More than 1000 lightning strikes have been recorded in two hours, as parts of the country brace for a deluge of heavy rain and stormy weather this weekend. And in the South Island, emergency services are warning people to be prepared…

Travel photography blog Capture the Atlas has published the latest edition of their annual Milky Way Photographer of the Year, a collection featuring the best photos of the Milky Way.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Biologists studying Southern California bobcats found a mother and three kittens this spring in an unusual den in a cavity up in a tree in an area intensely burned by a huge 2018 wildfire west of Los Angeles, the National Park Service said.

Bobcat "denning" in a tree is unusual, according to biologist Joanne Moriarty.

Their dens are usually found in hollow areas of thick chaparral or coastal sage or in woodrat nests made of piles of sticks and leaves.

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Scientists believe the bobcat used the cavity because little vegetation has grown since the Woolsey Fire ravaged the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills, the park service said Thursday.

The mother was first captured in the Simi Hills more than a year after the fire. A radio-tracking collar was placed on her and she was given the designation B-370 in the study of how bobcats survive in a region where wilderness is fragmented by urban development.

Moriarty suspected B-370 was denning but was having trouble finding her last month.

"Then I look up into this little tiny hole in the tree, and her face is just poking out at me," she said.

Moriarty used a remote camera held on an extension pole to see the kittens.

By Gill Bonnett of RNZ Employers with migrant staff are facing what the Immigration Ministry says is the biggest change to work visas in a generation.The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) replaces six work visas and applications…

A man has been charged and more than $3 million worth of marijuana was seized after a major drug bust across the NSW Central Coast and Sydney uncovered several sophisticated hydroponic grow houses.

A rural property was discovered near Gosford that was being used for the large-scale farming of cannabis.

On Thursday, police searched the property on Berecry Road, Mangrove Mountain, and found 630 cannabis plants worth more than $2.2 million.

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A 25-year-old Parramatta man who was found at the property was arrested and taken to Gosford Police Station.

Two more homes next door to one another in Parramatta were also raided at 11pm that same day.

During the raids, officers found a sophisticated indoor hydroponic cannabis set-up within one of the homes and seized 230 cannabis plants.

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A number of electronic devices and pieces of equipment were also seized.

The Parramatta man was charged and refused bail. He will appear at Gosford Local Court on July 23.

In total during the operation, officers seized cannabis with a combined estimated potential street value of more than $3 million.

Cannabis arrests account for the greatest number of illicit drug arrests in Australia.

In 2017-18, there were 72,381 cannabis arrests across the country.

Originally published by The Spinoff Tensions were high on the night before voting began for the 2020 general election. Covid-19 was weighing on people’s minds as polling stations opened and the two referendums, on euthanasia and…

A lane is blocked on SH 1 near Dome Valley after a three-car crash.The lane is blocked near Kraack Rd. Police were made aware of the incident just before midday and expect the road to be clear soon.Waka Kotahi NZTA is asking…

A village-style quarantine hub in Victoria is close to being approved by the Federal Government, in a new bid to increase the amount of overseas travellers entering Australia.

The Prime Minister is understood to be 'very close' to formally approving a proposal put forward by Victoria for the new village, which will be funded by both the state and Federal Governments.

The facility will be run by state authorities however and will be built on the provision that it adds to existing quarantine programs, rather than replacing them.

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The Age revealed yesterday that the favoured location for the new hub is at Avalon Airport, approximately 56 kilometres from Melbourne's CBD.

The facility will be modelled from the existing quarantine camp in Howard Springs and if approved, it is understood more flights would be diverted to Avalon, where 800 hectares of unoccupied paddocks currently sit.

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The Federal Government is also believed to be open to funding to other purpose-built quarantine facilities in other states.

The actions of a novice boatie in Oamaru have been labelled a recipe for disaster.Earlier this month, North Otago Yacht and Power Boat Club commodore Kevin Murdoch assisted in a young Gore man’s rescue after his boat sank in Oamaru…