Author: Press Room

On a bright Monday afternoon, Vasa Fia Collins stands in a car park lot in South Auckland.Behind her is the freshly-inked mural of her late husband, Fa’anānā Efeso Collins, his smile beaming across Manukau from the wall of Ronwood Carpark.”It’s a beautiful reciprocation of love,” the widow says.”A year on, it still feels surreal. As a family, we’re still devastated by the loss, but it’s been beautiful to see tributes like this honouring Efeso’s legacy.”Fa’anānā died suddenly at a charity event in February 2024, at the age of 49.At the community unveiling, Collins thanks the artists and those gathered for…

A 25-year-old Southland man hopes his nomination in a national award will inspire other young people across the region to go after what they want. William Murrell, along with his business partner Ben Phillpotts-Scales from KiwiFibre, were named yesterday finalists in the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards in the innovator category. They were acknowledged for their pioneering work of exploring the harakeke (flax) and composite textiles as a replacement for carbon fibre and fibreglass to make things such as parts of race cars, boats and even snowboards. The initiative could also put unproductive land to sustainable use. Mr…

Michelle Trachtenberg, a former child star who appeared in the 1996 Harriet the Spy hit movie and went on to co-star in two buzzy millennial-era TV shows — Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl — has died. She was 39.Police responded to a 911 call shortly after 8am (local time) at luxury residential tower in midtown where “officers observed a 39-year-old female unconscious and unresponsive,” according to an NYPD statement.Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. No foul play was suspected and the New York Medical Examiner is investigating the cause of death, police said.Representatives for Trachtenberg did not…

The number of young people being abused in state care has increased, says a report by the Independent Children’s Monitor.It also shows young people are still not receiving the minimum standards of care required by legislation.Chief executive of the Independent Children’s Monitor Arran Jones said it’s “disappointing” and Oranga Tamariki “need to do better” — but he’s not expecting to see improvement in the next report.The annual Experiences in Care report looks at agency compliance with the National Care Standards Regulations, which have been in place since 2019.The independent children’s monitor says close to one in 10 young people in state care…

Police are appealing for information about a bizarre incident involving a house falling off a truck, a blocked road, and a vanishing truckie.Speculation in the Far North as to what happened ranges from an amateur house-moving attempt gone horribly wrong to an extraordinarily brazen theft attempt.What is known for certain – as confirmed by the police and the Far North District Council – is that a house fell off the back of a truck on Orakau Rd, in the Punakitere Valley south of Kaikohe.A police spokesman said the incident came to light at 7.40am yesterday when a motorist reported coming…

It has sea views, room for a pony and even its own World War 2 observation bunker. The former Smithfield meat processing site is on the market following the 139-year-old Timaru plant’s closure last year, affecting about 600 jobs. The 32.4ha site, which is next to the new bulk-retail showgrounds development, is being marketed by Colliers by a deadline private treaty. Timaru District Council records last year showed the site had a capital value of more than $36million and a land value of $3.2m. The marketing blurb said the site presented a “multitude of options” for developers and occupiers alike.…

International tourist spending has returned to pre-Covid levels, while domestic tourism has dipped, according to the latest figures.StatsNZ has released its annual tourism satellite figures, showing international tourism expenditure was up 60% to $16.9 billion, returning to levels similar to 2019 ($17.2b).The largest increase on 2023 came from Asian visitors, a 168% increase year on year, followed by visitors from the Americas, up 59.1%, visitors from Europe up 25.9%, and visitors from Oceania, an increase of 18.4%.International student expenditure (studying less than 12 months, which meets StatsNZ’s definition of a tourist) also leapt up on 2023 — by 76.2% or…

Dodik, who serves as the president of the Western Balkan country’s Serb-majority entity of the RS, has the right to appeal Wednesday’s verdict. ADVERTISEMENTBosnia’s state-level court reached a first-degree verdict Wednesday against Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, sentencing him to one year in prison and barring him from politics for six years in a high-profile case that has sparked renewed tensions in the Western Balkan country and EU membership hopeful.The Sarajevo-based Court of BiH judges found Dodik, who serves as the president of the Serb-majority entity of the Republika Srpska (RS), guilty of criminal conduct over his defiance of the…

While Otago was the only region to dodge overall job losses in the past year, the reality is many people are still doing it tough, an economist says. According to the latest Infometrics quarterly economic monitor, for the three months to December, Otago was the only region in the country not to experience an overall decline in employment in the past year — recording a 0.1% rise in the number of estimated filled jobs. Southland and Canterbury fell 2.3% and 0.5% respectively, while the hardest hit were Nelson with a drop of 3.1% and Gisborne with a 3% decrease. Both…

Evacuations are underway as a large fire continues to burn through vegetation in Northland this afternoon.The blaze at the Waipoua River in Kaipara – about 6km south of giant kauri Tāne Mahuta – has spread to 70 hectares with a 4km perimeter and “is expected to grow”, Fire and Emergency New Zealand said this evening in a statement.Seven helicopters and “multiple” ground crews were helping tackle the fire. An additional three helicopters would be arriving in the region tomorrow from as far away as Taupō.”Police are assisting with evacuating dwellings in the Waipoua River Rd area. Structures are at risk…