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1 Jul 2025

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Destruction of 100-year-old pohutukawa 'a travesty' - landscape designer
An award-winning landscape designer has weighed into a stoush over the felling of a 100-year-old pohutukawa to clear it from powerlines in New Plymouth.

Watch live: Police Commissioner Richard Chambers, minister Mark Mitchell open new police college campus
The Police Commissioner and Police Minister are speaking at the opening of the police college campus in Auckland.

Daron Parton’s cartoons: July 1 - 31
Our cartoonist Daron Parton shares his view on current events.

Police name man who died after Manurewa crash on Friday
A man is charged with driving dangerously causing death, dangerous driving causing injury and driving while forbidden.

Taputu claims 2025 Pacific Mini Games' first gold medal as Tahiti dominates opening day
Tahiti's Teimoana Taputu claimed the first gold medal in Palau, taking out the V1 500 metres open men's final in va'a (outrigger) racing.

Police identify man killed in crash during police pursuit in Manurewa
Police have formally named Iu Toalua, 45, of Auckland, as the man who died.

Alleged thieves caught with ‘multiple rolls of carpet’ strapped to roof of car
Police arrested all three people in the car on Briggs Rd in Christchurch just after 3am on Tuesday.

Freezing morning for some in the South Island with temperatures below zero
The coldest was -5.2C.

Lulu Sun suffers first round exit at Wimbledon
Lulu Sun has been unable to repeat her fairytale run from last year.

White Christmas and Italian glamour: All the NZ events to rug up for this month
July means winter, so here are a few events around the country that will have you keeping warm, or rugging up outside.

Financial hardship cases rise
Hardship cases rose more than 14 percent to 15,000 - with just under half related to mortgages - but households are generally staying on top of debt.

Auckland unit fire treated as suspicious.
Five fire trucks attended the blaze at a multi-unit home in Wesley overnight, which put one person in hospital.

AI Expert Advisory Panel to shape public sector use in New Zealand
New Zealand has formed an AI Expert Advisory Panel led by Professor Michael Witbrock to guide responsible AI use in the public sector.

Approving helipad build at Auckland home sets 'worrying precedent' - community group
Anna Mowbray and Ali Williams will be allowed a helicopter pad at their Westmere home after their resource consent was approved by council-appointed commissioners.

Mexican drug cartel hacked FBI official’s phone to track informant, report says
Official was connected to FBI probe of cartel Kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Wegovy weight loss medication costs $500 monthly. Should we fund it?
Wegovy, a weight loss drug made famous by celebrities around the world, is on New Zealand pharmacists' shelves, but it is unfunded and could cost users around $500 a month.

World No 733 wins on Wimbledon debut but won’t get prize money
The university student will now face two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

$18.29 for a tub of butter: has butter peaked?
An Auckland supermarket was snapped with an ‘outrageous’ price of the golden goodness over the weekend.

This ingenious neck fan kept me blissfully cool during a 95°F heatwave
Stuck inside without air conditioning? Doing a brutal hike on the hottest day of the year? I found a gadget that will almost instantly make you feel cooler. With temperatures rising this summer, the heat is on to find ways to quickly cool down. Yes, it’s a fan, but it’s not one of those cheap battery fans that demands you hold it in your hand and aim it at your face. My new favorite chilling solution—available for $100 on Amazon—is a surprisingly powerful hands-free fan that you can wear on your body. Meet the Torras COOLify Air neck AC fan. Of course, fans don’t lower the temperature of the air itself, but they do create a breeze that accelerates the evaporation of sweat to help your body cool down. I’m writing this from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where 97-degree temperatures are making life extremely uncomfortable (at least while I’m outside the blessed cool of the hotel AC). Saving me daily from heatstroke and a sweaty head, the travel-friendly, adjustable COOLify Air is a neck-worn air conditioner that incorporates two fans and an extremely welcome cooling plate at the back of the neck. And how’s this for validation: I saw two more neck fan users by the pool. Simon Jary Thirty-six vents expel a refreshing 360-degree airflow that directs an icy breeze above and below your neck. It creates a satisfying wind chill effect almost immediately. You really do feel the difference as soon as you turn it on. Yes, wetting a cloth with cool water and wrapping it around the back of your neck can offer similar instant relief, but when that cloth dries out, you need to wet it again to repeat the process. Not so with the COOLify Air. The neck fan is lightweight at 14oz (400g) and beats the sensation of a wet cloth. It’s rated to keep running between 4 and 20 hours depending on which of the five air-power settings (up to 8,450rpm) you use. It’s rechargeable via USB-C. Torras The COOLify’s ice plate at the back of the wearable fan cools the large blood vessels near the neck’s surface, which allows body heat to escape. It turn out that cooling one’s neck is the quickest way to lower the temperature of your head and brain. The fan then blows that heat away from your body to keep you cool. The Air is one of several COOLify neck fan models available from maker Torras. There are more expensive variants (at up to $329) with more vents and motors and specialized apps, but the $149 entry-level Air offers most of what you need for a quick or prolonged cooling at the lowest cost. At the time of this writing, you can find it at Amazon for around $110. That’s more than you’ll pay for a cheap hand fan, but you’ll thank yourself every time the mercury rises. It is still recommended to drink lots of cold water and engage in all the other cool-down tips, but this neck AC fan is my go-to travel companion for keeping cool. I’m not going anywhere hot without it in my bag. Keep cool with Torras COOLiFY Air Best Prices Today: $110.48 at Amazon