In the U.K., the economy shrank for the second consecutive quarter, the shorthand definition of a recession. And he’s harpooned plans for a vast Kermadec marine sanctuary – it’s now sunk as deep as the 10,000 metre ocean trench. This what we replaced Labour for, rich pricks manipulating our fear and ignorance for their corporate donor mates and other rich prick friends. 13 000 kids pushed into poverty to pay for rich landlord tax cuts! If you can’t contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media.

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.

Video / Mark MitchellNational is extending its lead over Labour, with support for the party lifting two points to 38 per cent, a new poll shows. NZ First was on 6.2 per cent, Te Pāti Māori polled 4.9 per cent, and Top polled 1.4 per cent. National leader Christopher Luxon was ahead as preferred prime minister at 27 per cent, no change from the previous month. A commentary released with the poll noted the national mood seems to be shifting in favour of the new Government. It is the first time the poll has recorded a net positive “right track” performance since June 2022.

Covid-19 Inquiry updateWe are happy to announce that the terms of reference on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Covid-19 response have been expanded. This includes what we committed to in our coalition agreement, to:Ensure, as a matter of urgency in establishment and completion, a full scale,

[Source: stuff.co.nz]The Blues big guns fired up in the second half of their final Super Rugby Pacific pre-season clash with the Chiefs to send their team into the real scene with a decided spring in their step. But it was the Blues, with their All Blacks prominent, who dominated the second 40 to ease to a 14-point victory. The Blues forwards had the better of the upfront battle over the second 40, and that enough to give their speedy backs the ball they needed to stamp their mark on proceedings. Most importantly, both sides survived the hitout without any major injury problems. Highlanders complete pre-season with big win over depleted Crusaders[Source: stuff.co.nz]At Methven Recreational Reserve: Highlanders 41 (Sean Withy, Sam Gilbert, Jona Nareki, Folau Fakatava, Oliver Haig, Nathan Hastie tries; Gilbert 3 con, pen, Rhys Patchell con) Crusaders 14 (Jack Gray, Antonio Shalfoon tries; Taine Robinson 2 con).

Hodgson, sent to hospital on the advice of the Palace medical staff, was able to walk unaided and was speaking to doctors and will undergo further tests. It is the second Premier League game Hodgson has missed this season through illness, and the succession plans Palace had in place have had to be accelerated. He took charge of his 200th match as Palace manager last Monday with his side losing 3-1 at home to Chelsea. Hodgson led Palace to 11th last season, having signed a short-term deal to succeed Patrick Vieira for the final 10 league games. Palace are expected to be without captain Marc Guehi, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise for the game against Everton.

News bosses from across the country have travelled to Wellington to urge politicians to get big tech companies to pay for using their news content. The legislation, if passed, would require tech titans like Google and Meta (which runs Facebook and Instagram) to negotiate with New Zealand's media to pay them for using their content. The argument is largely that if these companies are able take content written by New Zealand journalists for free, it is not a level playing field for Kiwi news businesses to compete on. Jana Rangooni of the Radio Broadcasting Association said without intervention, many of today's media outlets will be gone in a decade. "I'm pretty confident you'll still have RNZ and TVNZ in ten years...

Rising interest rates globally brought the 2020-22 house price boom to an end, "but it’s surprising they didn’t do more damage", according to independent global economics researcher Capital Economics (CE). "Falls in nominal house prices have been modest in most developed economies and almost non-existent in some others," Wishart says. House prices didn’t fall at all in Spain, and only declined marginally in Italy," he says. In fact, at the current level of mortgage rates, house prices in many countries look unsustainable." More plentiful supply in Canada of late means house prices there are set to drop a bit further.

A Woolworths-owned store in New Zealand has been forced to shut down after a pair of rats were spotted casually peering from the shelves in the deli section. The Countdown store in the South Island city of Dunnedin has been forced to deal with a rat infestation leading it to close down last week. New Zealand Food Safety has launched a review of Woolworths' pest management processes across its New Zealand stores. According to a report by Stuff.co.nz there have been 19 rats caught in the Dunnedin store since it was forced to close. We continue to work closely with New Zealand Food Safety and Renotokil, and will provide regular updates as needed.'

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.