Otago Daily Times News Feed

Medical personnel carry Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico to hospital after being transported in a helicopter. Photo: JOJ TV/Handout via REUTERS Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in a life-threatening condition after he was shot in a "politically motivated" assassination attempt when leaving a government meeting, the interior minister said.

The autumn season of the Dunedin Jazz Club concert series continues this weekend with a tribute to the first lady of song, Ella Fitzgerald.

Photo: supplied Excitement is growing among leading cast members in the Queen’s and King’s High Schools 2024 musical production, Fame Jr, ahead of the show’s opening on Wednesday, May 22.

Ariki’s Catherine Lund gets ahead during the Leith Country Relays. PHOTOS: SIMON HENDERSON A cool, fresh day greeted participants in the Leith Harrier & Athletic Club’s 42nd Leith Country Relays and 5th Ponydale Challenge on Saturday, held at the Dunedin Riding Academy Club grounds, Three Mile Hill.

A win for the children of Dunedin!

Brent Caldwell (left) and Richard Ellis play multiple roles in madcap comedy spy thriller The 39 Steps, which opens at the Globe Theatre tonight. Photo: supplied Four experienced actors will be put through their paces, portraying dozens of characters between them in the Globe Theatre’s madcap comedy production of spy thriller The 39 Steps.

Top national choral singers and University of Otago performance voice students Teddy Finney Waters and Eva Stein are also members of the Southern Youth Choir and will sing with the choir in its Dunedin and Dunstan concerts next weekend. Photo: supplied The Southern Youth Choir will showcase some of the country’s best young singers in two concerts in Dunedin and Dunstan next weekend, including a cohort of top national choristers and University of Otago performance voice students.

NEW ZEALAND STRING QUARTET  PRESENTS ‘SOUNDSCAPES 2’  Saturday, May 11, Regent Theatre and Sunday, May 12, Orokonui Ecosanctuary   Dunedin music lovers were treated to a brilliant series of concerts last weekend, courtesy of a ‘‘mini residency’’ by the New Zealand String Quartet (NZSQ), in association with the Regent Theatre.

Community Fruit Harvest Ōtepoti volunteers Mana O’Connell (left) and Maia Chambers work on one of several laden apple trees at a North Dunedin property earlier this year. The project is jointly oversee by Our Food Network Dunedin and the Valley Project. PHOTO: BRENDA HARWOOD There is no single "silver bullet" that will make Ōtepoti Dunedin a food resilient city, but working together to solve the issues is the best way forward.

Dunedin Wildlife Hospital vet Dr Lizzie Thomas feeds nutritious fish slurry to a days-old hōiho/yellow-eyed penguin chick earlier this year. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED The dedicated team of wildlife vets and nurses at Dunedin Wildlife Hospital are breathing a sigh of relief as the "epic" 2023-24 hōiho/yellow-eyed breeding season comes to an end.

Jaydean Washington, of Waldronville, shows his Pekin bantam cuckoo pullet which recently won Best of Breed at the Milton Poultry Show. PHOTOS: SIMON HENDERSON Forrester Park will once again be a lively hub for bird enthusiasts as the Dunedin Poultry, Pigeon, and Cage Bird Club’s Annual Show takes flight on the weekend of May 25 and 26.

Otago Community Hospice chief executive Ginny Green (right) and carer educator Denise van Aalst are focused on ensuring that people caring for loved ones at home have the right knowledge and support. PHOTO: BRENDA HARWOOD The Otago Community Hospice is shining the spotlight on the vital importance of palliative care in the community, and highlighting the unsung heroes who do the vast majority of the work, during Hospice Awareness Week.

Worthy or worrying? Photo: Getty Images It's rare that I ever think about what happens after I write something.

A girl runs through a water sprinkler on a hot summer day in New Delhi. PHOTO: REUTERS "Just like this year, last year the heat wave extended from parts of India to Bangladesh and Myanmar, and all the way to Thailand. This year it went further east, into the Philippines. So, it’s the same pattern," Prof Krishna AchutaRao of the Indian Institute of Technology said.

Photo: Getty Images I reach for the Deep Heat.

Submarine The Platyus, built in 1873 by Joseph Sparrow for the Otago Submarine Gold Mining Co to use in the Clutha River/Mata-Au. — Otago Witness, 1.7.1924 At the conclusion of Sir Frederick Young’s lecture to the Officers’ Club on Wednesday evening, one of the speakers claimed half-seriously that the evolution of the submarine commenced in Otago Harbour.

University of Otago staff (from left) Dr David Jenkins, Dr Olivier Jutel, Dr Abbi Virens, Professor Richard Jackson and Dr Peyton Bond with an open letter they have sent to the university, asking it to divest from economic ties to Israel. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including celebrating the George St redesign, reviewing the MMP system, and a morally bankrupt letter.

Today's cartoon from Voyager 2023 award winning cartoonist, Shaun Yeo.

This week’s big announcement about the police’s national gang unit to target gang offending was strong on rhetoric but hazy on details.