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11 Sep 2025

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Marlon Williams scores two top Silver Scrolls finalist spots
APRA has named the five finalist songs for the Silver Scroll Award as well as the top three waiata in line for the Maioha Award.

Hunt for Tom Phillips’ accomplices, officers scour bush campsites for clues
Officers expand search, probing whether others helped Phillips evade capture.

‘We’ve got them’, the three word text officer in charge of Tom Phillips case got
Detective Senior Sergeant Andy Saunders reveals the “nerve-wracking” end to the four year Operation Curly.

Woman who fought 10 years to stop ‘monstrosity’ getting built, now devastated at cottage sale plan
After fighting for 10 years to stop an eight-storey building being put up, Linda Conning is devastated the council wants to sell an adjoining cottage.

Building a wind farm at -73 degrees: Ross Island plans move forward
Antarctica New Zealand is finally moving to fix blades for its wind farm at Ross Island and get new turbines built..

Government health spending claims 'inflated' and 'misleading' - study
The Ministry of Health was using old data and including GST to make 'misleading' health spending claims, a new report has found.

Musk loses crown as world's richest person
A college dropout tech titan now holds the top spot, Bloomberg says.

Dad's desperate plea to authorities for help finding child abducted by mum, taken to China
The boy was three years old when he was taken to China by his mother, who no longer has custody.

NZ open to deploying police in Pacific to stop organised crime and drugs, Luxon says
The Prime Minister says a surge in methamphetamine use and trafficking is something the whole region is grappling with.

'Don't worry bro, we'll get it done': the mahi behind finding jobs
The number of people living off a benefit in Central Hawke's Bay is the highest it's been in more than 12 years.

Tiny11’s free update strips down Windows 11 for Windows 10 fans
As the official end of support draws nearer for Windows 10, there’s another option that can help ease the pain for Windows 10 users transitioning to Windows 11: Tiny11 Builder. Tiny11 has been out for a few years now; in fact, we last wrote about Tiny11 in 2023. It’s now received a substantial update, and the focus has slightly changed: Now, it’s an option for those who don’t want to deal with the bloat or the ad telemetry that Windows 11 brings. “After more than a year (for which I am so sorry) of no updates, Tiny11 Builder is now a much more complete and flexible solution — one script fits all,” ntdevlabs, the developer, wrote. “Also, it is a steppingstone for an even more fleshed-out solution.” Essentially, Tiny11 Builder takes a Windows 11 ISO, loads it, but chops out a ton of built-in Windows apps, the telemetry, and the “ads” to use specific Windows features. Yes, a Windows 10 user will be forced to transition to Windows 11. Tiny11 Builder’s mission, however, is to strip down Windows 11 to its essentials, even if that still means dealing with the new Windows 11 Start menu, the relatively static Taskbar, or other features. There’s another plus, though: Tiny 11 Builder removes the need for a Microsoft account. Tiny11 Builder can be downloaded from GitHub for free, from its developer, NTDEV, or netdevlabs. You’ll need to download the Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft, launch PowerShell, then follow the script instructions. It’s certainly not as easy as a one-click executable, but it doesn’t appear to be too difficult. You can use it on “any” Windows release, the developer says, and it will run on Windows on Arm, too. Since Tiny11 Builder slices off a few unneeded (to the developer, anyway) functions from Windows 11, it leaves what you’ll care about: the security updates, patches, and other features that will ensure that your PC is secure and up to date. What happens if the patch tries to force back Microsoft Edge, which Tiny11 removes? That shouldn’t happen, but the developer notes that there’s an “ongoing battle” between removing Outlook and Dev Home, which Windows apparently keeps trying to restore. Tiny11 removes a ton of Windows apps: Clipchamp News Weather Xbox GetHelp GetStarted Office Hub Solitaire PeopleApp PowerAutomate ToDo Alarms Mail and Calendar Feedback Hub Maps Sound Recorder Your Phone Media Player QuickAssist Internet Explorer Tablet PC Math Edge OneDrive The developer doesn’t seem to be quite finished, noting that it would like to implement better controls over which apps to delete and which to pare. Interestingly, while the developer’s announcement tweet lists Teams as one of the targeted apps to remove, the GitHub page’s list doesn’t mention it. (Tom’s Hardware noted the tweet as well as the update to the Tiny11 page.) The same page also lists a Tiny11CoreMaker option, but this is more of a development platform and should be ignored. As you’re probably aware, Windows 10 support expires on October 14, 2025. Users will either need to download and upgrade to Windows 11 before then, or risk running on an unsupported system. Otherwise, consumers can pay Microsoft $30 for a year’s worth of Windows 10 support patches. Alternatively, there are two free options: Turn on Windows Backup (which requires a Microsoft account) or redeem 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points instead. Otherwise, you’ll have to upgrade to Windows 11, where Tiny11’s latest update provides an alternative to a full copy of Windows 11.

Married, thriving and expecting a baby - then he died BASE jumping
Shayni was eight weeks pregnant. They were on a jumping trip in Norway. Days later, Micah took his last jump.

Aussie tennis great suspended for shoving 60-year-old volunteer
Two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt has been suspended for two weeks for pushing an anti-doping official.

KiwiSaver trick that providers say is short changing members
KiwiSaver providers and the Retirement Commission say there's a simple way to help a lot of KiwiSaver members achieve a better outcome.

Netball NZ denies relationship between players and Dame Noeline has broken down
Netball New Zealand denies that the relationship between the players and Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua has completely broken down.

Developers joke about “coding like cavemen” as AI service suffers major outage
Anthropic outage takes down AI tools some developers rely on to create software.

'We've got some issues': Netball NZ on why Dame Noeline Taurua stood down for series
The national body denies that the relationship between the players and Silver Ferns coach has completely broken down.

Regulation Minister David Seymour won't rule out label changes for nicotine, tobacco, alcohol
'The problem is not the colour of the label,' David Seymour says.

KiwiSaver trick that providers say shortchanges members
A ban on total remuneration packages would make an immediate difference for many members, say KiwiSaver providers and the Retirement Commission.

KiwiSaver members missing out during tough economic times
More than 40 percent of KiwiSaver members were classed as non-contributing over the past year, despite record contributions and strong returns.