Watch: New harbour crossing, pressures on grocery supply and rail accidents surge

Don’t have time to read the headlines? Watch the Focus Morning Bulletin presented by Cheree Kinnear above.

SHOTS FIRED

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is firing shots at Labour and National for putting politics above the city’s transport needs.

The Government has decided on a second Waitemata Harbour crossing which includes two three-lane tunnels for vehicles and a 21km light rail tunnel between Albany and the CBD.

It will take decades to finish and cost tens of billions of dollars.

Brown is claiming both Labour and National have failed in their co-operation with the Auckland Council and that the council was looking forward to working on some better, faster and cheaper plans.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, joined by Northcote MP Shannan Halbert and ministers Carmel Sepuloni and David Parker, announcing the second harbour crossing details in Auckland.

GROCERY SUPPLY

Global and domestic pressures are continuing to push up the cost of groceries supplied to supermarkets.

The Infometrics-Foodstuffs cost index for July shows prices are up 7.5 per cent on the same month last year.

International strain on the supply of common ingredients such as rice, cocoa and sugar are helping drive the increases.

Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen says the sector is also seeing suppliers pass on the higher costs they’re facing.

DICKASON TRIAL

A jury will soon be tasked with deciding the outcome of a triple murder trial in Christchurch.

Lauren Dickason admits killing her daughters in Timaru in 2021, but is mounting a defence of insanity and infanticide.

The jury will have their role fully explained, before they’re sent away to deliberate.

In every trial a jury is given a question trail, to help them work through the relevant evidence and decide what to disregard.

RAIL ACCIDENTS

New statistics from KiwiRail show there has been a significant increase in collisions and near misses with trains in the last year.

10 people have died and 40 vehicles or individuals collided with trains on the national rail network, with 305 near-misses.

There were 11 crashes and 192 near-misses at public level crossings.

All collisions at level crossings and 77 per cent of near-misses occurred at crossings with active protection.

A still from video of a person on a scooter narrowly missing a collision with a suburban commuter train at a level crossing in Wellington.

MISSILE AND DRONE ATTACK

Ukraine’s Air Force is claiming success in defending against multiple attacks from Russia.

It says it shot down 30 out of 40 cruise missiles and destroyed every one of the 27 drones Russia launched, overnight.

Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia attacked a blood transfusion centre condemning the fatal strike as a “war crime”.