Breaking News Today

Who is it, who is it, who is it getting their ja-ab? As Aotearoa gears up for Super Saturday and the threat of politicians and influencers doing the conga hangs in the air, it is time to reflect on the hard yards we have already put in with our vaccination efforts. Yes, hundreds upon thousands of […]

The government warns that case numbers will increase sharply in the coming weeks and most Covid-positive cases will need to start isolating at home, Justin Giovannetti writes in The Bulletin.Preparing for the next phase of the delta outbreak. Cases numbers in Auckland are expected to double over the next fortnight, to around 140 a day, as […]

AM I THE ONLY AUCKLANDER feeling let down today? Seventy-one new community cases detected – with that number set to double in the next fortnight. The prospect looms of New Zealand’s largest city being awash with the Delta Variant of Covid-19 by Christmas. 

It’s a decision which reveals a number of knotty issues in our pop culture landscape, says Duncan Greive.Among television genres, serialised drama stands alone. It’s the most discussed, the most expensive, the highest stakes. As a result, dramas invariably have a lot riding on them – for some involved, it will be the biggest and […]

Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for October 14, by Stewart Sowman-Lund. Auckland is now at step one of the alert level three pathway, Northland and parts of Waikato are in regular level three. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz Still to come… 1pm: The latest Covid-19 case numbers will be released at the final scheduled press […]

A game-changing move to make cigarettes non-addictive will be a decisive nail in the coffin of smoking harm in New Zealand, write professors of public health Richard Edwards and Chris Bullen.Big tobacco has long known it is in the nicotine delivery business. The addictive substance grabs new customers and ensures they get trapped in a […]

All Auckland screenings for the NZ International Film Festival have been cancelled in the face of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, with online alternatives rejected. Its survival now depends on turnout around the rest of the country.Annie Goldson, an Auckland-based filmmaker, started shooting a new movie just before Covid-19 began its spread around the world. She’d […]

The climate change minister has explained, in broad strokes, how the country will begin to reduce greenhouse gases in the coming years, Justin Giovannetti writes in The Bulletin.The government has released a draft plan to begin cutting New Zealand’s emissions. While there are significant gaps in the programme and months of consultations remain to nail down […]

TO SAY that environmentalists are underwhelmed by James Shaw’s latest Climate Change announcements would understate their feelings considerably. With every policy release, Shaw takes another downward step into the shadowland of political ignominy. Pretty soon we won’t be able to see or hear him at all.

The current delta reproduction rate will see three-figure daily numbers soon. That presents a challenge for hospitals. Without high compliance and vaccination rates, it could soon lead to overrun contact tracing systems and an even steeper rise.  The 1pm briefing yesterday brought sobering, if unsurprising, confirmation of the trajectory of the delta outbreak. There were 75 […]

As Aotearoa scrambles to reach a 90% vaccination rate, the spotlight has turned on those resisting the jab. In the latest instalment of IRL, Dylan Reeve goes inside the online groups contributing to this resistance, and meets some of their members.“You know, I never used to be like this.” Jen’s voice is raised to near […]

It’s week six of Celebrity Treasure Island and nobody’s having a good time except the viewers. Tara Ward power ranks our favourite celebs as they battle it out for charity.Welcome to an explosive week on CTI, where truth bombs were thrown and secrets were spilled, and the world shook so much that a tsunami warning […]