Author: Press Room

By Amy Williams of RNZ  A modern-day Robin Hood supermarket plans to deliver profits back to foodbanks. The Community Grocer has just started delivering pantry staples to online shoppers in three cities, with profits going to the Salvation Army and its community partners. Its Auckland kai champion, Joel Williams, is helping to run the initiative. “We’re working in partnership with market gardeners, it’s an online shopping platform where anybody can jump online, order some groceries, choose their pick up point that they want to pick it up from,” he said. “That sounds pretty normal, the difference is who are the…

Aotearoa’s status as a haven free of venomous snakes and creepy-crawlies is no longer thanks to an uptick of sightings.One of the world’s most invasive spiders with a “potentially sinister bite” known to cause serious infections has established a population. Meanwhile, more sightings of sea snakes, some venomous, are expected on New Zealand beaches as climate change increases.So what do you do if you get bitten?National Poisons Centre director Adam Pomerleau told Seven Sharp said it “might feel like there’s an increase” in reports and sightings, “the number is still very small”.”I’d like to reassure everybody that it’s very uncommon…

Ozzy Osbourne, the Black Sabbath singer who died today aged 76, embodied the excesses of metal but later became a loveable household name.His outlandish exploits included relieving himself on the Alamo, snorting a line of ants off a sidewalk and, most memorably, biting the head off the live bat that a fan threw onstage during a 1981 concert. (He said he thought it was rubber.)Osbourne was sued in 1987 by parents of a 19-year-old teen who died by suicide while listening to his song “Suicide Solution.” The lawsuit was dismissed. Osbourne said the song was really about the dangers of…

Found in everything from protein bars to energy drinks, erythritol has long been considered a safe alternative to sugar. But new research suggests this widely used sweetener may be quietly undermining one of the body’s most crucial protective barriers – with potentially serious consequences for heart health and stroke risk. Professor of biomedical science Havovi Chichger reports. A recent study from the University of Colorado suggests erythritol may damage cells in the blood-brain barrier, the brain’s security system that keeps out harmful substances while letting in nutrients. The findings add troubling new detail to previous observational studies that have linked…

Thousands of potholes on New Zealand’s roads are requiring repeat repairs, figures released by Transport Minister Chris Bishop show.Bishop says the additional repairs carried out recently are temporary patch-ups that are being done during winter. But Labour’s transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere says that’s not the public’s expectation and they believe the job should be done properly the first time.The data released in response to a written question from the Labour Party shows in June a total of 4731 pothole repairs were completed, but 1997 of those were for second or subsequent repairs.And 1108 of them were for third or subsequent…

Ozzy Osbourne, the gloomy, demon-invoking lead singer of the pioneering band Black Sabbath who became the throaty, growling voice — and drug-and-alcohol ravaged id — of heavy metal, died Wednesday just weeks after his farewell show. He was 76.”It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time,” a family statement said. In 2020, he revealed he had Parkinson’s disease after suffering a fall.Either clad…

It could be a one-man show around the council table in Wairoa, with Jeremy Harker the only candidate to officially register his nomination for election in 2025.Harker, who is standing in the general ward, is the CEO of Northern Hawke’s Bay roading company QRS and he’s already a councillor.But, as of Monday, none of the others who’d worked with him this term, and no-one outside the incumbents, has registered yet.Electoral officer for Wairoa Dale Ofsoske says it’s not ideal.“It’s better to get in early to make sure everything is lodged properly.“You don’t want to find out at 11.55am on August…

Customers at Dunedin’s The Albion cafe are always told to “mind the step” so they do not trip on their way out the front door. While the alleyway cafe’s days may be numbered, owner Jayde Regassa does not believe she will forget about the regular warning any time soon. The steps caught people off guard “every single time,” Ms Regassa said. “I will probably be saying, ‘mind the step,’ for a very long time, even when I’m not here. “It’s so built-in now.” Due to a change of tenancy at the building, the cafe, in Albion Pl, would be open…

“I quite like being the guy that challenges the ideas around what men or should or shouldn’t be.” Four years ago, Jordaan Tuitama (Waikato Tainui, Samoa) got into sewing. Now as a 38-year-old man he’s breaking stereotypes of what sewing is and who it’s for. “I’m 6’5, I’m like 150kg,” he says. “I should be playing footy on the weekends but instead I’m in the op shops and visiting the haberdashery to re-up on my needles and cotton.” Jordaan at the sewing machine. (Source: Supplied)Watch Jordaan teach men to sew in this episode of Allgoods, a new series on TVNZ+He…

With looser rules proposed regarding both food labelling and genetic engineering, the government says it’s backing farmers. So why are some farmers dead set against the changes? Cushla Norman reports”Lots of farmers don’t want this.” Watch this story on TVNZ+.Some gene-edited food could end up on supermarket shelves without labelling, as the definition of what constitutes a genetically modified food is set to change. It has prompted criticism from GE Free advocates who say it takes away consumer choice, and the organics sector which says it puts them in an unfair position. The new definition is proposed by the Food…