Today's Morning Rush is brought to you by Sophie Ryan
Good morning and welcome to today's edition of Morning Rush. Everything you need to know, including the latest, breaking news, sport, entertainment, traffic, travel and weather information. Share your news tips and photos at #MorningRushNZ or morningrush@nzme.co.nz
9.00am: That's all for today's edition of Morning Rush. Make the most of the fine day in most of the country before the rain moves in tomorrow. The blog will be back up and running tomorrow at 6am. Have a great day everyone.
8.56am: Two men have been arrested after a serious assault near Dargaville on the weekend.
8.52am: If you've woken up on the wrong side of the bed and your morning's going badly already, here's five quick ways to calm down. A picture of a puppy is usually enough to calm anyone down, and Louise Thompson recommends patting an animal, if there's one nearby.
8.49am: Before I finish today's edition of Morning Rush here's the highlights from this morning: • An opera singer has posted a video of him singing during brain surgery. • A knighthood is on the cards for Richie McCaw, the Prime Minister has confirmed. • Two sisters suffering from cystic fibrosis have been performing random acts of kindness for others.
8.45am: More than 2000 state houses have been upgraded after a coroner found damp and cold conditions may have contributed to a South Auckland toddler's death.
8.33am: Know anyone who goes on and on about their Paleo diet? Maybe send them this link. Carbohydrates were key to rapid brain growth, and the "caveman" diet is not all it's cracked up to be.
8.29am: This is an interesting read on how Chinese migration has transformed Vancouver. Culture, housing, and the economy all changed drastically with the migration, the piece in the Los Angeles Times says.
8.27am: MetService says there is a bit of fog around the north. Send in pictures of your morning weather to morningrush@nzme.co.nz
Smoke rises from debris near a crater that was at the center of a series of explosions in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality. Photo / AP
8.19am: It might not be too long until we can call the All Blacks captain Sir Richie McCaw. Prime Minister John Key has this morning confirmed the record-breaking loose forward will be offered another knighthood. McCaw has previously turned down a knighthood, maybe this time he'll accept. Read more here.
8.09am: Super City cuts $6.25 million off 'ludicrously high' value of Parnell clifftop home, making the owner a very happy woman. The value change saved businesswoman Christine Fernyhough $16,000 off her rates bill. Read more here.
8.05am: Waikato police are investigating a fire that badly damaged a rural Otorohanga home last night.
Belief and sticking to the task, without trying to win it on your own. That's a culture which has developed within these All Blacks, and it is an attitude epitomised and inspired by the great man McCaw.
7.53am: It's been confirmed that no New Zealanders were on board the plane that crashed in Indonesia.
7.49am: A convicted New Zealand drug trafficker serving 15 years in a Bali jail could have three months shaved off his sentence. Antony de Malmanche was jailed after earlier this year being found guilty of drug offences. Read more here.
7.46am: The death toll from the massive blast in Tianjin, China keeps rising. There's 112 people confirmed dead and 95 people missing. Hundreds were injured in the big explosions.
7.44am: Traffic is relatively good on the North-western Motorway this morning. Currently its taking 35 minutes form Hobsonville to the city.
7.40am: Rescuers are on their way to the believed crash sight of a plane carrying 54 passengers in Indonesia. The Trigana Air Service plane was flying from Papua's provincial capital, Jayapura, to the Papua city of Oksibil when it lost contact with Oksibil's airport.
7.35am: Manchester City romped to a 3-0 over defending champions Chelsea this morning. Read the match report here.
7.31am: Class action is looking likely against cladding manufacturer James Hardie after more than 60 property owners have come forward as potential claimants in less than a week. Find out more here.
7.25am: Fashion followers will be pleased to hear luxury retail brands Tiffany and Chanel will open their first New Zealand outlets soon. They've signed up for shops in Britomart. Find out more here.
7.21am:
Check out this video of an opera singer performing while undergoing brain surgery. Crazy stuff.
7.14am: Do you think of Auckland as a sporting city, rather than an arts and culture city? Do we get enough world-class shows and entertainers? Taylor Swift notably left Auckland off the list for her 1989 world-tour, maybe we need to do more to attract the big-ticket names and tours. Read more here.
7.08am:
Aucklanders had a round-table discussion of Auckland's transport and traffic as part of our
6.53am: Today take a look at what we can do to fix transport problems in our country's biggest city as part of our World-Class Auckland series. As Auckland strains at the seams, fears abound over our transport system's capacity to provide the heavy lifting needed to keep a bulging population on the move. The Government and Auckland Council remain poles apart on transport priorities, and how to pay for them. What can be done? This has been a really thought-provoking series so far, and today's piece is sure to generate a lot of discussion.
6.50am:
There were some really sad images after the Netball World Cup final last night. Dana Johannsen was there at the stadium.
Leana de Bruin and Maria Tutaia of New Zealand look dejected after fulltime of the netball world cup final. Photo / AP
6.46am: Commuters on State Highway 16 could be facing delays after a crash at Kumeu.
Reports of a #Crash on #SH16 Old North Road in Kumeu. #AklTraffic,this may be blocking the road, more details will follow. #DriveSafe ^BM
— Waka Kotahi NZTA Auckland & Northland (@WakaKotahiAkNth) August 16, 2015
6.38am: Seven years ago Latu Talu was an overstayer from Tuvalu. On Friday, the 24-year-old boxer from Porirua was honoured as "Migrant of the Year" by the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment. Read more about the young boxer here.
Martin Guptill smacked 60 from 35 balls to set up New Zealand's 32-run victory over South Africa. The Twenty20 series was a draw.
New Zealand's Nathan McCullum celebrates with New Zealand's Martin Guptill after winning the second T20 International. Photo / AP
6.26am: In case you missed Rodney Hide's column from yesterday you can check it out here.
Flag change should be meaningful. The change needs to mark a historical event, like sacking the Queen, declaring ourselves a Maori nation or successfully invading Australia.
6.22am: Who watched the rugby on Saturday? It was a fantastic game, and it was awesome seeing the old guard of Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Ma'a Nonu playing out of their skin. A message from assistant coach Ian Foster was the difference it took to get Carter playing on form, he said. Read what Foster had to say here.
6.18am: This is a really heart-warming story. Two sisters with cystic fibrosis have responded to their disease by doing random acts of kindness for others around them. Have a read about their good deeds here.
6.15am: Today's going to be a nice day in Auckland, and might be the pick of the week for hanging your washing out. Mainly fine with only a chance of an afternoon shower and a high of 15C today. Tomorrow through to Thursday things will get a bit more wet with showers and rain moving in.
6.12am: Here's Martin Guptill looking very proud after being named man of the match and man of the series.
6.10am: Great stuff Black Caps, they won against South Africa overnight. We will have a full match report later in the morning.
6.06am:
Really sad news from Waikato on the weekend. They were mourning the funeral of a toddler and devastated further on Saturday when a large fire broke out in the dining hall of the marae.
A fire in the wharekai at Mokai marae on Saturday. Photo / supplied
6.04am: In some world news from overnight, a plane has gone missing in Indonesia. The plane had 54 people on board and villagers in eastern Indonesia's Papua say that a plane has crashed. We will have more details about what's going on throughout the morning.
