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8 Sep 2025

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Israeli military says drone launched from Yemen hits airport arrivals hall

Paw patrol: The detector dogs who fly to work
Ruff landings are no problem for the biosecurity patrols servicing a revived international airport.

Passengers stranded at Auckland Airport by strong winds complain of delays
Flight disruptions following high winds in Auckland could take a couple of days to clear, Air New Zealand says.

Strong winds disrupt flights at Wellington Airport
Three flights so far had been diverted to either Auckland or Palmerston North.

Popular Wellington brewery and pub Fortune Favours closing down
One of Wellington’s most successful breweries, Fortune Favours, is ending operations and closing its brew bar only a day after winning first place at the country’s biggest beer festival. After nearly a decade brewing in the capital, owners Shannon Thorpe and Dale Cooper announced the business was no longer financially sustainable. “Unfortunately, the cost of living crisis has proven too difficult for us to navigate. We’re down 20% on last year, which was already 25% down on the year before,” a post on the company’s social media read. Since starting in 2016, the company has brewed over 500 unique blends, including New Zealand’s strongest beer. On Tuesday, its Wairarapa IPA was named the top-praised beer at Wellington’s Beervana event. The inner-city brewpub on Leeds St will close its doors for the final time on August 31. “We’ve loved our 8 years here [...] without your support Fortune Favours would not be the brand that it is,” the post said. Fortune Favours craft beer bar featured on a Wellington craft beer tour. Photo / Nicola Edmonds The brewery started when Thorpe quit his day job to move to the capital with his young family to start brewing craft beer. Award-winning brewer Cooper then joined and the business expanded, winning awards in New Zealand and Australia and being stocked around the country. The pair also opened a bar in Wellington Airport in 2019. In 2022, the brewery made a splash with its Hyper Fuel brew, the strongest beer in the country at 31% ABV. Fortune Favours’ move is just the latest in a string of recent sector closures. A number of popular hospitality venues have shut up shop in the capital over the past year, citing a range of factors including the public sector cuts, loss of car parks, and general economic conditions. Craft breweries across the country from Brothers Beer to Deep Creek, Epic Brewing and Boneface Brewing have all faced financial trouble in recent years. It also comes as new economic figures show 177 Wellington businesses closed down in the year to the end of the June quarter. Business counts, meaning the number of business units in an area, is down -2.3% in the capital, a greater drop than the country’s average of 0.9%. Infometrics principal economist Nick Brunsdon said the capital’s struggles “in large part stems from the cuts in the public sector”. Ethan Manera is a New Zealand Herald journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 as a broadcast journalist with Newstalk ZB and is interested in local issues, politics, and property in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.

The Ranfurly Shield is back in Southland
The Ranfurly Shield is officially back in Southland. The team arrived at Invercargill Airport to awaiting fans just before 4pm on Monday.

'This close to murder': Passengers stranded at Auckland Airport by winds take to social media
Fliers took to social media to report hours of delays in disembarking and getting baggage at Auckland Airport.

Police suspend Cook Strait search after mayday call
Police have suspended an extensive search for a missing vessel reported in distress in Cook Strait. Police were alerted to a mayday call in the strait about 10.10pm last night. Emergency services spent hours combing the water and found no trace of a distressed vessel. The person was calling via VHF channel 14 and indicated they were in distress, three nautical miles (5.5km) south of Karori Rock. Wellington District search and rescue co-ordinator Jonathan Westrupp said the person indicated their boat was taking on water with two people on board. An interislander ferry joined the search for the missing boat on Monday night. “They failed to respond after several further transmissions, and a search was immediately activated and multiple vessels were deployed to the area. “We’ve found no objects of interest in the strait or during searches of the shoreline or boat ramps, and no boaties have been reported missing or overdue.” Westrupp said police were working to determine the mayday call’s source and veracity. “We continue to ask the public to notify police should they notice anything unusual in the Cook Strait area or become aware that someone is overdue.” Wellington police thanked the public, Royal NZ Navy, Royal NZ Air Force, the Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Coastguard Wellington, Wellington Airport Fire Service, Interislander, Bluebridge, Centreport, Seaworks and the media for their support.