News of Zealand: Acts of God and Acts of Lorde

Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. Record levels of rainfall caused flooding, sinkholes and extensive damage across Auckland over the weekend. In the suburb on New Lynn, pressure on flooded streets opened up an metres-wide sinkhole in the street, putting a nearby building at risk. According to the New Zealand Herald, more than 300 properties have been flooded, some in waste deep water. MetService meteorologist April Clark told the Herald around 80mm fell in Auckland over a 24 hour period. Despite the heavy rainfall, Auckland is also facing a city-wide water shortage. Large amounts of silted water flowing into the city's processing plants have slowed down water treatment. Experts are now warning that unless residents cut water use by up to 20 litres a day, a boil-water notice will have to be issued.

Lorde debuted her newest songs on sketch-show Saturday Night Live this weekend.
The singer appeared for her first performance of her own work in around a year. She debuted two songs from her upcoming record: ballad 'Liability', and single 'Green Light', and featured briefly in a skit mocking male feminists. The performance, hosted by Scarlett Johansson, was well-received by fans and critics. Unanswered questions remain about the significance of the white headdress: is it papal? Bridal? Apiarist? Odds so far are resting with the cornette, a white wimple popular with nuns in the 17th Century. On her Twitter account, Lorde said she "wanted to look like an attic moth, no sparkle, swaddled and floating. Something so sad about white".

Rugby player Dan Carter has been booed off the field in his first test match following a drink-driving arrest in Paris. According to the Herald, the crowd response followed a poor performance in his French rugby team Racing 92's 38-15 defeat to La Rochelle. Carter was busted by French police for drink driving in February. He was reportedly almost twice the legal limit when stopped for speeding near the Champs-Elysees, testing 0.98g/litre of blood. The legal limit is 0.5g/litre.

He has since apologised: "I am sure a lot of you have seen the headlines. No excuses - I made a massive error of judgment and have let down my club, my fans and most importantly my family," he said on Facebook. "I am just glad no one was harmed."

Transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard will compete this week in the Australian International, in what's thought to be a first for New Zealand sport. And as the top-ranked lifter in the country in the 90kg plus weight category, Hubbard is in line to represent New Zealand at next year's Commonwealth Games. Hubbard, 39, is the daughter of cereal king and former mayor of Auckland, Dick Hubbard. She once competed under the name Gavin. Garry Marshall, president of the Olympic Weightlifting New Zealand told NZME Hubbard was eligible to compete in the female class after supplying the results of her monthly testosterone tests for last two years. "She competed for a long time as a man and her efforts were very strong. That strength has remained with her despite reduced testosterone. That point is not recognised by the science and some of our competitors would say that's not fair. But there is no concrete evidence that there are advantages to Laurel. If there was we would act on them."

School girl organisers of a protest against rape culture have been forced to move their event for safety reasons. The protest was meant to take place outside Wellington College this afternoon, but was shifted to Parliament after students of the school posted threatening messages on Facebook. "Bring your cars and run them all over", said one. Another message likened feminism to "a type of cancer". Wellington College has been in damage control since comments from a private Facebook were made public last week. One comment said "if you don't take advantage of a drunk girl, you're not a true WC [Wellington College] boy." Another said "f*** women". It seems the school has more work to do.