Police have questioned four men who came looking for marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum at his home in Kenya in the days before his fatal car crash. Four unnamed men surrendered themselves after Kiptum’s father, Samson Cheruiyot, called for an official investigation into a visit he said took place in the lead-up to Sunday’s tragedy. That followed a public appeal by Cheruiyot for the Kenyan government to conduct an investigation into their visit. Kiptum died on the road between Elodret and Kaptagat, an area that is home to many of the best endurance runners in the world, including Eliud Kipchoge, the previous world record holder and the reigning double Olympic champion. A first head-to-head race between Kipchoge and Kiptum was expected to be one of the highlights of Paris 2024.

Follow the podcast onNew Zealand's population has continued to expand in 2023- but the influx has slowed somewhat. New data from Stats NZ shows annual net migration reached just under 126,000 in the year to December. The net migration gain is still one of the largest recorded, it's equivalent to the population of Taranaki. NZ Herald business editor at large Liam Dann explains what this means for economic forecasts. LISTEN ABOVE

Before today’s meeting, Queenstown mayor Glyn Lewers told Mountain Scene he’s not surprised the Alliance has come back to ask for more ‘‘because they did forewarn us’’. He does have questions, though, which will be covered in the ‘‘Alliance review’’. Lewers, though, believes the Alliance model was ‘‘probably the best procurement method available to us with regards to a project of this scale’’. ‘‘It’s all just on a cost basis with no profit margin for the Alliance. ‘‘This is mainly driven by providing infrastructure for the growth that we have,’’ Lewers says.

Hundreds ordered to flee one of Gaza’s last working hospitalsHundreds of displaced Palestinians fled one of the Gaza Strip’s last functioning hospitals on Wednesday, after the Israeli military ordered them to leave and threatened further action to stop what it said was Hamas activity there.

If we don’t pass the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill into law, in five years’ time we will not have a diversity of outlets covering issues like the Port Hill Fires, Cyclone Gabrielle or myriad other locally important news events. That was the plea almost all submitters to the Economic

Here's our summary of key economic events overnight that affect New Zealand, with news supply is rising and demand is shifting away for energy intensity and efficiency reasons, so oil prices are falling. The UST 10yr yield starts today at 4.25% and -4 bps lower. Oil prices are down -US$1 at just over US$76.50/bbl in the US while the international Brent price is now just under US$81.50/bbl. The Kiwi dollar starts today at just under 60.9 USc and recovering about +¼c from this time yesterday. The bitcoin price starts today at US$51,699 and up a very strong +6.6% from this time yesterday.

Helicopters work to extinguish the large fire that is burning in Christchurch's Port Hills causing mass evacuations. Aerial view of the Port Hills fire devastation as emergency services continue to battle the uncontrolled blaze. Photo / George HeardAerial view of the Port Hills fire devastation as emergency services continue to battle the uncontrolled blaze. “There’s some chickens up there still but hoping they’re OK.”Firefighters battling a fire on Christchurch's Port Hills. The smoke plume from the Port Hills fire could still be seen from space this morning, Niwa reported.

And there’s probably no bigger example of cultural fame than that of the Super Bowl within America. One thing Super Bowl ads have commonly done for attention is use celebrities. It’s deliberately hammy but won USA Today’s Super Bowl Meter as rated by the public, so I’m not going to argue with it. Maybe emphasising to us that with a bit of creativity there are many ways to use Super Bowl to get to be famous in culture. He has written Super Bowl scripts, but has never quite got to have one made.

A Woolworths store in New Zealand remains closed while a major investigation into the supermarket continues after footage of multiple rodents in the store went viral. The rats were spotted in Countdown, Dunedin South, sitting on a shelf and looking up at customers. “We can confirm there was one rodent captured in Countdown Dunedin South in the past 24 hours,” they said. “We would like to thank our customers and community for their understanding as we continue to address the rodent issue at Countdown Dunedin South,” the spokesperson said. We continue to work closely with New Zealand Food Safety and Renotokil, and will provide regular updates as needed.”Ongoing infestationThe Dunedin South store has been plagued with rats for months, according to reports.

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has been a passionate advocate for localism and devolution in Parliament this week. “Auckland Transport must not assume that RFT funding will simply be replaced by higher council rates or debt,” the mayor wrote in a letter to Auckland Transport. This prompted a response from Minister Brown who said he would write into law which projects the remaining fuel tax money must be spent on. Simeon Brown said he had a “positive relationship” with Mayor Brown and had spoken with him about where the remaining fuel tax money should be spent. A Ministry of Transport briefing to Minister Brown said ambitions for transport investment had outgrown the country’s capacity to fund and deliver it.

An Invercargill murder trial will not proceed this week after it was abandoned and an insufficient jury pool arrived for re-trial. On Tuesday, the trial was abandoned just hours into its second day of evidence. have led me to the clear and ultimate conclusion that this trial must come to an end," Justice Paul Radich said. It was hoped that a new trial would begin today with a larger group of potential jurors. Wharekura will next appear on March 12 for a trial review hearing.

The UST 10yr yield starts today at 4.29% and an +12 bps shift up on the changed views following the US CPI data. The China 10 year bond rate is unchanged at 2.45% while they are on holiday. The Kiwi dollar starts today at just under 60.6 USc and down more than -¾c from this time yesterday. That all means our TWI-5 starts today at just over 70.3 and down -40 bps. The bitcoin price starts today at US$48,482 down -2.0% from this time yesterday but still over NZ$80,000 after the NZD retreat.

Photo: NZ HeraldFletcher Building has made a $120 million net loss after tax in its interim result and its chief executive has resigned, giving six month’s notice. The company remains in a trading halt till 12.30pm today and the result is a 230 per cent drop in profit. Forsyth Barr analysts had last week forecast $299m ebit before significant items from today’s result, down 17 per cent on 1H23. Craigs’ analysts estimated $327m ebit before significant items, down 9 per cent on 1H23. On Monday, the company went into a trading halt before today’s result.

Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr's comment made in a Select Committee meeting on Monday has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on X. Orr’s comment played directly into their diamond hands. That is how the central bank works. “What is advertised on the tin is not what is in the tin for these purported alternatives to central bank cash. “It is not at all a substitute for, not even a complement to, central bank money, fiat currency.”On behalf of the New Zealand Government, Smith said, “we agree with that”.

Naya Wharekura has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder, and yesterday his trial in the High Court at Invercargill was abandoned. PHOTO: FELICITY DEARA murder trial has been abandoned just hours into its second day of evidence. The pathologist explained that a post-mortem showed no evidence of Mr Parekura having any underlying disease, disability or pre-existing injury. Mr McGregor agreed to sell them a half gram for $150. When they arrived, Mr Parekura and others ran out on to Don St and jurors were played footage of the double stabbing that followed.