Author: Press Room
Alf Clausen, the Emmy-winning composer whose music provided essential accompaniment for the animated antics of The Simpsons for 27 years, has died.His daughter Kaarin Clausen told The Associated Press that Alf Clausen died yesterday at his home in Los Angeles after struggling with Parkinson’s Disease for about a decade. He was 84.Clausen, who also scored TV series including Moonlighting and Alf (“no relation,” he used to joke) was nominated for 30 Emmy Awards, 21 of them for The Simpsons, winning twice.Al Jean, an early Simpsons writer who was one of the key creative figures on the show in the 1990s,…
The man who admitted to murdering an Ellerslie couple has been sentenced to at least 19 years in prison in the High Court at Auckland on Friday.Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok and his wife Mei Han Chong were killed at their home in November 2023.Shu Man Poon, 43, was meant to stand trial for their murder at the beginning of this month, before pleading guilty on the day his trial was expected to start.Appearing before Justice Johnstone, he wiped tears from his eyes with his head bowed as the sentence was handed down.The victim’s son was also present in court, sobbing as…
A slow-slip event, also known as a “silent earthquake”, has been unfolding in the Hawke’s Bay region since early May, causing around 2cm of eastward motion over the past two weeks. That’s the equivalent of around six months of plate motion condensed into 14 days.Unlike usual earthquakes, these slow-slip events take place over weeks or months rather than seconds.GNS’ science operations technical lead Elisabetta D’Anastasio said the slow release of energy meant it did not cause shaking noticeable by people or seismographs.”Instead, it is our continuously operating Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stations (commonly referred to as GPS) that track…
Rocket Lab says it has acquired a company capable of constructing US President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defence system in a move that positions it as a contender to build the massive space shield.The California-based firm has signed up to buy the parent holding company of Goest, a developer of electro-optical and infrared technology used in missile warning and tracking, for around NZ$460 million.These were “core capabilities” for the likes of the Pentagon’s proposed constellation of low-orbit satellites, as well as for the Dome, the company said.The Golden Dome is a multi-layer defence system proposed by the United States…
The Grey District Council will need to spend at least $60,000 to make its case against the latest resource consent application by the Taylorville Resource Park.Mayor Tania Gibson says the council will not give up the fight against what it sees as a future threat to its $20-million water supply from the private landfill.TRP Ltd has applied to the Regional Council for consent to discharge contaminated water — a mix of stormwater and landfill leachate — from a retention pond to land, and groundwater outside the dump site.The discharge site sits above a water supply intake, which supplies drinking water…
Actor and comedian Russell Brand pleaded not guilty in a London court Friday to rape and sexual assault charges involving four women dating back more than 25 years.Brand, who turns 50 next week, denied two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. He said “not guilty” after each charge was read in Southwark Crown Court.His trial was scheduled for June 3, 2026 and is expected to last four to five weeks.Prosecutors said that the offences took place between 1999 and 2005 — one in the English seaside town of Bournemouth and the other…
Nelson Giants basketball club is no longer facing closure, after the local council amended its contract for their Trafalgar Centre venue, enabling the team to sell food and drinks at home games for another two years.Giants management earlier urged the Nelson City Council to re-consider its new contract with Community Leisure Management (CLM) that gave the company exclusive rights to food and beverage sales at the centre.At a council meeting earlier this month, head coach and general manager Mike Fitchett said the decision would “likely kill the Giants,” because money raised through selling food and drinks at games accounted for…
Taylor Swift has regained control over her entire body of work.In a lengthy note posted to her official website on Friday, Swift announced: “All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me.”The pop star said she purchased her catalogue of recordings — originally released through Big Machine Records — from their most recent owner, the private equity firm Shamrock Capital. She did not disclose the amount.In recent years, Swift has been rerecording and releasing her first six albums in an attempt to regain control of her music.“I can’t thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this…
An estimated 67.8kg of methamphetamine and 1.1kg of cocaine were seized at two separate interceptions at Auckland Airport overnight. The combined street value is estimated to be $25.81 million. In the first case, Customs deemed two duffel bags off a flight from Malaysia suspicious and, upon further inspection, discovered they contained 50kg of meth. Methamphetamine and cocaine seized from a passenger on a flight from New York. (Source: NZ Customs)In the second case, 17.8kg of meth and 1.1kg of cocaine were found in a passenger’s duffel bag coming from a flight from New York. A 22-year-old man faces charges of importing Class A controlled…
What started as a small hustle on the side of her wine-making business has grown to be the main focus for Bannockburn’s Debra Cruickshank. Business editor Sally Rae pays her a visit. She is the undisputed Queen of Port. Not only in her adopted home town of Bannockburn but now also nationally as New Zealand’s largest producer of port. Debra Cruickshank is a force of nature; the one-woman show behind Tannacrieff Wines, producing port with a smile in the heart of Central Otago. Behind the smile has also been much pain, with an eventual diagnosis of the chronic inflammatory bowel condition Crohn’s…