Saturday, January 17

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Wolfs stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt. So why did this movie go straight to streaming?
World News

Wolfs stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt. So why did this movie go straight to streaming?

By Jamie Tram, ABC Brad Pitt and George Clooney in 'Wolfs'. Photo: Supplied / Apple TV+ Review - It's been 16 years since Burn After Reading, the last time George Clooney and Brad Pitt were glimpsed together on-screen - and even then, without spoiling, they only shared the briefest of unfortunate encounters. In fact, despite being two of the biggest actors of their generation, they haven't appeared in another movie together outside of Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's trilogy, an unrivalled feat of virtuosic cool and effortless ingenuity that defined their movie star personas. So it's something of a big deal that Clooney and Pitt have been re-united in Wolfs, the latest Apple TV+ original film, with director Jon Watts (Spider-Man: No Way Home) at the helm. It's the kind of event that you'd...
Commerce Commission blocks Foodstuffs’ North and South Island merger
Business

Commerce Commission blocks Foodstuffs’ North and South Island merger

Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers The Commerce Commission has declined Foodstuffs' proposal to merge its North Island and South Island divisions. Earlier this year the country's biggest supermarket operator proposed agreed to bring the divisions together to create a national co-operative. The boards of Foodstuffs North and South Island divisions currently operate separately and run a number of well-known brands including New World, Pak'nSave and Four Square. On Tuesday, the Commerce Commission declined the proposal saying it would substantially lessen competition. In a statement, chair Dr John Small said it would reduce the number of buyers of grocery products in New Zealand from three to two giving it greater buying power. "As a consequence of the substantial lessening of competition and the as...
100 dead, more missing after Hurricane Helene hits US
World News

100 dead, more missing after Hurricane Helene hits US

By Marco Bello and Maria Alejandra Cardona, Reuters Storm damaged cars sit along Mill Creek in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Old Fort, North Carolina. Photo: SEAN RAYFORD/Getty Images via AFP Emergency responders in North Carolina were racing overnight to try to reach people who remain unaccounted for three days after Hurricane Helene ripped through the southeastern United States, killing more than 100 people, wiping out communications and leaving millions without power. In mountainous, hard-hit Bumcombe County, which includes the city of Asheville, 35 people have died, the county sheriff said at a news briefing on Monday. The county will begin distributing food and water later in the day to residents, after some supplies were airlifted to the region that has been largely isol...
Trump suspect pleads not guilty to attempted assassination charge
World News

Trump suspect pleads not guilty to attempted assassination charge

By Andrew Goudsward, Reuters Ryan Routh has pleaded not guilty to five federal charges, including attempted assassination. Photo: AFPTV / AFP The man charged with attempting to assassinate Donald Trump after allegedly positioning himself with a rifle outside one of the former president's Florida golf courses on 15 September pleaded not guilty to five federal charges. Ryan Routh, 58, entered the plea to charges that include attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate during a hearing in federal court. He has already been ordered to remain in jail to await a trial. Prosecutors have said Routh intended to kill Trump as he golfed at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. Routh, a struggling roofing contractor, condemned the Republican presidential candidate in a ...
What went wrong for Fletcher Building?
Business

What went wrong for Fletcher Building?

Fletcher Building's share price has fallen from $8 to less than $3 in the past decade. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly It might be one of the country's biggest companies, but Craigs Investment Partners has not had Fletcher Building among its recommended portfolios for the past decade, and that has served the investment firm well. A series of unfortunate events, and the cyclical nature of the business, have meant its share price has fallen from about $8 a decade ago to $2.95 this week. So what went wrong for Fletcher, and will its new chief executive and recently completed capital raise help turn it around? A number of significant events have damaged the company in recent years. It has been involved in a dispute over leaking pipes in Western Australia, installed between 20...
Australia’s online dating code will require Tinder, Hinge to act on dangerous users
World News

Australia’s online dating code will require Tinder, Hinge to act on dangerous users

By Jake Evans, ABC political reporter Photo: Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto Tinder, Hinge and other online dating platforms will have six months to become compliant with a dating code of conduct designed to make the matchmaker apps safer, after years of reported failures to act on incidences of sexual assaults enabled by their platforms. A 2022 Australian Institute of Criminology study found three in four people it surveyed had been subjected to sexual violence facilitated by dating apps in the prior five years. From Tuesday, the online dating code will begin requiring dating apps to have systems to detect potential incidents of "online-enabled" harm and take action against users who violate a company's online safety policies. Apps must also display prominent and transparent complaint an...
Company liquidations up 19 percent on last year
Business

Company liquidations up 19 percent on last year

The construction, hospitality and transport sectors are twice as likely to be placed in liquidation. File photo. Photo: 123rf The number of company liquidations has soared, as businesses struggle to stay afloat in a slowing economy. The latest monthly report from credit bureau Centrix shows liquidations are up 19 percent year-on-year, and business credit defaults up 5 percent. Construction, hospitality and transport businesses appear to be the hardest hit, as consumers and businesses pull back on spending. That is despite an improvement in business and consumer sentiment in recent months. Centrix managing director Keith McLaughlin said the trend of difficulty for businesses often followed that of consumers. "The cost of running a business has gone up and to counter that, consumers haven...
Israeli troops may be positioned for imminent Lebanon ground incursion, US official says
World News

Israeli troops may be positioned for imminent Lebanon ground incursion, US official says

A smoke plume erupts after an Israeli airstrike targeted the outskirts of the village of Ibl al-Saqi in southern Lebanon. Photo: RABIH DAHER/AFP The United States has observed positioning of Israeli troops that suggests a ground incursion into Lebanon could be imminent, a US official has told Reuters. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to offer further details on the posture of Israeli forces and declined further comment. Earlier, Israel warned Iran that nowhere in the Middle East was beyond its reach and hinted at a land invasion of Lebanon after assassinating the leader of the Tehran-backed Hezbollah group, one of its biggest adversaries, in a Beirut suburb last week. "There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people and protect our country," Prime Minist...
KiwiSaver withdrawals soar: But how does it actually work?
Business

KiwiSaver withdrawals soar: But how does it actually work?

The number of people withdrawing money from KiwiSaver for financial hardship reasons has almost doubled in a year. File photo. Photo: 123rf Large numbers of New Zealanders continue to withdraw money from KiwiSaver for financial hardship reasons. More than 4200 members withdrew money for this reason in August, up from 2760 in August last year. But how do you make a financial hardship withdrawal, how long does it take, and what might get you turned down? What can you claim for? KiwiSaver members can apply for withdrawal for hardship reasons in fairly limited circumstances. You can apply if you cannot pay your minimum living expenses - such as power, water and food bills, if you can't keep up with your mortgage or rent, if you need to modify your home to meet special needs, or if you need ...
Leptospirosis may prove to be fatal, warns expert
Health

Leptospirosis may prove to be fatal, warns expert

As Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was hospitalised after he was diagnosed as suffering from leptospirosis, a disease not many are familiar with, a doctor explains how this bacterial infection occurs, its dangers, and the precautions that must be taken. Explaining how leptospirosis spreads, Dr M Wali, Senior Consultant from the Department of Medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi, said that this infectious disease is caused by the bacteria Leptospira, and often spreads to humans through rats. The infection can occur when food, water, or soil contaminated by animal urine comes into contact with the nose, mouth, eyes, or broken skin, he said. Regarding the symptoms of this disease, Dr Wali said that in the early stages of leptospirosis, patients may experience flu-like symptoms. H...