The alert came 48 hours after Auckland’s initial deluge.

A New Zealand family of seven is grateful to be alive after surviving a devastating landslide which crushed their house so badly it was shunted into the middle of the street.

The whānau have lost their house, cars and possessions and their pets are still missing.

They had spent the last two years renovating their cherished family home, in Tauranga, south-east of Auckland, completing the building work the day before the landslide.

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Now the house lies crumpled in the middle of the road like a flattened cardboard doll's house.

Both their vehicles were destroyed – one was crushed and one was launched though the wall of the house by the force of the slip, ending up in the kitchen.

Heavy downpours, which began in the Bay of Plenty area on January 27, increased on Saturday, causing multiple slips in the region. The worst was a landslide of a bank in Maungatapu, in which the force of the falling mud, trees and rocks, crushed two houses and damaged more.

Teresa Hodgson is still shaking the day after her home was crushed in the middle of the night.

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She, her partner Luke Hanan, and their youngest child Bailee, nine, were asleep in their rooms. The couple's four older children – Mason, Morgan, Blake and Natalie, were still awake "doing their thing" around the house, gaming, playing on their phones and watching movies.

Hodgson and Hanan were jolted from their slumbers by a booming sound. Everything was shaking violently around them.

Hanan thought they must be in the middle of a massive earthquake.

"The house was shaking with such force we thought it was an earthquake. I'd been in the Edgecumbe earthquake, but this felt 30 times stronger. I yelled to Teresa, let's get the kids and get out," he said.

When the couple opened the door from their bedroom, they were immediately disorientated. It was pitch black as the power had gone out. The floor was covered in mud, debris, glass and bits of branches.

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Hodgson managed to reach her daughter's bedroom. But when she got to the door where her youngest child had been sleeping, she was stunned in horror that she was not there. Neither was the bedroom.

"Her whole bedroom had disappeared, it just wasn't there at all. It was only then I lost it and started screaming. I thought the bedroom must have been crushed to the ground with Bailee under it," Hodgson said.

The whole structure of the house had changed and was unrecognisable. Corridors and stairs had disappeared or were in other places.

"We were crawling through mud and glass shouting the kids' names. It was pitch back. The house was still moving. We thought they were buried under the mud, dead," Hanan said.

"We were still thinking it was an earthquake. It was only when we got to the back of the house – or what once was the back of the house – I realised that the cliff had come down on us."

Hysterical and in shock, thinking their children had been killed, the couple then were astonished to suddenly discover the boys bedroom, which had been shunted to a different place on the section.

"There was no sign of the boys, but there was a mattress by an open window, so we were hopeful they had got out that way, and we climbed through it too."

Covered in mud, the pair stumbled into the road outside, where they could see their neighbours. Hodgson was still distraught, screaming for her daughter.

"Our neighbours ran up to us and said – it's okay, we have got them. I didn't believe it until I saw them. When I saw Bailee I collapsed and cried and hugged her," she said.

"She had been able to make her way into the boys' room who'd put a mattress over the broken glass to get her out of the window safely to the street. She was a bit cut up and scratched but other than that great. I'm so proud of their ingenuity and for looking after their little sister."

It was only then that Luke Hanan looked back at their house and saw the devastation.

"That part hasn't sunk in. We haven't gone and looked at it today or talked to insurance or council or anything like that. I think we are still in shock and absorbing what we went through because it was so terrifying," said Hanan.

The family and their five children are now staying with relatives. They have nothing but the clothes they escaped from the house in.

The family were still worried about their two cats Puss Puss, a tabby with white socks, and Rebecca, a long haired black cat, said Hodgson.

"They like to roam in the bush at night so they were unlikely to have been in the house but we couldn't find them."

Hodgson said the fact her kids survived, and that they would hopefully be reuinited with their beloved animals too, mattered more than any material thing could match.

"I left in a singlet with no shoes, covered in mud. The kids have no clothes or shoes. We have no house. Yet today we all feel grateful to be alive. That's all that matters. I don't need shoes, I need my children. The fact that they are all ok puts everything into perspective.

Teresa Hodgson's sister, Larissa Hodgson, has set up an online fundraiser to support the family with the trauma of the event and in the weeks that follow as they start to rebuild their lives.

This story first appeared on Stuff and is republished with permission.

A day after the public release of video showing the horrific police beating of Tyre Nichols in the US, the Memphis police department announced it is permanently deactivating the unit that five of the involved officers belonged to.

The SCORPION unit, launched in 2021, was tasked with tackling rising crime in the city, but has been heavily criticised in the aftermath of the 29-year-old man's killing. Nichols was brutally beaten on January 7 after a traffic stop. He required hospitalisation and died on January 10.

The five Memphis officers who were fired and charged in Nichols' death all were members of the unit, Memphis police spokesperson Major Karen Rudolph told CNN on Saturday.

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In a statement posted on Twitter Saturday, Memphis police said it was "in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate" the unit.

"The officers currently assigned to the unit agree unreservedly with this next step," police said.

"While the heinous actions of a few casts a cloud of dishonour on the title SCORPION, it is imperative that we, the Memphis Police Department take proactive steps in the healing process for all impacted."

Nichols family attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci praised the department's decision to disband the unit and called for other cities to "take similar action with their saturation police units in the near future to begin to create greater trust in their communities."

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"We must keep in mind that this is just the next step on this journey for justice and accountability, as clearly this misconduct is not restricted to these specialty units. It extends so much further," the attorneys said in a joint statement.

Some city leaders said disbanding the unit is just one step in addressing issues within the police force.

"The community has a lot more questions and a lot more demands," Memphis City Council Member Patrice Robinson told CNN's Jim Acosta on Saturday evening.

"We have gotten emails from many citizens in our community, they're all concerned and they're expressing exactly what they see and what they want to see in our police department. We really need to investigate and find out what's going on."

Nationwide demonstrations

The police statement comes less than 24 hours after the release of the graphic videos of police striking the Black man. Protests began forming Friday night, with people in several cities taking to the streets and raising signs bearing Nichols' name.

Saturday's marches and rallies are expected in Memphis, Boston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Athens, Georgia, and Columbus, Ohio, among other cities.

Protesters near Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta on Saturday repeated Nichols' name and demanded justice. They then proceeded to march through downtown.

In Memphis, protesters late Friday shut down an Interstate 55 bridge near the downtown area, chanting, "No justice, no peace," according to a CNN team on the scene. There were no arrests stemming from the demonstration, police said.

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Ahead of the release of the videos, Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, called for peaceful protests.

Memphis City Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas told CNN's Boris Sanchez on Saturday that before the video release, there was a fear of violent protests because of a lack of police accountability in previous incidents.

"I think last night, we saw a very peaceful and direct sense of protest in the city of Memphis, and I think it's because maybe we do have faith and hope that the system is going to get it right this time," Easter-Thomas said.

In New York, skirmishes broke out between several protesters and police officers as demonstrators crowded Times Square, video posted to social media shows.

Three demonstrators were arrested, one of whom was seen jumping on the hood of a police vehicle and breaking the windshield, the New York Police Department said.

Protesters also gathered in Washington, DC, at Lafayette Square to demand justice for Nichols, according to social media video.

Along the West Coast, protesters marched in Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco, carrying signs reading, "Justice for Tyre Nichols" and "jail killer cops."

Video of the January 7 encounter shows "acts that defy humanity," Memphis police Chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis warned before the footage's release to the public.

The arrest begins with a traffic stop for what officers said was reckless driving and goes on to show officers beating Nichols with batons, kicking him and punching him – including while his hands are restrained behind his body – as the young man cries out for his mother, video shows.

The encounter ends with Nichols slumped to the ground in handcuffs, leaning against a police cruiser unattended as officers mill about. Nichols was later hospitalised and died three days later.

Video shows 23 minutes passed from the time Nichols appears to be subdued and on his back on the ground before a stretcher arrives at the scene.

Footage of the violent encounter was released because Nichols' family "want the world to be their witness and feel their pain," Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy said.

"While nothing we do can bring Tyre back, we promise you that we are doing all we can to ensure that Tyre's family, and our city of Memphis, see justice for Tyre Nichols," Mulroy added.

Officers charged with murder

The Memphis Police Department has been unable to find anything to substantiate the probable cause for reckless driving and said video of the encounter shows a "disregard for life, duty of care that we're all sworn to," Davis said.

Five former Memphis police officers involved in the arrest – who are also Black – have been charged with second-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping, according to the Shelby County district attorney. They were identified as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr.

Two Memphis Fire Department employees who were part of Nichols' initial care were relieved of duty, pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

Also, two deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office have been put on leave pending an investigation after the sheriff viewed the video.

Nichols' family attorney Ben Crump said the family did not know there were two members of the sheriff's office at the scene of the beating, telling CNN on Saturday, "this was the first they heard of it."

The Memphis Police Association, which represents city police officers, expressed condolences to the Nichols family and said it does not condone the mistreatment of citizens or abuse of power.

The association said it has "faith in the criminal justice system."

"That faith is what we will lean on in the coming days, weeks, and months to ensure the totality of circumstances is revealed," according to a statement.

"Mr Nichols' family, the City of Memphis, and the rest of the country deserve nothing less."

According to Easter-Thomas, the City Council meeting next week will be "robust."

Easter-Thomas said she wants to ensure the police department knows the council supports them but expects officers to do their jobs with the "utmost fidelity."

'We have to do better, this is unacceptable'

The Memphis police chief likened the video to the 1991 Los Angeles police beating of Rodney King that sparked days of unrest in the city.

"It's very much aligned with that same type of behavior," Davis said.

Crump also made the comparison. "Being assaulted, battered, punched, kicked, tased, pepper sprayed. It is very troubling," he said.

"The only difference between my father's situation and now is hashtags and a clearer camera," Rodney King's daughter Lora King told CNN.

"We have to do better, this is unacceptable.

"I don't think anybody in their right mind, anybody that respects humanity is OK with this. I'm just sad for just where we are in America, we're still here."

A protest over Nichols' death is set for Saturday in Los Angeles.

President Joe Biden said he was "outraged and deeply pained" after seeing the video.

"It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and brown Americans experience every single day," he said.

According to AT, a total of 45 roads are either closed or partially closed.

Auckland’s mayor says lessons have been learned following the region’s heavy floods.

Nepal’s Honorary Consul says migrants are at more risk than locals and deserve equal help.

“We are still trying to get our head around what happens next.”

Razor blades in a koha box were the only thing left behind by vandals.

A Japanese whaling operator, after struggling for years to promote its products amid protests from conservationists, has found a new way to cultivate clientele and bolster sales: whale meat vending machines.

The Kujira (Whale) Store, an unmanned outlet that recently opened in the port town of Yokohama near Tokyo, houses three machines for whale sashimi, whale bacon, whale skin and whale steak, as well as canned whale meat.

Prices range from 1000 yen ($10.83) to 3000 yen ($32.50).

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The outlet features white vending machines decorated with cartoon whales and is the third location to launch in the Japanese capital region.

It opened Tuesday after two others were introduced in Tokyo earlier this year as part of Kyodo Senpaku Co's new sales drive.

Whale meat has long been a source of controversy but sales in the new vending machines have quietly gotten off to a good start, the operator says.

Anti-whaling protests have subsided since Japan in 2019 terminated its much-criticised research hunts in the Antarctic and resumed commercial whaling off the Japanese coasts.

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Conservationists say they are worried the move could be a step toward expanded whaling.

"The issue is not the vending machines themselves but what they may lead to," said Nanami Kurasawa, head of the Iruka And Kujira (Dolphin And Whale) Action Network.

Kurasawa noted the whaling operator is already asking for additional catches and to expand whaling outside of the designated waters.

Kyodo Senpaku hopes to set up vending machines at 100 locations nationwide in five years, company spokesperson Konomu Kubo told The Associated Press. A fourth is to open in Osaka next month.

The idea is to open vending machines near supermarkets, where whale meat is usually unavailable, to cultivate demand, a task crucial for the industry's survival.

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Major supermarket chains have largely stayed away from whale meat to avoid protests by anti-whaling groups and remain cautious even though harassment from activists has subsided, Kubo said.

"As a result, many consumers who want to eat it cannot find or buy whale meat. We launched vending machines at unmanned stores for those people," he said.

Company officials say sales at the two Tokyo outlets have been significantly higher than expected, keeping staff busy replenishing products.

At the store in the Motomachi district of Yokohama, a posh shopping area near Chinatown, 61-year-old customer Mami Kashiwabara went straight for whale bacon, her father's favorite. To her disappointment it was sold out, and she settled for frozen onomi, tail meat that is regarded as a rare delicacy.

Kashiwabara says she is aware of the whaling controversy but that whale meat brings back her childhood memories of eating it at family dinners and school lunches.

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"I don't think it's good to kill whales meaninglessly. But whale meat is part of Japanese food culture and we can respect the lives of whales by appreciating their meat," Kashiwabara said. "I would be happy if I can eat it."

Kashiwabara said she planned to share her purchase of a 3000 yen handy-size chunk, neatly wrapped in a freezer bag, with her husband over sake.

The meat mostly comes from whales caught off Japan's northeastern coast.

Japan resumed commercial whaling in July 2019 after withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission, ending 30 years of what it called research whaling, which had been criticised by conservationists as a cover for commercial hunts banned by the IWC in 1988.

Under its commercial whaling in the Japanese exclusive economic zone, Japan last year caught 270 whales, less than 80 per cent of the quota and fewer than the number it once hunted in the Antarctic and the northwestern Pacific in its research program.

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The decline occurred because fewer minke whales were found along the coast. Kurasawa says the reason for the smaller catch should be examined to see if it is linked to overhunting or climate change.

While conservation groups condemned the resumption of commercial whaling, some see it as a way to let the government's embattled and expensive whaling program adapt to changing times and tastes.

In a show of determination to keep the whaling industry alive in the coming decades, Kyodo Senpaku will construct a six billion yen ($65 million) new mothership for launch next year to replace the aging Nisshin Maru.

But uncertainty remains.

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Whaling is losing support in other whaling nations such as Iceland, where only one whaler remains.

Whales may also be moving away from the Japanese coasts due to a scarcity of saury, a staple of their diet, and other fish possibly due to the impact of climate change, Kubo said.

Whaling in Japan involves only a few hundred people and one operator and accounted for less than 0.1 per cent of total meat consumption in recent years, according to Fisheries Agency data.

Still, conservative governing lawmakers staunchly support commercial whaling and consumption of the meat as part of Japan's cultural tradition.

Conservationists say whale meat is no longer part of the daily diet in Japan, especially for younger generations.

Whale meat was an affordable source of protein during Japan's undernourished years after World War II, with annual consumption peaking at 233,000 tons in 1962.

Whale was quickly replaced by other meats. The whale meat supply fell to 6000 tons in 1986, the year before the moratorium on commercial whaling imposed by the IWC banned the hunting of several whale species.

Under the research whaling, criticised as a cover for commercial hunts because the meat was sold on the market, Japan caught as many as 1200 whales annually. It has since drastically cut back its catch after international protests escalated and whale meat supply and consumption slumped at home.

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Annual meat supply had fluctuated in a range of 3000-5000 tons, including imports from Norway and Iceland. The amount further fell in 2019 to 2000 tons, or 20 grams of whale meat per person a year, the Fisheries Agency statistics show.

Whaling officials attributed the shrinking supply in the past three years to the absence of imports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and plan to nearly double this year's supply with imports of more than 2500 tons from Iceland.

Japan managed to get Iceland's only remaining whaler to hunt fin whales exclusively for shipment to Japan, whaling officials said. Iceland caught only one minke whale in the 2021 season, according to the IWC.

Criticising Iceland's export to Japan, the International Fund for Animal Welfare said it "opposes all commercial whaling as it is inherently cruel."

With uncertain outlook for imports, Kyodo Senpaku wants the government to raise Japan's annual catch quota to levels that can supply about 5000 tons, which Kubo describes as the threshold to maintain the industry.

"From a long-term perspective, I think it would be difficult to sustain the industry at the current supply levels," Kubo said.

"We must expand both supply and demand, which have both shrunk."

With the extremely limited supply, whale meat processing cannot be a viable business and may not last for the next generations, he added.

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Yuki Okoshi, who started serving whale meat dishes at his Japanese-style seafood restaurant three years ago when higher quality whale meat became available under commercial whaling, said he hopes whale meat supply will stabilise.

Okoshi said "the future of the whale industry depends on whether customers need us" and that whale meat restaurants could hold the key to survival.

"Whaling can be a political issue, but relationships between the restaurant and our customers is very simple," Okoshi said.

"We serve good food at reasonable prices and customers are happy. That's all there is to it."

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Decision on resuming class up to each school, officials say.