Jo McKenzie-McLean was nervous ahead of surgery to remove a rapidly-growing tumour on her ovary. In Stuff’s Jo vs Cancer podcast, the mother-of-two and Stuff journalist offers frank – and sometimes darkly funny – insights into life with an incurable illness. * Jo vs Cancer: Inside one woman's journeyJo McKenzie-McLean, who has bowel cancer and shares her story in Stuff’s new podcast Jo vs Cancer, hasn’t had the same experience as the sister. In Jo vs Cancer, McKenzie-McLean talks about how her kids, Travis, 12, and Morgan, 9, have a different understanding of her illness. “Cancer doesn't have to be this scary, morbid thing all the time ... it's bringing a lot of positives.”Where to get help:Jo vs Cancer is available now at www.stuff.co.nz/jovscancer, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Protests erupted across China in recent weeks, calling for the end of lockdowns and the zero-Covid strategy. An Auckland-based couple have been ordered to return to China despite claiming it would cause them harm due to the country’s “draconian” Covid-19 lockdown measures. The couple, aged in their 30s and 40s, arrived in New Zealand on visitor visas in 2019. While much of the world is adjusting to life with Covid-19, the Chinese government is still attempting to stamp out the virus with strict controls, including lockdowns, travel bans and enforced coronavirus testing. Protests erupted across China in recent weeks, calling for the end of lockdowns and the zero-Covid strategy.

Emergency services at the scene of a two-car crash in Lee Stream-Outram Rd on Saturday. PHOTO: SUPPLIED SIMON SMITHPolice say a driver "appeared to have had a medical event" before a crash near Outram that left a rare $290,000 sports car likely to be written off. One car was a silver Toyota Corolla hatchback, while the other was a white Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 RS. In an update today, Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said a 65-year-old man — who was driving the Toyota, a rental — appeared to have had a medical event. His car crossed the centre line into the path of the oncoming Porsche, Snr Sgt Bond said.

Barfoot & Thompson's residential property sales continued at a 12 year low in November, while stock levels hit an 11 year high. The real estate agency, which is the biggest by far in the Auckland market, sold 700 residential properties in November. That's up from 627 in October, but down from 1182 (-41%) compared to November last year. Sales were also down 27% compared to pre-Covid levels when 960 properties were sold in November 2019. It was Barfoots lowest November sales volumes since 2010 when the agency sold 668 properties.

Political polarisation is back If the Parliamentary protest achieved anything – it has laid bare how divided New Zealand society currently is. For those favouring the current Government, the existence of growing divisions is a very inconvenient fact while their team is in power. Of course, political polarisation has always been something of a business model for politics. The growing social divisions need attention. The political polarisation that develops out of this isn’t needn’t be a bad thing if it involves a focus on policy solutions rather than toxicity towards opponents.

A car sits at the bottom of the Musick Point Cliff, Bucklands Beach, East Auckland after it flew off. A car sits at the bottom of the Musick Point Cliff, Bucklands Beach, East Auckland after it flew off. A police spokesperson said they were alerted to the incident at Musik Point, Bucklands Beach, about 5.30pm on Sunday. “We parked down at the Musick Point end of Bucklands Beach and saw a group of police talking to a young family. “What panicked me the most is that families picnic at the beach where that car landed, under the cliff.

An inverted interest rate curve shows that long-term interest rates are less than short-term interest rates. With an inverted yield curve, the yield decreases the further away the maturity date is. Sometimes referred to as a negative yield curve, the inverted curve has proven in the past to be a reliable indicator of a recession. And a recession will then likely bring sharply lower interest rates - and more normal rate curves. There's more to life than interest rate curves.

Meet New Zealand’s new wave of influencers. And gone are the days of heavily curated, cookie-cutter social media feeds as fans look for more authentic people to follow. His social media career is just beginning too and he has just been snapped up by an agency. Sharing on social media was a natural progression from letting people come into his workshop to be “blown” away. Social media isn’t their mainstream of income, but they are however appreciative of the opportunities it provides them.

Celina France with twins Bindi and Freya. Bindi and Fraya France spent their first Christmas in hospital after being born premature. As Christmas approached, Ronald McDonald House provided toys for the twins and NICU staff decorated their cots. France got into the festive spirit and put the twins into Christmas outfits, while Ronald McDonald House provided Christmas dinner, which she said made the stay a lot easier. Christmas Day was also the first day France’s mother, stepfather and brother were able to meet the twins in person.

"Tori" told Mr L she was working in an anti-corruption operation and needed his help to plant a listening device in a police car. Tori had told Mr L the listening device did not work and they needed the car again. "Mr Tetera presents with a complex offence pathway," the report says, noting his distorted problem-solving and rejection of the consequences of his actions. Tetera looked the part, used the right police jargon and was very confident, the man told the jury when the case went to trial. An employment investigation also found misconduct in the case of the officer who handed over his patrol car and vest.

A few hours later, Fakaosilea was overheard talking to a friend in the Mongols gang (who also happened to be under surveillance) and showed him a photo on his phone screen. Operation Cincinnati was a months-long investigation into the distribution of illegal drugs by the Comancheros in Auckland and the Rebels gang in Christchurch. The lockdown meant Operation Cincinnati also ground to a halt, unable to conduct surveillance or any other investigative techniques, for fear of being caught. Eighteen minutes later, Mathers and Singer came out with their hands up. The National Organised Crime Group decided to wrap up Operation Cincinnati and terminated the investigation on December 2, 2020.

Jack Tame interviews Broadcasting Minster Willie Jackson on the media merger and public trust. Answering questions about why the establishment board appeared to be excessively secretive, Jackson told Tame “you’ve” - meaning Tame and TVNZ - “got representatives on the establishment board”. “You’re hammering every part of this entity,” Jackson complained - and of course Tame was - that’s the whole point. There are arguments to be made in favour of the new public media entity, some of which point out flaws in the current model. Public media must bite the hand that feeds - this morning, Tame devoured Jackson whole.

A family of three returned home from church on Sunday to find they had lost “everything” in a fire – including the Christmas presents they had bought just the day before. Takapuna senior station officer Steven Callagher said the fire resulted in a “total loss” for the family, destroying all of their belongings. David White/Stuff Takapuna senior station officer Steven Callagher surveys the damage to the Takapuna caravan Park unit. The manager of the motel, Priya Ramachandran​, said a family of three – the youngest of whom is just five-years-old – had lived in the unit for almost two years. “We are lucky nobody got hurt as the family in the unit were at church at the time of the fire.

Legislation Vital For Securing Fair Payment For Journalism, Says Stuff CEOStuff CEO Sinead Boucher is applauding Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson’s announcement this morning that the Government will introduce legislation to compel the global digital giants to pay for Kiwi journalism used on their platforms. “We are very pleased that the Government has recognised the significant power imbalance between publishers and the platforms, and that they are making this strong move to support the local media industry. “For too long the platforms have been able to use journalism made and paid for by publishers to help build businesses of near unimaginable scale and power. Off the back of content invested in and created by others, they have been able to capture the vast majority of the digital advertising market, undermining the sustainability of local publishers and local journalism. “Globally, we’ve seen that without legislation the platforms are extremely reticent to make any kind of meaningful offer.

"Tori" told Mr L she was working in an anti-corruption operation and needed his help to plant a listening device in a police car. Tori had told Mr L the listening device did not work and they needed the car again. "Mr Tetera presents with a complex offence pathway," the report says, noting his distorted problem-solving and rejection of the consequences of his actions. Tetera looked the part, used the right police jargon and was very confident, the man told the jury when the case went to trial. An employment investigation also found misconduct in the case of the officer who handed over his patrol car and vest.