Author: Press Room

A trial using oral ketamine and psychotherapy to treat treatment-resistant depression in Aotearoa is showing moods lift.Treatment resistance, in which those affected do not respond well to at least two different antidepressants, is a problem for nearly one in three people diagnosed with depression globally.Otago University scientists are theorising that ketamine can treat the disorder by helping the brain reset through “neurogenesis, the formation of new brain cells”, associate professor Dr Ben Beaglehole told 1News.Participants are being given two doses a week of liquid ketamine mixed with orange juice.”I was quite sceptical coming into the trial and doing these interviews,…

A sharp rise in homelessness in Marlborough has put people working to house and feed them under serious pressure.Jeanine Sadd, who managed the community kitchen Crossroads Marlborough Trust, said the service was starting to struggle due to the high numbers of people coming in for food, a shower, and the washing machine.”I’m getting closer to 60 and I’ve never seen it this bad,” Sadd said.”Our numbers are going up but our financial supports are all down. There’s just not enough of anything ‒ money, houses, people.”It’s always down to money because you need highly trained staff, the right location [and]…

Nearly two years after the death of Lower Hutt toddler Baby Ru, RNZ can reveal police have taken a significant step towards solving the case that shocked the nation. National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood reports.The little boy was just three days away from celebrating his second birthday when he suffered blunt force trauma so severe it fractured his skull and led to his death.Baby Ru, officially named Nga Reo Te Huatahi Reremoana Ahipene-Wall, died at Hutt Hospital on October 22 2023.Police have previously said there are three people of interest, Rosie Morunga, her partner Dylan Ross, and the child’s mother,…

Two former colleagues remember how Nigel Latta swore like a trooper, worked the room like a stand-up comedian, and touched the lives of a huge range of New Zealanders. TV producer and director Mark McNeil remembers driving through some of Flaxmere’s least fancy streets with Latta. They were filming a piece about poverty in New Zealand and as they passed a gang HQ, their cameraman, who was on foot, was confronted by a couple of “gang prospects” who tried to wrestle his camera from him. Nigel wound down the car window. “They suddenly see Nigel, and they go, ‘Nigel, what…

A person was killed and another critically injured in a crash in the Far North near Kaikohe last night. Police were called to Ōhaeawai at around 11.15pm after a car collided with a bank on State Highway 12. “One person has sadly passed away at the scene, with a second person transported to hospital in a critical condition,” police said. The serious crash unit was called to the scene and was investigating the cause of the crash. “The road has since reopened.”Ngāruawāhia crashFurther south, two people have been critically injured in a crash at the intersection of Duke Street and…

The Government says it is prepared to support funding requests for critical electricity infrastructure from the power companies it is a majority shareholder in. Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced this morning that the Government was “prepared to support capital funding requests for strategic and commercially rational investments that support energy security”.The announcement comes after a review of New Zealand’s electricity sector by Frontier Economics, in the wake of shortages leading to increased wholesale prices. The review found the Crown’s Mixed Ownership Model (MOM) companies – Genesis, Mercury, and Meridian – faced constraints in their ability to invest in larger generation…

ADVERTISEMENT The Spanish government wants to regularise more than one million migrants within three years. For Madrid, this is one of the keys to future prosperity, in a context of demographic decline. By 2027, more than one million undocumented immigrants could be granted legal status in Spain. A government reform, which came into effect in May 2025, plans to legalise 300,000 people per year for three years. In parallel, a draft bill, yet to be debated in Parliament, aims to regularise 470,000 undocumented immigrants who arrived before the end of December 2024. The main objective is to support economic growth…

The best of southern business will be celebrated at the Grand Business South Awards in Dunedin on November 20. The finalists are: • Best emerging business: Axon Perform, Givenwell, Hobby Lords Ltd and Incredible Software. • Excellence in community service: Medworld Institute, K9 Medical Detection NZ Charitable Trust, Southern Cancer Society Trust, Aroha Ki Te Tamariki Trust and Hayz at the Anchorage. • Excellence in customer experience: Dunedin Solar, Focus Technology Group, Unifone and Medenterprises. • Excellence in exporting: Mastaplex Ltd, Eden Juice Ltd, Kaffelogic Ltd, Mizen Automation and Standby Consulting. • Excellence in hospitality: Alchemist Mixology, Outasight Marketing &…

Credit trends are improving, though the number of company liquidations remain high as tax debt collection has intensified following a more lenient approach taken during the Covid years.Credit reporting service Centrix said there was a 12% drop in the number of customers with debt arrears in August over July, or 1.8% on the year earlier.”Consumer arrears, year on year have improved, and that’s a trend which is good. And if we start to see consumer sentiment improve, then that should flow through into businesses which will be a really positive outcome for New Zealanders,” Centrix chief operating officer Monika Lacey…

ADVERTISEMENT Political support is growing across the European Union for a groundbreaking plan to issue a €140 billion loan to Ukraine based on the immobilised assets of the Russian Central Bank, which would help the country sustain its economy and armed resistance. “It’s a very good idea,” Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said at an informal summit of leaders on Wednesday. “I think that we have to go forward with that.” His Swedish counterpart was equally positive. “We have long argued in favour of a more offensive way of using the frozen assets because it’s simply not acceptable to have…