Opinion: Does the Auckland mayor have enough council support for his spending plans?

OPINION: Whanau’s policies and priorities are at the centre of her problems.

The police Eagle helicopter tracked the man as he drove up the Northern Motorway.

Millions of Indians have voted in a moderate turnout in the second round of multi-phase national elections as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to galvanise voters with his assertive brand of Hindu nationalist politics.

The election authority said in a statement that approximately 60.96 per cent of 160 million eligible voters exercised their right to cast a ballot in the second round.

The outcome of last Friday's voting will be crucial for Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, as the 88 constituencies up for grabs across 13 states include some of its strongholds in states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

READ MORE: Pauline Hanson hate-speech trial set to open

Most polls predict a win for Modi and the BJP, which is up against a broad opposition alliance led by the Indian National Congress and powerful regional parties.

Nearly 970 million voters — more than 10 per cent of the world's population — will elect 543 members to the lower house of Parliament for five years during the staggered election, which runs until June 1.

The votes will be counted on June 4. There are a total of 28 states in India.

The turnout in the first phase of polling on April 19 was estimated at around 62 per cent of 166.3 million eligible voters.

By comparison, India's 2019 national election registered the highest-ever voter turnout – 67.11 per cent – in the history of Indian parliamentary elections.

The turnout is expected to increase for five more rounds of voting.

Voters' relative apathy has surprised some political analysts, but they say that the BJP remains a front-runner.

READ MORE: Luke had stomach cramps but the real problem is deadly

Critics of the prime minister, an avowed Hindu nationalist, say India's tradition of diversity and secularism has come under attack since the BPJ won power a decade ago.

They accuse the party of fostering religious intolerance and sometimes even violence.

The party denies the accusation and says its policies benefit all Indians.

Modi stirred a huge controversy last week when he said that the Congress party, if voted to power, would distribute the country's wealth among "infiltrators" and "those who have more children," in an apparent reference to the Muslim community.

Hindus make up 80 per cent of India's 1.4 billion people, while Muslims account for 14 per cent and Christians and Sikhs 2 per cent each.

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, celebrity and sport via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.

Police are investigating a fire that destroyed several iconic palm trees along the St Kilda foreshore in Melbourne.

Detectives and firefighters were called to Marine Parade at 7.15pm last night after four of the series of decades-old trees that line the foreshore went up in flames.

There were fears the fire could spread next door to the marina where boats worth hundred of thousands of dollars are moored.

READ MORE: Luke had stomach cramps but the real problem is deadly

However, firefighters managed to get the blaze under control in around 20 minutes.  

Police said no one was injured but one of the trees was destroyed while three others were damaged. 

Arson has not been ruled out as detectives from the Port Phillip Crime Unit investigate. 

Police are asking anyone with information to come forward and call Crime Stoppers.

A mass whale stranding that left dozens dead on a Western Australian beach has sparked more questions as to what is driving the behaviour and what can be done to stop it.

More than 100 pilot whales were freed after a pod stranded itself at Toby's Inlet near Dunsborough on Friday, while 28 died.

Hundreds of locals turned out to help the rescue effort.

READ MORE: Luke had stomach cramps but the real problem is deadly

Murdoch University marine biologist and senior research associate Dr Joshua Smith said the stranding may have been due to the long, sloping seabed in the area confusing the whales.

"It's something like two metres for every kilometre… a gradual two-metre increase every kilometre within the bay, which (is problematic) for these species that are typically found in deeper waters – that rely heavily on echolocation, which is basically their own little form of sonar," he said.

"That's how they image their environment, that's how they navigate, they're very highly acoustic animals, as most of the marine mammals are."

READ MORE: Pauline Hanson hate-speech trial set to open

Why do whales beach themselves?

Smith said there were several theories behind what caused pod strandings around the world, noting that many strandings in Australia happened in similar locations.

As well as a sudden shallowness in the water, he said, whales were highly social.

"If something is wrong, they'll stick together and help each other out – they tend not to leave individuals to their own fate," he said.

"The whales may have been protecting a sick individual, or they could have been sheltering from predators, namely orca, in the safety of the bay.

"But you would expect there to have been orca sightings if that were the case."

READ MORE: Man accused of brawling with NRL journalist charged

He said another theory suggested whales stranded themselves in response to sonar noises from deep water vessels, but that was unlikely to be the case in shallow coastal waters.

"But the truth is, this case is like every other mass stranding – despite our research, we still don't know why they do it," he said.

Can the whales be saved?

Smith said would-be rescuers faced a tight 24-hour deadline to return beached animals to the ocean – though within 12 hours was preferred.

"Sadly, even if you get them back out to sea, they may still suffer internal organ failure and die," he said.

"Whales evolved to live in the water, they are massive animals, with long-finned pilot whales weighing up to 2.5 tonnes each, and without buoyancy, basically their internal organs are being crushed."

The aforementioned close social bonds among pods was also reflected in the reluctance of rescued whales to leave the still-beached behind.

Smith said re-beaching was "quite common".

Are strandings growing more frequent and is climate change having an impact?

"It is important to remember that whales were stranding well before humans started impacting their environment," Smith said.

"But it does seem that mass whale strandings might be happening more often."

He said climate change was affecting whales but was unlikely to be the direct cause of a stranding.

"Although climate change is transforming our oceans, the impact is typically seen on a much larger spatial scale than individual stranding events," he said.

"Warming seas, changes to cold water currents or upwellings, and impacts on the distribution and abundance of whales' prey have the potential to change the distribution patterns of whales across the world and may lead them to unsuitable locations that could cause strandings."

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, celebrity and sport via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.

The huge storms left buildings crumpled, cars flipped over and thousands of people without power.

From tomorrow, cellphone use will be banned in schools for students across the country.

It is understood that both children were under the age of 4.

The pair accused BNZ of missing crucial ‘red flags’ regarding a known scam.