, Australia. Wai-Jo Jocelin Chan is a

pharmacist and lecturer at UNSW, Australia, and University of Sydney.

This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence.

Analysis: For the White House, the midterm elections are always agony. They are always a referendum on the president.

By Bruce Wolpe for The Conversation

On October 12, 2010, I was serving on the Democratic staff of the US House of Representatives. It was just two years after Barack Obama’s historic presidential election victory. His majority in the House was 39 seats. I took a scan of the House races in the upcoming midterm elections.

There were at least 86 vulnerable Democratic seats in play. My best estimate, that day, was that we would lose 54 seats, leaving the Democrats at least 15 short of a majority. It was clear all was lost.

In every Democratic office, the staff discussed with their representatives the catastrophe on the horizon. Republicans in the House are having that discussion right now.

Obama was routed with a 64-seat loss in the House that November. But the surprise was the Democrats retained control of the Senate, 53-47 seats, which is exactly what the Republicans hold today.

A replay of that scenario from 16 years ago would be but a modest catastrophe for President Donald Trump. He would still be dominant in Washington, exercising his immense executive power and keeping his hold on the Senate.

But that is not how expert political analysts are seeing the outcome of this election less than a month out from polling day. Charlie Cook, the founder of the Cook Political Report, is one of the most cautious. He projects the Democrats will take at least five to 15 seats and win control of the House. The Senate is more up in the air, where the Democrats need a net gain of at least four seats.

If Trump loses control of the Senate, it means his appointments – judges, cabinet officers, ambassadors – will not pass without Democrat support. All his legislative initiatives would have to be acceptable to Democrats.

The Democrats could also pass bill after bill on key issues such as affordability, inflation, energy prices and health care, and send them to the president’s desk, where Trump would likely veto them. There could be joint House-Senate investigations into Trump’s finances and exercise of power.

And all this activity will set the stage for the 2028 presidential campaign.

Troubled times for Trump

The political atmosphere has turned dark for Trump and Republicans across the country. Democratic Senate candidates have suddenly become fiercely competitive in solid Republican states like Iowa, Kansas, Texas, and South Carolina.

Amy Walter, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Cook Report, last week observed:

"If you’re the party in the White House, there are really three options for you on election day. The election day is going to be bad; it’s going to be really bad; or it’s going to be catastrophically bad. You know that going in. Now we’re into catastrophically bad territory."

There is no mystery here. Trump has become one of the most unpopular presidents in modern American history. His approval rating is at a record low of 32% – the lowest of any president since Harry Truman in 1952.

He is under water in 39 of the 50 states, including Republican stalwarts Texas and Florida. A decisive majority of adults believe the national economy and the country as a whole are worse off in Trump’s second term.

Trump’s management of the Iran war is exceedingly unpopular. On health care, cost of living, foreign policy, the economy and AI, voters trust Democrats more than Republicans.

The President and Republicans are also losing support among Latino voters – a pivotal demographic that boosted Trump’s election victory in 2024.

In polling on a generic ballot – will you vote for a Democrat or a Republican in the midterms? – Democrats have a double-digit edge, with Democratic voters more motivated to turn out than Republican voters.

Trump is effectively forced to campaign in at least four states – Iowa, Alaska, Ohio and Texas – that he won by double digits in 2024.

He is also in denial about his standing and the polls. On the stump, Trump gives himself an “A+” on inflation. Questioned by Time magazine on his low polls, Trump said, “They’re fake numbers. I would beat anybody running today by 20 points. Your numbers that you have are fake. The pollsters are corrupt.” In Ohio, Trump told the crowd, “We’re gonna win big, and we’re gonna shove it up their ass.”

Trump pleads with voters to “just pretend I am on the ballot”. The problem with that tactic is it triggers voters who disapprove of him to get out and vote.

The President is also now urging his supporters to vote by mail – something he has vociferously opposed, claiming falsely that it enables Democrats to rig elections. But this desperate instruction will make it harder for Trump to challenge Democratic victories in states with mail-in ballots.

He continues to make reckless statements about Iran. In Nebraska, he said, “They could take out a city. Let ‘em take out Los Angeles and San Diego”. Trump’s words will not win hearts and minds on the war.

2006 all over again?

With less than a month to go, Democratic campaign leaders are aiming for victory in 240 House seats. They have just expanded their target list by six seats that Republicans won by 16 points or more in 2024.

America’s most popular political figure, Obama, will continue his role as the “closer-in-chief”. He will campaign for Democratic Senate candidates such as Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive Muslim candidate in Michigan, who is seeking to prove that a major industrial state, which voted for Trump in 2016 and 2024, can support a hard-left Democrat like him.

Unlike the House of Representatives, the Senate is no slam dunk for the Democrats. They may well win in Texas and Ohio, but they could lose their seats in New Hampshire and Michigan and fail to gain a seat in Maine.

This midterm feels like 2006. An unpopular president in his second term, George W. Bush, was enmeshed in forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and mired in a weak economy on the brink of the Global Financial Crisis.

Democrats gained 31 seats in the House and six in the Senate, giving them control of Congress. They would battle Bush for two more years. But that midterm set the stage for Obama to bring the Democrats back to the White House in 2008.

This 2026 midterm is just as much about 2028. As legendary baseballer Yogi Berra once said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”

Bruce Wolpe is a non-resident senior fellow of the United States Study Centre at the University of Sydney.

This article was republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence.

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has praised his side's physicality and work ethic following their 50-19 victory against the Wallabies at Eden Park in Auckland.

The All Blacks' dominant second-half display proved to be too much for the Wallabies as they scored 33 points in the second 40 minutes.

"I thought a quality performance was coming," said Rennie. "I knew we were playing a quality side and in the arm wrestle in the first half, we left a few quality opportunities out there."

After injuries to Ruben Love and Richie Mo'unga during the week, Rennie was forced to shift Damian McKenzie to start at 10, with Beauden Barrett slotting in at fullback.

"He's (McKenzie) such a good player. We’ve lost Ruben and Richie, but we've got two guys who have played 10 over the last few years, and we're fortunate we've got really good depth there."

One area under particular scrutiny after the tour of South Africa was the All Blacks' ability under the high ball.

This aspect seemed to have been fixed since the tour, with a majority of ball being regained by the All Blacks from Cam Roigard's contestable box kicks.

"Cam’s kicking was excellent and allowed us to put more pressure on, and we kicked a bit more off nine than we have been.

"Receiving those kicks is difficult, and I thought our guys did an excellent job of winning in the air or picking up the scraps.

"We talked about a number of areas that needed to be better and saw a number of shifts tonight."

Jordie Barrett was a key part of those successful kick chases, but was also a presence on defence as he attempted 16 tackles in the Test match

"He's been phenomenal all year, and he was outstanding in South Africa - he's taken his game to another level.

"Not just the skill set, but he has a massive engine, his physicality, his defence; I thought he was excellent tonight and it was nice to sub him with 10 to go."

All Black captain Codie Taylor also heaped praise on Barrett for his classy performance at Eden Park.

"He can probably have a six, seven or eight on his back and not look out of place. His actions on the field are world-class, and I think he's the best 12 in the world at the moment."

Despite the win, there are some injury concerns for the squad, with Scott Barrett leaving the field late in the match with a head knock and eventually failing his HIA. Rennie was confident that the veteran lock would be an option for the Sydney test next weekend if he passes the protocols during the week.

A major injury blow was to winger Leroy Carter, as he was taken down in what Rennie described as a 'hip-drop type' tackle by Wallabies loose forward Rob Valetini.

"It didn't look good; it could be a reasonably serious ankle injury."

Although the final score heavily favoured the All Blacks, they only led 17-14 at the break after Wallabies captain Harry Wilson managed to get a late try to keep the visitors in the contest.

"It was a tough end for them, but it was nice to catch up with them post-game. They'll be hurting, but I'm confident they'll bounce back next week."

All Blacks winger Will Jordan managed to get the last try of the night to move his try tally up to 56, but commded the work of his side's forward pack to put them in a good position.

"I really enjoyed watching our big boys in particular go to work. I thought our pack had a real physical edge to them tonight, which laid a great platform," said Jordan.

"As it is with Test footy, it’s not easy out there, and the Wallabies certainly came out in the first half and put us under a lot of pressure, so I was stoked with how we were able to finish in that last 20."

Wallabies coach Les Kiss experienced his first loss as coach of the Australian side and said his team struggled against the All Blacks under the high ball.

"I think they had more accurate kicks. It’s not just the win of the ball; it's what happens after that, and they got on the front foot, and we didn't match them," said Kiss.

"Once they got momentum, it was hard to wrestle it back."

The Wallabies coach used the tackle count to illustrate the All Blacks' dominance in the Test match as his side were forced to make 200 tackles compared to the home side's 144.

The Australian side have an injury concern of their own heading into next week, with centre Len Ikitau going off in the 30th minute with a head knock and failing his HIA.

The two sides meet again next weekend in Sydney for the second Test, with this being their last hit-out before the end-of-year Nations Championship Tests.

The All Blacks have defeated the Wallabies 50-19 in the first Bledisloe Cup Test match, extending their historic Eden Park unbeaten record to 54 Tests.

The home side came into the Test match after a 3-1 series loss in South Africa, and the Wallabies were unbeaten under new coach Les Kiss.

All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie had named Damian McKenzie to start at 10 with Beauden Barrett at fullback, after injuries earlier in the week to Ruben Love and Richie Mo'unga.

Relive the live updates below.

Wellington's City Gallery Te Whare Toi has reopened to the public for the first time in more than two years after a $12.3 million refurbishment.

The works of world-renowned British artist Cornelia Parker are being showcased as the first exhibition in the newly renovated building.

Gallery director Charlotte Davy told 1News the exhibition is fitting for the reopening.

“We couldn't have exhibited Cornelia Parker in the old building, so it feels fitting to do a show that's challenging in terms of showing off all our beautiful new space," Davy said.

The exhibition features more than 50 artworks across two floors, exploring themes of destruction and reconstruction.

One of the artworks, titled Cold Dark Matter, sits in a wide room with objects suspended from the ceiling around a ball of light, mimicking an explosion.

"This was a piece I made in 1991, so quite a long time ago now, and I collaborated with the British Army, who blew up a garden shed for me and all these objects that I'd collected," Parker told 1News.

Other highlights include a room of steamrolled brass instruments, the deconstructed barn from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and a work called Blue Shift, which hasn’t been shown in public for the last 20 years.

The council spent $12.3 million on strengthening the gallery after it was designated earthquake prone in 2024.

It follows the reopening of the Central Library next door in March this year.

Some installations in the new exhibition took weeks to put together.

"We have to borrow works from major institutions like the Tate in London, like la Caixa in Spain, but also Cornelia's works are in private collections around the world," Davy said.

When asked what she wants Wellingtonians to take out of her artwork, Parker said they don’t have to fill it up with her ideas.

"I want them to come and experience it the same way they would a concert or a piece of music, that they’ll be moved by it and have their own associations with it," she said.

The exhibition is now open and will run until March next year.