Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A person has been injured when a car crashed into a house in Hamilton.

Emergency services were called to Wellington Street in Hamilton East about 6.40pm on Friday.

Police said the car rolled into a house door.

The driver has been treated for moderate injuries.

No one inside the home was hurt.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

It is hoped rams’ brains may help researchers better understand the long term consequences of repeated head blows on sports people.

Rams, which frequently butt heads, will provide Auckland University’s centre for brain research a model population to study.

Sheep have been used for brain research before, but not like this.

Repeated blows to the head often experienced in contact sport have been found to increase the risk of brain diseases, like CTE and forms of dementia.

Auckland University senior research fellow Dr Helen Murray told Checkpoint the idea was first pitched to her at Fieldays, making it “quite the Kiwi” origin story.

“Some asked me, have you had a look at sheep before, because they usually do quite a lot of head butting.”

It is sheep’s brain structure that makes them ideal when trying to mirror the human brain.

“One of the great reasons that we use sheep for modelling a few different degenerative brain diseases is because they have this wonderful, folded brain structure like we do as humans,” Dr Murray said.

“That’s really important when we’re studying brain injury because the physics of how that injury actually impacts the brain is quite similar in sheep as it is to humans.”

Murray said the study is in its early days, with researchers currently monitoring the variability and frequency of ram’s head butts.

“We’re going to be monitoring them with video cameras and some collars… then we can use that to then plot a bigger study that we’ll look at longer term, what’s happening in their brain.”

While sheep have much thicker skulls than humans, making them more protected from head knocks, their brains are situated similarly to humans.

“We would probably end up with a skull fracture if humans tried to do this, but the sheep are still the same in the sense that their brain is floating around inside their skull, just like a human. So, the force that’s going through the brain and those impacts is pretty similar.”

Murray said the main challenge researchers are facing when it comes to degenerative brain disease is not being able to establish at what point changes are occurring in the brain.

“Most of the work that we’re doing right now is looking at the brains of people after they’ve passed away. We’re trying to understand what is changing when someone’s had these repetitive head impacts and how is that leading to an increased risk of degenerative brain disease – but that’s at the end of someone’s life.”

“If we want to understand the timeline of those changes with these rams, they’ll give us an idea of at what point are things going wrong, and when can we intervene, and when can we potentially pick up that there’s changes happening.”

The main goal of the research is to be able to establish early on whether someone is suffering from a degenerative brain disease.

“What the families of our brain donors tell us is that they wish they had a diagnosis, something they could have measured to say, look, my loved one is actually going through something that’s a progressive brain disease,” Murray said.

“We’re trying to what we call biomarkers, something that we can measure something from, say the blood or an MRI scan that will help us determine that what’s going on is actually potentially going to get worse over time. Hopefully the rams are going to give us an idea of what those biomarkers might be.”

Murray said that it was currently hard to know what sort of degenerative diseases sheep were developing due to their short lives in farming situations.

However, researchers have previously concluded that sheep do have the same brain structure to develop Alzheimer’s disease if you let them live long enough.

“So now the question is, is that accelerated in the rams? Which is what we think is happening.”

This study is still in its early stages but once researchers have finished monitoring how frequently head butting is happening among the rams, the next step will be to take blood samples and put them in the MRI to examine what the effects have been.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Air NZ cabin crew will strike on next month after months of negotiations failed to secure a fair deal on pay and conditions.

Around 1250 E tū cabin crew across the international, domestic, and regional fleets will stop work for 24 hours on Monday, 8 December.

Unions have been negotiating with Air NZ since April.

Crew are unhappy with Air NZ’s latest offer, saying it does not reflect the responsibilities, pressures, or fatigue risks that come with their work.

An anonymous crew member said Air NZ was expecting more from crew without addressing core safety and fatigue concerns.

“Air New Zealand is prioritising efficiency over crew wellbeing,” they said.

“They’re asking us to be more productive when our rosters are already stretched, and that increases the risk of fatigue. Fatigue in aviation is dangerous, affecting the safety of both crew and passengers.”

“We’re also being asked to trade away hard-won conditions just to get an inflation-level pay rise, and that isn’t a fair deal.”

The staffer said the overall mood across the fleet has been steadily deteriorating.

“Right now, morale is low. Crew feel disconnected from management, undervalued, and ignored. The company talks about people being its biggest asset, but the offer on the table doesn’t show that.”

Air NZ said it received formal strike notices from E tū and FAANZ on behalf of around 80 percent of its cabin crew.

Air NZ chief executive officer Nikhil Ravishankar said strike action on regional fleets is planned to take place at various times between 5am and 11pm on 8 December. For domestic and international fleets, strike action would take place at various times between 12.01am and 11.59pm on 8 December.

“We deeply value our cabin crew and acknowledge the important role they play in our airline,” Ravishankar said.

“They deliver the experience our customers love and represent the warmth and professionalism of Air New Zealand. We remain committed to working with the unions to reach a fair and sustainable outcome that recognises the valuable contribution of our crew while balancing the affordability of travel for our customers and the challenging economic environment we’re operating in.”

Ravishankar said Air NZ is doing everything it can to minimise disruption for customers.

“If the strike goes ahead, the airline is committed to supporting any impacted customers. This will include rebooking, and may include providing meals and refreshments and accommodation if required. We will do everything we can to get customers to their destination as soon as possible while keeping them informed throughout their journey.”

Affected travellers would be contacted directly as soon as more information becomes available, Ravishankar said.

“We remain hopeful that we can reach a fair agreement.”

E tū said negotiations will continue next week.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man has been arrested and charged after a baby was injured in Hutt Valley.

Police were called to a home in Avalon on Thursday morning after a report of a disorder.

Upon arrival, officers were made aware of a baby who had allegedly been intentionally injured.

The baby was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

A 30-year-old man was arrested at the scene. He is due to reappear in Hutt Valley District Court on 1 December, charged with four counts of injures with intent to injure.

“We would like to thank members of the community who are supporting the family and who have come forward with information already,” Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Wescott said.

Police would like to speak with anyone else who may have information in relation to the incident or witnessed any unusual behaviour.

Hutt Valley Area Commander Inspector Wade Jennings would like to remind the community that it’s not just whānau who are living in the house that can report concerns of harm to tamariki, but anyone who suspects or witnesses behaviours that are concerning.

Inspector Jennings encourages those who have thought about reporting, and haven’t, to do so. This can be done anonymously through to Oranga Tamariki or to police.

Information can be provided through 105, please reference file number: 251120/0124. You can also make a report anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A union is calling for the government to take on the “large and unforeseen costs” of removing asbestos-tainted sand found in schools and early childhood centres.

Schools and health authorities have been scrambling, and students at about 40 schools were forced to stay home earlier this week, after asbestos was found in coloured play sand.

The product has been sold in both New Zealand and Australia, and subject to safety recalls.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education told schools they needed to cover the costs of safely removing the asbestos and cleaning contaminated areas.

NZEI Te Riu Roa president Ripeka Lessels said told Education Minister Erica Stanford the clean-up could be expensive and potentially financially cripple schools.

“Not only is this a question of budget deficits, more importantly, it may divert funding away from essential supports to learning,” Lessels said.

She also called for “swift and decisive intervention”, including a formal investigation into how asbestos-tainted sand had entered the country.

Disgraceful

May Road School principal Lynda Stuart, who is also a member of the principals’ council of NZEI Te Riu Roa, said it was “disgraceful” schools and early childhood centres should have to pay for the removal sand and decontamination.

Coloured sand at May Road School had tested positive for asbestos, forcing students to work from home from Tuesday, Stuart said.

Stuart told Midday Report the school would likely spend $30,000 when the costs of testing, removal and decontamination were all added up.

“It’s a big cost for a small school, where actually our operations grants don’t even meet the cost of inflation,” she said. “We’re trying to ensure that every single dollar we spend is spent in the best interests of our children.”

The unforeseen cost was the last thing that the school needed, when it was already dealing with temporarily closing 15 classrooms, Stuart said.

“The ministry should pay for remediation. Instead, they are leaving us in the lurch and making us deal with it all.

“Instead of telling us how and what to teach, they should be helping us in this situation.”

RNZ has approached the office of the Education Minister for comment.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand