Between March 3 and 5 four more vessels were struck: the Libra Trader, Gold Oak, Safeen Prestige and the Sonangol Namibe. Iran’s mixed messagesIran exports its own oil via the Strait of Hormuz and its intentions remain unclear. A Revolutionary Guards general warned on March 2 that Iran would “burn any ship” attempting to cross the strait and block all Gulf oil exports. But Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said it had “no intention” of closing the Strait of Hormuz. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said it would escort merchant ships attempting to transit the strait “as soon as it’s reasonable to do it”.

A search continues off Blaketown, Greymouth for a kayaker missing since Saturday evening. An aerial search continues today in rough sea conditions for a kayaker believed to have been swept out to the sea off Blaketown on Saturday evening. Greymouth police said this morning the reported missing person may now be deceased. Police are today undertaking an expanded official search both north and south of Greymouth. A local helicopter took to the air about 9am to survey the coast from as far north as Charleston down to Ross, after the initial search focused around Greymouth.

A stash of drugs and cash located in a bag donated to a Southland Op-shop in February. PHOTO: NZ POLICEAn accidental act of charity by a pair of Southland teenagers went awry after they allegedly left their bag of drugs and cash sitting outside an op-shop. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when store staff noticed a bag left outside the front doors on February 18. As it happened, the pair had been getting their car serviced nearby when they left the bag outside the op-shop for safekeeping. Police also searched the car they were getting serviced and found an air pistol, a police scanner and another $810 in cash.

Julia Orpwood looks through a broken window caused by the lightning strike. Photo: Geoff SloanThe night was just like any other for Julia and Harry Orpwood, then “all hell broke loose”. Last week their house was struck by lightning, leaving a large hole in a window. Said Harry: “It was like someone dropped a bomb.”At first, Julia thought something electrical had gone wrong with the house on Tancreds Rd, Lincoln. Julia sent a message to her family group chat, saying their house had been struck.

Photo: RNZA diabetic patient collapsed and died in a Waikato Hospital stairwell after a delay getting urgently needed food. The Health and Disability Commission has just released a report severely critical of the care the man received in December 2019. Waikato Hospital now makes sure the ward fridges are always stocked with snacks for diabetics. When his wife brought the man to the ED she had his medicine, his diabetic kit and his diabetic record book. The hospital did not answer RNZ's questions about how well staff the ward was on the night the man died.

But in Auckland, the price of petrol had hit a high of $2.99 at BP New Lynn by Monday morning. The cheapest available petrol in Auckland has already increased 21 cents in the past six days to $2.41. Meanwhile, 95 octane (premium petrol) has surged past $3 a litre around the country, hitting $3.12 in Auckland. “You’d be struggling to get anything under $2.50 now.”Collins said the pressure on oil prices was “going to go months, not weeks”. “People are filling their cars ahead of the price increase that will flow through the market over the coming weeks,” he said.

File photoA man heading home after a night out on the town sent his Uber driver to hospital after allegedly attacking him for not stopping at McDonald’s on the way. The Uber driver required medical treatment for injuries to his face after the man he was driving home to his Edith St, Dundein, address dragged him out of the driver's seat, Sergeant Matt Lee said. The man then rained a series of blows down to his face and shoulder, causing injuries. Police were called to the scene by the victim at 2.55am on Sunday, and he told police the reason the man assaulted him was because he had refused to stop at McDonald’s during the trip to his home. Lee said inquiries were continuing to identify and locate the man.

File photoA Dunedin man heading home after a night out on the town sent his Uber driver to hospital after allegedly attacking him for not stopping at McDonald’s on the way. The recording showed the younger man had pushed the older man to the ground and began punching him multiple times in the face. Sgt Lee said security guards intervened and stopped the assault, and all three girls were transported to Dunedin Hospital to receive treatment. "Inquiries are continuing to identify and locate the unknown female offender," Sgt Lee said. The younger man who instigated the altercation was released with a formal warning, and the older man was released without charge, Sgt Lee said.

Photo: Tracey RoxburghA vehicle was left on its roof yesterday afternoon in Jack Hanley Dr in Hanley's Farm, near Queenstown. The accident occurred about 4.30pm. Two crews from Hato Hone St John attended the accident, along with a two police cars and a fire appliance from the Frankton Fire Brigade. It was unclear what caused the accident. No-one was believed to be injured.

Photo: Gerard O'BrienClimate Liberation Aotearoa and Extinction Rebellion Ōtepoti activists protest the dangers of "luxury emissions" on the environment outside Armstrong Prestige car dealership in Dunedin at the weekend. Spokeswoman for the protesters Jen Olsen said about a dozen activists showed up on Saturday and started protesting in the car yard before staff asked them to head outside, which they did. Luxury emissions were harmful carbon emissions from unnecessary sources such as luxury cruises and plane flights, she said. Unlike previous protests, this time they were highlighting the harm caused by high-emission vehicles such as SUVs and luxury models, which could emit three or four times the amount of carbon per kilometre than a more economical petrol vehicle, Ms Olsen said.

Janine Wallace and her mother, top Auckland dog breeder Barbara Glover, in the Manukau District Court during their animal neglect case. When asked why the dogs were underweight, Glover claimed they “ran a lot and burned off a lot of energy”. Barbara Glover, the mother of Anne Glover, was banned from owning dogs after she was found guilty of 32 violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Still allowed dogs for her ‘safety’In court, Judge Grant Fraser said that although he found it “completely contradictory”, he agreed to uphold the Crown and defence’s “compromise” that Glover still be allowed to own 10 dogs. He also allowed three months for Glover to reduce the number of dogs in her care to below 10.

The government with all the answers to bungling on the Dunedin hospital rebuild remains unconvincing. The situation was so dire, they said, work had to be paused on the inpatient building while they reconsidered the project’s scope. The Treasury figure is made up of $1.614 billion for the inpatient building and $440 million for the outpatient one due to open later this year. Even more concerning last week was our reporting of the HNZ report which highlighted the paucity of planning around how the new outpatient building is going to work. Both of the new buildings should have opened around the same time, but the delays mean there will be a lag of about five years until the inpatient building opens in 2031.

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“It’s nice to create history, isn’t it!”At Craven Cottage, Ross Stewart’s ice-cool penalty in stoppage time sealed Southampton’s 1-0 upset. Southampton won it in the first minute of stoppage time when Finn Azaz was fouled by Fulham defender Joachim Andersen and Stewart drilled his spot-kick past Benjamin Lecomte. Relegated from the Premier League last season, they are through to the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2022. Their players wore a yellow commemorative kit to mark 50 years since they wore the same shirts when Bobby Stokes sealed second-tier Southampton’s shock 1976 FA Cup final win against Manchester United at Wembley. But Tonda Eckert’s side are unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions as they chase FA Cup glory and a place in the Championship play-offs.

The Black Caps were left chasing a score two runs more than their highest ever T20 total, which came against Scotland. But with veterans Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner at the crease, there was still home hope, albeit slim. New Zealand's captain Mitchell Santner during the award ceremony at the end of the 2026 ICC Men's T20 Cricket World Cup final. “To see a big sea of blue, obviously India were home favourites. Playing a home World Cup comes with a lot of pressure.