Author: Press Room
Published on 29/05/2025 – 2:55 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTRussia is proposing to hold a second round of talks aimed at finding a way to bring their invasion of Ukraine to an end. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that the Kremlin is prepared to engage in further negotiations with Kyiv in Istanbul on 2 June.The Russian top diplomat also stated that Moscow has come up with a list of issues it deems integral to the war. Lavrov says that Russia has come up with ways to overcome what he called “root causes of the crisis” in a corresponding memorandum.“The Russian side, as agreed,…
Separate hairdressing regulations are set to be scrapped, with cabinet agreeing to all four recommendations from a regulatory review into the hairdressing and barbering industry.The review, carried out by the Ministry for Regulation along with the Ministry of Health, looked at the regulations the industry needed to follow and whether any of them were deemed to be unnecessary or holding the industry back.They included rules prohibiting dogs, other than guide-dogs, from being inside a barber shop and a ban on staff serving their clients refreshments.Announcing the review in December, Minister for Regulation David Seymour said regulations were not making a…
A central Dunedin pub which ignored repeated requests to keep fire exits clear has been allowed to continue trading. An application by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) to suspend The Bog Irish Bar’s liquor licence was withdrawn following a Dunedin district licensing committee hearing on Tuesday. The pub came under fire after an inspector discovered two of its three ground-floor fire exits were ‘‘pad-bolted and locked’’ while the premises was open for business. A verbal request to unlock the fire exits was made on April 29 and a letter delivered the next day, but a visit by police on…
New Zealanders may enjoy using a bit of colourful language, but according to a new international study, we’re not nearly as foul-mouthed as some might believe.A new study undertaken by the University of Queensland examined more than 1.7 billion words of online content across 20 English-speaking countries, specifically looking for 597 vulgar words.Researchers narrowed down which country was swearing the most online by using computational methods with linguistics.New Zealand came in at fifth place, trailing the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Singapore.Around 0.02% of New Zealand’s written word online was found to be a vulgarity.On the other end of…
A new private building consent service has launched, promising to cut waiting times and costs with faster approvals for “low-risk” house-building projects.Building Consent Approvals will become the country’s first independent residential building consent authority (BCA). Operating nationally, it promises to soon be able to issue consents within 10 working days for eligible residential projects.The privately-owned company has been accredited and registered as an independent Building Consent Authority and reviewed by International Accreditation New Zealand to ensure compliance with Building Act regulations.It has been assessed against the same legislation as all council BCAs. Building Consent Approvals is promising faster approvals for ‘low-risk’…
Two Brazilian nuns have gone viral after dropping an impromptu beatbox and dance session during a Catholic television program.Sisters Marizele Cassiano and Marisa de Paula, members of the “Copiosa Redenção” congregation, were talking about a vocational retreat on Brazil’s Pai Eterno — Eternal Father — TV channel when they brought up a song about being called to the religious life.The duo stood up and launched into a routine complete with singing, beatbox and dance moves. Then the presenter, Deacon Giovani Bastos, joined in, matching Sister de Paula’s moves in a performance that’s now been seen by millions on social media…
State Highway 5 between Napier and Taupō will be closed for “most of today” after a serious crash this morning.The crash, which occurred at about 8.50am, involved a car and a truck, police said.One person is in critical condition, and the other person has serious injuries.New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi said there are no available local road detours.(Source: New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi/Supplied)”Drivers should avoid the area or delay their travel.”St John said it responded with two ambulances and a helicopter.”The critical condition patient is being transported to Hawke’s Bay Hospital (by ambulance),” St John said.
A symbolic piece of New Zealand will journey beyond Earth’s atmosphere this weekend as Christchurch aerospace entrepreneur Mark Rocket prepares to become the first New Zealander to fly to space.The launch, set for early Sunday morning (NZ time), will be the 12th human space flight from Jeff Bezos’ space tourism venture, taking Rocket and five others on a suborbital flight departing from Texas.New Zealand has a special acknowledgement in the mission patch for NS-32, with a kea front and centre in the image. A Blue Origin statement said “the kea parrot represents Mark Rocket’s home country of New Zealand”.Rocket, who…
Police are investigating an assault on a hospital worker in Christchurch who was on her way to work.Senior Sergeant Paul Robertson said two people on an electric scooter hit the woman in the back on Hagley Avenue at 8.20pm on Monday.Health NZ regional deputy chief executive for the South Island Martin Keogh said the assault was “very disturbing”.It comes a fortnight after a student midwife was attacked on the way to their car after leaving work at Christchurch Hospital’s birthing unit at night.Keogh said the hospital had increased security patrols.”We are working with police, our council colleagues, to try and…
A central Dunedin pub which ignored repeated requests to keep fire exits clear has been allowed to continue trading. An application by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) to suspend The Bog Irish Bar’s liquor licence was withdrawn following a Dunedin district licensing committee hearing on Tuesday. The pub came under fire after an inspector discovered two of its three ground-floor fire exits were ‘‘pad-bolted and locked’’ while the premises was open for business. A verbal request to unlock the fire exits was made on April 29 and a letter delivered the next day, but a visit by police on…