Midday Report Essentials for Thursday 5 December 2024

In today's episode, a scrub fire burning at Bridge Hill in Canterbury has grown to 140 hectares in size, with State Highway 73 now closed between Castle Hill and Arthur's Pass, Police are investigating after needles were found in two different food products at a supermarket in Auckland, a Canterbury conservation group is apprehensive about an upcoming "Crate Day" four-wheel drive group travelling up the Waimakariri River, where endangered black-fronted terns are nesting, and new research has found Maori and rural children are at a significantly greater risk of developing severe paediatric appendicitis.