“They wanted to do some campaigning and education around one-punch deaths,” he told the Guardian last year. That’s what I hold on to when hate is directed my way.”Joan Scourfield and Jacob Dunne have appeared in Q+A sessions after performances of the acclaimed play Punch. Photo / Nottingham PlayhouseTheir story has been reimagined in the acclaimed play Punch, which has earned praise on Broadway and the West End. Scourfield and Dunne were involved in the production’s creative process and have appeared for Q+A sessions after performances. Scourfield told the BBC that audiences are often astonished to see the pair embrace on stage.

January 07, 2026 10:40 UTC

The affected Alfamino infant formula brand. Photo: Supplied / MPIA brand of infant formula is being recalled over possible toxins, the Ministry of Primary Industries has announced. New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS), Pharmac and the Ministry of Health said they were are supporting Nestlé in its recall of five batches of Alfamino infant formula for babies with milk allergies due to the potential presence of cereulide. The affected batches of Alfamino 400g are:- batch number 51070017Y2, use-by date 17.04.2027- batch number 51080017Y1, use-by date 18.04.2027- batch number 51480017Y3, use-by date 28.05.2027- batch number 51490017Y1, use-by date 29.05.2027- batch number 52030017Y1, use-by date 22.07.2027MPI's food recall page has full information on the recall. "If you have the affected Alfamino formula at home, do not feed it to your baby, if at all possible.

January 07, 2026 10:09 UTC

Photo: RNZHackers who say they have stolen data from New Zealand's biggest health portal app have removed information about the data online. Last night, Manage My Health was granted a High Court injunction preventing anyone from accessing or sharing the stolen data. Manage My Health has said between 6% and 7% of the approximately 1.8 million registered users were affected. In an interview with RNZ yesterday, Manage My Health chief executive Vino Ramayah said the company was also the victim of crime. A cyber security expert told RNZ yesterday that he could not see Manage My Health recovering from the breach.

January 07, 2026 10:06 UTC

Stuff reports that the east of the North Island is forecast to be the hottest area. Hastings is forecast to be even warmer, with temperatures of 33C on Friday, 35C on Saturday and up to 36C on Sunday. Before the hottest conditions arrive, Wednesday’s forecast is expected to remain changeable. Hot and mostly settled conditions are forecast for Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Taupō, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay. The West Coast, from Buller to Westland, is forecast to remain more unsettled, with partly cloudy skies, showers in South Westland and isolated showers developing elsewhere, particularly around the ranges.

January 07, 2026 07:42 UTC

Police are investigating an unexplained death in the suburb of Devonport on Auckland’s North Shore. Police have issued a further appeal to the public after an unexplained death at a Devonport property on New Year’s Day when an unidentified group is believed to have used the pool at the address. Detective Inspector Aaron Pascoe said the police investigation is ongoing, with inquiries to date indicating a group of people, including one adult and at least two children, may have visited the address and used the pool. “We do not believe these people were present at the address at the time of the death,” Pascoe said. “However, we are asking that they come forward to enable police to confirm their movements and any observations they may have made.”

January 07, 2026 07:39 UTC





However, Justice Becroft judged him a sophisticated and intelligent businessman overseeing investments in Taiwan, Canada, France and other countries. A 2015 business arrangement marked a point of no return in which the parties were financially locked together, Justice Becroft said. The debt owed to lenders Lambton Quay - which had by this stage taken over BNZ’s lending stake - now amounted to about $54m. The sale allowed Lambton Quay to recover an immediate $20m and the chance to be repaid more later. And so the threat of debt enforcement could be used in the negotiation, Justice Becroft said.

January 07, 2026 07:25 UTC

Sign in hereAccess to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Teams searching for missing man Connor Purvis have located a body high on the southern side of Mount Huxley about 9am this morning. While formal identification is yet to take place, it is believed to be the missing 20-year-old, who intended to climb Mt Huxley late last month, police say. “This was hard work, in a remote, rugged and high-risk environment,” said Otago Coastal Search and Rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Matt Sheat. Purvis, 20, intended to climb Mt Huxley in the Southern Alps about December 30, then descend via the Huxley River South Branch.

January 07, 2026 07:23 UTC

AJ Lam signs three year contract with ClermontAJ Lam signs three year contract with ClermontPhoto: Blues RugbyAJ Lam has signed with French Top 14 club ASM Clermont Auvergne and will depart the Blues after the 2026 Shop N Save Super Rugby Pacific season. He signed a three year contract with the French club. Since making his Super Rugby debut for the Blues in 2021, Lam has established himself as one of the club’s most dynamic and reliable backs. He has racked up 58 caps and was a key contributor to the team’s 2024 Super Rugby title win. The Blues will open their 2026 Super Rugby Pacific campaign against the Chiefs on the 14th of February at 6.05pm.

January 07, 2026 07:13 UTC

After being notified, police quickly arrested a young woman, who tried to flee on to Hibiscus Coast Highway in the midst of live traffic. Police say a young woman was caught trying to flee the Hibiscus Coast Bus Station by running into live traffic. Photo / Jason DordayThe young person has been charged with assault and was due to appear in the North Shore Youth Court this morning. It comes weeks after a 16-year-old boy was allegedly violently attacked on a North Shore bus. Auckland Transport group manager for public transport operations, Rachel Cara, said it was assisting police with the matter.

January 07, 2026 06:40 UTC

Each now carries a satellite unit that pings a location when the shark surfaces, enabling real-time public tracking via the Great White App. The Great White app tracks as of October 2025. “Great whites are rarely seen in the Polynesian islands, even though they spend half their lives there,” Elliott said. Tracking of great white sharks across the southwest Pacific. Riley Elliott with a great white shark on Discovery Channel's Shark Week TV series.

January 07, 2026 06:35 UTC

The single male fly was found in Mount Roskill. Photo / Biosecurity New ZealandA biosecurity operation is underway in Auckland after the find of a Queensland fruit fly. The male fruit fly was in a surveillance trap and identified this morning in Mt Roskill. Legal restrictions are now in force on the moving of fruit and vegetables out of the area it was found in. In the meantime, we ask that people who live and work in the suburb not take any whole fresh fruit and vegetables out of their property.”

January 07, 2026 06:17 UTC

What would Kiwis talk about at barbecues and worry about at night if we didn’t have a mortgage rate to refix? Seriously though, the New Zealand obsession with short-term fixed mortgage rates is something of a cultural quirk. Banks have also made the point that there isn’t much demand here for longer terms – although that seems a bit self-fulfilling. Some people may recall that local banks did offer seven-year fixed rate terms a few years ago – but they weren’t popular. We Kiwis are hooked on short- and mid-term fixed rates and are kind of stuck with them.

January 07, 2026 05:33 UTC

“He wasn’t leaning forward on the safety bar, so he had enough time to turn around and grab on. “He was just hanging off the seat – he was pretty traumatised.”A video has emerged showing the moments before two friends fell from a Ferris wheel at a Christchurch music festival. A person standing on the bar of the Ferris wheel. Photo / SuppliedEvent Hire said an independent health and safety adviser from Rolling Meadows conducted a site audit of the Ferris wheel about 11.30pm on New Year’s Eve. The adviser had provided a positive assessment of the event operations, staff competency, safety procedures and rider management at that time.

January 07, 2026 05:31 UTC

“It just caught my eye the fact that it was different, the size was the first thing I noticed. It’s a fairly large spider.”Te Papa PhD student Shaun Thompson contacted her, identifying the spider as a potential new species. Taranaki Regional Council biodiversity officer Sandra Sánchez and landowner Rob Hooper. Although it might be a long time before the spider would receive its own name, Thompson had suggested it be called the Taranaki trapdoor spider. Sánchez said discovering a new species had been a dream since she was little.

January 07, 2026 05:29 UTC

Fire and Emergency NZ regularly monitored fire risk at Wither Hills, but the decision to close the park lay with Marlborough District Council. Trigg said Wither Hills was an "extremely volatile" area, and that closing it during peak fire season was the safest thing to do. "Any decision to close Wither Hills Farm Park is based on the indices, the fuel loadings, and the weather forecast," the spokesperson said. So it's really important that the community is really well prepared for grassland fire in South Marlborough," Trigg said. South Marlborough was currently in a restricted fire season, meaning permits were required, but north of the Wairau River was still in an open fire season.

January 07, 2026 04:57 UTC