Author: Press Room

Georgia’s parliamentary elections, described as a “referendum” on alignment with Europe or Russia, concluded with the ruling Georgian Dream party claiming victory at 53.92%—a result contested by the opposition. ADVERTISEMENTOn Saturday, Georgia held parliamentary election that have been framed as a “referendum” on the country’s choice between Europe and Russia. The country’s Central Election said the pro-Russian ruling party, Georgian dream had won 53.92 percent of the votes. However, the opposition disputed those results, and international and European observers spoke of a climate of hatred, intimidations and voting irregularities. Euronews spoke with different sides, including Maka Botchorishvili an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party and Reinhold Lopatka,…

Congestion has begun to build around New Zealand’s main centres as holidaymakers return home at the end of Labour Weekend.In Auckland, traffic on State Highway 1 was slow southbound at Wellsford. Google Maps data showed traffic congestion between Waiwhiu and Te Hana.NZTA said in a statement that road users could expect delays of between 30-40 minutes while travelling through the area.NZTA said road users could expect delays of between 30-40 minutes while travelling north of Auckland. (Source: 1News)”Road users are advised to plant their journey accordingly and allow extra time.”To the south of the city, traffic was backed up for…

Low growth, high debt and escalating wars topped the official agenda at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings, but finance leaders spent much of their energy worrying about the potential impacts of a return of Donald Trump to power in the US presidential election. Republican candidate Trump’s gains in recent polls to erase much of the early advantage of his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, was part of nearly every conversation among finance officials, central bankers and civil society groups attending the meetings in Washington this past week. Among concerns were Trump’s potential to upend the global finance system with massive…

Hollywood celebrities filming in New Zealand is helping bring in more than $1 billion to Auckland’s economy.The latest film in the works is action comedy The Wrecking Crew starring Jason Momoa, Morena Baccarin, and Dave Bautista.A Piha campground was the latest to get the Hollywood treatment, with a landscape of a few birds and tents being transformed into a bustling movie set.Campground kaitiaki Fiona Anderson told 1News there were up to 150 crew cars coming through daily and 30 trucks on site – as well as a string of trailers for actors, makeup, and wardrobe.”The catering was amazing. They had…

A Rotorua holiday park manager wants the council to clamp down on freedom camping rules, saying users do not support local business.Users of one site claim otherwise and have detailed how they abide by rules and spend money on seeing the sights, shopping for food, and visiting local attractions.Rotorua’s All Seasons Holiday Park manager Tracie Thornborough spoke to Rotorua Lakes Council members at a meeting on Wednesday.In her view, freedom campers did not support local businesses, and she wanted the council to do as others had in making efforts to ensure such tourists complied with the rules.Thornborough told councillors Rotorua…

A telehealth service running after hours on the West Coast has received hundreds of calls since it began this month, but a patient advocate says some in the community do not know how it works, and are reluctant to trust it.From October 1, urgent after-hours GP clinics on the West Coast were replaced by telehealth provider Ka Ora Telecare with some in-person clinical back-up.Primary health organisation West Coast Health, which is contracted by Te Whatu Ora to provide primary health care services on the coast, has led the changes.It is understood the after-hours GP clinics were operating at a loss…

McDonald’s has ruled out beef patties as a source of the E. coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounder hamburgers, which has killed at least one person and made nearly 75 others ill in the United States. “We remain very confident that any contaminated product related to this outbreak has been removed from our supply chain and is out of all McDonald’s restaurants,” the fast-food chain’s chief supply chain officer, Cesar Pina, said in a statement on Saturday.  The Colorado Department of Agriculture said that all subsamples from multiple lots of McDonald’s brand of fresh and frozen beef patties had tested…

The sale of Tauranga’s marine precinct for at least $4 million below its valuation is a “disaster waiting to happen”, a local business owner believes.Tauranga City Council sold the precinct at Sulphur Point for $13.987m to Christchurch developer Sam Rolfe.The 2.98-hectare precinct, also known as Vessel Works, was valued between $18.63m and $19.24m and is zoned for port industry. Some sites within the precinct were already privately owned.Rolfe approached the council in late 2023 with a proposal to buy the precinct with a vision of it becoming a “premier superyacht refit destination”.The sale conditions meant most of the working boat…

Eighty years ago, 733 shaven-headed Polish refugee children and just over 100 caregivers arrived in New Zealand by ship, facing an uncertain future.But they were welcomed with open arms – in Pahīatua.Now the Tararua town is getting ready to mark eight decades of friendship, by welcoming back about 20 surviving former refugees, and hundreds of descendants.Joe Jagiello made the journey in 1944. He remembers sailing into Wellington Harbour as a 9-year-old in late October that year, after a couple of years in Persia – modern-day Iran.Józef (Joe) Jagiello anglicised his first name, as many of the Polish children did. Photo:…

The Cancer Control Agency is ignoring data showing the effectiveness of several blood cancer drugs, which are free to Australian patients, a leading specialist says.A report by the government agency last week identified 42 medicines which were funded in Australia but not New Zealand as of 1 January, although six have subsequently been covered.Nine drugs not yet funded showed “significant clinical benefit”.However, consultant haematologist Dr Roger Tiedemann said that analysis was too narrow because it only considered data from registration trials, which compared the new treatment with standard treatment.”Those are very important trials of course, but things in medicine move…