Aucklanders are turning heads in wonder at a pack of 20 motorcyclists cruising the City’s highways. No it’s not a resurgence of nouveau Gypsy Rogues bikers - but the police!

It’s all part of a police training programme readying for next month’s APEC leaders summit in Auckland.

The police are patrolling the main arterial routes in and out of Auckland City as part of their APEC security training.

And Aucklanders are about to face a major media campaign too. And the APEC Taskforce has launched a campaign which it hopes will convince around 100,000 Auckland drivers to change their normal routes or stay at home during the APEC conference.

Commuters now can see signs aside the motorway and a media and billboard advertisement campaign will be launched shortly. The message is alerting drivers to expected traffic congestion expected throughout the duration of the APEC conference.

It states that the worst day for disruptions will be Monday, September 13th, when APEC leaders travel to and from their retreat in the Auckland Domain during peak traffic.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>