Four people were pulled from the water in Raglan on Wednesday. Photo: NZ Herald/FileFour people pulled from the water in Raglan - three of whom were unconscious - have left hospital less than 24 hours after the incident. Emergency services responded to the multiple near-drowning in the water by Marine Parade about 3.25pm yesterday. Water Safety NZ has recorded 91 preventable drowning deaths this year, 77 of them males, which is the first time the statistic has passed 90 since 2011. “We want people to get out and enjoy our beautiful waterways and beaches but don’t want them, mainly men, making bad choices and taking big risks,” Water Safety NZ chief executive Daniel Gerrard said.

A young Te Aroha couple’s gender reveal has gone viral after thousands were charmed by the father-to-be’s reaction to finding out they were having a little girl. Azrael Spiryt Hansen and Josh Henwood posted the video on TikTok and said they have had a great response to sharing their special moment. The video shows the couple waiting, as a Ford behind them begins to spin its wheels producing plumes of bright pink smoke. One woman said his obvious excitement was "adorable" and told Hansen she was "so lucky". Hansen told the Herald.

Video / APThere are concerns that the death toll in China could surge after the lifting of most 'zero-Covid' rules. Video / APTravellers from China will continue to be able to come to New Zealand without showing a negative Covid-19 test as other nations, including the US, impose restrictions because of a surge of infections. A Ministry of Health spokesperson said they will however monitor the situation in China alongside global trends. Japan will require a negative Covid-19 test upon arrival for travellers from China, and Malaysia announced new tracking and surveillance measures. Americans were allowed to return home and flights from China were funnelled to selected airports where passengers were screened for illness.

If the Left doesn’t articulate a new narrative to generate a circuit breaker we will find it difficult to explain to voters why they should actually vote for us in 2023. That is how the Left have to re frame 2023 – vote for the Right and get an amputation of the State, vote for the Left and build new capacity for the challenges ahead. We need to debate for a bigger capacity State using the example Covid just gave us. We need to actually sell the 2023 election in those explicit terms – vote Right and amputate the State, vote Left and rebuild the capacity to actually face the challenges ahead. If the Political Left have all finished squabbling over who the biggest victim is and cancelling people for crimes against middle class dogma, could we get back to winning the election and being actually transformative?

Two-thirds of Australian voters believed that the economy had deteriorated in the lead up to the election. Ominously for NZ’s Labour Party, the Australian election was back in May when the worst of the cost-of-living crisis was still in the future. By the time NZ goes to the polls, there will have been much more economic pain than Australian voters had endured when they cast their ballots. According to the AES data, by 2022 Scott Morrison had become “the least popular major party leader on record”. The Australian election analysis confirms that leadership matters in these days of “presidential politics”.

A list of 30 best places to visit in 2023 has been revealed, and five Latin American destinations are part of it. Lonely Planet revealed its top pick of travel destinations for next year, and the annual Best in Travel list has highlighted 30 must-see destinations for 2023 across five categories. Lima is a gastronomical delight and is best known for its cevicherias as well as Pisco cocktails. This year's list was full of chilled-out destinations, but Lonely Planet acknowledged that some of their picks weren’t safe havens for all the travelers. According to Chris Zeiher, the publisher’s senior director of marketing, the list celebrates the world in all its "wonderful enticing variety."

The ministry has also established an internal watchdog unit for staff misconduct allegations. The ministry has also established an internal watchdog unit for staff misconduct allegations. Photo / NZMESeven staff at the Ministry for Primary Industries have been dismissed for offences including inappropriate information access and bad behaviour, the Herald can reveal. MPI people and capability director Kaye Ryan described the number of incidents classed as “serious misconduct” as extremely low. Photo / ODTThe upheld allegations of serious misconduct covered four described as “breach of policy”, two of “inappropriate information access” and one of “inappropriate behaviour”.

Air New Zealand has given a little behind-the-scenes tour of what it takes to clean an aircraft between flights. Watch: How to clean a DreamlinerHeberley said some of the hardest places to clean are the seats themselves, as well as under them, due to the confined space. AdvertisementHe added a typical 787 aircraft takes about 35 minutes to fully clean. That said, areas that are hard to access are checked during deep cleans when the aircraft goes to the hangar. All areas get a deeper inspection when the aircraft goes for its checks to the hangar.

Scientists say Arctic warming could be to blame for blasts of extreme coldA chronological listing of news articles posted on theduring the past week: Sun, Dec 18, 2022 thru Sat, Dec 24, 2022. Story of the Week...

Supplied Soul Surfer, Boyhood and Secretary are among the great movies leaving Netflix at the end of December. "Sweeps you up on waves of humour, heartbreak and ravishing romance," wrote Rolling Stone's Peter Travers. Supplied Brad Pitt was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Moneyball. Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Chris Pratt and Philip Seymour Hoffman star. Supplied Brad Pitt headlined Sleepers’ all-star ensemble.

Video / NZ HeraldThere are 32,010 new cases of Covid-19 in the community and a child under 10 has died with the virus, reports the Ministry of Health. The ministry also reported a further 78 deaths, including the child, related to the virus for the period between December 19 and Christmas Day. Of the community cases reported today, 9660 were reinfections. The seven-day rolling average for new community cases recorded each day has decreased to 4,565. The seven-day rolling average of community cases had increased to 6099 and the seven-day rolling average of deaths attributed to Covid had also increased to four.

A look at the stark death toll on New Zealand roads over the years. Video / NZ HeraldA look at the stark death toll on New Zealand roads over the years. Video / NZ HeraldThe father of a young man who died in a Wairarapa car crash four days before Christmas says he’s lost everything he had. Family friend Satpal Mahida remembered the young man as “really smart and confident”, and who knew exactly what he wanted in life. Vishal Anand, 26 lost his life in a car crash Ponatahi Rd near Carterton on December 21.

None of the passengers were injured, but two flight attendants were treated for smoke inhalation following the “unscheduled landing," Lufthansa said in a statement (file photo). A Lufthansa flight from Los Angeles to Frankfurt, Germany, has made an unscheduled landing at Chicago's O’Hare International Airport after a passenger's laptop caught fire. None of the passengers were injured, but two flight attendants were treated for smoke inhalation following the “unscheduled landing," Lufthansa said in a statement. A similar incident occurred last weekend in the USEmergency responders evacuated a JetBlue flight at JFK International Airport in New York City as a result of a small fire in a passenger’s laptop. Seven passengers suffered minor injuries, including smoke inhalation and bruised elbows.

Brothers Jared (left) and Paul Brandon spent 10 hours sculpting the sandcastle at Mount Maunganui's main beach yesterday. Photo / SuppliedAn extravagant two-metre high sandcastle that took two brothers 10 hours to build is stopping beachgoers in their tracks at Mount Maunganui. Jared and Paul Brandon used buckets, shovels, carving tools and even a builder’s level to sculpt the biggest sandcastle they’ve ever created. They were happy to see that the castle was still standing this morning after last year’s Boxing Day sandcastle was destroyed overnight. Jared hopes sandcastle building will become a Boxing Day tradition and they already plan to teach other family members how to build them in preparation for next year.

Not every festival will have drug checking this New Year, but four organisations want that to change by keeping people informed. The Government is boosting its support around testing at festivals this summer season. The Government has committed $4 million over three years towards harm reduction, and officially licensing four organisations who can test to make sure people know what they're taking. Jez Weston, deputy and operations manager for Know Your Stuff says that a focus on drug testing isn't sending the wrong message, because safety is more important and people will use recreational drugs at festivals regardless of legislation. LISTEN ABOVE