Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland has welcomed the first passengers transiting on what has been dubbed the “world’s longest direct flight”.

A new China Eastern Airlines service from Shanghai to Buenos Aires landed in Auckland just after 6pm on Thursday.

The route departs from Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport and is scheduled to take roughly 25 and a half hours before reaching Ezeiza International Airport in the Argentine capital.

The return journey runs even longer, at about 29 hours. Both directions include a two-hour stopover in Auckland.

A welcome ceremony was held at the arrival gate at Auckland Airport following the flight’s touchdown, with attendees including Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Louise Upston, Minister of Immigration and Education Erica Stanford, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong, Auckland Airport chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui, and China Eastern Airlines chief executive Gao Fei.

Upston said increased air connectivity was vital for New Zealand’s future economic growth.

“We are very firmly focused on growing tourism beyond 2019 levels and China Eastern’s Southern Link marks a new milestone for New Zealand as a tourism and trade gateway,” Upston said.

Stanford said Chinese passengers transiting through New Zealand could now use a NZeTA without applying for a separate transit visa, a policy she said played a critical role in strengthening New Zealand’s economic future.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown also welcomed the easing of visa settings for Chinese visitors. He said the new service would deliver economic benefits to both Auckland and the wider country.

“It’s a link between two big economies, via our small economy, and we will gain from it,” Brown said.

The new China Eastern service was also well received by passengers.

Yi Zhu, a Shanghai resident visiting South America for the first time, said he enjoyed the long-haul flight and appreciated the opportunity to take a break in Auckland.

“I think two hours is not too long, and we can have some rest,” he said. “It’s good because we can prepare good for the next trip.”

He added that being able to transit through New Zealand without needing a separate visa was convenient for Chinese travellers and made the journey more appealing.

Emilio del Campo, who had been living in China for six months, was also on the flight home.

He said it was the farthest route he could take to return to his country, and he was delighted by the experience.

According to Auckland Airport’s statistics, travel between New Zealand and South America reached about 94,000 passengers last year, roughly two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels.

Air trade between New Zealand and South America totalled $129 million in the year to October 2025, up 11 percent from the previous year.

Auckland Airport chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui said the new service was expected to attract high-value visitors from both China and Argentina while giving New Zealanders a more competitive travel option to South America.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Kmart has cancelled the recall notices that were in force for three of its coloured sand products caught in the asbestos contamination scare.

MBIE said it had been informed the Blue, Green and Pink Magic Sand products were no longer being recalled.

“As in the case of the products recalled voluntarily by companies and suppliers, the decision to cancel a recall is also the supplier’s decision,” the ministry said.

MBIE said tests commissioned by Kmart confirmed no asbestos in the three sand products.

It was now urging buyers who bought the formerly recalled products to make contact with Kmart for remedial costs.

“If you’ve incurred losses (e.g. in clean-up costs etc), you might be able to obtain damages from the supplier under the Consumer Guarantees Act,” MBIE said.

“This will be for consumers to discuss directly with the suppliers.”

Recalls for other Kmart products, the 14-piece Sandcastle Building Set and the Make Your Own Unicorn Sand Ornaments are still in force.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

For more than 30 years, residents on Auckland’s Franklin Road have decked out their properties with Christmas decorations for the rest of the city to enjoy.

Despite prevalent rumours and conspiracy theories that the popular street-wide display is “funded by the electricity companies” or “organised by the council”, Roscoe Thorby – the man who started it all – says no household is forced to participate and it’s a “gift for the people from Franklin Road”.

What started as a bit of fun between neighbours slowly spread up (and down) the street – and now more than 80 percent of the households between Ponsonby Road and Wellington Street take part.

“The idea that it is individual households that make a decision to fund the lights and in many cases, pay for their installation, seems a little alien to some,” says Franklin Lights coordinator Eric Wilson.

“The cost of the electricity itself is relatively minor in comparison, especially with LED lights.”

There are now even displays appearing down the lower end of Franklin Road, as well as some houses in neighbouring Wood and Arthur streets.

“It’s not about how much you spend or the effort you put in,” Thorby says. “Just taking part is the culture of it.”

• Have you seen an impressive Christmas display? Share your pics with us iwitness@rnz.co.nz

Wilson, who has lived on the street for 13 years and took over from Thorby last year, credits Thorby’s enthusiam with growing the event to where it is today.

“Why do we continue to do it? Very simply, it’s seeing the joy it brings to children and families.”

One of Wilson’s most memorable displays was a light sculpture of Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’. He also fondly remembers a few years ago where one house simply had the words ‘Ditto’ in lights and an arrow pointing to the house next door.

In 2023, council officers began patrolling the road and moving on street vendors who weren’t meant to be there, after residents complained about hawkers selling food, inflatable toys and light-up accessories, and who refused to leave when asked.

Patrols will continue this year, with organisers keen to preserve the community spirit by keeping those trying to use it for profit away. Organisers want to keep the event free for families to enjoy because “times are tough”, Thorby says.

The lights stay on from 7pm to 10pm every night until Christmas Eve.

RNZ will be livestreaming from 9pm Thursday as we walk Franklin Rd with Eric Wilson and Rosco Thorby, to bring you the lights – and meet some of the residents and revellers taking part.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

For more than 30 years, residents on Auckland’s Franklin Road have decked out their properties with Christmas decorations for the rest of the city to enjoy.

Despite prevalent rumours and conspiracy theories that the popular street-wide display is “funded by the electricity companies” or “organised by the council”, Roscoe Thorby – the man who started it all – says no household is forced to participate and it’s a “gift for the people from Franklin Road”.

What started as a bit of fun between neighbours slowly spread up (and down) the street – and now more than 80 percent of the households between Ponsonby Road and Wellington Street take part.

“The idea that it is individual households that make a decision to fund the lights and in many cases, pay for their installation, seems a little alien to some,” says Franklin Lights coordinator Eric Wilson.

“The cost of the electricity itself is relatively minor in comparison, especially with LED lights.”

There are now even displays appearing down the lower end of Franklin Road, as well as some houses in neighbouring Wood and Arthur streets.

“It’s not about how much you spend or the effort you put in,” Thorby says. “Just taking part is the culture of it.”

• Have you seen an impressive Christmas display? Share your pics with us iwitness@rnz.co.nz

Wilson, who has lived on the street for 13 years and took over from Thorby last year, credits Thorby’s enthusiam with growing the event to where it is today.

“Why do we continue to do it? Very simply, it’s seeing the joy it brings to children and families.”

One of Wilson’s most memorable displays was a light sculpture of Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’. He also fondly remembers a few years ago where one house simply had the words ‘Ditto’ in lights and an arrow pointing to the house next door.

In 2023, council officers began patrolling the road and moving on street vendors who weren’t meant to be there, after residents complained about hawkers selling food, inflatable toys and light-up accessories, and who refused to leave when asked.

Patrols will continue this year, with organisers keen to preserve the community spirit by keeping those trying to use it for profit away. Organisers want to keep the event free for families to enjoy because “times are tough”, Thorby says.

The lights stay on from 7pm to 10pm every night until Christmas Eve.

RNZ will be livestreaming from 9pm Thursday as we walk Franklin Rd with Eric Wilson and Rosco Thorby, to bring you the lights – and meet some of the residents and revellers taking part.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The food safety regulator says it’s seen CCTV footage from a Christchurch school, which shows that mouldy lunches were served to students because of a mix up that can’t be blamed on the company providing the meals.

Haeata Community Campus principal Peggy Burrows says the footage shows the school was not at fault, as it shows the same number of boxes being delivered and taken away on Monday, but Food Safety officials say they have seen the footage and disagree.

Officials and the school remain at odds over how mouldy meals came to be served to children alongside fresh ones on Monday.

The regulator is part of the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Ministry’s director-general Ray Smith said an investigation into the meals was ongoing.

He said it had moved quickly in order to address public concerns over food safety, with evidence so far showing the problem had occurred at the school, not at the provider, Compass Group NZ.

“[Our] view is that there’s been a problem at the school with distribution of these things, and we can work with them to help that. Remember, these lunches went to 15 other schools. There’s parents too with children that are receiving these lunches. People need to know that these lunches are safe to eat, and we think that they are.”

Principal confident school is not to blame

The school’s principal Peggy Burrows said there’s no way the mix-up had occurred at the school, as the provider was contracted to prepare, deliver and pick up any leftover school lunches.

Large boxes, known as Cambros, which each hold around 40 meals, are used to keep lunches hot and transport them to schools, with the rubbish then taken away in them.

Burrows said CCTV footage shows there were no meals left at the campus over the weekend, and the school does not keep spare boxes onsite, despite investigators saying so.

But she is unable to share the images despite wanting to, due an agreement with Programmed Facility Management, who look after the campus. Its policy does not allow unauthorised viewing of CCTV footage and says staff are not permitted to take screenshots, or they may face disciplinary action.

Burrows said Compass Group holds a contract to safely prepare meals, deliver them and pick up any leftovers, and the school’s responsible for distributing the meals to students.

She said each day, a Compass driver arrived in a van and delivered the Cambro boxes to the cafe where lunch staff went through them to take out the special meals (halal, vegetarian etc) and put them into one Cambro box then deliver them to students. The boxes were then all returned to the cafe, before being collected by the driver.

“You can see in our video footage, the driver is bending over on the table. He’s got a sheet in front of him and he’s ticking off everything. He puts all of those Cambros back onto his trolley and then he takes them out of the building. If he had a concern that something was missing, would he not then have alerted the school so that we could have assisted him to go and find it so he could take it off site?”

Burrows said the issue of a missing box on Thursday was not brought to her attention that day.

“Our pushback would be, if there is an error with something being left behind and we dispute that but if there was, under their contract they need to resolve that with us immediately and they did not.”

She said any leftover Cambro boxes were collected by the Programmed Facility Management staff who do an interior and exterior sweep of the facility, twice a day and taken to the designated rubbish area.

“There’s no way you could confuse a Cambro with one that would have fresh food in it because it’s put in the area of the cafe where the cleaners and caretakers put rubbish ready for disposal.”

Government officials face questions about school lunch saga

During the Ministry for Primary Industry’s annual review before the select committee on Thursday, Green MP Steve Abel told officials it was appalling that school children were being fed mouldy mincemeat as part of a government school lunch programme.

Food Safety deputy director-general Vince Arbuckle said investigators had visited Haeata Community Campus and Compass in Christchurch this week to work out what had happened.

He said it would have taken several days at the right temperature for the meals to get to the state they were seen in on Monday.

He said the school was served the same menu last Thursday and again on Monday. There was no school on Friday as it was a teacher only day.

On Tuesday, investigators watched the CCTV footage and recorded what they saw.

“We are confident in the numbers, we saw eight boxes coming into the school and nine boxes leaving on the Monday.

“What we also became aware of is that the school retains several other boxes for various purposes and we think that’s probably what’s happened and caused the confusion.”

Of the 300 meals delivered to the school, between 10 to 20 meals were affected.

The lunches had been delivered to 15 other schools in Christchurch on Monday.

“Only one school had this experience and only one part of the school had this experience, the canteen, which all adds up to suggest that somehow in the canteen some meals remained in a box got intermingled with incoming meals on the Monday and innocently served out.”

Arbuckle said in terms of food safety risk, mould was “hugely unpleasant, but unlikely to be poisonous” but if there was bacteria present, that would be a different matter.

Food Safety had retained a number of the meals and would be testing them.

Arbuckle said investigators were still working through the temperature issue, to see if it was possible the meals delivered on Thursday, would still have been lukewarm on Monday.

“Possibly yes, possibly not.”

He said the lunch provider and the school had a shared responsibility to manage the distribution of the lunches and the collection and disposal of any uneaten lunches.

“Compass doesn’t control what the school does and how the school distributes the lunches, each school does that subtly differently depending on their resources and their number of students.”

He said there were lessons to learn from this, with findings and recommendations to come of the investigation.

“One of them may well be that we encourage education to work with schools to get better processes, to make sure that there is an absolute correlation between what goes in and what goes out and more certainty around how those meals are looked after during the course of time.”

Investigation into cause of mouldy meals ongoing

MPI director-general Ray Smith said while the investigation into the meals at Haeata had not been completed, officials felt it was important to clarify their preliminary findings given there had been public commentary around the risks posed by the meals.

“We would not have issued an interim view on it had the thing not been in the public domain in the manner it was that alarmed parents, no question about it. So we had to quickly either tell parents there’s a problem with Compass and deal with Compass or suggest there’s an issue at the school.”

He said they had not been approached by the school after the mouldy meals were discovered, but learnt about it after receiving media enquiries.

“If a school’s worried or finds something, let us know and then we can get in there straight away and try and help sort it out.”

The Healthy School Lunches Programme feeds 75,000 kids a day, five days a week across over 400 schools. Smith said in the year to date it had received 86 complaints, which had resulted in 49 investigations.

Smith said Compass were a global business doing its “level best” to provide healthy lunches.

“We’ve worked really hard with them to lift their game. What we have seen in the last term is a significant drop off in complaints and issues. I think we’ve got about seven in this term, year to date.”

Smith said the organisation would continue to have an open mind as it worked through the investigation.

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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 who robbed a sports bar tried to claim it couldn’t have been him because he was busy doing his laundry at the time.

But Hone Daniels was on electronically-monitored bail at the time, so the ankle bracelet he was wearing placed him at the scene.

Daniels tried to counter that by saying he was at the nearby laundromat but his alibi efforts have been described as “ingenious but ineffectual”.

A judge, sentencing Daniels after a jury found him guilty of the Hamilton robbery, has even labelled it as “entertaining”.

“Of course, that was rejected by the jury, and equally, I found it more entertaining than anything that type of defence was being run,” Judge Tini Clark told him in the Hamilton District Court yesterday.

“As I say, ingenious, but ineffectual.”

Daniels was the only one of the three involved to be convicted of the aggravated robbery.

‘A very well planned robbery’

The court heard that on the evening of December 14, 2022, three people, including Daniels, entered The Riv Sports Bar through a back entrance.

One was carrying a pistol, which was used to force the female staff member to open the bar’s safe.

At the time, the bar was open, and there were patrons inside.

The staff member was held at gunpoint until she gathered a large sum of money, around $10,000, the judge said.

“From my recollection, this was a very well planned event and it’s important that I point that out because in essence, there was no ability to connect, forensically, the individuals, so successful was their disguise.”

That disguise included masks and gloves.

However, Daniels was on electronically-monitored bail at the time, and while he had an “ingenious” defence, the jury didn’t fall for it.

Daniels, through his counsel, told the jury that he was travelling in a different vehicle but just happened to be in the bar’s car park at the time of the robbery as he and a friend had been at the nearby laundromat.

It was also a coincidence that after the robbery, the same vehicle travelled to a Sapphire Pl property.

Judge Clark said she had “no difficulty” accepting the jury’s guilty verdict on a charge of aggravated robbery.

‘He wants to turn his life around’

While pointing out there was minimal violence used in the robbery, defence counsel, Melissa James, said she wasn’t trying to minimise her client’s actions.

However, Judge Clark was quick to point out that there “didn’t need to be a huge amount of direct violence because they had a gun”.

As for discounts, James pushed for 10 to 15% for her client’s background, including the death of his mother at a young age.

It was from then, she said, that Daniels’ life began changing and he began “getting closer to those who have an anti-social mindset”.

He joined a gang when he was about 19 and then began “making regular appearances in court and incarceration”.

But Judge Clark noted that at least up until his mother died, his upbringing seemed “pretty standard”.

Even then, he went on to get a sports and fitness certificate before gaining work.

James submitted that Daniels no longer wanted to keep coming to court, and had recently completed a rehabilitative course while on remand.

“Nothing has really slowed down his offending behaviour over the years,” the judge said.

She found that between being found guilty in February and Daniels’ sentencing, he had not made any marked changes.

“He has been off the rails for most of his adult life, so why would I have faith at this juncture that there is some significant change that I can recognise?

“Looking at his previous [history] … it’s mostly about dishonesty and taking things that don’t belong to him. Nothing has really changed.”

‘This has upended the victim’s life’

Judge Clark noted the armed robbery was now Daniels’ most serious conviction.

“Mr Daniels does need to take responsibility for the way that he has chosen to live his life,” she said.

As for the victim, the judge noted the incident had “both a short-term and long-term effect on her”.

She quit her job at the bar as she no longer felt safe.

“That really upended her life,” the judge said.

Judge Clark took a starting point of six years and six months, and after applying discounts for Daniels’ upbringing and rehabilitative efforts, she jailed him for five years and 10 months.

This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

[authro:rnz_online]

Police are warning of increasing scammer activity online ahead of the festive season.

Dunedin’s Investigation Support Unit was seeing more people falling victim to scams and other fraud, particularly on Facebook Marketplace, police said.

Southern District Service Delivery Manager Senior Sergeant Blair Dalton said the golden rule with Facebook Marketplace was: “if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.”

There were several other more specific ways to avoid scams and stay safe on the platform.

“A good first step when looking to purchase something on Marketplace is to check when the seller’s Facebook profile was created,” Dalton said.

“If it’s very recent, there is a higher risk that they have just created this account for a one-off fake item.”

Another thing to check for was whether the person’s profile name and bank number matched, he said.

“We’re seeing a lot of scammers claiming their bank account name is different because it belongs to their partner or family member – that’s a huge red flag.

“When you’re selling, never trust a screenshot anyone sends you showing that payment has been made.

“Quite frankly, it’s best for all parties to agree to pay, or be paid, for items in cash and in-person.”

Ideally, that meeting would happen in a public place with live CCTV, Dalton said.

He also recommend people took their due diligence, especially with more expensive items

“If you’re buying a car on Marketplace, check Carjam.co.nz to see if it’s stolen or if there’s money owed on it.”

Bank scams

Beyond Facebook Marketplace schemes, the Investigation Support Unit was also seeing a rise in text messages, phone calls, and emails being sent from scammers pretending to be from people’s banks.

“Key things to remember are that a bank will never contact you asking for your login information.

Banks also never asked people to withdraw cash, or to take their card anywhere for collection, Dalton said.

“If you’re suspicious, reach out to your bank immediately and report what has happened.”

Suspicious activity could also be reported to police on their 105 line.

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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 brand of snack balls is being pulled off shelves after plastic was found inside some of them.

New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) said specific batches of Tom & Luke’s Low Carb Snacka Balls had been recalled due to the possible presence of hard plastic.

It said Chocolate Coated Cookies & Cream, Raspberry, and Hazelnut flavours had been affected.

NZFS deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle said the products, which are sold in retail outlets and supermarkets, shouldn’t be eaten.

“You can return them to the place of purchase for a refund. If that’s not possible, throw it out.

“As is our usual practice, NZFS will work with Smartfoods Ltd to understand how the contamination occurred and prevent its recurrence,” he said.

Arbuckle said Smartfoods Ltd was doing the responsible thing after customers had flagged small bits of plastic in their snack balls.

He said the source of the plastic appeared to be dried imported dates.

While unpleasant to bite down on, Arbuckle said those who had consumed the snack balls shouldn’t be too worried.

“What we’ve seen is very small pieces. If someone has eaten it and inadvertently consumed a piece they’re so small they’d pass through in the ordinary course of events.”

NZFS confirmed the products had been removed from shelves and that they’d also been exported to Australia.

It advised anyone who had eaten the products and were worried about their health to contact their health professional, or call Healthline on 0800 611 116 for free advice.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

State Highway 35 between Omaio and Pariokara is closed both ways following a two-vehicle crash.

Police were called to the scene around 5:50pm on Thursday.

Three people received serious injuries and are receiving medical attention.

The Serious Crash Unit was notified.

Motorists were advised that there would be delays to their journey.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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