Nine of Gazan doctors' ten children killed in Israel airstrike
Charlie Davies-Carr is now 19 years old and studies law at university. Video / ZM
KiwiSaver cut, Best Start means-tested, $6.6b for business. Nicola Willis' Budget aims for growth but she warns of slow wages and high unemployment. Video / Mark Mitchell
Debt is projected to increase by $60 to $70 billion over the next five years. Video \ Mark Mitchell
Ryan Bridge and an expert panel break down Budget 2025
A serious crash has happened on Dansey Rd near Rotorua. Video / Ben Fraser
Finance Minister unveils NZ Budget 2025, the end of an era as Smith & Caughey closes and Trump, Ramaphosa in heated Oval Office exchange.
Donald Trump ambushes South Africa's president during a White House meeting by playing a video alleging 'genocide' of white people in South Africa. Video / The White House
The Halberg Games isn't just a fun event for kids Gemma and Jemma, it's also an exciting reunion! Reporter Zoe catches up with the besties as they compete for their 3rd year.
Cameron Emerson has displayed plenty of courage and dedication on his way to reaching the 100-cap milestone. Video / Neil Reid
A large crowd packed Trust Stadium for the Runit event last night. Video / Mike Scott / Benjamin Plummer
New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year Jorja Miller speaks about transferring to the Black Ferns from the sevens side and her future goals. Video / Alyse Wright
The Bachelor NZ winner said the "only way" she knows how to read books set overseas is by changing the character's voice in her head. Video / The Hits Drive
On Newstalk ZB Mike Hosking Breakfast Winston Peters addresses the Heckler at train station stand up.
NZ retail demand surges, hospital EDs divert patients with costly vouchers, UK halts Israel trade talks, Christchurch debates dumped trolleys.
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NZ Herald
19 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Justice Minister criticises Meta over drug ads on Facebook Marketplace
Magic mushrooms have been advertised for sale in locations across the North Island on Facebook Marketplace. Photo / Meta / Facebook Marketplace A Bay of Plenty man said he made dozens of complaints over several weeks about the listings, but Meta took no action and the ads remained active. It was only when the Herald contacted Meta on Thursday that a spokeswoman said many listings had been removed and Meta was continuing to review the situation. 'Meta has removed numerous Facebook Marketplace ads promoting the sale of illicit drugs for violating community standards,' the spokeswoman told the Herald. One ad showed what appeared to be a sheet of LSD tabs. Photo / Meta / Facebook Marketplace However, by Friday morning, dozens of listings offering mushrooms, gummies and edible psychedelics had resurfaced with links to Telegram accounts offering other class A substances. Speaking to Michael Morrah on Herald NOW, Goldsmith said it was 'outrageous' and he would be contacting Meta. 'As Justice Minister I'll be asking some tough questions about how this is happening, and what's going on. This [not preventing illegal drug sales] is something they should be doing better on, and we'll be making that very clear to them.' He said it raised questions about whether law changes were needed to make Meta more accountable. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says he will be asking Meta some tough questions about listings for class A drugs surfacing on Facebook Marketplace. Photo / Mark Mitchell Concerns have been raised about tech barons hiding behind a provision in telecommunications legislation called exclusion of liability that protected them from third-party content posted on their platforms. Goldsmith, who's also Broadcasting Minister, said making changes in that area had global ramifications. 'In terms of the broader relationship with Meta, and all those big [tech] companies, we do need to put pressure on but also be mindful of the global context.' Labour MP Willie Jackson says companies like Meta should be made accountable. Photo / Mark Mitchell Labour's Willie Jackson was highly critical of the failures exposed by the Herald's investigation. Asked on Herald NOW if Meta was running roughshod over the rules and didn't care, he agreed. 'Absolutely, it's an indictment on them,' he said. 'This is just an absolute disgrace. It shows the arrogance of these companies that they can get away with this.' Jackson said companies like Meta should be made accountable, rules should be imposed and he accused Goldsmith of 'not doing anything'. 'Look at the billions they're taking out of this country, and [they have] no regard at all.' Some of the magic mushrooms that have appeared for sale in New Zealand on Facebook Marketplace. Photo / Meta / Facebook Marketplace Meta's spokeswoman said the company enforces its policies, including a prohibition against the promotion or sale of illegal drugs, through a combination of reports from users, human review and artificial intelligence. She said the company recently updated its community standards to prevent precursor chemicals that could be used to make drugs from being sold. She also said any violation involving the sale of drugs, including fentanyl, cocaine or heroin, will result in accounts being disabled. However, Massey University public health researcher Dr Robin van der Sanden didn't think targeting sellers of illegal drugs was a priority for Meta. She said the company was 'walking this tight rope' between doing enough to stave off the regulators but not being so restrictive that it loses users to other platforms. 'So that does kind of undermine their willingness to prioritise tackling things like illegal activity on the platform because their priority really is the money-making aspect of it,' she said. Facebook reported making $7.59 million in New Zealand last year, which was down from profits in previous years. Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won News Journalist of the Year at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year at the NZ Television Awards. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald's video team in July 2024.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Albany St cycleway consultation ‘a shambles'
Albany St business people (from left) Neeraj Kumar, of A+ Burgers, Sharleen Smith, of Eureka Cafe and Bar, Selina Ling, of Formosa Delight, Jason Kim, of Sushi Station, and Geri Chen, of The Flying Squid, are among those who voiced concerns about consultation on a proposed cycleway project in the street. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON More Dunedin businesses have slammed consultation on a central city cycleway, one describing the process as "a shambles". Eureka Cafe and Bar owner Sharleen Smith also said explanations offered by the Dunedin City Council for why some Albany St businesses were not initially consulted about the Albany St Connection project included that paperwork "must have blown away in the wind" or was thrown in the rubbish. The project aims to provide a safe walking and cycling connection between the shared Te Aka Ōtākou harbour path, Dunedin's tertiary area and the CBD. The council says it planned to contact the business owners again regarding their concerns "about now", but that it is no longer necessary since it is now re-consulting on parking changes following legal advice. Businesses are encouraged to "share their views too". Mrs Smith said she believed a total of 10 businesses on the street were in a similar situation to her. "Not one of us got a piece of paper, a face-to-face or anything, an email, to do with the consultation period before this was going to go to a vote." She provided the ODT with a July 2023 email to the council from her landlord, Greg Paterson, in which he said most of the businesses in Albany St had reportedly not been contacted. His tenants, Eureka Cafe and Bar, The Flying Squid, Formosa Delight, A+ Burgers, Sushi Station and Leith Liquorland all wanted to be heard, have the chance to object formally and have input into the process, he said. The whole process had been a "shambles", Mrs Smith said. Affected businesses met members of the council's transport department at Eureka in October 2023. They gave reasons for the perceived lack of consultation that were "flippant" and rude, Mrs Smith said. "[A staff member] looked me in the eye and he said, 'I came here, you were closed, I put it under your door, so it must have blown away in the wind'. "And then I questioned him, 'Well, what about Liquorland Leith?' "[He said] 'Yes, I went in there, I gave it to a young guy and he probably threw it in the rubbish'." They had since been given the chance to submit on changes to parking in the street, but not on the project as a whole, she said. She wanted the council to acknowledge the consultation was flawed and apologise to businesses and landlords. Others businesses spoken to yesterday had similar views. Sushi Station manager Jason Kim said any changes to nearby parking without their knowledge would affect the business. It would have been nice to have known earlier, he said. "It's a bit of negligence on their part." Formosa Delight owner Selina Ling said she knew nothing about the cycleway project until Mr Paterson told her ahead of the meeting at Eureka. "I was quite angry, to be honest. I said, 'what's going on?' "At first I didn't even know what they were talking about... no-one told us anything about it." Deputy mayor Cherry Lucas this week said the hearings committee that heard from submitters on the project had been reassured by staff that all businesses and property owners affected had been approached. Asked yesterday about businesses' ongoing concerns around the consultation on the project, the council's climate and city growth general manager Scott MacLean said it had previously carried out various letter drops and corresponded with a variety of stakeholders in the area, including the University of Otago, Otago Polytechnic, landlords and business owners. Businesses in the area had asked the council to consider changes including reinstating four parking spaces planned for removal. It was now proposing to reinstate nine. The council's contact more recently had been primarily with landlords in the area, to try to address concerns raised by tenants during earlier consultation, but the council had planned to contact the business owners again "about now", Mr MacLean said. "However, the decision to re-consult on the parking changes, based on legal feedback, means this was not considered necessary at this stage. " ... we encourage all affected businesses to share their views too." The project aimed to deliver safety improvements for thousands of students who crossed Albany St each day, as well as other pedestrians, cyclists and scooter riders negotiating the area, he said. "It's important we get this right, which is why we're consulting again, and we look forward to hearing the community's feedback." Mr MacLean did not respond to questions about whether the council had any regrets or would apologise to businesses for the consultation process to date.
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Ministry for Culture and Heritage confirms 80 percent cut in senior historian roles
Secretary Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae. Photo: Ministry for Culture and Heritage / supplied The Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Manatū Taonga is going ahead with cutting the jobs of most of its historians. The disestablishment of four out of five senior historian jobs has been confirmed, among a total of 30 or so job cuts proposed last month to save money after the ministry's funding was reduced in Budget 2025. The proposal has been amended, to cut about 26 roles in all. One senior historian role is being retained. Also, two others will stay on till the end of the school year, "recognising that the ministry has made commitments to schools" and that this would "allow for the completion of the already scheduled programming and exploration of alternatives for the future of the education programme". Websites on New Zealand history the ministry runs also won a partial reprieve. Secretary Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae said he changed the proposals to ensure Te Ara online encyclopedia was still accessible and to complete the work on a Dawn Raids history, as well as "finding a way forward" for Te Tai Whakaea Treaty Settlement Stories. "I have... heard your strong feedback on the importance of our heritage content and production team and the taonga they have created and added to over the past three decades," he told staff in a confidential 'decision' document released to them on Thursday. "I agreed that Te Ara Taonga, Taonga Tūturu, Treaty settlements and Matariki are critical ministry outputs that must continue to operate with as little disruption as possible." It looked "like a slower version of shutting down websites", said a staffer who RNZ agreed not to name. The PSA union called it "cultural vandalism". "What we should be doing is employing even more historians because there's a lot of work to be done in preserving our culture," said national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons, calling them "senseless cuts". Fleur Fitzsimons. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone "We're concerned that the Te Ara encyclopedia won't be able to be maintained." Te Ara was established in 2001. The pressure remained on at the ministry, the document made clear. Leauanae calculated it needed to find $3m in savings this year. "To enable Manatū Taonga to adjust to our new financial position, I have made decisions to disestablish a number of positions. Decisions in this document confirm our functional shift away from content creation and programme delivery. "My preferred option will be the transfer of products or programmes, but alternatives may include the decommissioning or stopping of these programmes as a last resort." The reduced budget left the ministry unable to keep specialised positions in digital production and editing. As for cutting historians, "feedback received was not in support of removing any historian roles noting the uniqueness of the positions and their importance in maintaining and developing the taonga". But it was not feasible to keep them all on. However, a U-turn was made on proposal to cut the role of solicitor, which would now be retained. "Feedback was clear that demands on the legal team will only increase with the impacts of the Regulatory Standards Bill on our legislative modernisation work programme" among other things. The aim was to have the new structure in place by the middle of September. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
