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7 Dec 2024

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The grim picture of homelessness for NZ women
A new study by Ihi Research has found four out of five homeless women in Aotearoa are Maori, with some as young as 15.

Regional MPs object to Air NZ cutting ‘vital’ Wellington flights
Rotorua leaders welcome Auckland flights but worry about losing key Wellington service.

Basketball: Charlisse Leger-Walker's WNBA dream on hold again
Charlisse Leger-Walker's dream of becoming just the second New Zealander to play in basketball's WNBA has been put on hold, again.

Are all sunscreens created equal?
Which sunscreen offers the best protection? Are more expensive ones better?

Rising star from Australia confirmed for NZ race series
Nicolas Stati the latest international name to be confirmed for New Zealand’s leading race series.

Young child, elderly woman injured after being struck with gun barrel
Police investigating a number of “alarming, aggravated burglaries” in west Waikato.

MPs object to Air NZ cutting ‘vital’ Wellington flights
Regional route changes announced this week will “benefit some“ and “disrupt others.” One MP has expressed “extreme disappointment.”

Elderly woman and child hit with barrel of gun, Christmas presents stolen
Police are investigating a number of aggravated burglaries in west Waikato.

Police turn over possible DNA evidence in UnitedHealthcare CEO murder case
Niki Dilley, a Canterbury man visiting New York, has described the police investigation at his hostel as "scary but cool".

Southern wizard feels city ‘doesn’t deserve’ him after bitter election defeat
In 2022, Noel Peterson tried his hand for Invercargill City Council and finished a disappointing 33rd of 34 candidates, earning just 91 votes.

Four motorcycles in crash with vehicle, serious injuries reported
State Highway 1 at Utiku in the central North Island is closed following a crash.

Firefighters target morning effort at Bridge Hill ahead of strengthening winds
The big Canterbury blaze did not grow overnight, and no buildings were lost to fire, firefighters say.

Police arrest 11 year old boy for throwing rocks at elderly man in Browns Bay
Police described the incident in Auckland's Browns Bay on Wednesday as "unacceptable behaviour".

Google Home preview users just got another Gemini AI feature
Google is stepping up its Gemini AI rollout for smart home users, delivering access to a new Gemini-powered feature in the Google Home app. Android users enrolled in Google Home’s Public Preview can now help test “Help me create,” a Gemini AI-infused tool that lets you create Google Home automations from natural-language prompts. Here’s how it works: You open the Google Home app, tap the Automations tab, tap Add, then tap “Help me create.” Next, just describe in English (yes, just English, at least for now) what you’d like the automation to do. For example, you could type (or say) “Turn off the lights at 11 p.m. every night,” “Lock all the doors when everyone’s away,” or “Set a meditation time reminder.” Then just tap “Create,” and the Google Home app—with help from Gemini—will compose an overview of a proposed automation. You can then rate the Gemini-created automation, ask for a do-over, or rename and save the routine if you’re happy with it. Gemini can now help create automations based on your natural language queries.Google You’ll also get the chance to edit the main elements of the routine, including its starters (one or more events that trigger the automation), conditions (handy for routines that you only want to run when nobody is home, or at a certain time for day), and actions (what the automations actually does). The new “Help me create” feature is only available for U.S.-based Android users in Google Home’s public preview program. You’ll also need to sign up for Nest Aware Plus, a subscription plan that gets you 60 days of video events recorded on Nest security cameras, 10 days of 24/7 video history for the same, intelligent alerts for smoke alarms and other occurrences, and more for $15 a month. “Help me create” is just the latest Gemini-powered feature to make its way to Google Home users. Earlier this week, we learned that some Nest speaker owners had started hearing Gemini answer their more complex voice queries; the standard Google Assistant still seems to be handling more mundane tasks. Last month, Google rolled out AI smart search for Nest camera events, which allows you to search your video history using natural language queries. The feature also adds Gemini-generated descriptions to your Nest-captured video clips. Gemini AI has also been granted limited control of smart home devices via an extension for the Gemini app.