A person has been seriously injured after falling about 30m down a mine shaft on the West Coast.

• Otago Daily Times
• 3 gün, 17 saat, 40 dakika

• Otago Daily Times
• 3 gün, 17 saat, 42 dakika

Some of Silicon Valley’s most powerful investors and executives are backing a political committee created to financially support “pro-AI” candidates in the 2026 United States Midterms. They aim to quash a philosophical debate that has divided the tech industry on the risk of artificial intelligence overpowering humanity. Leading the Future, a super PAC founded this month, will also oppose candidates perceived as slowing down AI development. The group said it has initial funding of more than US$100 million ($170.65m) and backers including Greg Brockman, the president of OpenAI; his wife, Anna Brockman; and influential venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which endorsed President Donald Trump in the 2024 election and has ties to White House AI advisers. The super PAC aims to reshape Congress to be more supportive of major industry players such as OpenAI, whose ambitions include the construction of trillions of dollars’ worth of energy-guzzling data centres and policies that protect scraping copyrighted material from the web to create AI tools. It seeks to sideline a faction known in tech circles as “AI doomers”, who have asked Congress for more AI regulation and argued that today’s fallible chatbots could rapidly evolve to be so clever and powerful that they threaten human survival. Billionaire investor Marc Andreessen, whose venture firm backed Leading the Future and has spent US$2.7m so far this year lobbying Congress, filings show, has called those efforts “doomer astroturf” – designed to create the appearance of grassroots concerns. Leading the Future is modelled in part on Fairshake, a tech-funded super PAC that led a coalition of groups to funnel more than US$130m into congressional races last year and secure favourable regulations for cryptocurrency. That intervention helped topple popular Democrats like Katie Porter and Sherrod Brown, setting the stage for crypto-friendly legislation in Trump’s second term. The AI industry has not faced the regulatory headwinds that once stymied crypto firms. Josh Vlasto, a leader of the new AI super PAC and an adviser to Fairshake, said in an interview that Leading the Future could engineer similar success in Washington for the faction of the AI industry he characterised as having an optimistic and forward-looking agenda. Andreessen Horowitz, which has billions invested in cryptocurrency and AI ventures, also backed Fairshake. Chris MacKenzie, vice-president of communications for Americans for Responsible Innovation, an advocacy group that supports AI regulation, said adopting Fairshake’s tactics could be effective. “Lawmakers just have to know there’s US$100m waiting to fund attack ads to worry about what happens if they speak up,” MacKenzie said. His group helped co-ordinate opposition to a 10-year moratorium on state AI regulation that was passed by the House but died in the Senate last month. Leading the Future will also take on a philosophical rift that has dominated debate over AI policy following the launch of ChatGPT. It pits “doomers” against “AI boomers”, who argue that the industry must be allowed to accelerate without restrictions if AI is going to help society advance. The optimistic view is pushed by a loose coalition of start-up executives, Silicon Valley investors, and open-source AI enthusiasts, who often cite the need for the US to beat China in a technological race. Many groups and figures who take the more pessimistic view have ties to effective altruism, a movement that has largely pivoted to focusing on dangers that super-advanced AI could pose. Vlasto described that camp as a formidable opponent that has spent the past decade building up a network of think-tanks and policy organisations. Michael Kleinman, head of US policy at the non-profit Future of Life Institute, which has campaigned for the tech industry and regulators to consider AI an existential risk to humanity, said the new super PAC is a sign of desperation from AI firms after the failed att...

• Newstalk ZB
• 4 gün, 5 saat, 46 dakika

OPINION: The previous government spent too much during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite warnings from officials, according to a briefing released by the Treasury. It said debt had risen in recent decades, partly because responses to adverse shocks were not met by savings between those shocks. The IMF and OECD estimated it was among the largest Covid-19 responses globally. The higher debt meant less capacity to respond to future shocks, like natural hazards, weather-related risks and biosecurity risks. The spending spree sent inflation and interest rates into orbit. Excessive lockdown restrictions also set back the education of a generation, and deferred check-ups created more health issues downstream than they prevented. We're all paying the price now. So, the simple question to Ardern, Hipkins and Robertson vis-à-vis the Covid Inquiry is: "Where the bloody hell are you?" Read More: Drill baby, drill! Gaslight much? Sorry, not sorry #CORONAVIRUS #GRANT_ROBERTSON

• Rural News
• 3 gün, 17 saat, 50 dakika

A Brazilian judge today declared far-right ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest while awaiting the verdict in his coup-plotting trial, a “flight risk” and placed him under round-the-clock watch. Bolsonaro faces 40 years in prison if convicted of plotting to cling on to power after losing the 2022 elections to left-winger now President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The verdict in the case is expected early next month. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is presiding over the trial, asked the police to carry out “full-time surveillance” of former army captain Bolsonaro, according to a court document seen by AFP. Moraes was acting on a request from the Brazilian prosecutor’s office. The prosecutors pointed to recent revelations that Bolsonaro planned to seek asylum in Argentina last year as proof that the 70-year-old could seek to evade a possible lengthy jail term. In his draft asylum request, the man dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics” during his 2019-2022 presidency claimed he was the victim of political persecution. Bolsonaro is accused of leading a criminal organisation that aimed to prevent Lula taking power after he narrowly defeated Bolsonaro in October 2022 elections. The trial has driven a deep wedge between Lula and US President Donald Trump, who has slammed the indictment of his ally Bolsonaro as a “witch hunt” and punished those responsible for putting him in the dock. Lula announced today that the US had revoked the US visa of his Justice Minister, Ricardo Lewandowski, the latest official to be hit with a US visa ban or asset freeze over the case. The US State Department had yet to confirm the move. At a Cabinet meeting, Lula expressed solidarity with the minister and called the visa withdrawal an “irresponsible gesture”. ‘Brazil belongs to Brazilians’ The Trump Administration has also imposed crippling 50% tariffs on dozens of Brazilian imports and sanctioned Moraes, a hate figure on the Brazilian and US right, among other Supreme Court justices. “These attitudes are unacceptable, not only against the minister but against all Supreme Court justices, against any Brazilian figure,” Lula told the Cabinet meeting. Lula and several of his ministers wore caps inscribed “Brazil belongs to Brazilians”. Photo / Getty Images In a sign of protest against what he sees as US meddling in Brazil’s affairs, he and several of his ministers wore caps inscribed “Brazil belongs to Brazilians”. The US sanctions followed intense lobbying of the Trump Administration by Bolsonaro’s US-based son, Eduardo Bolsonaro. Lula called the younger Bolsonaro’s campaign of retribution “one of the worst betrayals the country has suffered”. Bolsonaro claims his trial is an attempt by the Brazilian judiciary, in league with Lula’s Government, to prevent him from making a comeback in 2026 elections. Before his trial he held out hopes of running, despite being barred from seeking re-election until 2030 for spreading misinformation about Brazil’s electoral system. -Agence France-Presse

• Newstalk ZB
• 4 gün, 5 saat, 51 dakika

The blaze tore through the Wellington's Loafers Lodge, killing five people.

• RNZ
• 3 gün, 17 saat, 51 dakika

Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis will at 2pm provide an update on work the Government has been doing to try to improve competition in the grocery sector.  Speaking to Newstalk ZB on Monday, Willis tempered expectations, saying she wasn’t going to unveil “a grand silver bullet to solve all supermarket issues”.  The Government’s offer to give potential new entrants to the market VIP treatment has borne no fruit – yet at least.  Willis said she wouldn’t be unveiling news of a big international supermarket chain coming to New Zealand.  Rather, she told Newstalk ZB, “There will be deliberate and specific actions that you have not heard about before”.  “What we have to do is create the conditions in which a new entrant or an existing player feel that they can expand. That is a commercial decision for that entity.  “I think the Government’s job is to say, ‘Okay, what is the red tape that would stop you doing that? What are the regulatory barriers? What is the uncertainty about the competition framework that might prevent you?’”  Willis’ comments suggest it is unlikely she will push the nuclear button and force a breakup of the two supermarket giants - Woolworths and Foodstuffs - that control both the wholesale and retail arms of the sector.  In March, she commissioned consultants at Coriolis to investigate this option.  Coriolis, in a report it helped prepare for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment in 2022, when the Labour Government considered requiring supermarket companies to sell their assets, noted this was risky.  “Supermarket divestment could be net beneficial, but only if several key factors aligned well and several key risks could be adequately mitigated. And even then, any net benefits are not enjoyed equally by all households,” Coriolis, Sense Partners and Cognitus Economic Insight said.  “Divestment of the nature being considered here is unprecedented in New Zealand. The risks of unintended consequences are not trivial.”  The consultants concluded it was best for Foodstuffs (which has the retailers New World, Pak’nSave and Four Square) and Woolworths (which also operates under the Fresh Choice and Super Value brands) to sell some of their stores to reduce their market shares to a level specified by the Government.  They said the approach should be industry-led, rather than government-led.  The consultants said the aim could be to ensure there were either three different supermarket retailers in every pocket of the country, or four different retailers nationwide.  They couldn’t guarantee the benefits of divestment, in terms of this spurring more competition and lower prices, would outweigh the costs.  Separately, the Commerce Commission in June proposed ways of giving grocery suppliers a leg up in their dealings with the supermarket giants.  It proposed updating the Grocery Supply Code to:  Stop retailers charging suppliers for stocking shelves or for groceries that become unfit for sale while in the retailer’s control.  Require retailers to reimburse suppliers if they buy groceries at promotional prices, but then sell those products at higher prices after the sale period ends.  Require retailers to keep records on how they’re complying with certain parts of the code.  Prohibit retailers from retaliating against suppliers that exercise their rights under the code.  The commission, in June, also asked grocery suppliers and supermarket giants to voluntarily reduce their reliance on promotions and specials to make retail pricing more straightforward.  The Government has been very vocal about solving problems in the grocery, banking and energy sectors, but the public is yet to see meaningful change to curtail price hikes and/or improve services.  Jenée Tibshraeny is the Herald’s Wellington business editor, based in the parliamentary press gallery. She specialise...

• Newstalk ZB
• 4 gün, 5 saat, 54 dakika

The Government has unveiled plans to speed up the regulatory process companies need to go through to get supermarkets built in New Zealand. Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis said the three main supermarket businesses “exhibit major market power and effectively operate as a duopoly”. “The result is higher prices for New Zealand and fewer choices about where and how we shop.” Willis said feedback she’d heard from existing supermarket players and possible new entrants was that there were “far too many regulatory stop signs and red lights”. “They said these problems were made worse by restrictive council zoning and lengthy, uncertain, expensive consent processes,” she said. “They told us that the time and cost involved in applying for resource and building consents for new supermarkets creates uncertainty for any new development and makes New Zealand an unattractive place to set up shop. “We were told it can take up to four years to get permission for a new supermarket.” What the Govt is going to do To encourage supermarket competition, Willis said the Government will introduce legislation creating a specific fast-track pathway for new supermarket developments. “We are creating an express lane for new supermarkets,” she said. This will “significantly” speed up and simplify the building consent process for grocery store developments, Willis said. “Developers will also be offered the opportunity to get standardised building designs pre-approved through a new multi-proof scheme. Together, these changes will improve the consistency and pace of the building consent process for new supermarkets.” Willis said the Government’s proposed changes will reduce the time it takes to get consent to build a supermarket from about 18 months to a year. She is still exploring whether to require the country’s two grocery giants, Woolworths and Foodstuffs, to sell off their assets. These companies exercise a lot of power in wholesale and retail spaces. “A decision to restructure the supermarkets is not a decision that would be taken lightly. It would be a significant intervention that would carry costs and risks that would need to be rigorously weighted against the potential benefits to shoppers,” Willis said. “A cost-benefit analysis is underway on specific options for restructuring the duopoly and will inform future advice I intend to take to Cabinet on whether further legislative changes are required to improve competition.” The consenting changes the Government has decided to make include: Clarify grocery developers’ eligibility for the fast-track approvals process Establish a single building consent process for supermarket developments Remove restrictions to use MultiProof for faster building consent of standardised designs “With these changes, well-planned and investment-ready new supermarkets have a streamlined pathway to attaining approvals for development,” Willis said. She said the Government decided to make consenting changes on the back of feedback it received from the sector after it issued it with a voluntary “Request for Information”. This request revealed five prospective new domestic competitors and credible growth aspirations among several existing grocery retailers. “Ultimately those businesses will make their own investment decisions about whether and when to launch new supermarkets - the Government’s policy changes are intended to give them more confidence to do so,” Willis said. “We have been in talks with Costco about its plans to open more stores in New Zealand... “Their single West Auckland store has already markedly changed competitive dynamics in that local area and has provided a major export-pathway for New Zealand food producers. “Costco has confirmed the Government’s express lane consenting approach will assist with their future expansion plans. They have also confirmed they can see opportunities for new stores to be built in New Zealand in the next few years.” Willis said it was disappointing that other ma...

• Newstalk ZB
• 4 gün, 5 saat, 54 dakika

A crash involving a car and motorcycle on the Northern Motorway at the foot of the Harbour Bridge has been cleared. NZTA said the collision was in the right, northbound lane near the Shelly Beach Rd overbridge. NZTA said the lane was blocked with motorists advised to take care passing the crash. The crash has been cleared, but drivers are told to expect delays until congestion has eased. Police said the motorway unit was in attendance, however, no serious injuries had been reported.

• Newstalk ZB
• 4 gün, 5 saat, 55 dakika

A woman who fatally ran over her former partner following a tense night of recovering her property from his West Auckland home was acting in “excessive self-defence”, her lawyer suggested today as she was sentenced to prison for manslaughter. But any such claim would need to be significantly tempered by Elizabeth Lynn Smith’s grossly disproportionate response, prosecutors countered. Justice Grant Powell appeared to agree, to an extent, with both sides in the High Court at Auckland today as he ordered a sentence of four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for the 41-year-old. Victim Dean Fifield, 48, may have been acting aggressively towards Smith’s friends as he cracked the windscreen of their car, but they were safely inside their vehicle with the doors locked and armed with a bat, the judge noted, adding that Fifield was particularly vulnerable because he had his back to Smith’s own car. “He was simply unaware of the danger and unable to take any avoiding action,” Justice Powell said, describing Smith’s Mazda Axela as “a large, unforgiving and formidable weapon”. Smith was initially charged with murder following Fifield’s death outside his home in June last year. She had been set to go to trial next week but instead pleaded guilty last month to the lesser charge. Smith and Fifield had previously lived together at the Moire Rd address in Massey. When she left the relationship, some property was left behind which she wanted back, court documents state. Auckland resident Dean Fifield was fatally struck by a car in Massey in June 2024. Elizabeth Lynn Smith was initially charged with murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Photo / Supplied The defendant tried to get assistance from police after Fifield initially ignored her requests, but police were not responsive, the court was told today. In affidavits filed to the court, two friends of Smith said she told them that if she didn’t contact them by 9pm that night something had gone wrong. They got worried and went to Fifield’s home to check on her around 11pm and found the two talking inside the house, the court was told. “Mr Fifield does not appear to have been happy at this development,” Justice Powell said. Nevertheless, a trunk belonging to Smith was recovered from the home with the help of her friend and placed in the boot of her car. Just as Smith and her friends were preparing to drive away in their separate cars, “Mr Fifield emerged from his house to confront you all”, the judge pointed out. That’s when he hit the windscreen of the defendant’s friends’ vehicle. Smith then drove out of the driveway and directly into Fifield. Auckland accountant Elizabeth Lynn Smith appears in the High Court at Auckland, charged with the June 2024 murder of Dean Fifield in Massey. Photo / Michael Craig “Ms Smith’s vehicle struck Mr Fifield, which propelled him onto the bonnet initially before he fell under the front of Ms Smith’s vehicle,” the agreed summary of facts states. “Ms Smith continued driving a short distance with Mr Fifield wedged underneath her vehicle. “Mr Fifield was trapped under the vehicle when it came to a stop on Moire Rd.” Fifield was pronounced dead at the scene, after emergency responders took measures to lift the car off him. Fifield’s family described him today as a loving father of three and a volunteer firefighter who took a keen interest in fitness. “If I could just hear one of his dad jokes one more time,” said his daughter, who described having grief as a constant companion over the past year. “If I could just hear his laugh one more time.” Family members expressed “profound disappointment” at police and prosecutors for the way the case was handled, as well as frustration with the media. “I have no faith left in a system that failed my father,” Fifield’s daughter said. Justice Powell acknowledged the “understandably devastating impact” of Fifield’s death on his friends and family and expressed hope that the sentencing hearing would help to provide some clos...

• Newstalk ZB
• 4 gün, 6 saat, 1 dakika

David Seymour and Dame Jacinda Ardern. Photo: RNZ The Broadcasting Standards Authority has not upheld a complaint about low-level swearing on RNZ's Afternoons programme.

• Otago Daily Times
• 3 gün, 18 saat, 4 dakika

A young Portuguese bullfighter has died after he was rammed against a wall during his debut performance in Lisbon’s Campo Pequeno bullring. Video from the fight, which took place on Friday (local time), shows Manuel Maria Trindade, 22, beginning to run at the 700kg bull before backing away quickly. The beast then charges at Trindade, picking him up with its horns before ramming him against the far wall. Other bullfighters are seen trying, but failing, to slow the bull as it carries Trindade toward the wall and attacks him. Towards the end of the video, they get the bull to move away from the fighter by pulling its tail and showing it brightly coloured capes. Almost 7,000 people were in attendance to watch the incident unfold. Photo / @UpSomeone1 Portuguese news outlet Correio da Manha reported Trindade died on Saturday (local time). He had gone into cardiorespiratory arrest, which doctors were unable to reverse, according to the outlet. The man was catching a 695kg bull when he crashed into the wall and became immediately unconscious, the outlet reported. The New York Post reported that almost 7000 people watched the incident unfold at the bullring in Portugal’s capital city. A 73-year-old spectator died from an apparent aortic aneurysm at a hospital after witnessing the incident, the outlet reported. Trindade was a celebrated “forcado”, a type of Portuguese bullfighter who provokes a bull into charging, according to the Daily Mail. Portuguese bullfighting is a separate tradition from the more commonly known Spanish bullfighting. Unlike the Spanish variation, bulls are not killed in the arena, as competitors attempt to tire or stop the bull by grabbing it by the horns. The bull’s horns are usually covered in leather padding to protect against injury, but it is unclear if that was the case in the bullfighter’s death, reported the New York Post. The sport has faced criticism in the country, with some groups calling for its ban, according to the outlet.

• Newstalk ZB
• 4 gün, 6 saat, 7 dakika

Water storage and whenua Māori projects the beneficiaries. The post East coast, Hawke’s Bay get $24.62m from infrastructure fund appeared first on Farmers Weekly .

• Farmers Weekly NZ
• 4 gün, 6 saat, 15 dakika

Former Māori All Black Shane Christie died suddenly in Nelson this morning, sparking calls from grieving friends for greater attention on the damage a rugby playing career can cause. Friends of Christie told the Herald it was believed his death was self-inflicted and came after a period during which concern over his wellbeing had increased. Christie was an advocate for greater focus on the damage repeated head injuries can have – particularly the links with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is a degenerative brain disease that can only be diagnosed after death. The symptoms include aggression, depression, memory loss and paranoia. Christie had told the Herald he wanted his brain to be studied after his death to see if he had CTE. In New Zealand, Christie’s close friend and teammate Billy Guyton was found to have CTE in a brain study carried out after his death in a suspected suicide. In the United States, it has been linked to multiple suicides among professional football players. The posthumous diagnosis of Guyton made him the first professional New Zealand-based rugby player confirmed to have the disease. Guyton retired aged 28 due to ongoing concussion symptoms and died in 2023 at age 33. Christie’s lawyer, Craig Morice of Nelson, told the Herald the former player was not only a client but a friend. “I’m absolutely devastated that something like this has happened,” Morice said. “The time for discussions about preventing this happening again is not now but that is a discussion that needs to take place and should take place. “We shouldn’t run from this discussion. I’m so incredibly sad for Shane’s family and friends and team mates he has left behind.” Christie captained Tasman to an NPC title and co-captained the Highlanders to their maiden Super Rugby title in 2015. He also represented the Māori All Blacks but had his career cut short in 2018 because of ongoing and severe concussion symptoms. In December, Christie told the Herald of wanting to donate his brain to medical science so it could be studied for the damage his playing career caused – and changes he would make to rugby to make it safer for the next generation. The police said officers were sent to “a sudden death in Nelson this morning” after receiving an alert just after 8.20am. “The death will be referred to the coroner and we have no further information or comment we can provide.” Former NZ Herald journalist Dylan Cleaver, whose ground-breaking journalism reported extensive links between rugby and head injuries leading to CTE, said it was “more evidence that we need to take this subject seriously”. “It is more evidence we need to acknowledge the link between head knocks and not just neuro-degenerative disease but mental health outcomes. “This is tragic news. It is heart-breaking. It is just so important we keep having conversations about head injuries in rugby.” Former NZSAS operator Gregg Johnson met Christie through their shared experience of repeated head knocks in their professional careers - and their efforts to have their former employers shoulder the burden of care and treatment of those who succeeded them. On this week last year, the pair were together at the Centre for Brain Research in Auckland attending a seminar on CTE. Johnson told the Herald he was saddened to hear of Christie’s death. “Our stories were identical. If we told our story without saying what we were, people wouldn’t know which was which.” More to come ...  SUICIDE AND DEPRESSION  Where to get help:• Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP) (available 24/7)• Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)• Youth services: (06) 3555 906• Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234• What's Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)• Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202 (available 24/7)• Helpline: Need to talk? Call or text 1737• Aoake te Rā (Bereaved by Suicide Se...

• Newstalk ZB
• 4 gün, 6 saat, 20 dakika

A person has been injured after falling down a mine shaft on the West Coast.

• Otago Daily Times
• 3 gün, 18 saat, 31 dakika

The fighter was making his debut at a Lisbon bullring when tragedy struck.

• NZ Herald Sport
• 4 gün, 6 saat, 35 dakika