The allegations arose from an affair between McSkimming and a woman who was a non-sworn police employee at the time. "On those occasions, his executive assistant would book accommodation at a Wellington hotel, paid for by Police. There was now an updated sensitive expenditure policy, which sets out the principles to be applied when spending taxpayers' money. This showed a disregard for taxpayers' money and Police expenditure policy. "I intend to write to Mr McSkimming seeking reimbursement of the costs of these hotel stays."

Sunday night was the 32nd Screen Actors Guild Awards, but the first one under its new name, “the Actor Awards.” Before the ceremony, there were two looming questions: Would Timothée Chalamet propose to Kylie Jenner? The other big winner of the night was “The Studio.” The cast won for best ensemble in a comedy series, Seth Rogen for best actor in a comedy series and Catherine O’Hara for best supporting actress in a comedy series. It’s partly why SAG said it decided to change the name to the Actor Awards. Moments such as these hinted at the power that this awards show could have if it leaned into the looseness. Instead, the Actor Awards emphasized the “started from the bottom, now we’re here” vibes.

Honey went missing for five years after running off in a Christchurch park. While waiting to pick up the car, the family went to Warren Park and decided to let Honey out of her cage to get some fresh air. “I already felt like really isolated.”Honey was reunited with her family five years after going missing. It had been five years, it was truly a miracle.”Diane Walters and her daughter, Anahera Crawford the day they got Honey back. In their years away from Honey, the family kept a picture of her hung on the wall and even tried getting a dog, “but nothing could compare to our cat”.

Protesters hold signs outside the New Plymouth District Council where the US flag was raised to celebrate the AmeriCARna car festival. The council raised its American flag for the duration of the festival, before taking it down on Monday morning. The Tino Rangatiratanga flag is usually flown outside the New Plymouth District Council buildings, alongside the New Zealand flag. The council recently raised the Welsh flag for St David’s Day and will be flying the Pride flag later this month. The council has five flag poles and normally flies the New Zealand and the Tino Rangatiratanga flags, Brough said.

Olympic rowers Tom Mackintosh and Davina Waddy are engaged. Photo / Tom Mackintosh and Davina WaddyAlready a subscriber? Olympic rowers Tom Mackintosh and Davina Waddy are engaged. Photo / Tom Mackintosh and Davina WaddyNew Zealand Olympic rowing stars Tom Mackintosh and Davina Waddy have announced their engagement, sharing a sweet milestone moment with fans on social media. Mackintosh popped the question atop a rolling farm hill, later sharing a playful image of grass stuck to his knee.

Roger Partridge writes:Education Minister Erica Stanford stands accused of compressing a generation of reform into two years. Her programme is “radical,” “ideological,” and risks turning children into guinea pigs. Auckland University’s Professor Peter O’Connor calls it neoliberal “shock-and-awe.”These are serious charges. In the ninth century, he rashly insisted that monks learn to read and write properly. Within a century, German children could read, calculate, and think systematically.

Sport Headlines | Auckland sports fans will be spoilt for choice and Springboks coach says the All Blacks face a tricky transition | Tuesday, March 3, 2026All Blacks Sevens without head coach Tomasi Cama for Vancouver and New York World Series due to visa delayThe All Blacks Sevens will be without their head coach for the next two legs of the World Sevens Series because of visa issues. New Zealand Rugby confirmed that head coach Tomasi Cama was unable to fly to North America with the team as his visa application had not been processed in time. Assistant coach Willie Rickards will take charge for the Vancouver and New York tournaments, held between March 7-8 and March 14-15 respectively, while Scott Curry will be assistant coach. Cama played in 128 tournaments for New Zealand and won World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year in 2012, before being appointed as head coach in 2023. The All Blacks Sevens had a strong start to their season by winning the Dubai Sevens.

Moments later the first lady said “the US stands with all of the children throughout the world. Even Russia joined the chorus of polite praise, avoiding any mention of Iran, which was mentioned only by council member and Washington’s staunch ally Bahrain. “I wish you all strength and resolve to succeed in preserving peace and security throughout the world,” Trump said as she closed the two-hour meeting. Financial, political tensionsStephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, confirmed that Trump’s appearance was the first time a first lady – or first gentleman – had presided over a Security Council meeting. At the meeting, the US President repeated his stance that the UN had failed in its mission.

The pair were inspired by a high school presentation on cycling by Liam Garner who’d cycled from Alaska to Argentina at just 17 year old in 2021. As complete novices, they biked more than 6000km across the USA. Wanting to see more of the world and continue adventuring together, they set off to circumnavigate the world in March last year.

Unemployment is at an all-time high, with Māori unemployment at 11.2% in the December 2025 quarter, more than twice the national average according to Stats NZ. “The system has been built in a way where it keeps us Māori down,” Peneha-Whakatutu said. With references and a decent work history on her CV, Peneha-Whakatutu was struggling to get into work and off the streets. She understood that some rough sleepers were on the streets by choice, and had grown accustomed to the lifestyle. “Move-on orders are designed to target disorderly behaviour.”He did not respond to questions on how systemic challenges for Māori were considered with the new legislation.

Others were suspected faults. “So, hopefully two years from now, we have a really good answer to that question – whether these faultlines in Auckland are active and whether they represent a significant seismic hazard,” Muirhead said. The team divided the lines into likely faults, possible faults and possible structures – lines that showed signs of ground movement but it was unclear why. Some of the possible faults were around Northcote, Birkenhead and Wiri. The report also revealed Auckland experienced more small earthquakes than previously thought, but Muirhead said that was likely because there was better monitoring.

“Commercial traffic has effectively stopped,” said a report from Windward Maritime AI, which tracks shipping traffic. “The key question is when do vessels re-establish export flows,” Alan Gelder, senior vice president of refining, chemicals and oil markets at Wood Mackenzie, said in an email. The firm said prices will rise considerably more if traffic through the strait does not resume quickly. “The most recent comparison is during the early days of the Russia/Ukraine conflict, when the fear of loss of Russian supplies drove the oil price to over US$125,” Gelder said. Oil is a global commodity, and its prices in the US and everywhere else are driven by market forces.

Former anti-stadium campaigner Victor Billot says the affordability of Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium has always been up for debate. Mr Billot said the financial sustainability question was being raised back when he was the Stop the Stadium group vice-president. ‘‘I just thought and many other people thought, that the financial burden on a city the size of Dunedin did not square up,’’ Mr Billot said. The option recommended by Dunedin City Council staff is to provide additional funding of $1.25m to Dunedin Stadium Property Ltd in 2026-27 and increasing it by another $1.25m the next year. ‘‘It doesn’t give me any happiness to see where it’s ended up,’’ Mr Billot said.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. Photo: RNZThe prime minister says New Zealand has not been asked to provide military support in the Middle East, and had no plans to do so. When asked at a press conference this morning if New Zealand would join the United States in this instance, Christopher Luxon said no. "It's a no for me, and we haven't been asked to and I think we're unlikely to be as well." He reiterated his comments from yesterday, when he said New Zealand wasn't party to the information that led to the strikes.

River works as a detector dog at Christchurch Men's Prison. Photo: SuppliedA prison detector dog stopped a range of illegal drugs and contraband material from getting into a Christchurch jail. “It is a truly remarkable find and River did an amazing job at leading us straight to the source,” Swift told the Herald. River is one of 24 detector dog teams at prisons across New Zealand. The talented detector dog has also won the Department of Corrections' body pack search title twice in 2023 and 2024.