Although some towns are feeling the pinch after the opening of motorways that bypass their towns More than 22,500 vehicles used to pass through Warkworth every day but since the opening of the Ara Tūhono section of State Highway 1 businesses have reported a drop in business.  Ōtaki has been thriving since the opening of the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway in 2022.  Ōtaki Business Association Member and Owner of Black and Co Quality Leather NZ Leon Kingi told Kerre Woodham that it’s opened the town back up to locals.  He says that since they no longer have to avoid the traffic more people are coming into town deliberately to shop and enjoy the local businesses.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 1);}.css-4hf0t5:focus{outline:none;}.css-4hf0t5:hover{border-color:rgba(215 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com If you've ever wanted to know about champagne Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche Otaki Kite Festival was held here on Saturday A senior woman flies a kite at Otaki beach The small town on the Kāpiti Coast shines every March with Māoriland The burger was delicious (as were the cream paua fries we also ordered) and would have been worth the trip into Ōtaki town centre on its own. After we ate, we dropped any food scraps into the compost bin provided and rinsed our dishes at the washing station. We walked out of the kai area, past the “decolonised zone” sign and into Ōtaki’s memorial hall for our first screening at Māoriland 2025. Māoriland, in its 12th year, has changed what it means to run a film festival. As the largest festival for indigenous storytelling in the world, Māoriland is incomparable, the only similarity with the New Zealand International Film Festival being that it shows films from around the world. Otherwise, it’s a whole new world. Five hundred metres down the road, hundreds (maybe thousands?) had packed out the converted basketball arena to watch the world premiere of Shrek in te reo Māori. There was a green carpet out the front and a sausage sizzle out the back and it felt like a family barbecue (complimentary). Next door to the hub was a cafe, nearly overrun the entire weekend with the influx of visitors and the op shops dotted along the main road were humming. After the festival, organisers released the data showing record numbers this year – ticket sales doubled compared to 2024 and there was a 50% increase in audience numbers across the week. There is a holistic approach to Māoriland that is absent from nearly every other festival in the country. Attendees can buy movie tickets and food, yes, but they can also get to know each other with daily sunrise swims at Ōtaki beach or play a conversation card game together. Each film is personally introduced, and even the clips asking viewers to turn their phones off are bespoke and beautifully crafted. Everything felt intentional and in its place. Ōtaki has always been a thriving bi-cultural town, with Te Wānaga o Raukawa complex going from strength to strength. But with the expressway recently bypassing Ōtaki altogether, the number New Zealanders passing through is now a fraction of what it once was. Ōtaki is no longer a through-town on the biggest highway in the country. Instead, it will have to become a destination, a reason to take a break and stay a while. With Māoriland, it has absolutely succeeded. This article was produced with the support of Creative New Zealand. A complaint must be first directed in writing the complaint may be referred to the online complaint form at www.presscouncil.org.nz along with a link to the relevant story and all correspondence with the publication Though the winter weather on Okinawa is mild it is definitely too chilly to swim without a wetsuit doesn’t mean you cannot enjoy some of the beautiful natural spots the island has to offer This 84-foot-high waterfall in Kunigami Village is the largest waterfall on Okinawa’s main island but the area also offers visitors great camping and hiking especially in the winter season when the summer heat isn’t beating down Access to this area is about a two-hour drive from Camp Foster as it is also home to another popular point of interest — Okuma Beach My journey on a sunny day in January wasn’t to go lay on a beach but to see the majestic waterfall in all its glory and enjoy a nice hike through the shade of the forested park which looked like a rock wall from a movie set a preview of the big waterfall waiting ahead it was a relatively easy walk as ropes were stretched along the route to help trekkers navigate the area The one I took led me to a river and though the downstream looked calm and peaceful the rainfall from the day before had made the river rise slightly According to a signboard posted at the gate it was a little shy of a mile from the gate to the waterfall I came across a suspension bridge over the river I spent some time taking high angle shots of the river and forest A sign at the end of the bridge indicated I had approximately 650 meters to go The surrounding landscape became more dynamic but it was still fun to take in the surrounding views of moss-covered rocks and water flowing through them forming a small pond and drawing beautiful layers of blue and green The distance of 2,133 feet would have felt short if it were on a track the road to Hiji Waterfall made it feel much longer A pavilion and benches installed along the path came in handy and I took several breaks to catch my breath and enjoy the sound of the waterfall growing louder The final portion of the path to the waterfall was a boardwalk It went up to a landing at a good elevation Although much smaller than the waterfalls of Yellowstone or Niagara Hiji Waterfall still maintained its own beauty Its incessant current was the shape of a broom drawn with a big stroke of a brush Rugged rocks cut by the strong water could be seen behind the flow and the surrounding greenery created a harmonious view that was relaxing Visitors are not allowed in the basin at the bottom but there is a rocky stretch nearby where you can get a closer look at the impressive waterfall (Note: There is a rope around the water area Do not go in the water as it is not safe and people have drowned in the area in years past.) After a 40-minute walk on the mountainous road the river and forest rendered different colors than before The closing time of the camping site was approaching And another two-hour drive was waiting for me my steps procrastinated to pick up the pace and the sound of the waterfall continued to linger in my mind Read now > Sign up for our weekly newsletter of articles from Japan A watchdog has found police acted appropriately during a pursuit in Ōtaki near Wellington where two people died in a crash after the pursuit was abandoned police briefly pursued a stolen Ford Courier ute travelling south from Levin on State Highway 1 that had been involved in an aggravated robbery in Ōtaki The pursuit was abandoned due to excessive speed The ute eventually crashed head on into another vehicle after driving north in the southbound lane of the expressway north of Ōtaki later succumbed to his injuries in hospital while a third passenger sustained serious injuries but survived the crash sustained injuries ranging from serious to moderate the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) concluded that police managed the fleeing driver incident appropriately It noted police had considered closing the road to minimise risks to other road users but the option was deemed unfeasible in the circumstances involved The authority did identify some minor breaches of the fleeing driver policy and recommended police amend the policy to specify that when a police vehicle was carrying crew members those crew members were responsible for managing police communications during pursuits Police said in a statement they accepted the IPCA's findings and were considering its recommendation to change their fleeing driver policy which was the death of two young people and serious injuries to five members of the public is a tragedy and was completely avoidable," relieving Central District Commander Inspector Ross Grantham said "Police use every serious incident as an opportunity to learn and we note the minor breaches of our police policy raised by the IPCA and have taken these onboard," Grantham said Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday A group of teenagers are in custody after the police pursuit of a stolen vehicle across Auckland on Sunday night The man swam away from officers across a river The police complaints authority is investigating after a person died in a crash in Ōwhata A man whose daughter was killed in a car that fled from police says encouraging more pursuits is madness The 31-year-old faces charges of aggravated assault New Zealand RSS Follow RNZ News Police accept the findings by the Independent Police Conduct Authority in relation to a fatal crash which occurred following a Police pursuit near Ōtaki our thoughts and sympathies are with the people and families impacted by this crash police briefly pursued a stolen vehicle on State Highway 1 after it was involved in an aggravated robbery in Ōtaki Police abandoned the pursuit due to high speeds of the driver They later found the vehicle driving north in the southbound lane of the expressway and it eventually crashed head on into another vehicle the driver and one passenger of the stolen vehicle died and another passenger suffered serious injuries The four people in the other vehicle suffered serious to moderate injuries Relieving Central District Commander Inspector Ross Grantham says the IPCA found that overall Police managed this complex and dangerous fleeing driver incident appropriately in the circumstances: which was the death of two young people and serious injuries to five members of the public is a tragedy and was completely avoidable Police use every serious incident as an opportunity to learn and we note the minor breaches of our police policy raised by the IPCA and have taken these onboard," says Inspector Grantham The IPCA has recommended Police amend their Fleeing Driver Policy to specify that when a police vehicle is carrying crew members those crew members are responsible for managing police communications during pursuits Police are considering this recommendation Hunterville based harness racing trainer Scott Dickson heads to Otaki today with a team of six horses hoping for luck after a raft of placings at Tauherenikau on Thursday “They were all thereabouts on Thursday so hopefully they can get a bit of luck,” says Dickson First up in the Wings International Mobile Pace is Tres Bonne Fille (4) driven once again today by junior driver Leah Hibell At Tauherenikau on Tuesday Tres Bonne Fille (Vincent) missed out when after hitting the front halfway up the straight she was beaten just half a length by Megyn Kelly with the pair finishing 7.5 lengths ahead of the rest of the field Since joining the Dickson stable the Vincent mare has placed on four occasions and finished just in behind the placings in fourth on five times and Dickson is hopeful she’ll break maiden ranks today “She went well on Thursday and is just waiting her turn to get her maiden win and hopefully it’s today,” says Dickson but the grass tracks all run a little differently so hopefully it suits her.” Dickson has three horses contesting The Telegraph Hotel Otaki Handicap Trot including King Of Diamonds (9) who despite passing the winning post first at Tauherenikau on Thursday was relegated to second place behind eventual winner Son Of Patrick “It all went downhill very quickly on Thursday when he shied,” says Dickson “he was doing it pretty easy too which was probably half the problem as he had no runners around him to keep his mind on the job.” On Thursday the Father Patrick gelding stepped quickly from his 30 metre handicap to lead the field was in for a comfortable win until the horse shied at the winning post and galloped which also happened to inconvenience both Dickson’s other horses in the race Cosmic Angel (3rd) and Trippy Tyron (4th) “He’s got some ability and if he were to go as well again but he can’t quite be trusted to keep it together.” Trippy Tyron (3) and Cosmic Angel (5) are also both competitive chances and are driven by Hibell and Peter Ferguson today All three of Dickson’s runners start off a 30 metre handicap “Cosmic Angel is honest and usually runs in the money and it was Trippy Tyron’s first start for us and she should hopefully improve on Thursday’s run” says Dickson Cristiano Buccini was another who placed at Tauherenikau on Thursday when finishing third after a cosy trip on the fence trailing the leader to end up just 0.6 lengths off the winner Stealers Wheel The Alta Christiano gelding starts in the Harness Racing At Otaki January 19 and 21 Mobile Pace from barrier five today “He’s better placed in this field today as he drops back in grade a bit,” says Dickson “he went well enough on Thursday and with a bit of luck he should go close today.” The gelding was pulled up in the run at his last start on Thursday at Tauherenikau when he went off stride and galloped with 700 metres to run but was a winner the start prior at Manawatu On that occasion Victor Bravo did some early work to find the lead dictating the pace from thereon out and proved too tough in the finish winning by half a length “I’m not entirely sure why he galloped on Thursday “he’s been going good all season and generally paces well so we’ll forgive him and I think if he get’s it right plus some luck he can go close too.” “With Leah (Hibell) driving most of the team they’re all eligible for penalty free wins too which is plus.” Racing get underway today at Otaki with the first race at 11.06am For complete race entries, click here by Brigette Solomon, for Harness Racing New Zealand Harnesslink.com is the only harness racing website dedicated to covering news and events in the Standardbred Industry world-wide © 2024 Harnesslink | All Rights Reserved | NV © 2024 Harnesslink | All Rights Reserved | NV Today's print edition Home Delivery A memorial service was held Friday to mark the 10th anniversary of the eruption of Mount Ontake which left 58 people dead and five others missing The ceremony took place at a park in the Nagano Prefecture village of Otaki located at the foot of the 3,067-meter-tall volcano.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); the memorial service brought together some 50 participants including bereaved relatives and local officials the time when the country's worst volcanic disaster in the postwar era occurred on Sept In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division With a packed programme and staunch kaupapa Māoriland returns to the Kapiti Coast from March 26-30 An empowering and enlightening celebration of indigenous excellence returns to the tiny North Island town of Ōtaki next month with this year’s Māoriland Film Festival showcasing 130 films and digital works from 86 indigenous nations across the globe Now in its 12th year and drawing crowds from all across Aotearoa the festival’s director Madeleine Hakaraia De Young said the secret to its success wasn’t just the diverse array of films on show but the deep-rooted kaupapa that has stood the test of time “We all long to be part of something bigger than ourselves,” she said identity and unique worldviews from other indigenous communities deepens our own sense of place.” She describes the festival as a “global movement” wairua and whenua are themes that return year after year and each year audiences gain a new experience or understanding of these values through discussions and collaboration “Our success comes from bringing people together,” De Young said “The most powerful moments for me are the kōrero – hearing from audiences after screenings People return to Māoriland year after year because it gives them a sense of belonging.” It’s also the town’s long-term plan and support of te ao Māori that De Young attributes to the festival’s growth and sustainability we are part of a visionary iwi strategy called Whakatupuranga Rua Mano which looked ahead to the year 2000 and beyond,“ she said challenged us to look even further: what does Aotearoa look like in the year 3000 Māoriland operates with that same long-term vision.” This year’s festival theme is “Ko te mauri he mea huna ki te Moana” - a whakataukī that centres on climate changes unfolding across the world and the impact on indigenous communities Many of this year’s headlining films reflect this but they also look to inspire positive change and what sets us apart is that we bring them forward with joy,” De Young said We hope visitors to Māoriland leave this year’s festival feeling activated and inspired.” Here’s a look at some of this year’s line-up but with 130 films and shorts in the festival there’s plenty more to explore in the programme A buddy film with an authentically indigenous twist Kōkā explores the concept of generational friendship through its fly-on-the-wall perspective of the journey of Māori elder Hamo (Hinetu Dell) and local delinquent Jo (Darneen Christian) the pair undertake a spiritual sojourn full of healing and connection as they head towards Hamo’s whenua it’s the first feature film to use the original dialect of East Cape iwi Ngāti Porou an impressive feat by all film-makers involved Writer/director Kath Akuhata-Brown told the Gisborne Herald she “wanted to make a film that puts a Māori world view front and centre of the screen” this is the perfect fit for a film festival that celebrates diverse indigenous perspectives while also showcasing the power of human connection and communication If its hauntingly beautiful promotional image is anything to go by Virginie Tetoofa’s stark depiction of French Polynesia being brutalised by the impacts of privatisation is sure to fix eyes to the screen Told through the eyes of three indigenous women – a community leader a spearfisher and a teenage activist – the film intends to show viewers the power of grassroots activism through cultural change while linking to mythical and spiritual ideals The notion of going up against corporate giants for the greater good leads film-makers to describe the movie as a story of how a small community can give hope for global change “As native Tahitians we grow up immersed in nature The ocean is our first ancestor and through our myths we learn our deepest lessons,” Tetoofa revealed in her director’s statement “Te Puna Ora not only serves to preserve this connection with the ocean but also shows an undeformed indigenous reality.” Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson (produced by Māoriland Charitable Trust) After the te reo Māori adaptation success of Disney films like Moana and The Lion King Shrek (2001) is the latest animated hit to be reborn with Māori language at its front and centre Rangatahi in Ōtaki challenged festival organisers to have the film dubbed into te reo Māori so producer Libby Hakaraia contacted DreamWorks' vice-president of international dubbing to try to make it happen She explained the town had been revitalising te reo since the mid-1970s and was now one of the strongest bilingual towns in Aotearoa following the titular angry ogre who is commissioned to rescue a princess has already been dubbed into more than 40 languages and broke box-office records when it was released including Taringa podcast host Te Puaheiri Snowden as Donkey and Hawke’s Bay te reo Māori advocate Jeremy Tātere McLeod as Lord Farquaad the dub will be a treat for tamariki and whānau wanting to explore the language together Hakaraia said the project “celebrates cultural diversity and the power of storytelling to connect people” which fittingly resonates with the kaupapa of the festival Stories about climate refugees are rare in today’s saturated film landscape so this film by Canadian directors Ryan Cooper and Eva Thomas will be a refreshing welcome and no doubt a wake-up call to many indigenous woman Aberdeen of the Peguis First Nation (Gail Maurice) navigates the trials and tribulations of adapting to big-city life while reflecting on the inter-generational cycle of trauma she has faced Without an ID and sleeping on public benches she enters survival mode and vows to return to the place where she was valued and accepted the film paints a stark picture of those forced to flee and highlights the ever-growing issues that climate change poses to indigenous communities “Though elements of this story have been told before Cooper and Thomas make Aberdeen a rich character not a caricature,” the Toronto International Film Festival organisers wrote in their programming notes “The film feels extremely personal and raw According to this film’s opening credit: “The last New Zealand war took place in 1979 A film that made waves at the 2024 New Zealand International Film Festival this raw documentary about a controversial mock haka by University of Auckland students approaches its subject from various viewpoints and angles Director Katie Wolfe (Kawa, 2010) takes the heightened emotion of the gripping tensions of her stage play based on the event and shows it through a real-life historical lens by interviewing those involved Headlines at the time described the event as a “gang rampage” and several of the activists were convicted of crimes during the heated protest many who became seasoned activists around protests including the Springbok Tour and Treaty of Waitangi claims there’s gentle joviality as they recall they didn’t have much of a plan in place and a quiet sense of pride for what they achieved,” Moerangi Vercoe of the Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival observed “For the engineering students there’s an underlying nervousness as they defend their involvement in the haka party – a ‘fun’ tradition of which they had no knowledge of the offence that it caused." Whether you’re versed in the event’s specifics or have no clue what it was about the film is an informative and eye-opening look at cultural appropriation Full ticketing and programming information for the festival, which runs from March 26-30, can be found at mff.maorilandfilm.co.nz How I make it work: Mīria George. The multi-hyphenate talks about what inspires her Good One delivers quiet drama in the depths of the woods New Zealand director India Donaldson’s feature debut is about betrayal and learning to trust your gut Bookworm costume designer on dressing for the hunt of the Canterbury Panther Jaindra Watson explains how Elijah Wood escaped wearing a fedora New, locally made film Grafted slices and dices at harmful beauty standards The New Zealand-born director on women-fronted horror and the terror of beauty norms How I make it work: Film is both craft and calling for Brandon Te Moananui A bloom of daffodils welcomed a stream of stars A new venture opening soon with a collection of 1300 bottles from a team of wine experts The active botanical skincare brand is rolling out in 50 Sephora stores from May 13 From sushi to souffle and blue cod tempura Jesse spotlights the very best of Ōtautahi spiced treat that turns carrots into something surprisingly sweet and snackable Beetroot is the secret ingredient in this chocolate orange cake March 9 (Xinhua) -- People share wonderful moments with their families and friends at the Otaki Kite Festival in New Zealand went missing in the Ōtaki Forks on Saturday and was located yesterday A black labrador named Robey has been credited with saving the life of his elderly owner who went missing in Tararua Forest Park. was among the searchers who credited Robey’s actions for drawing the team to McHaffie’s location where the pair were found around 5pm yesterday is a fit and active man and a “community personality” who went missing after heading out on what appeared to be a routine walk but he just went for a walk and didn’t stop walking The search initially focused on areas closer to McHaffie’s home as Stone and others suspected he might have veered off his driveway until reports of distant dog barks on Sunday spurred the search team to expand their efforts further up into the hills Stone said the terrain was challenging for the group of rescuers because [McHaffie is] 78 years old - but he’s quite fit and active Stone said the walk was roughly 40 minutes from McHaffie’s home He said McHaffie had likely been following the track he was meant to be on to return home but took a wrong turn at a fork and kept going downhill I think he’d only gone there to respond to our calls.” While some members of the group stayed with the dog Stone and a policeman followed Robey’s pawprints which Stone described as “a crease in the land” with a trickle of water where they found McHaffie on his back about 2.5m away lying sideways across the slope and quite damp in the trickle of water and hugged him to keep him warm until rescuers arrived and McHaffie was winched out of the ravine and transported to Wellington Hospital to be medically assessed and Robey was transported back to town on Stone’s side-by-side and then taken in by McHaffie’s neighbours for the night because it’s been raining up here this morning and it wouldn’t have been such a good time to find him in the cloud that’s been brought down today,” said Stone and search and rescue teams who helped throughout the search - as well as McHaffie’s daughter who made tea and coffee for everyone throughout the ordeal “They’re the backbone of our society really “These are just people like you and I giving up their lives to help others Sergeant Marcus Fellerhoff said it was unlikely the man would have been found if it wasn’t for his dog ”Robey deserves a lot of credit in the locating and safe return of his owner.” After Robey was found he was given some food and water and walked out of the bush with his rescuers ”The family have passed on their gratitude and praise for the efforts of Search and Rescue police and other members of the public who assisted with the search.” Sign up to The Daily H a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday The only high-reach ladder truck in Auckland broke down last night Now that the formalities of saying goodbye to Pope Francis are over the process of selecting his successor can begin in earnest By focusing on the liberal vs progressive spectrum the succession speculation minimises the impact that Francis’ massive administrative reform of the Church administrative arm – the Curia – will have on the mood of the conclave Francis had the heart of a Franciscan but the mind of a Jesuit and the Curia reforms he led were enacted with ruthless efficiency should be able to drink the water from their kitchen tap without getting sick But this basic right is under threat by an already oversized intensive dairy industry that’s set to expand further." “We have lived through the cost of building failures before We must not repeat the mistakes of the leaky homes era by lowering standards in the name of speed,' Labour Local Government spokesperson Tangi Utikere said We have fewer public chargers per EV than many other countries in the OECD and we know that this is a barrier to Kiwis purchasing EVs,” Mr Bishop says “We disagree with the Council’s decision to demolish this iconic bridge because we believe it was made in haste and the people of Wellington were not properly consulted,” says Stuart Niven Spokesperson for the Save the City-to-Sea Bridge group As New Zealanders mark the 110th anniversary of Anzac Day and it nears 80 years since the end of the Second World War surviving veterans from that global conflict have been thanked for their contribution in a special message from King Charles III The Voluntary Bonding Scheme provides financial incentives to encourage new graduates to stay and work in the country – particularly in hard-to-staff regions and specialities where they’re needed most is recovering from a brain injury after he was involved in a motorbike crash on Ōtaki Beach on November 6 Pru and Marc Simpson said of their 19-year-old son’s condition Charlie hopped on a friend’s motorbike to have a turn At 8pm he was involved in a crash with a ute As sirens blared across the small North Island town kept Charlie’s airway open to prevent further brain damage until other emergency services arrived Charlie was put in an induced coma and flown to Wellington Hospital thumb and rib and had 12 different lines and tubes put into him A Givealittle page has been set up for Charlie to help support him during his recovery A police spokesman said enquiries into the incident were ongoing “Police continue to appeal for witnesses of the crash to come forward and speak to us as work to determine the full circumstances of the crash continues.” Charlie’s parents Pru and Marc were in New York at the time of the incident They had spent two years saving up for the trip which coincided with their 20th wedding anniversary and the New York Marathon Pru had been training hard for They were woken early in the morning by a bang on their hotel room door before their world instantly changed They cancelled their holiday plans and went to San Francisco to get on the next flight to New Zealand that night They were also worried about their three teenage daughters at home trying to deal with “an incredibly traumatic situation thinking their brother wasn’t going to make it” The couple eventually managed to get to Charlie’s bedside three days after the incident The family was confronted by doctors who said they needed to consider the type of life Charlie would want to lead and prepared them for a range of scenarios including the possibility he was brain-dead Charlie was in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit for 13 days his ventilation tube was removed and he was able to say he needed a drink taking two steps forward and one step backwards like when Charlie contracted pneumonia from being on the mechanical ventilator Charlie is currently awake for about five hours a day Even learning to stand again is exhausting He gets confused about what month it is but most of the time he gets the year right His last memory is going on a tramp with one of his college friends which was about a month ago Charlie is possibly facing years of recovery but no one knows for sure what lies ahead because people experience serious brain injuries so differently “That’s what’s really tough- we can’t control or plan for the future because we don’t know what that future will look like” Marc said the local community has rallied around them and that reflected how loved Charlie is “We’ve had people mowing our lawns and providing food Marc said he is a gentle giant who is always willing to help people out “I know he‘s our son but lots of people have said the same thing.” Charlie won an award at college for completing more than a thousand hours of community service he secured council funding for a community garden when he was just 14 years old and he is a Land Search and Rescue New Zealand volunteer he has been doing farmwork and has found joy working outdoors in the bush and the hills Ōtaki MP Tim Costley said he first met Charlie when he was at Ōtaki College and described the Simpsons as a great community family “I was gutted to hear about Charlie’s accident he’d just organised for me to go out with him and the Rural Worx team and learn to shear a sheep which we would have been doing this week if he was well.” Costley encouraged people to contribute to Charlie’s Givealittle page this Christmas if they were able to prayers and best wishes are with Charlie and his whole family as they navigate the road to recovery.” Marc anticipated the biggest challenge for Charlie would be his reduced capacity for the active lifestyle he once enjoyed It’s hoped Charlie will be transferred from the hospital to the ABI Rehabilitation centre in Porirua next week where he is expected to remain until the new year Marc encouraged people on motorbikes to wear a helmet and to be careful is that young men and young women just take the time to consider the context and the risk before doing things that’s the big thing that we’d like to see.” Anyone with information about the crash should contact police via 105 Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist The Sonex home-built plane Nigel Frederickson was flying when the propeller fell off on August 17 The photo is taken from the Civil Aviation Authority's air accident report The pilot of a home-built plane died in a crash two hours after fitting a new propeller A coroner has found that Nigel Frederickson, 74, died from multiple injuries sustained in a crash on August 17, 2020, while desperately trying to land his propeller-less plane at the Ōtaki Air Strip about 70km north of Wellington His badly damaged aircraft was found by rescuers upright on the field in long grass halfway down and at right angles to the airstrip with a trail of debris leading back to where it first impacted the ground about 50 metres away The front of the plane and the right wing tip sustained extensive damage The propeller was missing and a search failed to find it Frederickson was still in the pilot’s seat He was declared dead at the scene by a rescue helicopter medic The retired engineer had built the all-metal construction two-seated Sonex aircraft from a kit between 2007 and 2009 A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) air accident report said he held a private pilot’s licence with 20 years and about 600 flying hours of experience more than half of them in the Sonex aircraft stored his aircraft at the Ōtaki Air Strip hangar He left home around 9am on the day of the crash His son had talked to him the night before and discussed them going flying together Frederickson intended to fit a new propeller to the aircraft two-bladed wooden propeller was not approved to be fitted to the Jabiru 2200A engine which powered the aircraft A forensic examination later found most of the screws securing the propeller flange to the engine crankshaft showed evidence of fatigue cracking There were no positive location dowel pins leading to additional loads being transferred onto the screws resulting in the propeller detaching from the aircraft Closed-circuit television footage taken from the airstrip showed Frederickson fitting the new propellor to his plane at 11.07am The CAA report said a test flight began at 12.48pm Frederickson flew to a point about six nautical miles (11km) northeast of the airstrip at a height of 3000 feet He then turned and made a shallow descent back towards the landing strip About 17 minutes after take-off “the propeller detached from the aircraft” Neither the coroner nor the CAA accident report identified how long this happened before the crash but they indicated that Frederickson was able to continue flying the disabled aircraft as it approached the strip Frederickson would have been suffering anxiety and “startle effect” – an aviation term which describes how an emergency might disrupt appropriate decision-making – as the situation unfolded “The pilot had no prior knowledge of how his aircraft would perform without a propeller,” it said the pilot could only do the best he could to salvage a situation he had not experienced before.” Frederickson made a series of S-turns to lose height but with only a short distance to the runway and aggravated by a tailwind the CAA report said he likely placed the aircraft into a sideslip in an attempt to land within the confines of the runway It said he probably lost control during this final maneouvre while attempting to make an emergency landing Frederickson had CAA authority to maintain his aircraft which had an airworthiness certificate following an inspection in 2019 he was not approved to make design changes to his plane which would have included fitting a propeller which changed its operational characteristics Fitting such a propeller would have also invalidated the airworthiness certificate Coroner Rachael Schmidt-McCleave urged aircraft operators to re-familiarise themselves with CAA documents about what constitutes a design change and the conditions of airworthiness certificates and operator requirements “If there is any doubt as to whether a change [to an aircraft] constitutes a modification I encourage operators to consult with the CAA before making the change and attempting a flight,” she said Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency including as a political reporter at Parliament before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay Emergency services were called to the scene in rural Ōtaki after a man fell into a sewage tank A man who fell into a sewage tank and was stuck there for 20 minutes said he could have died if his dogs hadn’t raised the alarm Mark Humphrey was working on an orchard in rural Ōtaki on Friday when a septic tank lid he was standing on collapsed I was hanging on to a shovel and supporting myself with my arm and my feet braced inside the tank at a right angle,” Humphrey said He was waist-deep in sewage having managed to brace his body before becoming fully submerged Humphrey yelled for help and his dogs started barking The commotion alerted other people working further away on the orchard They rang emergency services as Humphrey felt himself slipping He instructed them to put a strop around him and attach the other end to a vehicle to support his weight Humphrey wasn’t scared but focused on the practical things he could do “It’s not the kind of thing I would recommend to anyone but it’s an accident and it shows you how fast accidents can happen.” It could have happened to anyone walking over the lid of the tank If there hadn’t been people nearby to respond and his dogs to raise the alarm He estimated he was in the tank for about 20 minutes before firefighters arrived “I said to them: ‘Just put a ladder down the hole and I’ll climb out’.” Fire and Emergency New Zealand shift manager Chris Dalton previously described the tank as being “chocka” with sewage “I don’t need to say it to you exactly how horrendous that would’ve been.” Humphrey asked fire crews to hose him down when he was safely out told them to hose them and in the end I was just standing in my socks my undies and a singlet and then I said: ‘Just hose me off’.” His belongings have since been commercially washed and thrown away “I must say Samsung build a good phone - 20 minutes and it still goes,” Humphrey said “Submerged for 20 minutes and it works fine My earbuds were in my pocket and they don’t work.” Humphrey has developed a cough and a chest infection since falling in He is concerned it’s related to the fumes from the fall and was arranging a second appointment with his doctor “Friday night I could hardly breathe and even now He was also going to physio for strained muscles after bracing himself in the tank “The doctor said from where I went to where I ended up it’s the equivalent of falling about eight feet [2.4m] and then stopping yourself with your arms.” Humphrey had hoped his luck might extend to last Saturday’s Lotto draw but he confirmed: “Lotto didn’t work for me” Orchard owner Mike Tracey said Humphrey was very calm throughout the ordeal we managed to work out to hold him up and support him and then we waited - we’d already rung the fire brigade “Then it was just a matter of waiting for some extra horsepower to help him out of the hole.” Tracey said he has since been made aware of similar incidents after talking to people about what happened “You do wonder why they have a manhole in a septic tank They probably should just have little holes where they can drop the hose and suck them out rather than anything that could go wrong.” Police continue to search for David McHaffie and his black labrador dog An elderly man thought to have been missing in Ōtaki Forks in the Tararua Forest Park has been found Police began searching for the man and his black labrador after he was last seen on Saturday morning Police had urged members of the Ōtaki township and Ōtaki Gorge Rd community to check their properties for David McHaffie and his dog Ropey He was wearing a green jacket and blue sweatpants and was walking his black labrador dog or have any information that may assist in locating him please call 111 urgently The Drawing Board tonight explores the intersection of architecture and sustainability through a Māori lens highlighting how modern design is transforming spaces in harmony with cultural values This episode focuses on the development of a groundbreaking building at the Ōtaki campus of Te Wānanga o Raukawa which is the first certified “Living Building Challenge” structure in the region The Living Building Challenge is the world’s most rigorous sustainability certification encompassing seven performance areas: site the goal of the new building was to create better spaces for students and staff We needed some facilities that were better suited to looking after our students and looking after our staff.” The old buildings were costly to maintain and inefficient making the Living Building Challenge the perfect fit for their values of kaitiakitanga (guardianship) Architect Ewan Brown of Tennent Brown Architects describes the immense significance of this project “The Living Building Challenge is an international system It’s the highest rating system for buildings in the world for sustainability There’s only 32 buildings in the world at this level.” To meet the challenge’s stringent criteria the building had to generate its own energy Brown elaborates on the multifaceted approach “We have to generate enough power to run all the buildings without any extra energy coming to site .. The design also had to prioritise health and wellbeing ensuring the building was free of harmful chemicals “We have to look at volatile organic compounds with a biophilic plan that connects the building with the natural world emphasises the significance of the land’s history in shaping the project and Thompson’s design aimed to restore this natural environment “We understood that it had previously been a wetland And so the idea that we might create a landscape over which all the buildings floated.” She highlights the vital role of wetlands in managing water quality and habitat with all campus landscapes designed to both treat and attenuate water Waste reduction was another critical component with a goal of diverting at least 90% of construction waste from landfills The finished campus is entirely self-sufficient with on-site wastewater treatment and rainwater storage systems The campus now stands as a beacon of sustainable architecture where 99% of the construction materials are sustainably sourced and nearly all waste is diverted from landfills the environment provides more than just a space to learn; it’s a living breathing example of how design can nurture both people and the planet The Te Wānanga o Raukawa campus is a remarkable testament to the power of design and sustainability working together – an inspiring model for the future of architecture Wharehoka Wano will lead Te Tōpuni Ngārahu a body representing the region's eight iwi Tory Whanau launches Golden Mile project yesterday Become a Wellington.Scoop Supporter » Although some towns are feeling the pinch after the opening of motorways that bypass their towns, not all are struggling.  More than 22,500 vehicles used to pass through Warkworth every day, but since the opening of the Ara Tūhono section of State Highway 1, businesses have reported a drop in business.  However, Ōtaki has been thriving since the opening of the Peka Peka to Ōtaki Expressway in 2022.  He says that since they no longer have to avoid the traffic, more people are coming into town deliberately to shop and enjoy the local businesses.  Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you The successful Youth MP will join up to 123 young people from across the country as Youth Members of Parliament where they will advocate for their communities and debate the issues they are passionate about it will offer a unique opportunity to one young person between the ages of 16 and 18 to influence government decision-making and learn first-hand about our democracy “I want to see someone get an opportunity that might be a catalyst for them to achieve beyond what they thought possible “This is not always about the best and brightest committed young people who stand to gain a lot from this experience,” said Mr Costley Up to 20 young people will also be selected as Youth Press Gallery members to report on the activities of Youth MPs and learn about the important role the Press Gallery plays To apply, please email Tim Costley at Tim.CostleyMP@Parliament.govt.nz by 12 noon on Friday 28 February 2025. Young people must be aged 16 to 18 years on the application closing date to be eligible to become a Youth MP. Applicants should write why they want to be the Youth MP and what they would bring to the role (300 words max). Please also include one ‘policy idea’ for the change you’d most like to make if given the chance. Applicants will be shortlisted in March for a short interview and leadership session. The successful candidate will be announced by the Minister for Youth in April. They will be required to perform a range of duties over the period 28 April to 29 August, 2025. This includes the Youth Parliament in Wellington 1-2 July and some electorate-based activities throughout these four months. Those unsuccessful will form the basis of the region’s 2025 Youth Advisory Panels which Tim has run throughout his tenure as our local MP. There will be one youth representative from the Ōtaki electorate, which encompasses Kāpiti and Horowhenua from Foxton to Paraparaumu. A man who had been missing on the Kapiti Coast since Saturday was found after his dog led rescuers to him. The man and his dog, called Robey, were last seen on Kaitawa Rd in Ōtaki Forks at about 7am on Saturday. Over three days of searching, police received several reports of a dog barking in the Ōtaki Gorge area. "On Monday afternoon, Search and Rescue located Robey, by calling out to him after hearing more barking," police said. "The search team were then able to follow Robey's footprints to locate the missing man a short distance away." The man was taken by helicopter to Wellington Hospital to be assessed. Sergeant Marcus Fellerhoff said it was "unlikely" the man would have been found without his dog. "Robey deserves a lot of credit in the locating and safe return of his owner. After he was found he was given some food and water and walked out of the bush with his rescuers. "The family have passed on their gratitude and praise for the efforts of Search and Rescue, police and other members of the public who assisted with the search." Search underway for Masterton man John Rafferty was last seen at Masterton Railway Station at about midday on May 4 New Zealand Victoria Uni law students to sit handwritten exams due to AI fears Professor Geoff McLay said he had become "increasingly worried that the embedding of artificial intelligence in many students' laptops" Man charged after gun allegedly fired in Masterton MSD office Police said it was believed to be an isolated incident with no wider risk to the public Crime and Justice Man's cigarette smuggling attempt stubbed out Customs said the body-packing of the more than 1600 cigarettes was "an attempt to defraud Customs revenue" Wellington Airport's giant eagles to depart terminal "They have been a huge success and travellers from around the world have loved admiring them." Wellington residents 'left in limbo' as power outages continue Thousands of homes lost power during the storm which battered the region this week Film industry anxiously awaits details on Trump's 100% movie tariff 7:17pm Search underway for Masterton man, 74, missing since Sunday 7:07pm Crooks, culture first order of business for Mike Bush in Victoria 7:05pm Charges filed against Woolworths over pricing, misleading specials 6:45pm Police, experts warn 'emerging risk' of 3D-printed firearms rising 6:33pm Trade war: Sir John Key's 'optimism' on Trump's next tariff moves 7:28pm 1Charges filed against Woolworths over pricing, misleading specials US woman who disappeared for more than six decades found safe Two men's shared name brings years of trouble and a hefty bill to one US prisons bureau has challenges — reopening Alcatraz is now another Auditor-General launches probe into school lunches Photos: Lorde among stars at 2025 Met Gala A$AP Rocky and Rihanna also revealed they are expecting their third child. Two arrested over alleged plot targeting Lady Gaga concert in RioBrazilian police said they thwarted an alleged bomb attack planned for Lady Gaga's concert on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. Lady Gaga rocks Copacabana Beach with free concert for over 2 million fansSun, May 4 Lorde announces new album name, dateThu, May 1 Kim Kardashian to testify in Paris trial over 2016 armed robberyMon, Apr 28 Chubby Checker, Outkast, Cyndi Lauper join Rock & Roll Hall of FameMon, Apr 28 Kim Kardashian to testify in Paris trial over 2016 armed robberyMon A search and rescue operation is underway for a Masterton man in his 70s missing since Sunday John Rafferty was last seen at Masterton Railway Station about midday on May 4 The 74-year-old did not board a train and left on foot about 20 minutes later Matheson said it was possible Rafferty was staying with a friend but police and loved ones "want to know he’s safe" and John doesn’t have his cell phone or wallet," he said A search team and a helicopter has been out looking for the missing man "We are really keen to know that he’s safe." Police have released an image from CCTV showing Rafferty on a station platform on the day of his disappearance He was wearing a blue jacket with 'NASA' written on the back Anyone who saw him was asked to contact police on 111 or online at 105 if there was Information after the fact A law student at Victoria University of Wellington said students had been "left in the lurch" after an announcement on Monday that said next month's exams for two law subjects would have to be handwritten also said a timetable had still not been provided he said he had become "increasingly worried that the embedding of artificial intelligence (AI) in many students' laptops makes ensuring that students' work is their own very difficult" He had hoped the university would have a technical solution although he hoped one would be available at the end of the year "This means that we will not be able to allow students to use laptops for exams next month," McLay wrote "I want to make this announcement as soon as possible so students have time to prepare for handwritten examinations." McLay added that there would be an exception for students with a disability that required them to use a keyboard The situation affected the LAWS 312 Equity and LAWS 334 Ethics exams The student said the announcement was stressful during an already stressful time a representative of the Victoria University of Wellington Law Students' Society said the Council of Legal Education had to be certain that everyone who passed the exams in Equity and Ethics deserved a pass (and did not cheat) "Previously in person invigilation has been sufficient to manage these concerns due to the increasing ability and sophistication of AI the faculty were concerned about the reliability of the exams leading to their decision to make the Equity and Ethics exams handwritten." The representative said the law students' society had expressed that students' preference was for typed exams — "reflecting how our professional lives will look" once it became clear that the faculty felt they needed to proceed with handwritten exams we emphasised that students should be informed as early as possible accessibility options should be made clear and exam content and timing should reflect the fact that many students have not done handwritten exams since high school and are not used to writing for extended periods of time." The representative added it was separate from the delay to the exam timetable Victoria University Provost Professor Bryony James said students' handwriting their exams meant the university could be confident that the results truly reflected the students' own knowledge and effort — free of any suggestion of the influence of AI James said she would ensure that no student was disadvantaged and was committed to working with students — including those with disabilities — who might need further support to participate in exams and final assessments as a result "As part of this undertaking the Faculty of Law will review this Trimester's exam results to ensure this cohort's performance is in line with previous years and confirm that students are not significantly impacted by this decision." President of Victoria University's Students' Association Liban Ali told Morning Report he was aware that this could happen as early as last year "It has been on the card as of last year I feel like there was something that was going to happen." Ali said the announcement had come at the wrong time and that the Students' Association were very concerned for students He said the Students' Association had engaged the Law Society and the faculty to determine the best way to support students He added that he would make sure that any changes were communicated early in the future rnz.co.nz A 25-year-old man has appeared in court after he allegedly fired a gun at another person inside a Ministry of Social Development office in Masterton yesterday Police were called to the incident on Lincoln Rd at around 12.40pm on Monday Wairarapa Area Commander Inspector Nick Thom said there were no reports of injuries from the incident "Following police's initial enquiries one person was taken into custody a short time later nearby." Cordons were put in place around the area and some staff were armed as a precaution Thom said it was believed to be an isolated incident with no wider risk to the public "Police would like to commend Ministry of Social Development staff for their prompt actions in following their lockdown procedures as this enabled police to provide a swift response to resolve this incident quickly." A 25-year-old man appeared in Masterton District Court today charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and conducting a dangerous act with intent to cause grievous bodily harm Wellington's famous eagles will take flight from the airport this week after 12 years in the terminal They will be replaced by a new display that is currently being kept under wraps Wellington Airport chief executive Matt Clarke said that the departure of the birds (and their passenger Gandalf) will be emotional for staff "They have been a huge success and travellers from around the world have loved admiring them After 12 years it's the right time for them to fly the nest “We’re working with Wētā Workshop on some exciting plans for a unique locally themed replacement to take their place." The eagles were created by Wētā Workshop as a tie-in with the Hobbit movies and unveiled in December 2013 Each bird weighs 1.2 tonnes and has a 15-metre wingspan Wētā Workshop co-founder and chief creative officer Richard Taylor said it's a "bittersweet moment" saying goodbye to them "There are many more stories to be told and we're looking forward to working with Wellington Airport on bringing a new chapter to life."  The eagles will be taken down and disassembled on Friday May 9 and placed into storage with long-term plans for them still yet to be decided "We’ll unveil what’s next later this year so keep watching the skies," Clarke said Tolkien fans will be relieved to know that Smaug the Magnificent will remain in the check-in area Frustration is mounting among residents in Wellington who have been without power since early Thursday but Wellington Electricity says some repairs will continue until the middle of next week Natasha Eagle and her two children have been coping without electricity at their Island Bay home for four days She said communication had been muddled and sparse and it was difficult having no idea whether restoration was hours or days away That view was backed up by Brooklyn resident Sean Keaney He said he and his family of five had been without electricity since midnight Thursday He said they were the only house in the street affected and an electrician had confirmed the problem was at the pole Keaney said communication from Wellington Electricity had been appalling "However there is absolutely no information for us and others like us I've called multiple times to be told 'we have no ETA' we don't have any information on when someone will be there' and when I pushed and asked to talk to someone to escalate this was told they 'don't want to talk to you and you can make a complaint when it's all resolved' "This is appalling communication from Wellington Electricity - they will have a schedule of work and an idea of when they could be out to fix but refusing to share it as our family of five approach 60 hours without electricity not knowing how long it will be and unable to plan." venting frustration about the lack of communication and updates from Wellington Electricity Wellington Electricity said it was progressively restoring power to single-premise outages - with faults being prioritised by how long they had been out "After the strongest winds in a decade lashed the Wellington region on Thursday Wellington Electricity has restored power to the bulk of affected customers," it said in a statement to RNZ on Sunday afternoon adding that 8000 customers had been impacted "Crews have worked 14-hour days since Thursday managing safety with regular check-ins and roster rotations to manage fatigue." "Wellington Electricity anticipates restoring the bulk of its remaining customers without power by Monday evening however further repairs will be necessary including streetlight circuit restoration." Anyone without power who has not been contacted should call their electricity retailer directly so repair crews can be dispatched to restore supply "Wellington Electricity acknowledges the extended disruption these outages have caused and thanks customers for their continued patience while final restoration work is completed." rnz.co.nz The next top cop of the troubled Victoria police force embraces his "outsider" status to curb its leadership malaise and has a stern warning for crooks Former New Zealand Police commissioner Mike Bush won the race to become Victoria's chief commissioner after months of top-level staffing woes The 40-year police veteran steps into the role on June 27 with a five-year contract The Kiwi conceded the job will be no picnic with Victoria's crime rate hitting an almost decade-high in 2024 everyone knows that," he told reporters today "These crime issues are actually global they are quite similar wherever you go but it's not good enough just to turn up after the act Rising youth crime and high-profile cases of alleged offenders committing crimes while on bail spurred the Victorian government to strengthen laws in March Bush said he was familiar with the crackdown but bail laws were just one part of the solution to tackling youth crime along with a "prevention mindset" He retired from the NZ police force in 2020 after joining in 1978 and spending his final six years in the top job Whakaari/White Island volcano eruption and Covid-19 pandemic were among the biggest crises Bush confronted during his tenure Bush also made headlines in 2022 after it emerged he had a past drink-driving conviction when unsuccessfully applying to become head of the UK's Metropolitan Police Former New Zealand police minister Stuart Nash describedr Bush as hard but fair He said Bush regularly met with police forces across the Tasman in his previous role and recalled travelling with him to every district across New Zealand once a year to chew the fat with communities and then we all had biscuits and a cup of tea," Nash told AAP "Mike is someone who had deep credibility in policing." The state government has not handed the reins of Victoria Police to an outsider since former NSW Police assistant commissioner Christine Nixon in 2001 The Kiwi was happy to wear the "outsider" tag and is already hatching plans to hit the ground running "I've got a lot to do to come up to speed," Bush said "Culture is a consequence of leadership." establishing relationships with community groups amid rising tensions and increasing police visibility on the beat were among his other top initial priorities Victoria Police was thrust into leadership turmoil in February with a no-confidence vote from officers costing chief commissioner Shane Patton his job Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent became acting chief and expressed an interest in making the move permanent before throwing in the towel in April Deputy Commissioner Robert Hill will serve in an acting capacity until Bush takes over Bush intends to speak with Patton before starting and said he wouldn't shy away from pushing back if he disagreed with the government Premier Jacinta Allan said a recruitment agency was hired and instructed to find a leader capable of addressing the "challenges" plaguing the force "Mike Bush is the best person for the job," she said whose union led the no-confidence vote against Patton following a bitter pay dispute admitted there was a disconnect between members and leaders The state police union secretary welcomed Mr Bush's appointment and pledge to listen to the mounting workforce concerns "We have a police force that is currently under-resourced that needs fresh officers," he said The Commerce Commission has filed criminal charges against Woolworths NZ for alleged inaccurate pricing and misleading specials that may have breached the Fair Trading Act The commission filed the charges against Woolworths in the Auckland District Court It indicated in December last year that it would be filing separate criminal charges against Woolworths and two Pak'nSave supermarkets the commission said there were ongoing issues with pricing in the supermarket sector and the operators may have breached the Fair Trading Act deputy chair Anne Callinan said operators should know what the expectations were "Supermarkets have long been on notice about the importance of accurate and clear pricing and specials and we're not satisfied with the continuing issues we're seeing across the industry "Pricing accuracy is a consumer right and an expectation of a competitive market well-resourced businesses that should invest the time and effort to get pricing and promotions right." She said the charges were filed to remind all supermarkets that they are expected to fix the pricing accuracy issues and implement better processes In a statement when the charges were announced Woolworths managing director Spencer Sonn said it was important customers could trust prices advertised at their supermarkets Woolworths said it has cooperated with the Commerce Commission's pricing investigation for some time rnz.co.nz Former prime minister Sir John Key says he remains optimistic about Donald Trump's domestic economic policy despite opposing the tariff strategy that has sent global markets into turmoil in recent months who served as prime minister for eight years was the keynote speaker at an Auckland business summit earlier today Sir John told 1News he believed Trump would ultimately take a more moderate approach to tariffs than initially proposed "I'm not a fan of tariff policies I don't think they really work," he said as I think the stock market is telling you at the moment that actually there will be a more sensible landing place for the tariffs that he's wanting to impose." Sir John said he "wasn't entirely surprised" at Trump's call to go ahead with the policy "They're just a negotiating point I think he simply put on widespread and high rates of tariffs on every country to give himself a leverage point and a negotiating point "What I think he actually grossly underestimated was the stock market reaction You can actually make the case that his own strategy hasn't worked The reason the markets have recovered is because he's taken those tariffs off the most part 'I'm going to negotiate case by case'." Sir John suggested Trump's economic policies could still generally be positive for the US but the tariffs could be trickier for the global economy Asked whether he stood by his October comments that Trump would be good for the economy he said: "Do I think he's going to reduce regulatory burden in the United States It depends on where things shake down in terms of tariffs." Sir John acknowledged that for certain industries Trump's policies could be "a really negative thing" particularly if the president's proposed 100% tariff on the film industry were to be implemented "I can't see how it would be cost-competitive to make a movie in New Zealand with a 100% tariff on it," he said noting that films such as The Hobbit would not have been made in New Zealand without government subsidies who now served as a director of US tech company Palo Alto Networks said he had "always been opposed" to Trump's tariff policies but believes they won't be the "dominant part of his economic solutions" "I don't think it's perfect from New Zealand's point of view but I don't think we should panic either and America will still be a very big market for us to sell things to," he said "There are growing markets around the world It's not a great thing from New Zealand's point of view We've got a very sound economy with lots of options in front of us." Sir John suggested a belief that the Republican Trump was was better "on balance" for the US economy than Democratic opponent Kamala Harris he expressed concerns about Trump's tariff approach: "China doesn't pay those tariffs middle-income consumers or consumers in America do because when a tariff goes on a good that you bring into a country He added: "I don't agree with the massive tariffs and I don't think you'll follow through with all of that and I certainly don't agree with this view on trade." Audrey Backeberg disappeared from a small city in south-central Wisconsin after reportedly hitchhiking with her family’s babysitter and catching a bus to Indianapolis Nobody ever knew where she went or what happened to her All that changed last week when she was found alive and safe in another state thanks to the fresh eyes from a deputy who took over the case in February Detective Isaac Hanson discovered an out-of-state arrest record that matched Backeberg which triggered a series of investigative moves that led to finding her alive and safe in another state Turns out Backeberg chose to leave the town of Reedsburg on her own accord – likely due to an abusive husband safe and secure; And just kind of lived under the radar for that long,” he said Hanson was assigned the case in late February and he and other officials met with Backeberg’s family to see if they had a connection with that region They also started digging through Backeberg's sister's Ancestry.com account obituaries and marriage licenses from that region they found an address where a woman was living that Hanson said shared a lot of similarities with Backeberg including date of birth and social security number Hanson was able to get a deputy from that jurisdiction to go to the address "I was expecting the deputy to call me back and say ‘Oh nobody answered the door.’ And I thought it was the deputy calling me I could sense that she obviously had her reasons for leaving.” Most of the information he learned during that call he declined to share saying that it was still important to Backeberg that she not be found “I think it overwhelmed her of course with the emotions that she had having a deputy show up at her house and then kind of call her out and talk with her about what happened and kind of relive 62 years in 45 minutes,” he said Hanson described discovering her safe after more than six decades practically unheard of And while he doesn't know what will happen next in terms of her family reconnecting he said he was happy that she can reach out if she wants to so she has my contact number if she ever wants to reach out or needs anything any phone numbers of family members back here," he said "Ultimately she kind of holds the cards for that.” Shane William Pritchard has been charged with crimes he didn’t commit and chased for debts he doesn’t owe That’s because the Dunedin man is not the only Shane William Pritchard in town While the duo’s shared name and age has sometimes been a handy loophole for one Shane for the other it has caused problems for 36 years It’s been years of fearing every knock on the door Years of wondering if he’ll be hand-cuffed and taken to jail to be honest,” says Shane William Pritchard a scout and a member of the Air Training Corp remembers getting quite a shock when her friend called one evening She'd been acting as a referee for a gun licence for Shane whose friend informed her that the police had a long list of offences against Shane’s name Not long after that the police turned up to where Shane was working at the local tannery to arrest him “You're scrambling in your head to think of ways that you can prove it's not you.” Another Shane William Pritchard had been born in Otago They were separated by just two weeks and about 50 miles – one growing up in Mosgiel the other in Milton – but also by the lives they’d been leading To watch the full video story go to TVNZ+ Shane from Milton had huge problems focusing at school He was raised in foster care and then boys’ homes I just wanted to look cool and get in trouble,” he tells Fair Go Milton Shane was used to run-ins with police he got pulled over in his car and asked about his driving licence one’s got a licence and the other hasn’t.’ And I’m like ‘obviously it must be the one with a licence’.” he went to his bank to draw out an ACC payment and was asked which bank account was his He says that at that point he was trying to figure out what was going on “I thought it was just an error.” But he took advantage of the situation and withdrew a large sum of cash Mosgiel Shane became aware of the withdrawal when a scheduled car payment was declined and when Milton Shane turned up at the bank to withdraw more money Identity fraud was considered but Milton Shane was legitimately expecting an ACC payment so the withdrawal appeared to be a genuine mistake and the police couldn’t take any action 'Anything I could get away with Mosgiel Shane thought the bank incident would have alerted police to the problem But his nemesis had cottoned on to the advantages of having a second identity to use Milton Shane acquired a suite of furniture on hire-purchase Milton-Shane clocked up more driving offences Mosgiel Shane thought about changing his name but realised he’d have to provide his previous name in the process the courts and debt collectors such as Baycorp should be able to distinguish between himself and Milton Shane The police first addressed the issue in the 1990s after Mosgiel Shane went to the media He was given a letter to carry with him should he be apprehended He and his parents felt his situation wasn’t being taken seriously Mosgiel Shane went to the media a second time in the mid-2000s the police gave their word that a record in their system would stop the misidentification from happening again This does appear to have worked as far as police action goes But while Mosgiel Shane was given the same reassurance by the Ministry of Justice he continued to receive demands from the courts for unpaid fines He’d also get stopped and questioned whenever he left the country for work trips or holidays It took a huge toll on Mosgiel Shane’s mental health not realising the constant stress it placed on his life John Pritchard says that at times his son felt his life wasn’t worth living worrying about what he was going to do to himself and that really ate me up.” he and his son were in tears as Shane admitted he was at breaking point He described going for days at a time unable to eat or sleep wondering what might happen next "Am I going to be in a position where they've got me in handcuffs or I've got debt collectors coming to the door?" ...You're spiralling into this black hole." He started taking anti-anxiety medication which helped And events regarding Milton Shane seemed to settle Milton Shane was charged for fishing without a licence in Twizel and failing to comply with fisheries officers But a court registrar incorrectly entered the birth date of Mosgiel Shane in the system both Shanes were being chased to pay the $1530 fine It was Mosgiel Shane who spotted the error and rang the court He also sent a statement from his manager saying he’d not been fishing in Twizel that day The reply he got was to say he’d been given the wrong form and that they wouldn’t accept his proof They just wanted to know how I was going to pay the fine.” The first Milton Shane knew about this was when Fair Go told him Mosgiel Shane had been chased for the fine He was told to pay up or face the consequences feeling he shouldn’t have to pay good money to correct someone else’s mistake But it cost Mosgiel Shane over $5000 in legal fees and took months of back and forth between him “Why should anybody have to pay their own money to right somebody else's wrongs and prove who they are I’m sick and tired of proving who I am all the time.” He wanted the Ministry of Justice to take responsibility and reimburse him for his legal costs saying court staff such as the registrar in this case have immunity if they make mistakes such as the one made here and if I make a mistake and it's affecting my client that it's going to cost them money to rectify a mistake that I've made.” he deserves a million apologies from those guys,” she says Milton Shane told Fair Go he still gets in trouble but wants the other Shane to know he doesn’t use his birth date anymore And he had a message for him: “We’ve got to get it sorted for you so you can have a good life with you and your family because I’m trying to get my life together with my son and my grandson” He offers to meet to see if they can sort it out together but I’m not interested in meeting him,.” says Mosgiel Shane He says he doesn’t hold any grudges and accepts Milton Shane’s apology And he believes the only way for that to happen is for the courts and the Ministry of Justice to give him a guarantee that mix-ups won’t occur in the future Fair Go asked the Ministry of Justice to appear in person to apologise and provide reassurance to Shane of its plans to guard against these mistakes The Ministry declined our request to be on camera saying any comment on an individual case would compromise the independence of the courts as the Ministry operates separately But it did send a written apology directly to Mosgiel Shane It also admitted mistakes can occur in clerical records but said instructions were clear and the importance of getting things right had been emphasised to staff Mosgiel Shane isn’t totally convinced that’s the end of it “All I want is for the Ministry of Justice and the courts to do their job I'd like to live without this hanging over me all the time his criminal check has come back showing a clean slate Eleven inmate deaths in less than two months A US$3 billion (NZ$5 billion) repair backlog a stunning directive from President Donald Trump for the crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons to “REBUILD AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!” — the notorious penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay that last held inmates more than 60 years ago Even as the Bureau of Prisons struggles with short staffing chronic violence and crumbling infrastructure at its current facilities Trump is counting on the agency to fulfill his vision of rebooting the infamously inescapable prison known in movies and pop culture as The Rock Trump declared in a social media post that a “substantially enlarged and rebuilt” Alcatraz will house the nation’s “most ruthless and violent Offenders” Newly appointed Bureau of Prisons Director William K Marshall III said that the agency “will vigorously pursue all avenues to support and implement the President’s agenda” and that he has ordered “an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps” We look forward to restoring this powerful symbol of law and justice,” Marshall said in a statement “We will be actively working with our law enforcement and other federal partners to reinstate this very important mission.” an 8.9-hectare spit of land with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline was once the crown jewel of the federal prison system and home to some of the nation’s most notorious criminals including gangsters Al Capone and George Machine Gun Kelly But skyrocketing repair and supply costs compelled the Justice Department to close the prison in 1963 and the Bureau of Prisons has long since replaced Alcatraz with modern penitentiaries including a maximum-security prison in Florence The former and perhaps future penitentiary is now a popular tourist attraction and a national historic landmark It’s controlled by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area meaning the Bureau of Prisons could be in for an interagency tug of war if it tries to wrest away control of the island Trump’s Alcatraz directive is yet another challenge for the Bureau of Prisons as it struggles to fix lingering problems while responding to the president’s priorities on incarceration and immigrant detention includes taking in thousands of immigration detainees under an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security The problems at the Bureau of Prisons transcend administrations and facilities An ongoing Associated Press investigation has uncovered deep previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons over the last few years including widespread criminal activity by employees and severe understaffing that has hampered responses to emergencies then-President Joe Biden signed a law strengthening oversight of the agency It remains the Justice Department’s largest agency 155,000 inmates and an annual budget of about US$8 billion (NZ$13.4 billion) but the Trump administration’s cost-cutting measures have eliminated some pay bonuses that were credited with retaining and attracting new staff That has resulted in long overtime shifts for some workers and the continued use of a policy known as augmentation teachers and other workers are pressed into duty to guard inmates A Bureau of Prisons official told Congress at a hearing in February that more than 4000 beds within the system — the equivalent of at least two full prisons — are unusable because of dangerous conditions like leaking or failing roofs a 37-year-old Florida businessman who was found dead April 28 in a suspected suicide at a federal jail in Miami He was awaiting trial on charges that he kidnapped and killed his estranged wife in Spain inmate Ramadhan Jaabir Justice was killed in a fight at the federal penitentiary in Pollock where he was serving a nearly 11-year sentence for a conviction related to an armed robbery As Trump was ordering Alcatraz’s reopening correctional officers at the same Miami jail were fighting to curb the spread of tuberculosis and Covid-19 isolating inmates after they tested positive for the diseases immigration detainees at the facility ripped out a fire sprinkler and flooded a holding cell during a lengthy intake process the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin has sat idle for more than a year after the Bureau of Prisons cleared it of inmates in the wake of rampant sexual abuse by employees the agency made the closure permanent and idled six prison camps across the country to address “significant challenges crumbling infrastructure and limited budgetary resources” While Trump hails Alcatraz as a paragon of the federal prison system’s cherished past other facilities stand as reminders of its recent troubles They include the federal jail in Manhattan which remains idle after Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide there in 2019 exposed deep flaws in its operations where 23 inmates have been charged in recent months with crimes ranging from smuggling weapons in a Doritos bag to the stabbing last month of a man convicted in the killing of hip-hop legend Jam Master Jay The Auditor-General's office has announced plans for an inquiry into the school lunch programme that has drawn criticism since a revamp It will cover Ministry of Education planning procurement and contract implementation under David Seymour's alternative model Terms of reference for the inquiry set out its scope: The Auditor-General's office said it decided to investigate because of concerns raised about aspects of the revised lunch programme and what the Ministry communicated with previous providers," it said "Because of the importance of these services we have decided to carry out an inquiry." the Office noted the ministry had in October last year awarded a two-year contract to the School Lunch Collective under which lunches would be provided for $3 each The ministry was also reported to have paid a further $8.9m to the collective for Year 9 and older students which had been part of the School Lunch Collective A further $4m grant was provided to KidsCan for a food programme in Early Childhood Education services rnz.co.nz Lady Gaga gave a free concert Saturday night in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach for the biggest show of her career (...) Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd kicked off the show at around 22.10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary Cries of joy rose from the tightly-packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand Concert organisers said 2.1 million people attended the show switching between an array of dresses including one with the colours of the Brazilian flag Some fans – many of them young – arrived on the beach at the crack of dawn to secure a good spot “Today is the best day of my life,” said Manoela Dobes a 27-year-old designer who was wearing a dress plastered with a photograph from when she met Lady Gaga in the United States in 2019 Madonna also turned Copacabana Beach into a massive dance floor last year The large-scale performances are part of an effort led by City Hall to boost economic activity after Carnival and New Years’ Eve festivities and the upcoming month-long Saint John’s Day celebrations in June “It brings activity to the city during what was previously considered the low season – filling hotels and increasing spending in bars generating jobs and income for the population,” said Osmar Lima the city’s secretary of economic development in a statement released by Rio City Hall’s tourism department last month Rio’s City Hall said in a recent report that around 1.6 million people were expected to attend Lady Gaga's concert and that the show should inject at least 600 million reais (NZ$178.3 million) into Rio’s economy Similar concerts are scheduled to take place every year in May at least until 2028 Lady Gaga arrived in Rio in the early hours of Tuesday The city has been alive with Gaga-mania since as it geared up to welcome the pop star for her first show in the country since 2012 Rio’s metro employees danced to Lady Gaga’s 2008 hit song LoveGame and gave instructions for today in a video A free exhibition celebrating her career sold out While the vast majority of attendees were from Rio the event also attracted Brazilians from across the country and international visitors More than 500,000 tourists poured into the city in the days leading up to the show according to data from the local bus station and Tom Jobim airport Rio’s City Hall said in a statement yesterday made a cross-continent trip from Colombia to Brazil to attend the show “I’ve been a 100% fan of Lady Gaga my whole life,” said Serrano who was wearing a T-shirt featuring Lady Gaga’s outlandish costumes over the years the mega-star represents “total freedom of expression – being who one wants without shame” Rio officials have a history of organising huge concerts on Copacabana Beach Madonna’s show drew an estimated 1.6 million fans last year while 4 million people flooded onto the beach for a 1994 New Year’s Eve show by Rod Stewart in 1994 that was the biggest free rock concert in history sixteen sound towers were spread along the beach Rio state’s security plan included the presence of 3300 military and 1500 police officers Among those present were Lady Gaga admirers who remember their disappointment in 2017 when the artist cancelled a performance scheduled in Rio at the last minute due to health issues “She's the best artist in the world,” the 25-year-old said I love you” in Portuguese rose from the crowd behind him whose real name is Ella Yelich O'Connor which also displayed what appears to be the album cover art — an X-ray of a pelvis "100% written in blood," the website read The new album's announcement came a week after she released her latest single What Was That The song's music video was filmed at a mysterious pop-up event in New York City's Washington Square Park that was initially shut down by police. The event ended up going ahead after all, and fans who stayed got to hear the new song for the first time. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lorde (@lorde) It was the first sign of a follow-up to Lorde's previous album, 2021's Solar Power. Her other albums were 2013's Pure Heroine and 2017's Melodrama. Last year, she collaborated with British singer Charli XCX on a remix of Girl, so confusing — on a re-release of the Grammy award-winning Brat. Virgin is Lorde's fourth studio album. Kim Kardashian thought she was going to be raped and killed when criminals broke into her bedroom in central Paris, tied her up and stole more than US$6 million in jewellery. More than eight years later, 10 people will go on trial in Paris over the robbery, abduction and kidnapping of the media personality and the concierge of the residence where she was staying during Paris Fashion Week the night of October 2, 2016. Kardashian’s lawyers said she will testify in person at the trial starting Monday and scheduled to run through May 23. "Ms Kardashian is reserving her testimony for the court and jury and does not wish to elaborate further at this time," they said. "She has great respect and admiration for the French justice system and has been treated with great respect by the French authorities. "She wishes the trial to proceed in an orderly fashion, in accordance with French law and with respect for all parties to the case." In interviews and on her family’s reality TV show, Kardashian has described being terrified as robbers pointed a gun at her. In a 2020 appearance on David Letterman’s Netflix show, she tearfully recalled thinking: "This is the time I’m going to get raped. I’m like, ‘What is happening? Are we gonna die? Just tell them I have children. I have babies, I have a husband, I have a family.'" Twelve people were originally expected in the defendants’ box. One of them has died, and another is seriously ill and can't be tried. According to the investigation, five of the 10 defendants were present at the scene of the robbery. The French press has dubbed them The Granddad Robbers because the main defendants are elderly and have careers as bank robbers with long criminal records. Kardashian told investigators she was taken to a bathroom next to her bedroom and placed in the bathtub. Her attackers fled on bicycles or on foot and she managed to free herself by removing the tape from her hands and mouth. She had also removed the tape from her feet and rushed to her stylist’s room. She called her sister Kourtney to tell her about the theft. Shortly afterwards, Kardashian told investigators that she had not been injured. She filed a complaint, adding that she wanted to leave France as soon as possible to be reunited with her children. According to her testimony and that of the concierge, at least one of the suspects had a handgun, with which he threatened the victims. The gangsters stole many pieces of jewellery, including a ring of great value, estimated to be worth more than US$6 million (NZ$10 million). Only one piece of jewellery — a diamond cross on platinum that was lost during the suspects' escape — has been recovered. Two of the accused have partially confessed to the crime, as their DNA was found at the crime scene. The alleged ringleader, 68-year-old Aomar Aït Khedache, is one of two suspected robbers who allegedly entered the apartment. Nicknamed "Old Omar", his genetic profile was found on the tape used to gag Kardashian. He left the hotel on a bicycle, as did two other robbers, then met his son, who was waiting for him in a parked car at a nearby train station. The second robber said he tied up the concierge with cables but did not go up to Kardashian’s apartment. Yunice Abbas, 71, said he acted as a lookout in the ground-floor reception area, making sure the escape route was clear. He said he was unarmed and did not personally threaten Kardashian, but admitted he shared responsibility for the crime. Abbas was arrested in January 2017 and spent 21 months in prison before being released under judicial supervision. In 2021, he co-authored a French-language book titled I Sequestered Kim Kardashian. Didier Dubreucq, 69, known as "Blue Eyes", is the second alleged robber suspected of entering the flat. He denies any involvement, although he was filmed by CCTV cameras and numerous telephone contacts with the other co-defendants show his involvement, according to the investigation. The other defendants are suspected of providing information about Kardashian’s presence in the apartment. Others are accused of playing a role in the resale of the jewellery in Antwerp, Belgium. First-time nominees Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker and Bad Company will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — in a class that also includes pop star Cyndi Lauper, the hip-hop pioneers Outkast, the rock duo the White Stripes and grunge masters Soundgarden. Salt-N-Pepa, the first female rap act to achieve gold and platinum status, and the late singer-songwriter Warren Zevon will get the Musical Influence Award. The late record producer Thom Bell, pianist Nicky Hopkins and bassist Carol Kaye will each get the Musical Excellence Award. The late Cocker, who sang at Woodstock and was best known for his cover of The Beatles’ With a Little Help From My Friends, had the backing of Billy Joel, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Pete Thomas, a member of Elvis Costello & The Attractions, who argued that Cocker is "about as rock and roll as it gets". Soundgarden — with the late Chris Cornell as singer — get into the Hall on their third nomination. They follow two other grunge acts in the Hall — Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Bad Company get in having become radio fixtures with such arena-rock staples as Feel Like Makin’ Love, Can’t Get Enough and Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy. The Ahmet Ertegun Award — given to nonperforming industry professionals who had a major influence on music — will go to Lenny Waronker, a former head of Warner Bros. Records who signed Prince and R.E.M., and had a part in records from Madonna, Randy Newman, the Doobie Brothers, Rickie Lee Jones, Paul Simon and Gary Clark Jr. Some nominees that didn't get in this year included Mariah Carey, Phish, Billy Idol, Joy Division/New Order, Maná, the Black Crowes and Oasis. Checker’s recording of The Twist, and subsequent Let’s Twist Again are considered among the most popular songs in the history of rock 'n' roll. The 83-year-old has expressed frustration that he hadn't been granted entry before, including telling the AP in 2014: "I don’t want to get in there when I’m 85 years old. I’ll tell them to drop dead, so you better do it quick while I’m still smiling." Lauper rose to fame in the 1980s with hits such as Time After Time and Girls Just Want To Have Fun and went on to win a Tony Award for Kinky Boots. OutKast, made up of André 3000 and Big Boi, have six Grammys and a reputation for pushing the boundaries of hip-hop. The White Stripes — made up of Jack White and Meg White — were indie darlings in the early 2000s with such songs as Seven Nation Army. Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they’re eligible for induction. The induction ceremony will take place in Los Angeles this fall. Nominees were voted on by more than 1200 artists, historians and music industry professionals. The selection criteria include "an artist’s impact on other musicians, the scope and longevity of their career and body of work, as well as their innovation and excellence in style and technique". Last year, Mary J. Blige, Cher, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, Kool & The Gang, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Matthews Band and singer-guitarist Peter Frampton were inducted. Volume 3 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2022.927857 bio-based and biodegradable plastics) are attracting attention as a sustainable alternative to conventional fossil-based plastics the fifth-highest per capita disposal of single-use plastics has not become as widespread as planned by the Japanese government and an increase in consumer awareness is necessary to promote the use of bioplastics and increase the demand for sustainable products it is also necessary to understand the difference between bio-based and biodegradable plastics and use them correctly this study found that the Japanese public's knowledge of bioplastics was low: there was a major difference between subjective and objective knowledge but their perception of bioplastics was more positive than that of conventional plastics they had little experience in using bioplastics we investigated whether providing information would promote the intent to use bioplastics information provision is likely to be effective in increasing the willingness to use bioplastics in addition to promoting positive perceptions The participants indicated a significantly greater willingness to pay a higher price for single-use plastics (such as a 500 ml bottle of water) but not for durable plastics (such as a three-color ballpoint pen) and education) have no significant influence on the attitude toward bioplastics and indicated that it is necessary to improve knowledge concerning bioplastics including the understanding of the difference between bio-based and biodegradable plastics that are often considered similar but with different properties understanding and acceptance on the part of consumers is important this study aimed to investigate the current state of knowledge and perception concerning bioplastics in Japan and the effectiveness of information provision in increasing the willingness to use bioplastics and promoting positive perceptions A questionnaire was conducted involving Japanese citizens residing in Japan from November 24 to 25, 2021. Demographic questions to ascertain age and gender were used to ensure that the composition was similar to that of the Japanese population (Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2021) (Appendix 1 in Supplementary material 1) and we recruited 202 participants from a research company Participants were asked to provide written informed consent for participation in the study after being informed about the purpose of the questionnaire all participants actively indicated their agreement to participate The participants were rewarded for completing the questionnaire with a small shopping coupon Using G*Power version 3.1.9.6 (Faul et al., 2007) we conducted a post-hoc power analysis assuming d = 0.50 (medium effect size) indicating that the sample size was sufficient where the participants responded using a five-point Likert scale participants were requested to respond using a visual analog scale (VAS) ranging from 0 to 100 to gain a better sense and more granular view of their perceptions and reevaluation were conducted separately for bio-based and biodegradable plastics To determine the extent to which bioplastics are known in Japan, participants were asked about the subjective knowledge (i.e., the awareness of the term and thing), usage experience, and objective knowledge. Then, the perception of bioplastics, conventional fossil-based single-use and durable plastics to understand how bioplastics were comparatively evaluated. The questionnaire was developed with reference to the study by Hoffman et al. (2019) After the first round of questions, the participants were asked to read the following list concerning the expected benefits and precautions to be taken when using the respective plastics based on the description of the Japan Bioplastic Association (Japan Bioplastic Association, 2022): • Their raw materials contain a certain amount of renewable plant-derived resources • They are expected to have a positive effect on the prevention of global warming because plants absorb CO2 through photosynthesis during their growth • They are also expected to save non-renewable resources • Some types are biodegradable and others are not it will remain in the environment without being broken down • They can be decomposed by microorganisms • They are expected to reduce plastic waste because they are broken down into water and CO2 • They are expected to have a positive effect on the recycling of waste because biodegradable plates and cups with leftover food can be composted • The speed of degradation depends on the types of plastic and the surrounding environment Some decompose to one-fifth of their original weight within a year after being buried in the soil while others do not decompose even after a year under the same conditions an understanding of appropriate disposal methods is required The same questions were asked again regarding their perceptions and intention to use of bioplastics after informing the participants that bioplastics tend to be more expensive than conventional plastics we asked how much more the participants would be willing to pay for them compared to conventional plastics [i.e. in relation to a 500 ml bottle of water and a three-color ballpoint pen normally priced at 100 and 400 Japanese Yen (equivalent to 0.8 and 3.2 US dollar) the participants were asked about their subjective knowledge (“Do you know the term ‘bioplastics'?” and “Are you familiar with bioplastics?”) more than 70% of the respondents were unsure or had incorrect perceptions about whether all bio-based plastics were effective in reducing waste It was also revealed that only 40% of them knew of the positive effects of bio-based plastics as a measure against global warming and that some bio-based plastics were not biodegradable the responses showed only partial or incomplete knowledge more than 30% of them chose the option “I do not know,” probably due to the fact that there is not enough available information on the topic Targeted questions regarding the knowledge of bioplastics Although 51% of the respondents knew the term “biodegradable plastics,” 40% of them actually knew what they were and 11% of them had actual experience of using biodegradable plastics, which were lower percentages than those found for bio-based plastics. Their objective knowledge was also checked with more targeted questions (Table 1) Regarding the disposal concern of biodegradable plastics (that not everything can be degraded) approximately 60% of the respondents understood that there were specific conditions required for degrading approximately half had an incorrect understanding of the effects of biodegradable plastics on global warming there was a discrepancy between subjective and objective knowledge and that whatever objective knowledge they had was only partial more than 30% of the respondents chose the option “I do not know.” These findings were similar to those reported in other countries (Sijtsema et al., 2016; Hoffman et al., 2019) indicating that this level of knowledge is likely to be common worldwide the fact that biodegradable plastics were rated good for the environment but inconvenient than conventional plastics is consistent with the results of this study Perceptions of bioplastics and conventional plastics The willingness to use bioplastics was found to increase as more people rated them as good, convenient, necessary, good for the environment, and hygienic (Table 2) improvements within these evaluation factors would likely have a positive effect on the use of bioplastics Correlations between the willingness to use bioplastics and each evaluation axis The provision of information significantly increased the willingness to use bio-based plastics (W = 4,878, p = 0.000) and biodegradable plastics (W = 5,079, p = 0.001) (Figure 2) with increased rating for (ii) convenient, (iii) necessary and (v) hygienic for bio-based plastics and (i) good, (ii) convenient, (iii) necessary and (v) hygienic for biodegradable plastics (Table 3) Bioplastics were rated significantly more necessary and hygienic than conventional plastics initially but this increased further after information provision The improvement in the perception that bio-based and biodegradable plastics are inconvenient can be considered encouraging in terms of the future adoption of the use of such plastics Willingness to use bioplastics before and after providing information Difference in evaluation of bioplastics before and after information provision It is possible that separate information provision for bio-based and biodegradable plastics resulted in willingness to pay more for green plastics in the case of single-use plastic due to better understanding of the properties of each and perceived effectiveness of the green options further research is needed to reach a solid conclusion only a small number of people were surveyed In order to examine the Japanese public's perception of bioplastics the survey population was selected to match the characteristics of the general population but more individuals need to be included in future studies to confirm this study's findings relevant information was provided through a short itemized list but there are many ways to improve understanding and there is room for the further consideration of how information can be best provided while the participants were asked to evaluate their perceptions using five axes (iv) bad for environment/good for environment future studies need to assess whether these axes are sufficient or whether further and better targeted approaches may be more appropriate it has been noted that the intention to use and purchase do not always lead to actual behavior Actual behavior change needs to be studied in the future The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary material further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Hitotsubashi University The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study writing—original draft preparation Both authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsus.2022.927857/full#supplementary-material Nonprice incentives and energy conservation PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Environmental impact of bioplastic use: a review Communicative challenges of innovative bioplastics Google Scholar Cabinet Office (2021). 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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Yurina Otaki, eXVyaW5hLm90YWtpQHIuaGl0LXUuYWMuanA= Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish Andy Fraser with ngā kākākura (head of school) Witana Cameron (left) Ōtaki College students are getting ready for life in a rapidly changing world The college is the first school in New Zealand to use American artificial intelligence (AI) programme SchoolJoy Co-founder and chief executive of SchoolJoy said the programme is a personalised learning system powered by AI that is designed to give teachers back more time SchoolJoy is a way of preparing students for a world that doesn’t exist yet “If we look at how much the world has changed since ChatGPT came out in 2022 and if we think about how much more the world will change in the next one or six or seven years – the world will look very different.” Principal Andy Fraser said for some time before he discovered SchoolJoy he had been reading about how to move education into the future “If you’re talking about future-focused education it’s really quite vastly different to the industrial model that our current education system is based on.” who is heavily involved in the education sector that he was introduced to Zhu and his programme SchoolJoy and saw the power of AI learning “I think one of the things that came through was if we could give our teachers extra time in their day and night to really think about teaching and their students He said the school is already noticing that teachers who use SchoolJoy are saving a day to a day and a half of planning time Another thing the school is using the programme for is “capturing the hearts and minds” of the students in the classrooms by collating their interests so teachers can individualise their teaching “The other thing it does beautifully is as you onboard students and gain that understanding of interests and where they come from it creates a class picture of the students that you’re dealing with and intuitively starts to outline the types of teaching and learning styles of those students – it’s a pretty powerful tool for teachers.” Fraser said the new programme wasn’t just exciting for teachers and students “I was going to hand in my gold card and decide that it was time to do other things but it’s just got me so excited and exhilarated about the potential of learning at the college and what we can do for young people – I don’t want to hang up the tin star just yet How Chelsea Gill created a family-friendly business Police are seeking witnesses to a crash in Ōtaki Beach yesterday that left a motorcyclist seriously injured The rider of the motorcycle was flown to Wellington Hospital in a serious condition Police would like to hear from anyone who witnessed the crash or has dashcam footage from the Marine Parade area just before 8pm on Wednesday If you have any information that could help with inquiries please update police online now or call 105 Please use the reference number 241107/0913 Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111 New Zealand’s largest stamp and coin dealer A celebration was held at the iconic business today attended by past and present staff Kāpiti Mayor Janet Holborow and Ōtaki MP Tim Costley Founder director John Mowbray became interested in stamp collecting as a child and by the time he was a student at Wellington’s Scots College he had started his business trading stamps In 1974 he shifted his Wellington-based mail-order stamp business to Ōtaki Mowbray bought the Pacey Engineering building in Dunstan St for $6000 and set about looking for customers nationally and overseas we started a postal auction which realised $1100 in its first year and got Ōtaki’s first photography machine.” so the large Dalgety’s building on Main Highway was bought and exported over $50 million from Ōtaki.” Some of the many highlights over the years range from starting a World Wildlife Fund stamp collection in Australasia which lasted more than three decades and raised more than $1m for the charity which sped up connections with overseas customers John Mowbray held important positions including being on the board of stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons in London and world president of the International Federation of Stamp Dealers He travelled the world and recalled a five-day exhibition in Hong Kong where the queue stretched around two blocks and thanked its printers Graphic Press and NZ Post and especially the Ōtaki community who had assisted in the growth of the business “in many ways” “It has been a wonderful experience to be in Ōtaki and help put it on the map internationally.” Managing director David Galt said Mowbray had demonstrated “that you can develop and run a hugely successful venture in Ōtaki” “It’s part of Ōtaki but part of the world.” Costley congratulated everyone involved in the business The business proved “we can be successful from Ōtaki – nothing is stopping us” “We want to see more people coming into this region “Ōtaki wouldn’t be what it is if you [John] hadn’t created this business here.” She noted its “mixture of history and innovation” “It’s a place with such a rich past but a place that embraces change and the future.” noted economic times were tough for businesses locally and encouraged them to think beyond local and develop a broader-based business plan “It’s up to each retailer to promote themselves The world is getting far smaller with technology It’s a unique town and the opportunities are endless.” 2024 Girl Boss Award outstanding nominee Harper Grindrod Zimmerman from Tawa will be at the Ōtaki Kids Market on Sunday focuses on sustainability and encourages young entrepreneurs to sell environment-friendly products The market has two new awards that green-thumbed business owners can win - sustainable packaging and sustainable products The awards will be introduced at the upcoming market on Sunday Wellington aged between five to 19 will sell their wares 2024 Girl Boss Award outstanding nominees Alanah Ché Reeves As well as a range of sustainability products which is the longest-running market on Kapiti Coast is managed by The Ōtaki Women’s Community Club charity with 100% of the proceeds from the market going back into the local community People As Muroran City's first regional development cooperative team he was involved in the promotion of the city's tourism and the management of outdoor events he works with creators in various regions and undertakes a wide range of projects including magazine and web planning and editing "It's too good..." Record of a trip to the northernmost remote island of Japan Video filmed by university students becomes a hot topic: "It's youth" Expanding the circle of exchange in Minami-ku a community market created by students together with the local community Running a "Neo Community Center" where people and things from Kushiro come together | Kotoe Kimura recommends three "special things" in Kushiro "Amazing view..." It's like another world A photo taken in the "city of steel" Muroran is a hot topic: "It's overwhelming" "As long as the fish is tasty...?!" The welcome party for a new recruit from Hokkaido is too difficult "They're the kind of people who sprinkle salmon roe on top." Three "specialties" in Morimachi the "successor of the Southern Hokkaido Sugi canoe technique" Seasonal “news” of Hokkaido can be checked by category You can check the information of your “town” in one place Events” held throughout the province are easy to find and can be saved This page has been automatically translated by Google Translate service An impressive come-from-behind win in the New World Otaki Handicap (1600m) on Boxing Day was the first New Zealand appearance in almost five years for Sword In Stone a multiple Group One placegetter in Hong Kong who clearly has plenty more to offer back in his homeland The son of Redwood began his career in Cambridge with Lauren Brennan for whom he was a winner and a Gr.2 Waikato Guineas (2000m) placegetter from three starts between December 2018 and February 2019 where he raced under the name Columbus County He won twice and placed in the Gr.1 Hong Kong Vase (2400m) in 2020 and the Gr.1 Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) in 2021 His five seasons in Hong Kong banked a total of HK$13.79 million (NZ$3.15 million) The nine-year-old is now back in New Zealand and in the stable of Kevin and Stephen Gray having been bought by the latter for $33,000 as a yearling at Karaka in 2017 The open handicap at Otaki on Boxing Day was Sword In Stone’s first appearance from his new quarters and he defied $43 odds to launch a withering finish from third-last pulling ahead in the closing stages to win by a length and a quarter Times Ticking was another three-quarters of a length away in third Sword In Stone was ridden by apprentice jockey Toni Davies whose 3kg claim reduced his impost to just 51kg “That was great,” said Stephen Gray who also now shares ownership of Sword In Stone with his wife Bridget “I was rapt to see him produce a performance like that first-up over the mile we were happy with him coming into the race “He was a Group One horse in Hong Kong It just started getting a bit tough up there for him in recent times He’s a real stayer and there weren’t a lot of suitable options around for him Caspar Fownes (trainer) sent him back down to us to see what we could do and otherwise we’d find him a good home “I told Toni to just take him back today give him time to find his feet and see if he can find the line He’s reasonably well placed in the handicaps here so we’ll pick out some nice staying races to have a go at with him through the rest of this campaign.” Gray has taken special satisfaction from his winning reunion with his former yearling purchase “Garry Carvell and I bought him as a yearling who I tried 98 winners for in Singapore,” he said “We bought the horse for races like the Singapore Gold Cup (2000m) and Derby (1800m) “Lauren Brennan did all the pre-training and told us we had a pretty nice prospect so we tried to get him to the New Zealand Derby (Gr.1 including a placing in the Waikato Guineas but ended up missing the field for the Derby “So now he’s done a bit of a circle but he’s come to me this time instead of going back to Lauren He’s a quirky horse and took a little while to settle in There was a scare immediately after the finish line in Thursday’s race as Times Ticking and Beavertown Boy dislodged their jockeys Both sets of horses and riders escaped injury The incident was caused by Times Ticking slipping on a patch of grass out wide on the track prompting an inspection of the racing surface Riders later reached a unanimous decision to continue with the final two races of the meeting Sword In Stone’s heroics headlined a winning double at Otaki on Boxing Day for the Grays who also won the Harcourts Otaki Handicap (1200m) with Discovery Bay Stephen Gray’s former Singapore star Hard Too Think made an eye-catching late run for sixth in the Cavallo Farm & Chris Rutten Bloodstock Handicap (1400m) The son of All Too Hard won six races and more than $1.3 million in Singapore headed by the Singapore Derby and Singapore Gold Cup in 2021 “We had a good day,” Gray said coming back here and bringing in some new ideas alongside what Dad already had in place but the horses are going well and I’m happy “Hard Too Think ran a fantastic race too He’s a very good horse who lost his form in Singapore and scans later revealed he had kissing spine and needed to undergo surgery So I’m delighted with that first-up performance and he would have been right in the finish if the race had been a mile Marc Lerner rode him to some of his best wins in Singapore and was in the saddle again today and he was thrilled with how the horse felt “Hard Too Think and Sword In Stone are very good old horses It’s very rewarding to be able to bring them back into form like this.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk I decided to try my hand at kayaking in Japan from the information gathered at the Kiso Fukushima Tourist Information Center it seemed that the remote Otaki Village was the perfect place to do so You must be logged in to post a comment ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " whose family are behind the MI Turnbull Awards for the top students in Years11 is pictured with Giorgio Bevan (back left) and Louis Bevan; (front from left) Danielle Wong the Fun Zone Scholarship and the Andrew Philips Cup for Dux He also received the MI Turnbull Award for top Year 13 student Louis intends studying mathematics at Canterbury University and has received a $5000 scholarship from the university for gaining an A+ pass in the 100-level paper he completed last year He also received the Chairperson’s Award for all-round excellence a Bruce Anderson Memorial Trust scholarship an XŌtaki Alumni Trust scholarship and a Carla Hepplethwaite scholarship to assist with his university studies Joseph (JT) Byrne was runner-up to dux and received the Wakefield Lawyers scholarship and cup for Proxime Accessit and the MI Turnbull Award for second in Year 13 Next year he will begin an Outward Bound Leavers scholarship and will then take a gap year to take part in Camp America Joseph will go on to study commerce at Victoria University in 2026 He received the Kevin Crombie Memorial Commerce Award and the PG Accountants scholarships to assist with his tertiary studies She will travel to England and Scotland for three weeks in February and will visit Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen Then she will join the Air Force as a medic and there are already plans afoot for her to visit a Scottish Air Force base and a trauma unit in London Madeline also received an Outward Bound Leavers scholarship a Bruce Anderson Memorial Trust scholarship and an XŌtaki Alumni Trust-Defence Force scholarship Sportsperson of the Year went to Ned Butler top scholar in Year 12 was Yilin Lyu with Harriet Georgetti second while the top Year 11 scholar was Giorgio Bevan followed by Danielle Wong All four students received MI Turnbull awards Also announced at prizegiving were the 2025 ngā ringa whero heads of school who are Keita Broughton-Alp and Logan Boyer Tauawhiawhi (deputy heads) are Harriet Georgetti and Haki Ropata Ngā kaingārahu (associate heads of school) are Olivia Fogden College principal Andy Fraser said the prizegiving was “something to be extremely proud of” “It celebrated many outstanding academic achievements which were acknowledged accordingly by students and whānau with haka and karanga.” He expressed his gratitude to everyone whose support contributed to the various awards that were presented “In particular I wish to acknowledge the outstanding work of the XŌtaki Alumni in generating funding for both students and college projects “I want to thank Max Lutz for his dedicated service as chairperson of the trust and acknowledge Scott Wylie who has recently taken on this role “The generosity demonstrated through scholarships and awards was overwhelming and provides significant benefits to our recipients.” Powelliphanta traversi snails have been found at the site of the yet-to-be-built Ōtaki to north of Levin road New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) could spend up to $1.1 million protecting snail and lizard species from a long-awaited motorway in the lower North Island. The Ōtaki to north of Levin road (Ō2NL), which includes a shared walking and cycling path, is estimated to cost $1.5 billion and will connect with the recently opened Peka Peka to Ōtaki expressway. It is expected to improve journey times and safety: the existing stretch of State Highway 1 has been labelled a “killing field” after former coroner Philip Comber noted the road is marked like a battlefield with white crosses The motorway has been made a Road of National Significance and construction is due to start late next year An NZTA briefing to Transport Minister Simeon Brown said ecological surveys have been undertaken at the site They have revealed the presence of a threatened snail species called Powelliphanta traversi The Department of Conservation’s website said Powelliphanta snails are among New Zealand’s most threatened invertebrates “Powelliphanta are giants of the snail world Their oversized shells come in an array of colours and patterns ranging from hues of red and brown to yellow and black,” the website said NZTA also reported in its briefing an at-risk skink species and a non-threatened skink species had been discovered “The snail and ornate skink have high ecological value and are protected under the Wildlife Act prior to construction of the Ō2NL new highway project salvage and relocate these animals from within the construction area [including non-threatened lizard species].” The briefing from May 17 was released to the Herald under the Official Information Act Fauna management plans were being prepared including suitable areas to relocate the species and “comprehensive guidance” about how they should be salvaged and handled The cost was estimated to be between $700,000 and $1.1m NZTA infrastructure delivery central North Island regional manager Rob Partridge told the Herald he did not expect road construction would be delayed because of the requirement to relocate wildlife “This work will be ongoing throughout the construction of Ō2NL and carried out as site preparation progresses.” NZTA expected to have more clarity on the approach and associated costs by the end of 2024 and further options are continuing to be explored and efficiencies sought prior to final confirmation.” Construction on the new highway is expected to be completed in 2029 In June, it was announced NZTA had signed interim alliance agreements with two design and construction teams who will develop and ultimately build the new expressway Beca and Tonkin+Taylor will focus on the section south of the Ōhau River while Fulton Hogan Brown said Ō2NL was a crucial part of the Wellington northern corridor Will traffic on the highway between Levin and Ōtaki be a thing of the past when the new Ōtaki to North of Levin highway is completed The New Zealand Transport Agency is seeking feedback on it’s proposal to toll the new Ōtaki to North of Levin (ŌN2L) highway The agency said tolling would be in place to support activities associated with the planning maintenance and operation of the new highway there would be tolling of 15km of the new highway from the on/off ramps at Taylors Rd to the Tararua Rd interchange The northern 9km of the 25km highway would not be tolled Light vehicles would be tolled $2.70 under this proposal The agency’s website states tolling prices have been identified by “comparing a range of options to find the tolling scheme that balances revenue with the level of diversion back to the old state highway” Horowhenua mayor Bernie Wanden said Horowhenua District Council will be making a submission on the proposal He said the council understands the need for tolling as an alternative source of funding to support the ongoing costs of the new highway “We acknowledge the potential impact on our local roading network and are advocating to work with NZTA on possible solutions.” Wanden said tolls on the new highway could mean people familiar with the area may plan their travel strategically to avoid the tolls which would result in a larger volume of vehicles using the existing State Highway 1 and local roads instead “This could lead to more vehicles on the less safe existing state highway and increase maintenance costs of the local road network which may have an impact on Horowhenua ratepayers and residents.” Wanden said there will be many benefits to having the new highway “The new highway will provide a safer and more efficient transport route for all road users and be transformational in supporting economic growth and development not only in our district but across the wider region.” He said the new highway will also remove a large portion of heavy vehicles from Oxford St in Levin fumes and unpleasant smells caused by heavy traffic Wanden said the new highway will also bring jobs and opportunities to the region - “as we know a wide range of services and skills will be required during construction” He said it was not unexpected for tolls to be proposed on Ō2NL given the Government’s Policy Statement for Land Transport has explicitly outlined the intent to toll roads of national significance “Our role is to advocate on behalf of our community and we’ll be focusing on highlighting any potential impacts on our communities Our submission will address these issues and seek solutions that best serve our community.” Kāpiti mayor Janet Holborow also saw plenty of benefits from the new highway saying Kāpiti Coast District Council supported the new highway and the improved access and benefits it will bring to the district and wider region but it was not supportive of the toll proposal in her submission on behalf of the council listed four main issues – safety and resilience She said residents of Ōtaki and the surrounding area should be able to travel safely on a resilient highway available to them in all circumstances “It is inappropriate to toll a road which is being built for safety purposes the current highway and future ‘alternative’ road is considered one of the most unsafe roads in the country.” She said many people living along Ō2NL already experience deprivation “The transport links between Ōtaki and Levin are particularly crucial for the people of Ōtaki to access health services police and Ministry of Social Development service areas so they need to be able to safely and freely access services.” She said there are also many people on fixed and lower incomes living in Ōtaki for whom the cost of using the new expressway will be prohibitive if the tolls go ahead Ōtaki MP Tim Costley said the New Zealand Transport Agency is considering tolls for several new roads being built across New Zealand “Ō2NL is one of just 17 projects we’ve committed to Current consultation covers three roads across the North Island and runs for another week.” He said New Zealand had a massive infrastructure deficit “If we don’t find ways to fund future projects then we’ll be back where we were for the last six years under Labour After six years of cancellations and doubt we finally have certainty that National will build Ō2NL and start in the next year.” He said as “much as we all love free stuff people tell me they just want the road to get built” Tolling is one option to ensure we can commit not just to Ō2NL but to developing our new expressway network further.” Costley said the proposed tolls weren’t on the whole expressway “The most common feedback I’ve had is that people understand the need to fund new roads and they’d rather pay a couple of dollars and get a brand new There will always be the option to drive the current road for free regardless of what NZTA decides on tolls.” He said excitement is high about seeing work begin next year “I’m proud that we are a Government building new infrastructure and investing in our Horowhenua-Kāpiti region “I encourage everyone to have their say through submissions This isn’t a situation where Tim’s opinion is the most important consultation is a chance for everyone to have a say before submissions close on Monday There have now been three men charged with murder The Ō2NL will make the link between Whanganui and Wellington quicker The next phase of work on the Ōtaki to north of Levin Road of National Significance is under way after the establishment of two interim alliances Since the announcement in December of preferred tenderers the Ōtaki to north of Levin (Ō2NL) project partners which consist of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) Muaūpoko Tribal Authority and hapū of Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga have been working closely with the selected groups NZTA regional manager of infrastructure delivery Rob Partridge said with two alliances there had been a lot of work done over the past few months to establish a strong and collaborative foundation to set up the project for effective delivery He said NZTA had now signed two interim agreements establishing the alliances that would support the ongoing development and delivery of the Ō2NL highway project “This marks the beginning of a new chapter for the project setting up the team that’s needed to build the new highway The four-lane expressway will dramatically improve safety and resilience for those travelling within and through Kāpiti and Horowhenua supporting the growing population with improved and more reliable travelling times.” Partridge said NZTA would work with the southern alliance board chairwoman for the southern alliance said being part of enhancing the safety of roads was deeply meaningful for their teams “It is a real motivator – being able to make a tangible difference Tonkin + Taylor and Beca are pleased to be partnering with Muaūpoko Tribal Authority NZTA and Horowhenua District Council to make roads safer and more resilient and contribute to the economic wellbeing of the region.” Partridge said the northern section of the new highway and associated works would be delivered through an alliance with Fulton Hogan Northern alliance board chairman Andrew Johnson said the alliance was “looking forward to getting to know the community and working with our project partners to efficiently deliver a much-needed safer journey for everyone living near and passing through this key corridor” Partridge said there was a big focus on where co-operation and collaboration could ensure parties to the alliances worked together as efficiently and effectively as possible He said utilising the skills and experience of industry partners in two alliances on a single project was a first for NZTA the Ōtaki to north of Levin project is nearly as long as the Mackays to Peka Peka and Peka Peka to Ōtaki expressways combined Delivering this large-scale project through two alliances will increase access to resources and enable strong delivery of the project “Signing alliance agreements alongside receiving the recent interim Environment Court decision sets the project up strongly to move forward.” Construction of the new highway is due to start next year and is expected to be completed in 2029 Ō2NL project partners are planning to introduce the new alliance partners to stakeholders and the community soon Metrics details a condition characterized by inflammation and collagen deposition in the alveolar interstitium Although the bleomycin-induced PF mouse model has improved our understanding of exogenous factor-induced fibrosis the mechanism governing endogenous factor-induced fibrosis remains unknown which lack the critical suppression factor for group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) The onset phase of fibrosis includes ILC2 subpopulations with a high Il1rl1 (IL-33 receptor) expression and fibrosis does not develop in ILC-deficient or IL-33-deficient mice Although ILC2s are normally localized near bronchioles and blood vessels ILC2s are increased in fibrotic areas along with IL-33 positive fibroblasts during fibrosis Co-culture analysis shows that activated-ILC2s directly induce collagen production from fibroblasts increased IL1RL1 and decreased IFNGR1 expressions are confirmed in ILC2s from individuals with idiopathic PF highlighting the applicability of Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice as a mouse model for fibrosis research the exogenous administration of bleomycin in this model hinders the analysis of endogenous factors involved in the development of the disease studies using mice overexpressing endogenous factors have contributed to our understanding of the mechanism underlying endogenous factor-mediated fibrosis Although these overexpression models are useful for analyzing phenomena that occur downstream of the factors it is difficult to explore the causes of fibrosis that exist upstream of the factors it is important to consider the deviation from physiological expression levels there is a need for a mouse model where PF develops spontaneously and irreversibly with aging thereby allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of its underlying mechanisms the Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice we have established in this study show promise as a PF mouse model as they exhibit spontaneous development of PF during the aging process the precise role of ILC2s in fibrosis is not yet fully understood we find that fibrosis can be prevented in Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice if treatment is initiated during the inflammatory phase we clarify that the lack of IFNγ signaling results in the over-activation of ILC2s in the inflammatory phase and accelerates collagen production from fibroblasts These results are consistent with those observed in the human IPF patient samples that we analyze thereby underscoring their utility in elucidating the pathogenesis of IPF The frequency was calculated for each age group f Representative MT-stained images of lung tissue sections from the indicated mouse strains showing whole right lobes (21 weeks; males) g Schematic of the stages of disease progression Data are representative of at least three independent experiments and are presented as the mean ± s.e.m one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons tests; (c two-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons tests d) source data are provided as a Source Data file We expected that a detailed comparison of the inflammatory and fibrotic phases of Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice in which fibrosis develops without external stimuli would elucidate the mechanism of fibrosis caused by endogenous factors a Quantification of SP-D levels in the serum of Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice of different ages as indicated in the graph using ELISA (n = 5/group; females) b SpO2 of Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice of different ages as indicated in the graph (n = 5/group; females) c Quantification of the Cst of Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice of different ages (14 and 26 weeks: n = 4/group; females See the Methods section for the formula and the parameter of Cst d–f Dexamethasone treatment of Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice were administered dexamethasone (3 mg·kg-1/day) with a micro-osmotic pump implanted in the subcutaneous pockets under the back skin of mice either from 14 to 18 weeks (inflammation phase) or from 23 to 28 weeks old (fibrosis phase) (n = 3/group; females) e Quantification of the absolute number of whole BALF cells of Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice by flow cytometry (n = 3/group; females) f Representative MT-stained images of lung tissue sections from Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice of each condition except for (c) are representative of at least three independent experiments and are presented as the mean ± s.e.m the following tests were used: (a–c) one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons tests; (e) two-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons tests c–e) source data are provided as a Source Data file a–f scRNA-seq of whole lung cells from Rag2-/- mice (18 weeks old) and Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice (7 a Unsupervised clustering of the combined data set plotted on UMAP (Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection) and colored according to the identified cell types b All the cells of the combined data set are plotted on UMAP The clusters defined as Fibroblast 1 and Fibroblast 2 are indicated by dotted circles The lower panels show the expression of Col1a1 and Pdgfra c Relative abundance of Fibroblast 1 and Fibroblast 2 in Ptprc- clusters d Volcano plot of differentially expressed genes (|log2[fold change]| > 0.25) between Fibroblast 1 and Fibroblast 2 Upregulated genes (log2[fold change] > 1.5; P < 10-150) are highlighted in red e The upper panel shows the expression of Ptprc The lower panel shows the identified immune cells f Relative abundance of the indicated cell types in Ptprc+ clusters g–i Flow cytometry analysis of the lungs of Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice of different ages as indicated (6 and 20 weeks: n = 4/group; 12 and 18 weeks: n = 5/group; females) Quantification of the absolute number of indicated cells of lungs in each phase j MT and immunofluorescence staining images of the whole right lung lobes of Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice (24 weeks; male) The areas enclosed by the squares in the left panel are enlarged and shown in the right panels (A: normal area The dotted lines indicate blood vessels or bronchi Scale bars: 3 mm (left panel) or 250 μm (right panels) the following tests were used: d two-sided Wilcoxon Rank Sum test with the Bonferroni method g–i one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons tests i) source data are provided as a Source Data file These results collectively suggested that interstitial macrophages and ST2-KLRG1- cells may be involved in the pathogenesis of PF The marked proliferation of ILC2s in fibrotic areas suggested a strong link between ILC2s and fibrosis c Representative MT-stained images of lung tissue sections of mice with each condition d Fibrosis scores were calculated using MT-stained images of lung tissue sections of mice from each condition The results of four experiments were integrated to calculate the scores e Quantification of the absolute number of the indicated cells in the lungs of mice with each condition by flow cytometry f The expression of Thy-1 in all lung cells g–i Depletion of ILCs using anti-Thy-1 antibodies Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice were intraperitoneally administered anti-Thy-1 antibodies (clone: 30H12) (200 μg/head per shot) every 3 days for 6 weeks (12 weeks old at the start of administration h Representative MT-stained images of lung tissue sections of mice in each condition i Fibrosis scores were calculated using MT-stained images of lung tissue sections of mice in each condition The results of two experiments were integrated to calculate the scores e–i) two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-tests e–i) source data are provided as a Source Data file thereby indicating that ILCs are indispensable for the onset of PF a–e Clusters identified as ILCs were extracted from all lung cells in the scRNA-seq data shown in Fig. 3 on which unsupervised clustering was performed a Unsupervised clustering of ILCs plotted on UMAP and colored according to each cluster calculated from the average expression levels of signature genes of each population d The upper panel shows an unsupervised clustering of ILCs plotted on UMAP divided by each phase The lower panel shows the relative abundance of each cluster in ILCs compared to the intact phase f Quantification of the absolute number and ratio of lung ILC3-like cells in the indicated mice by flow cytometry (17 weeks for Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice and 19 weeks old for Ifngr1-/-Rorc-/-Rag2-/- mice g Representative MT-stained images of lung tissue sections of the indicated mice h Fibrosis scores were calculated using MT-stained images of lung tissue sections from the indicated mice (Ifngr1-/-Rorc-/-Rag2-/- mice: n = 7/group [2 at 21 weeks Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice: n = 7/group [3 at 21 weeks i Quantification of the absolute number and ratio of both lung and BALF ILC2s of the indicated mice by flow cytometry (17 weeks for Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice and 19 weeks for Ifngr1-/-Rorc-/-Rag2-/- mice; n = 5/group; males) it is more likely that ILC2 activation was suppressed exogenously by the lack of ILC3-like cells than by intrinsic Rorc deficiency these results suggested that the loss of ILC3s and the dysfunction of ILC2s may be responsible for the lack of fibrosis in Ifngr1-/-Rorcgfp/gfpRag2-/- mice f–h) two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-tests; (b–j) one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons tests f–h–j) source data are provided as a Source Data file which showed an increase in both IL33+ cells and ILC2s during fibrosis These findings suggest that ILC2s activated by IL-33 from fibroblasts and epithelial cells are important for fibrosis development in Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice b ILC2s and fibroblasts were sorted from WT mice on day 0 and were co-cultured (ILC2s 10 ng·mL−1) under the indicated conditions and fibroblasts were stained with Sirius red Cells sorted from 10 mice were combined and seeded into four separate wells This experiment was repeated multiple times consistently yielding similar results in each iteration a Representative images of Sirius red staining in the indicated conditions b Absorption rate of the eluted Sirius red (n = 4 wells /condition) the following tests were used: (b) one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons tests For (b) source data are provided as a Source Data file a–d RNA-seq of peripheral blood ILC2s sorted from 12 healthy volunteers and 19 patients with IPF a Principal component analysis (PCA) of each sample b Gene ontology enrichment analysis of the highly expressed genes in ILC2s from patients with IPF compared to those from healthy controls (log2[fold change] > 5; P < 10-25) c Heatmap of z-scores of the transcripts per kilobase million (TPM values) of fibrosis-related genes d The TPM values of the indicated genes of ILC2s from healthy controls and patients with IPF the following tests were used: (b) over representation analysis (ORA) which corresponds to a one-sided Fisher’s exact test For (d) source data are provided as a Source Data file It is likely that ILC2s are downstream of ILC3s in the development of PF in Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice since depletion of ILC3s prevents the infiltration of activated ILC2s in the alveoli While this study focused on the activation of ILC2s during the inflammatory phase and the interaction between ILC2s and fibroblasts during the chronic phase we are also carrying out a future study to determine how the activation of ILC2s or ILC3s is triggered in the early stages of fibrosis our findings demonstrate that the distribution of ILC2s and the expression of IL-33 completely overlap with fibrotic regions in Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice This observation suggests a potential involvement of ILC2s and IL-33 in the development of fibrosis in this mouse model the exogenously induced IL-33 should play a crucial role in the progression of fibrosis in bleomycin-induced PF fibrosis in Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice was completely abolished by the loss of IL-33 indicating that endogenous IL-33 production occurs independently of exogenous epithelial injury and contributes to fibrosis development Flow cytometric analysis detected IL-33 expression in both fibroblasts and epithelial cells with no significant difference in expression levels observed between the intact IL-33 expression in fibroblasts increased from the inflammatory phase and became more pronounced during the chronic phase The localization of ILC2s was observed in areas exhibiting active fibroblast proliferation suggesting that the interaction between fibroblasts and ILC2s may be involved in the chronic and irreversible progression of the disease The present study did not clarify whether fibroblast-derived or epithelial cell-derived IL-33 is more important for fibrosis but it will be important to clarify this point in future studies using conditional knockout mice Further studies are also needed to determine if there are differences in the sources of IL-33 that trigger fibrosis and those that contribute to the chronicity of fibrosis there may be a mechanism by which ILC2s can exacerbate fibrosis by affecting macrophages One of the major findings of this study was that ILC2s directly induced collagen expression in fibroblasts using a co-culture system Immunofluorescence staining also revealed close contact between ILC2s and fibroblasts While we have confirmed a partial reduction in collagen production by fibroblasts through IL-13 neutralization it is important to note that fibrosis may result from the interplay of multiple factors rather than a single isolated factor Identifying and characterizing these factors will be the focus of future studies and IPF is the most common and severe disease among them While we have validated our findings in individuals with IPF demonstrating similarities with Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice we have not validated our results in patients with other IIPs with PF The extent to which Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice can contribute to our understanding of other IIPs remains to be determined it is worth noting that a spontaneous mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis offers valuable insights that can significantly enhance our understanding of fibrosis development the findings of our study demonstrate the essential role of ILCs in the onset of PF Therapeutic interventions aimed at targeting ILCs during the initial stages of PF may mitigate the progression of fibrosis All mice used in this study had a C57BL/6 background and were maintained under specific pathogen-free conditions in an animal facility at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (Kanagawa Mice were housed in an environment with a 12-h light/dark cycle maintaining an ambient temperature between 21 °C and 25 °C All experiments were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of RIKEN and performed in accordance with the institutional guidelines All mice used in this study were euthanized under anesthesia Ifng-/- mice were crossed with Rag2-/- mice to generate Ifng-/-Rag2-/- mice Rorcgfp/gfp mice were crossed with Rag2-/- mice to generate Rorcgfp/gfpRag2-/- mice Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice were crossed with Il2rg-/-Rag2-/- or Il33gfp/gfp mice to generate Ifngr1-/-Il2rg-/-Rag2-/- We initially verified the development of fibrosis in both male and female mice (Fig. 1c, d) both sexes were included in all subsequent experiments Further information regarding the sex of the mice in each dataset is provided in the figure legends and the Source data and an 18 G plastic cannula was placed in their trachea the lungs were filled with 500 μL air using a 1 mL syringe via the cannula The lungs were then scanned to gain axial images using micro-CT (ScanXmate-RX Lungs were isolated immediately after sacrificing the mice. Specifically, samples of 22-week-old Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice were collected from both the normal and disease areas, whereas all other samples were obtained from the normal area due to the absence of any lesions. The disease area was defined as a visibly distinct white region, as depicted in Fig. 1a The lungs were then homogenized using a BioMasher homogeniser (Nippi and the resulted homogenate was washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) to remove blood Each homogenate was incubated overnight in 1 mL of 0.1 μg·mL–1 pepsin (Sigma-Aldrich and dissolved in 0.5 M acetic acid (Nacalai Tesque Collagen levels were assessed using the Sircol Collagen Assay Kit (#S1000 UK) following the manufacturer’s instructions The collagen volume was normalized to the corresponding lung wet weight Blood of Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice was collected in 1.5-mL tubes containing a serum-separating medium (Bloodsepar Serum was recovered by means of centrifugation at 15,000 × g for 15 min at 4 °C Serum SP-D levels were determined by performing ELISA using a Quantikine Kit (#MSFPD0 USA) following the manufacturer’s instructions The absorption rate was measured at 450 nm (reference wavelength the mice were anesthetized with inhalation of isoflurane after which a throat sensor was attached to the neck and oxygen saturation was measured following the manufacturer’s instructions (MouseOx PLUS Mice were anesthetized with an intraperitoneal injection of mixed anesthetic agents and inhalation of isoflurane an 18 G plastic cannula was placed in the trachea The mice were connected to a ventilator (FinePointe Resistance & Compliance after which static compliance (Cst) was measured following the manufacturer’s instructions where Cst is static compliance (mL·cm H2O–1) and PEEP is the positive end-expiratory pressure (cm H2O) which released 3 mg·kg–1 dexamethasone (Sigma-Aldrich) per day were implanted into the subcutaneous pockets under the back skin of the mice either from 14 to 18 weeks (inflammatory phase) or from 23 to 28 weeks old (fibrotic phase) Whole bone marrow cells were collected from either Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- or Ifngr1-/-Il2rg-/-Rag2-/- mice and bone marrow cells were flushed out using Hank’s balanced salt solution containing 10 vol% heat-inactivated fetal calf serum (FCS) with an 18 G plastic cannula and 10 mL syringe After lysing the red blood cells with Ammonium-Chloride-Potassium (ACK) lysing buffer the bone marrow cells were intravenously transferred into 12-week-old Il2rg-/-Rag2-/- mice (1 × 107 cells/head suspended in 100 μL phosphate-buffered saline [PBS]) without whole-body irradiation The mice were sacrificed and analyzed at 21–31 weeks after transplantation We intraperitoneally administered anti-Thy-1.2 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) (#BE0066; 30H12 USA) to the mice at a dose of 200 μg/head dissolved in 200 μL PBS every 3 days for 6 weeks and then the mice were sacrificed and analyzed BALF cells were collected by gently washing the lungs with Hank’s balanced salt solution containing 10 vol% FCS using an 18 G plastic cannula and a 1 mL syringe the lungs were removed and minced with scissors in Hank’s balanced salt solution containing 10 vol% FCS The minced lungs were incubated with Liberase (#5401127001 Switzerland; final concentration: 50 μg·mL−1) and DNase I (#10104159001 Roche; final concentration: 1 μg·mL−1) for 45 min The digested lungs were further dissociated with gentleMACS (Miltenyi Biotec and the isolated cells were collected by passing through a 40-μm cell strainer After lysing the red blood cells with ACK lysing buffer immune cells were suspended in 30 vol% Percoll PLUS (#17-5445-01 The resulting pellets were used for subsequent analysis after passing through a 37-μm filter the process of cell separation using Percoll was not performed the following antibodies were purchased from BD Biosciences (Franklin Lakes USA): mAbs specific for mouse CD3ε (#553060; 145-2C11) which were conjugated to either biotin or a fluorochrome; fluorochrome-conjugated mAbs specific for human CD127 (#563165; hIL-7R-M21); and fluorochrome-conjugated streptavidin (#551419 The following antibodies were purchased from Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham USA): mAbs specific for mouse FcεRIα (#13-5898-85; MAR-1) which were conjugated to either biotin or a fluorochrome The following antibodies were purchased from BioLegend (San Diego USA): mAbs specific for mouse F4/80 (#123118; BM8) which were conjugated with a fluorochrome; mAbs specific for human CD3 (#300424; UCHT1) which were all conjugated with a fluorochrome The following antibodies were purified from hybridoma culture supernatants in our laboratory: mAbs specific for mouse CD8α (53-6.7) which were conjugated to biotin and purified CD16/CD32 (2.4G2) BioLegend) or propidium iodide (Sigma-Aldrich) were used to detect dead cells following their respective manufacturer’s instructions using Seurat’s FindTransferAnchors function which takes the previously defined dimensionality of the dataset (first 25 principal components) as input the cell type definition was further corrected manually with known cell type-specific markers Cells identified as ILCs (3047 cells) were subjected to further PCA sub-clustering (using first 25 principal components as input) and non-linear dimensional reduction using UMAP (using first 25 principal components as input) The Seurat or ggplot2 package (v3.4.0) the R software was used for data visualization and -33 (R&D Systems) were added to the wells and fibroblasts were stained with Sirius Red the cells were observed using a BZ-X700 microscope (Keyence Sirius Red was then eluted using 0.1 M NaOH (Wako and the absorption rate was measured at 540 nm (reference wavelength One sample in the 7-week-old group was used for normalization as a control The following primers were used in this study The expression of Il33 relative to Actb was normalized using one sample from 7-week-old mice as a control Fibroblasts and epithelial cells were sorted from the lungs of Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- mice as described above (30,000 cells/head in a 1.5 mL tube) and the resulting pellets were stored at –80 °C until analysis Cells were then suspended in 100 μL of RIPA buffer (#ab156034 UK) with a protease inhibitor tablet (#05892791001 Roche) and then sonicated to lyse the cells (SONIFIRE 250 A and the supernatant was collected for IL-33 quantification IL-33 levels were determined by means of ELISA using a Quantikine Kit (#M3300 R&D Systems) following the manufacturer’s instructions The lung tissues were fixed for 24 h in 10 vol% formalin suspended in PBS and embedded in paraffin The sections were prepared at a thickness of 3 μm sections were stained with Weigert’s iron hematoxylin and an Aniline Blue solution (Muto Pure Chemicals Sections were then observed under a BZ-X700 microscope (Keyence) or a SZX7 microscope (OLYMPUS A quantitative analysis pipeline was established to automatically detect and quantify the ratio of the collagen-positive area to the entire area in the lung tissue section To avoid undesired artifacts in image processing the four edges of each image were first filled with the mean value of the white background of the image The white background was estimated via extraction of pixels with a smaller coefficient of variation among the three-color channels when compared to a threshold A grayscale image was then created by averaging the three-color channels after which the alveolar-wall regions that showed smaller pixel values than the background were segmented using a threshold The resulting binary mask image that represented the alveolar-wall regions was used in the subsequent image-processing steps The alveolar-wall binary image (obtained in step 1) was dilated such that the fragmented alveolar-wall regions remain connected with each other To remove unrelated artifacts from the image connected contours with an area smaller than a threshold were discarded The internal pixels of the remaining connected contours were filled after which the resulting binary image was eroded to cancel the effect of the initial dilation at the edges of the contour This produced a binary image that precisely covered the entire lung tissue section the alveolar wall is thickened by collagen and shows a dense structure wherein the normal alveolar structure is destroyed To reflect this property in our image-processing algorithm two-dimensional moving averaging was performed on the alveolar-wall binary image (obtained in step 1) with the aim of deriving the fibrotic regions in each image of the lung tissue section The resulting image showed higher pixel values in densely packed fibrotic regions and lower pixel values in normal regions where the regular sparse alveolar-wall structures were preserved high-intensity regions were segmented by a threshold and used as the low-resolution binary estimate of the fibrotic region The original color image was multiplied by the resulting low-resolution binary image and the high-resolution alveolar-wall binary image (obtained in step 1) to produce an image of the fibrotic regions To quantitatively extract collagen-positive regions without human bias principal component analysis (PCA) was performed in the color channel of the fibrotic region image (obtained in step 3) The second or third component of the spectral PCA was found to reflect the transitions of the stained color between blue (i.e. collagen-positive) and red (fibrin-positive or blood vessel) the collagen-positive regions were defined via segmentation of the second or third component of the image produced via spectral PCA with a threshold The order of the component and the polarity of the coefficient depended on the image; however they were automatically detected and compensated for The fibrosis score was defined as the ratio of the area of the collagen-positive regions (obtained in step 4) to the area of the entire lung tissue region (obtained in step 2) The code for this analysis is provided in the Code Availability section. The procedure of the analysis is described in Supplementary Fig. 2a Image analysis was performed using MATLAB (R2023a) an equal number of Ifngr1-/-Rag2-/- to those of Ifngr1-/- Rag2-/-Il33gfp/gfp mice (n = 8) were randomly sampled nuclear staining was performed with 4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) for 15 min Cover glass was then placed on the sections and the sections were observed using a confocal microscope (TCS SP8 The primary antibodies included mAbs specific for mouse GATA3 (#560078; L50-823 Secondary polyclonal antibodies against goat IgG (#A11055) and rabbit IgG (#A11010) and fluorochrome-conjugated streptavidin (#S11225) were purchased from Thermo Fisher Scientific the area where the normal alveolar structure is preserved was defined as the normal area and the area where the regular alveolar structure is disrupted was defined as the disease area No distinction was made between areas for other samples because the 8-week-old samples had no disease areas and the 29-week-old samples had no normal areas Image analysis was performed using MATLAB (R2022a) Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from the whole blood using a BD Vacutainer CPT Mononuclear Cell Preparation Tube (#362753 were visualized using the pheatmap package (v1.0.12) of the R software The same process was applied to all images within the same figure were conducted multiple times and consistently yielded reproducible results as described in the respective figure legends the following tests were used: one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test two-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons test one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test two-sided Wilcoxon Rank Sum test with the Bonferroni method All statistical analyses were performed using Prism version 9 (GraphPad Data distribution was assumed to be normal Further information on research design is available in the Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article Codes for image analysis used in this study have been deposited in the Zendo open data repository under a following DOI [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10016650] Other codes are available from authors upon reasonable request The group 2 innate lymphoid cell (ILC2) regulatory network and its underlying mechanisms Innate lymphoid cells in allergic and nonallergic inflammation Interferon and IL-27 antagonize the function of group 2 innate lymphoid cells and type 2 innate immune responses IL-2 is a critical regulator of group 2 innate lymphoid cell function during pulmonary inflammation An official American thoracic society/European respiratory society statement: Update of the international multidisciplinary classification of the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias part II: state-of-the-art patient management Aging and interstitial lung diseases: unraveling an old forgotten player in the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis Acute exacerbation of interstitial lung disease after procedures Immune mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis with Bleomycin Bleomycin in the setting of lung fibrosis induction: from biological mechanisms to counteractions IL-25 and type 2 innate lymphoid cells induce pulmonary fibrosis Honeycomb lung: history and current concepts Collagen-producing lung cell atlas identifies multiple subsets with distinct localization and relevance to fibrosis The role of immune and inflammatory cells in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Flow cytometric analysis of macrophages and dendritic cell subsets in the mouse lung Three unique interstitial macrophages in the murine lung at steady state Adventitial stromal cells define group 2 innate lymphoid cell tissue niches The neuropeptide NMU amplifies ILC2-driven allergic lung inflammation Functional and phenotypic heterogeneity of group 3 innate lymphoid cells Reciprocal transcription factor networks govern tissue-resident ILC3 subset function and identity Systems biology analysis of lung fibrosis-related genes in the bleomycin mouse model Acidophilic macrophage pneumonia in laboratory mice Integrating mechanisms of pulmonary fibrosis Cytokine levels in the sera of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Thymic stromal lymphopoietin induces corticosteroid resistance in natural helper cells during airway inflammation Interleukin-18 drives ILC3 proliferation and promotes interleukin-22 production via NF-κB IL-33 promotes ST2-dependent lung fibrosis by the induction of alternatively activated macrophages and innate lymphoid cells in mice The role of interleukin-33 in organ fibrosis Macrophages: friend or foe in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Macrophage and innate lymphoid cell interplay in the genesis of fibrosis Profibrotic function of pulmonary group 2 innate lymphoid cells is controlled by regnase-1 Suppression of concanavalin A-induced hepatitis in IFN-gamma(-/-) mice but not in TNF-alpha(-/-) mice: role for IFN-gamma in activating apoptosis of hepatocytes IL-33 is a crucial amplifier of innate rather than acquired immunity An essential function for the nuclear receptor RORγt in the generation of fetal lymphoid tissue inducer cells Effect of three types of mixed anesthetic agents alternate to ketamine in mice Comprehensive integration of single-cell data Spatial reconstruction of single-cell gene expression data Fast unfolding of communities in large networks A single-cell transcriptomic atlas characterizes ageing tissues in the mouse Isolation and analysis of group 2 innate lymphoid cells in mice IHC WORLD. Picrosirius Red Staining Protocol for Collagen. http://www.ihcworld.com/_protocols/special_stains/sirius_red.htm (2020) Analysis of relative gene expression data using real-time quantitative PCR and the 2−ΔΔCT method fastp: an ultra-fast all-in-one FASTQ preprocessor Graph-based genome alignment and genotyping with HISAT2 and HISAT-genotype cheaper and better for alignment and quantification of RNA sequencing reads Moderated estimation of fold change and dispersion for RNA-seq data with DESeq2 ClusterProfiler: an R package for comparing biological themes among gene clusters Software for computing and annotating genomic ranges Download references We wish to thank Naho Hagiwara and Satsuki Tada for providing animal care and assistance with experiments; Hitomi Kodera and Saori Miyachi for providing animal care; Naoto Fujioka for helping with the RNA-seq analysis; and Tsuyoshi Kiniwa and Takuma Misawa for their helpful discussions We also thank Haruka Yabukami for helping us with the scRNA-seq library preparation; Masaru Ishii for the advice regarding micro-CT experiments; Yukihiro Horio and Keito Enokida for human sample collection and evaluation of clinical data; Takashi Emori for assistance with experiments; Mako Numazaki for coordinating human sample experiments; Nobuyasu Endo for helping with RNA-seq analysis; Yoichiro Iwakura for providing Ifng-/- mice; Susumu Nakae for providing Il33gfp/gfp mice; Sidonia Fagarasan for providing Rorcgfp/gfp mice We also thank all laboratory members for their support and discussion This work was supported by a JSPS Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellows (JP18J12457 to N.O.) a JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (JP18H05046 to Y.M.) a JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (JP18H05286 to K.M.) a JSPS Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (22K21354 to K.M.) a grant from the Takada Science Foundation (to K.M.) RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS) Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC) Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology Graduate School of Medicine and Frontier Biosciences Kanagawa Cardiovascular and Respiratory Center Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences suggested critical experiments and discussed the results technically supported the daily experiments performed the image analyses for deriving the fibrosis scores assisted with collecting human samples and provided helpful advice from a clinical perspective planned and performed the library preparation for RNA-seq analysis of human samples and assisted with the data analysis planned and supervised the project and wrote the manuscript Moro received a grant from Astellas Pharma All other authors declare no competing interests Nature Communications thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43336-6 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science The men behind exceptional mare Orchestral have no concerns about her form but plenty about her race on a star-studded day at Ellerslie on Saturday Orchestral takes on El Vencedor and Konasana in the $500,000 Sport Nation Ōtaki-Māori Classic on Saturday weight-for-age feature being moved north to attract the best available field The change of venue has worked by attracting the big three at least two of whom would definitely not be starting if the race had remained at Ōtaki They are all last-start winners of elite races and on any normal day it would be the clear highlight of the programme Avondale Cup and Uncle Remus Stakes all serious races in their own right but they are also pivotal lead-ups to the NZ Derby Auckland Cup and the $3.5 million NZB Kiwi respectively those races all back at Ellerslie on March 8 The Guineas is one of the hottest Derby lead-ups in years Bourbon Proof and the unbeaten Oceana Dream as well as Victorian raider Thedoctoroflove The latter is trained by expat Kiwis Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young who along with Australian jockeys Daniel Moor and John Allen add transtasman intrigue to the meeting The meeting also boasts the Ciaron Maher-trained Interpretation in the Avondale Cup while the Uncle Remus – over 1400m for the three-year-olds – is an ideal lead-up to the NZB Kiwi and contains four horses already confirmed in the slot race While it sounds almost disrespectful calling high-quality races lead-ups with horses targeting the Champions Day on March 8 The $9m raceday is one few people in New Zealand racing have really got their heads around the enormity of yet The horses contesting the Uncle Remus on Saturday could be racing for 30 times that stake in the NZB Kiwi the Avondale Guineas contenders race for five times as much in the Derby and even Orchestral and El Vencedor will be racing for double Saturday’s $500,000 stake in the $1m Bonecrusher NZ Stakes on Champions Day but also because it is the best possible lead-in to the Bonecrusher,” says Robert Wellwood “Obviously we would love to win both and we think she can still win this week because she has definitely come on since winning the Aotearoa Classic “But she is also probably ideally looking for 2000m and that could be tricky in this race where she might get a fair way off her main rival El Vencedor “I see him staying handy to a likely leader in Belclare and having a big head-start on us so whether we can run him down might come down to tempo and also maybe how handy we can stay.” Orchestral has been notoriously relaxed bordering on lazy in the early stages of her races and Wellwood says while they would love to see her settle midfield outer on Saturday they are not counting on her changing her natural racing pattern The James/Wellwood stable have NZB Kiwi contender Dealt With drawn well in the Uncle Remus and he could even lead and get a long away in front of favourite Checkmate “He had a week at the water walker after the Karaka Millions Three-Year-Old and has come back great and we think if he runs straight he will be really hard to catch.” They also have unbeaten three-year-old Oceana Dream drawn 14 in the stacked Guineas where all the other favourites have drawn wide: Willydoit (12) “It could be a really niggly race with a lot of the big chances getting back and keeping an eye on each other we are going to know a lot more about what to expect on Champions Day after seeing what happens this week.” What: Both the Avondale Cup and Avondale Guineas feature but the meeting is also boosted by the Group 1 Sport Nation Ōtaki-Māori Classic being moved to Ellerslie Extra bonus: The Trevor and Corralie Eagle Uncle Remus Stakes is already a Listed race but doubles as a crucial NZB Kiwi lead-up Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990 He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals The Karaka yearling sales are a key economic driver for the New Zealand racing industry Scam alerts: we’ve seen an increase in scam texts and emails claiming to be from us, asking for payments.Check our example scams or report a scam to us NZTA App: our mobile app provides a simple and secure way to access your driver licence and vehicle information.Learn more and download the NZTA app it seems you were trying to access a page that doesn't exist Please check the spelling of the URL you were trying to access and try again One of the country's oldest organically certified farms is looking for the next generation to lead its operations bought the Te Horo farm known as Common Property in the 1970s with a group of friends "It was established by a group of families - the reason it's called Common Property - and we bought the land together," Wood explained As the others have moved on over the years the couple have found themselves the last owners and are now looking for new people to come on board They are now seeking expressions of interest to buy lease or license the 9.5-hectare property near Ōtaki which has been BioGro certified continuously for nearly 50 years The property is currently being farmed under licence by a number of organic growers and the property is used to grow vegetables "Jim came up with this idea of small businesses running their own business on Common Property under licence So it's still Common Property but in quite a different way." Some of these growers are now looking to retire next year Wood said they've had some interest already and their preference would be for the property to continue to be farmed organically Wood credits her mother with the property having been an early adopter of organics was sceptical at first but quickly came around "My parents helped us buy the farm and [my mother] insisted we grow organically right from the start," Wood said They were one of the first growers to become BioGro certified when the standards were introduced in 1983 "Legend has it the first BioGro standards were drafted at our kitchen table," Wood said Wood said the biggest change in 50 years of organics has been the rise of regenerative agriculture practices The development of the National Māori Organics Authority of Aotearoa's Hua Parakore an indigenous organic verification and validation system Proposals close on 31 May and more information is on the Commonsense Organics website Rainbow Valley is located on regenerating whenua at the end of a gravel road near Tākaka Several families share the land and help run a small farm for the benefit of the whole community It is NZ's most profitable export industry but also one of our biggest carbon emitters - so what if the cow could be taken out of the production process altogether The inaugural Underground Festival will be held at Greystone Wine's regenerative organic vineyard in mid-February The Tui Community near Takaka is a blend of an"intentional community"and a"village"where people deliberately come together to share lives in a way that reaches out beyond nuclear family living Business RSS Website intended for a New Zealand health professional readership aperrott@nzdoctor.co.nz Reporter Alan Perrott talks to a kaupapa Māori provider with dreams of transforming the wellbeing of its community Kia ora and welcome to New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa Not a subscriber? Unlock this article by subscribing here. Hall discusses the evaluation of thyroid nodules which primarily aims to determine the likelihood of malignancy He then reviews the treatment of thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa Online is intended for a New Zealand health professional readership. Use of this site implies acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Statement New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa Online is not a consumer medical advice service Consumers should seek advice from a health professional and not act in reliance on any statement contained in the information provided At UKC/UKH we are all experienced internet users and as such we understand why some people want to use Ad Block to remove annoying and distracting advertising that proliferates on some web sites We don't feel that UKC/UKH should be considered as such a site We have developed a site that has subtle and appropriate advertising; we don't use pop-ups we don't force you to read adverts before you can see content and we don't use third party ad servers dishing up totally inappropriate advertising We have worked incredibly hard over the years to make sure that we keep a good balance between advertising and editorial content Please could you consider disabling Adblock when visiting UKC/UKH There seems to be a trend at the moment for manufacturers to produce multiple boots on the same last This - at least to my mind - is a positive thing for people who tend to stick to what they already know works Venturing away from the safety net of familiarity can lead to severe discomfort as you spend the next month of your life breaking in the shoe… or is it the shoe that is breaking you La Sportiva's Otaki and Skwama shoes are built on the same last The Otaki and the Skwama may feature the same last The Otaki sits very much at the stiffer end of the scale is geared towards performance bouldering or top end sport The benefit of basing these two very different shoes on the same last is obvious: if you get on well with one you have the choice of purchasing the other without too much fear that you're going to need your feet amputating due to the anguish of having to wear them in these shoes both stand very much on their own merits each performing well in their respective categories It's just that the option for buying both is there The boots also feature La Sportiva's latest technological innovation - the S-Heel - which is explained in the following video I'll include both shoes under the same heading here as what applies to one essentially applies to the other In terms of width I found both the shoes to feel a little narrow out of the box for my wide feet; however, it is worth highlighting that they are definitely at the broader end of the La Sportiva scale - so much so that they've already got the thumbs up from a few wide-footed users on the UKC Forums which just goes to show how valuable trying them on is For those already familiar with the Katana Lace and Miura Velcro In time both boots gave maybe up to a 1/2 size it's worth going down a 1/2 size from your standard La Sportiva size which correlates - in my case - going down from a standard shoe size of 42 all the way down I have no idea how they come up with these numbers either) If by now you've watched the video embedded above and soaked in the wonders surrounding this 'new technology' then you will no doubt be interested in whether this is indeed the real deal or just another cunning piece of marketing it sits in place neatly when you're aggressively heel hooking I felt very little difference between the S-Heel and any other well fitted heel I have used in recent years Maybe there's something weird and unique about my own heels maybe I've just been making the right choices on the shoes I wear all these years or maybe I just lack the sensitivity to notice it I wouldn't be buying a pair of Otakis or Skwamas because of the S-Heel; I'd be buying a pair because of their many other strengths: they fit nicely they're sensitive (in the case of the Skwama) and above all they are extremely comfortable the Otaki is geared towards the performance trad or sport climber Featuring Vibram XS Edge on a particularly stiff 3/4 length midsole the Otaki is well suited towards hanging around on small holds/edges (i.e trad climbing) or using even smaller edges to move quickly and efficiently upwards to the lower-off (i.e The stiffness and support that the boot offers makes it quite versatile as it is well suited towards a wide variety of different angles from edgy slabs To put this into perspective in terms of crags imagine yourself in North Wales over a bank holiday weekend: the Otaki is a shoe that you could easily use on the Slate one day this is something that would be equally at home on Portland as it would at Raven Tor The only downside is that due to their residual stiffness they - perhaps rather obviously - lack a certain degree of sensitivity which is essentially what they're designed for sensitivity isn't always the key - security is - and with the Otaki's stiff sole they certainly felt secure On more rounded rock types such as gritstone and sandstone they definitely felt at the clunkier* end of the spectrum * the exception to this was on more edgy quarried grit where they were once again back in their ideal environment If you're after something suitable for a wide range of rock types and disciplines yet it offers a level of stiffness and support that few other boots can match despite featuring the exact same fit/last at the Otaki It is undoubtedly at the softer end of the scale being unsuitable for just about everything the Otaki is good for but in turn being suitable for just about everything else This is a shoe that comes into its own when you need rubber to rock and all the sensitivity that comes with it Whilst not necessarily the edgiest shoe out there unlike some softer shoes it can actually deal with edges (a great many these days are so soft that you constantly feel like you're rolling/melting off edges the moment you weight them) and hold in extremely well around the heel - particularly considering there is only a single strap As such the Skwama makes for a nice shoe to wear both for single hit burns on harder problems and for longer efforts on extended bouldering circuits The one feature I found hard to quantify other than the S-Heel was the centre of the sole unit I'm assuming that this was added in for further lateral manoeuvrability but it was very hard to actually tell in day-to-day use Even with the photograph to the right it was hard to analyse the benefit Thoughts on the back of a postcard...or the UKC Forums.. sensitive shoe that offers a good balance between comfort and performance the Skwama is definitely a good all-rounder albeit in a very different way to the Otaki (i.e a bouldering all-rounder as opposed to a trad/sport all-rounder) aggressive climbing shoe with a hook-and-loop closure system for exceptional performance on all terrain In recent years most performance climbing shoes have been softer and more sensitive leaving quite a gap in the market for more supportive and outdoor-oriented shoes The Qubit is one of the new generation of models to reverse this trend Its high level of stiffness and support may not be for everyone but the Boostic R really is 'the edging machine' and this makes it perhaps Rob Greenwood's all-time favourite performance shoe for hard trad and.. Today's novice climbers are bouldering to a harder level than ever before modern indoor beginner's shoes are designed to offer that bit more performance taking you from entry level into the mid grades In a market dominated by softer climbing shoes stiffness and support are hard to come by; but.. and whilst the model featured here shares the name The Miura VS has been a much-loved favourite for over 15 years An Ōtaki kaupapa Māori health care facility is set to branch into primary health after recruiting three general practitioners What was the old bank at 51 Main Street is now a health hub for Te Puna Oranga o Ōtaki who start their new GP service from 4 November Kaiwhakahaere (General Manager) Heniti Buick said it has always been a plan to own or become shareholders in a medical centre we've pivoted what we want for our people and the development of a new GP practice that is kaupapa-led with reo-speaking or Māori GPs to drive this initiative for us." and one is coming from overseas but can speak te reo "It being kaupapa-led or [by] having Māori GPs come in and they can be understood in a way that also uplifts their mana - in a way that allows them to be Māori or culturally safe in a primary care setting." The Mauri Ora GP clinic will compliment the Ōtaki Medical centre and provide health care to both Māori and non-Māori patients Ōtaki Medical has been struggling with staffing after losing three doctors in May "They've contributed massively to the health landscape of Ōtaki but with the loss of some key doctors back to their home countries Te Puna Oranga has been in the community since 2012 starting with just one board member and no kaimahi Now there are nearly 40 kaimahi providing kaupapa-led support The GP clinic will become the fifth arm running alongside their programmes: Tamariki Ora / Well-Child food sovereignty and youth mentoring programme There are also health navigators who understand inequities Māori face and help improve health outcomes for everyone The youth programme runs in and next to The Barbershop they own on Aotaki Street to accommodate for the rangatahi who like fresh cuts Buick said their 'by Ōtaki for Ōtaki' approach works for the town where 40 percent of the population are Māori So when you get a provider that's for Ōtaki you get someone who's fighting for sustainability "And like Tariana Turia and Mason Durie have always advocated for - what works for Māori works for everybody But you can't have your whare tapa whā focused on your tīnana You've got to have all four components looked after for health and wellness to come from that." The disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority) has left one of their contracts to fall through therefore relying on short-stinted contracts for some services Buick said it really disrupts their stability to be able to provide some services it's also really unsettling for people who have just transitioned to use our services in six months it's no longer a service you can access But also having that leadership through Te Aka Whai Ora or the Māori Health Directorate they really see value in hauora Māori providers." a kōhanga reo they work with will fall back into a central system that failed them in the first place While the GP practice itself is not funded the board has invested equity funds to keep the clinic ticking along until there are enough enrolments for capitation to be introduced Within the first 24 hours of enrolments opening The kaupapa-driven clinic also has their 'waka' mobile clinic Board member and kaumātua Rawiri Rikihana said "Ōtaki has just come alive" since the announcement And having clinics on the marae is special for the iwi plus we've got the waka that we can bring on site Rikihana said the big push for the younger generations is te reo Māori it's the tikanga that a lot of our kids are picking up Barb Rudd has been on the board since 2011 and joked that it was time for her to step away to let the younger ones take over "We've come a long way and a lot of our rangatahi are part of it Who would have thought that we'd come to this?" Rudd said there are many issues with attracting international GPs to New Zealand and wants to see more Māori look into a medical career "I don't know what the attrition is at Otago but maybe we need to get more of our Māori people in there and have them as doctors - that would be wonderful." She puts the organisations gain down to Buick's persistence "She has worked really hard to build networks she's sat on a lot of tables where it's important for her to be and I think through that she's attracted people to her because of who she is "My dream was to be here with all our older people "[The marae] is where they'll feel more comfortable and more at ease to talk to their GP." Another medical centre has fallen victim to the nationwide shortage of GPs but a kaupapa Māori health service is invigorating another Wellness and Diagnostic Centre is designed to give Māori in the region tino rangatiratanga over their own health Māori health leaders are calling on the government to scrap the Treaty Principles Bill fearing it will lead to even less equitable healthcare A group of Māori academics and health workers are asking the government to rescind its recent directive for public services to be based on need "We have a very simple approach to healthcare which is based off need not ethnicity or race," Christopher Luxon says after the government stepped in at Hawke's Bay Te Ao Māori RSS