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Pacific news in brief for 12 August
A round-up of news in brief from around the region, including Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs callin gon PIF to allow for its participation at next month's meeting. 
© 2025 RadioNZ 7:55am 'It's a matter of when not if' New Zealand recognises a Palestinian state, David Seymour says
But David Seymour says it is a complex decision that should not be rushed.
© 2025 RadioNZ 7:35am Good news for All Whites star Chris Wood as EPL rivals demoted to Conference League
Crystal Palace lose appeal against demotion by UEFA to third-tier Conference League.
© 2025 Stuff.co.nz 7:25am Do you drive a petrol car, hybrid, or EV? Some of us will end up paying more - who’s it going to be?
Fuel-efficient hybrids that can’t plug in - and which don’t pay road user charges now - could be more expensive to drive.
© 2025 Stuff.co.nz 7:25am ‘The jury must be relieved’: Why we are now hearing evidence banned from mushroom murder trial
The poison mushroom case has prompted questions about how and why evidence the Supreme Court released last week wasn’t disclosed to the jury.
© 2025 Stuff.co.nz 7:25am ‘Competitive’ Asian supermarket prices benefit consumers
Retail grocery store owners in Auckland are feeling the squeeze from stiff competition.
© 2025 RadioNZ 7:15am Older patients stuck in hospitals due to limited aged care spaces
Aged care homes are getting daily calls from hospitals or families desperate to find a place for older patients who cannot be in their own homes.
© 2025 RadioNZ 6:55am Waikato house fire injures one person
The occupant of the home in Pokuru, near Te Awamutu, was treated for burns.
© 2025 RadioNZ 6:55am Former Intel CEO Barrett says customers should bail out Intel
Is there a way that Intel can be saved? Former Intel chief executive Craig Barrett thinks so, and it isn’t the way the company’s former board members suggest.
Intel should have a number of its customers invest a total of $40 billion in the company to ensure a steady supply of chips, the company’s former chief executive wrote over the weekend.
Barrett’s comments come as current chief executive Lip-Bu Tan is scheduled to meet with President Trump on Monday at the White House, according to a report. However, the meeting doesn’t appear on Trump’s public calendar.
Intel faces numerous crises. On one hand, the company has already announced the layoffs of thousands of employees, dating back to last year. Although Intel solicited billions from the U.S. government as part of the CHIPS Act, it has warned that it might exit chip manufacturing altogether if it can’t find a customer for its 14A manufacturing process. The 14A process follows the 18A process, the foundation of Panther Lake, which Tan has said remains on track. But Trump has also demanded that Tan step down, citing Tan’s ties to a number of Chinese firms in his role as a venture capitalist.
In the interim, former Intel chief executive Craig Barrett has weighed in with a list of bombastic thoughts on the matter. Barrett, writing in Fortune, is the 86-year-old former CEO who took the reins at Intel in 1998, succeeding the iconic Andy Grove. Barrett oversaw the Pentium III and Pentium 4, as well as the early days of the Xeon processor.
An investment into the future
In Barrett’s mind, customers should be investing in Intel to ensure a stable (and American) supply of semiconductors. “Neither Samsung or TSMC plan to bring their state of the art manufacturing to the U.S. in the near term,” he wrote. “U.S. customers like Nvidia, Apple, Google, etc. needs and should understand they NEED a second source for their lead product manufacturing due to pricing, geographic stability and supply line security reasons.”
Barrett suggested that Intel’s customers invest a “competitive” $40 billion into the company.
“Where does the money come from? The customers invest for a piece of Intel and guaranteed supply,” Barrett wrote. “Why should they invest? Domestic supply, second source, national security, leverage in negotiating with TSMC, etc. AND IF THE USG GETS ITS ACT TOGETHER, they catalyze the action with a 50% (or whatever number Trump picks) tariff on state of the art semi imports. If we can support domestic steel and aluminum, surely we can support domestic semiconductors.” (Emphasis Barrett’s.)
Fortune, which has apparently dug into its contact list to solicit advice on the Intel matter, previously published an opinion written by former board members arguing that Tan should be fired and the company broken up. “Be serious,” Barrett wrote.
“By all means, if you want to complicate the problem, then take the time to split up Intel and make the FFWBMs [the “four former wise board members”] happy but if you’re in the business of saving Intel and its core manufacturing strength for the USA then solve the real problem — immediate investment in Intel, committed customers, national security, etc.
© 2025 PC World 6:45am 
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