Author: Press Room

Unexpected patent issues have taken up considerable time for Blis Technologies which has welcomed positive full-year financial results. The Dunedin-founded probiotics company posted improved after-tax net profit of $800,000 — up on the previous year’s $600,000 result — for the year to March 31. Revenue of $12.6million was 10% higher on the previous year while ebitda of $1 million was a 26% improvement on FY24. Chairman Geoff Plunket and chief executive Scott Johnson said in the review that patents filed by the company’s largest customer in Europe and a party associated with that customer became public in September last year.…

Published on 26/05/2025 – 19:19 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTThe EU offer on trade with the US has not changed despite pressure from US President Donald Trump threat last week to impose 50% tariffs on EU imports. The EU has proposed “zero-for-zero” reciprocity for a non-tariff regime on goods and offered to buy US energy, tech and agriproducts to end the trade war launched by the US mid-March.“As regards the zero-for-zero- that is very much still on the table,” EU trade spokesperson Olof Gill said on Monday, adding: “We believe that’s a very attractive starting point for a good negotiation that could lead to benefits on…

The new owner of Alliance Group’s Smithfield meat processing plant site in Timaru could remain unknown for several months until public records go through the Timaru District Council. Both the price of the 32ha site and identity of the purchaser were confidential when the meat-processing company announced last Friday it had been sold for development in an unconditional agreement. Alliance closed the 139-year-old plant last October. It had previously employed about 600 staff for processing sheep meat, calves and venison. Estimates vary on how many meat workers have rejoined the workforce, with union leaders believing only 50% are employed —…

New “non-financial” benefit sanctions starting today are about having “more tools available” than the current options, says the Minister for Social Development.But the Greens spokesperson for social development says it’s “misleading” to label them as non-financial, because the impacts of those sanctions will be financial.Ricardo Menendez March also criticised Louise Upston for going ahead with the change, despite a note by officials it could risk increasing financial hardship, a statement the Minister rejects.From today, two new sanctions can be applied when someone on a main benefit does not meet their obligations.The first was ‘Money Management,’ where someone who did not…

Published on 26/05/2025 – 17:42 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTFN Herstal, located in eastern Belgium, is a leading manufacturer of light weapons, including machine guns, assault rifles, and pistols. The company, known locally as “la FN,” supplies nearly all NATO armies and has gained attention in the EU since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.In June 2024, FN Herstal secured a 20-year contract with the Belgian defence ministry to produce small-calibre ammunition — a crucial deal for the company which employs 3,000 people across Belgium, Finland, the UK, and the US.”For 20 years, we will be producing all the Belgian defence’s small-calibre…

Outsourcing more elective surgeries will limit training opportunities for future surgeons, the Health Minister has been warned.Health New Zealand aimed to perform more than 30,000 elective surgeries in the 15 months to June 2026 in a bid to reduce waitlists, including by outsourcing thousands of more straightforward cases to private hospitals.Documents obtained by RNZ under the OIA show Health Minister Simeon Brown was told in March that outsourcing more elective operations to private hospitals will worsen training opportunities.”That’s because outsourced procedures are usually of lower complexity, which often makes them suitable for training,” Health NZ wrote in a briefing.Some doctors…

ADVERTISEMENTNorwegian prosecutors have charged the navigator of a cargo ship after he allegedly fell asleep on duty and the vessel ran aground in one of the country’s fjords last week, narrowly missing crashing into a home.The ship, the Cyprus-flagged NCL Salten, ran aground shortly before 6 am Thursday, stopping short of crashing into the house of Johan Helberg on the Trondheim Fjord’s coast.The unnamed crewman was charged with negligent navigation.No oil spills were reported and none of the 16 people aboard were injured.Johan Helberg told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that he’d slept through the whole thing and only woke up when a neighbour…

A woman has been charged after a crash in central Christchurch on Saturday that saw two people – an adult and a child – badly hurt. Emergency services were called to the scene on Fitzgerald Ave at 2.15pm after “a report of a crash involving a vehicle and a pedestrian”.A child was found critically injured, while an adult had serious injuries, police said. Both remain in stable condition after being taken to hospital.Three others were treated at the scene with minor injuries, St John said on Saturday. A 49-year-old woman is now due to appear in Christchurch District Court on…

The public will have a say on a controversial plan to move a prisoner reintegration facility to a rural Rotorua valley.Rotorua Lakes Council has publicly notified a resource consent application for Pūwhakamua to operate in Waikite.A notice in today’s Rotorua Daily Post said submissions would close at 5pm on June 25.It comes as the council investigates the existing Pūwhakamua facility, based near Rotorua Airport, after issuing, then cancelling, a notice ordering it to cease operations because of consent matters.Pūwhakamua is a tikanga Māori live-in reintegration service supporting men on parole to return and readapt into the community.It was the brainchild…

Published on 26/05/2025 – 14:41 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTThe European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament is set to expel Luxembourgish MEP Fernand Kartheiser from its ranks for arranging a trip to Moscow.Kartheiser, a former diplomat and ambassador to several European countries, is currently in Moscow where he was invited by the Russian Parliament, or Duma, to discuss bilateral relations, Russia’s relations with international organisations and the current situation in Ukraine. “Given that the European Parliament is blocking MEPs’ diplomatic efforts to meet with the Russian Federation, I am funding this mission to Moscow myself,” he told Euronews before the two-day trip to meet members…