Page 3 - Sam Rillstone News Today

A long-awaited cervical screening test that women can do themselves and will reduce the need for smear test will be funded by the government.

Risk posed to NZ by Sydney Covid-19 community cases low - Bloomfield © RNZ / Sam Rillstone The risk posed to New Zealand by a community outbreak of Covid-19 in Sydney is low, but health authorities chose to pause travel between the two locations because there are a "few unknowns". It comes after the New South Wales government announced it was re-introducing a raft of restrictions for Greater Sydney after the state recorded a second new locally-acquired Covid-19 case. Director-General of Healt...

Covid-19 vaccines planned for all over-16s by 2022 - Verrall © RNZ / Sam Rillstone Associate Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall says the government has a clear plan to ensure that everyone aged 16 and over will be vaccinated by the end of the year. "We are progressing well against the plan," Dr Verrall said at todays Covid-19 update, alongside Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield. DHBs were on track to deliver more than 1 million doses by the end of June, she said. "By then well be wel...

Police had no dedicated team to scan Internet before mosque attacks Phil Pennington It took seven months for police to set up their first team for scanning the internet after the mosque attacks - but it was almost immediately in danger of being shut down. An internal report released under the Official Information Act (OIA) said this was despite the team already proving its worth "many times over" in countering violent extremists. The unit still does not have dedicated funding, d...

Collins on Bridges wokester jibe: I wouldnt call someone that © RNZ / Samuel Rillstone National Party leader Judith Collins says justice spokesperson Simon Bridges should direct criticism to ministers not the police commissioner, who he labelled a "wokester". The partys justice spokesperson, Simon Bridges, called Police Commissioner Andrew Coster "our wokester commissioner" in response to a police operation targeting guns held by organised crime groups and gangs. © RNZ / Sam Rillstone, Dom ...

An interfaith advocate is asking for an apology from officials as the hui into the Christchurch mosque shootings continues.

Contaminated waste dumping: Ardern weighs options against companies in breach © RNZ / Sam Rillstone The prime minister has put companies dumping contaminated waste into sewers on notice, saying shes seeking advice about the available options. © Provided by Radio New Zealand No caption Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says it is unacceptable for companies to intentionally dump contaminated waste into sewers. Photo: RNZ / Sam Rillstone No companies have been prosecuted or fined and local cou...

Intelligence agencies failures highlighted but no accountability sought Phil Pennington © RNZ / Sam Rillstone Several key security and intelligence agencies failed to do their counter-terrorism job well, or at all, but there remains no way of holding them to account. This is revealed in the report of the Royal Commission into the 15 March 2019 mosque terrorist attacks. The commissions overall conclusion was that no one dropped the ball; its assigning of limited accountability ...