Author: Press Room

In an unannounced trip to Ukraine’s capital Thursday, the new NATO secretary general reiterated the alliance’s pledge to continue bolstering military and financial support for Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENTNew NATO chief Mark Rutte decided to visit Kyiv Thursday in his first trip since taking office, where he promised continued support for Ukraine in fighting against Russia’s invasion.Once in the Ukrainian capital, Rutte met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as air raid sirens went off twice.He was quick to point out that the unannounced trip was his fifth since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in early 2022, adding that he wanted to come straight to Ukraine at…

Big things happen when art imitates life, albeit on a much smaller scale. Seven Sharp’s Lucas de Jong meets the Waikato artists handcrafting miniature versions of iconic backcountry huts found in Aotearoa’s bush and national parks.It all started with a big tin that brought tomatoes from the other side of the world to a café on Cuba St, Wellington.That’s where artists Kemi Whitwell and Niko Leyden first noticed the slightest of details — small grooves.”The cans are miniature corrugated iron. Let’s take some home and see what we can do with them,” said Whitwell.A tin being cut to make miniature…

In 2022, 6.5% of primary school students in the EU were learning two or more foreign languages, according to Eurostat. ADVERTISEMENTThere are plenty of advantages to learning foreign languages at an early age: it improves your understanding of the world, allows you to converse with your neighbours, lets you discover new series in their original language and helps you be better understood (for the most part) while on holiday abroad. Later on in life, multilingualism broadens professional opportunities, improves access to services and favours social cohesion by strengthening intercultural dialogue. Scientific studies also show that speaking more than one language…

University of Otago students involved with Ignite Consultants — a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping local not-for-profit organisations maximise their impact — have been working on a national-scale project for the New Zealand Hi-Tech Trust. The trust operates a foundation which provides scholarships and mentoring to under-privileged students wanting to pursue tertiary study. This year, Hi-Tech Trust trustee Sarah Ramsay, of Dunedin, suggested Ignite develop a marketing plan for promoting the scholarships and encouraging other firms to take on scholars themselves. The trust’s board was in Dunedin yesterday and visited the Ignite team at the university, later attending the Ignite…

The European Court of Auditors has called for a more robust design and realistic targets on a flagship bid to bolster the EU defence industry, which remains divided over eligibility criteria for funding under the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP). ADVERTISEMENTThe EU’s flagship €1.5 billion Defence Industry Programme, EDIP, doesn’t have enough budget to match its objectives, the European Court of Auditors said in an opinion published on Thursday (3 October).The European Commission proposed the programme in March 2024 as a stopgap measure after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ahead of a longer-term structural increase in the bloc’s defences.Commission President Ursula…

ANZ has dropped most of its fixed mortgage rates, as well as some term deposit rates.Starting today, all of the bank’s standard mortgage rates (for those with less than 20% equity) and most of its special rates were dropped, with one-year terms seeing the biggest cuts.These both dropped by 0.16%, meaning the one-year special rate now stands at 6.19%, while the standard rate sits at 6.79%.Other rates fell by 0.10%.For special rates, the six-month rate now sits at 6.75%, 18-month at 5.89%, two years at 5.69%, and three years at 5.69%.The standard six-month rate now stands at 7.35%, 18 months…

Greece’s Apostolos Tzitzikostas has been tapped to helm the transport portfolio in the next European Commission. ADVERTISEMENTRelatives of the victims of the deadly 2023 train accident in Greece have expressed their strong disagreement with the country holding the transport portfolio in the next European Commission.In February 2023, 57 people, mainly university students, were killed in a train crash in Tempi. Since then, victims’ relatives have claimed that the government is trying to cover up the case, which is now being investigated by the judiciary. The “Tempi 2023” Accident Victims Association has expressed strong concerns about Greece holding the transport portfolio in the next Commission in…

A subcontractor sentenced to home detention on fraud and corruption charges relating to the awarding of road maintenance contracts has had name suppression lifted. Brian Ravening, whose name had been suppressed until now, pleaded guilty in February to one charge of obtaining by deception approximately $631,000 and two charges of corruptly giving gifts to an agent amounting to approximately $615,000.At the Auckland District Court in June he was sentenced to 12 months’ home detention and ordered to make a reparation payment of $300,000. Ravening was among five involved in the case to plead guilty, with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO)…

Amid Beijing’s threats of retaliation, member states need to decide if they want to slap additional import tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. ADVERTISEMENTThe stage has been set in Brussels for a decision that could either make or break Ursula von der Leyen’s China policy.The 27 countries of the European Union have been called to vote on a proposal to slap additional tariffs on imports of China-made electric vehicles (EVs). The closely watched ballot, scheduled for Friday morning, will see capitals pitted against each other: Budapest is a forceful detractor, Paris and Rome are reliable supporters, Madrid is trying to make…

Many areas across New Zealand can expect thunderstorm-like conditions over the next two days – including heavy rain and strong wind from today – while heavy snow is also expected for southern parts of the South Island. MetService has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Northland, Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula, and Bay of Plenty from 8pm tonight, indicating the possibility of pockets of heavy rain within these areas.It said localised downpours of 25 to 40mm/h were expected in Northland and Auckland, and intense bursts of rain over small areas could occur “with or without” thunderstorms, possibly resulting in localised surface flooding.There…