Author: Press Room

Several established Chinese restaurants in Auckland, renowned for serving authentic Cantonese dim sum, have gone into liquidation in recent months.Some of the Chinese eateries still standing say they are struggling to stay in business.Yum cha, a Cantonese dining tradition that pairs tea consumption with small, shared dishes known as dim sum, has long been a hallmark of Chinese restaurants nationwide.Now, however, the long-standing tradition is under strain.Sluggish consumer spending, rising operational costs and changing dining habits have forced some operators to shut their doors.Imperial Palace Restaurant, which opened in Mt Wellington in 2009, was placed into liquidation on June 4.Dragonboat…

ADVERTISEMENT China’s new export restrictions are raising renewed alarm in Europe, with the defence industry warning that the continent urgently needs to make its supply chains more resilient and reduce its dependence on critical raw materials. The Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) — which represents over 4,000 companies including Airbus, BAE Systems, Saab, Thales and Rheinmetall — says it is keeping a watchful eye on the new Chinese measures. “We are closely monitoring the new measures and will assess their practical implications as further details emerge,” ASD spokesperson Adrian Schmitz told Euronews. Starting 1 December, companies…

Solicitor-General Una Jagose KC will step down in February after a decade in the role, Attorney-General Judith Collins announced today.Collins thanked her for “long and valued service” in the role she has held since 2016.”Ms Jagose began as Solicitor-General on February 15, 2016, following a stellar career in the public service as a lawyer and a leader, spanning 35 years in the public service.”I have enjoyed working with Ms Jagose. She can be proud of her time in the role, and I am grateful to her for her huge efforts during the past 10 years,” she said.The Public Service Commission…

Communities have been cut off in parts of the central North Island today with torrential rain causing widespread flooding, slips, and road closures.The New Zealand Transport Agency said sections of State Highway 3, State Highway 4, State Highway 30, State Highway 31, and State Highway 43 had been closed by slips and surface flooding.The agency said closures on State Highway 30 and State Highway 31 would remain in place overnight.Several state highways closed by floodwaters and slips after downpours hit harder than anticipated.  (Source: 1News)”Crews are actively working on SH31 with diggers, trucks and arborists onsite. Work will resume tomorrow…

Doctors at a private hospital in Gisborne took too long to transfer a woman to higher level care when she started deteriorating after weight loss surgery, a coroner says.Janet Milner, 50, died in Waikato Hospital on 18 July, 2021, after bariatric surgery at the private Chelsea Hospital in Gisborne.In his report, Coroner Bruce Hesketh also found Milner had a type of mechanical heart valve that was recorded incorrectly by her GP to her surgeon and anaesthetist, and this affected her post-operative care.He found Milner was not an appropriate candidate for bariatric surgery on the date she had the surgery due…

Far-right politicians in Poland have expressed their outrage at an alleged plan to give Ukrainians with Polish citizenship their own representation in Poland’s parliament. Politicians from different far-right parties decry any notion of Ukrainians having their own representation in the Sejm, the lower house of Poland’s parliament, with some even calling for a total halt to granting Polish citizenship to Ukrainians. “Ukrainian media are announcing that Ukrainians in Poland will have their own representatives in the Polish Parliament,” Włodzimierz Skalik, MP for the far-right party Confederation of the Polish Crown, said in a Facebook post. “This is a very dangerous…

The Government has locked in a Chinese state-backed shipbuilder to construct two new Cook Strait ferries, Rail Minister Winston Peters has announced.Peters said this afternoon that Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI), a Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed enterprise, would complete the vessels by 2029. But final details on the agreements remain under wraps as the Government-owned Ferry Holdings Limited was still negotiating with GSI, along with port agreements with Port Marlborough and Wellington’s Centreport.GSI was the “largest modern integrated shipbuilding enterprise in Southern China, founded in 1954,” Peters boasted in his media release. “We want the best deal possible for…

Te Pāti Māori has gone on the offensive against a former ally and leader of the hīkoi movement, revealing security staff at Parliament allegedly accused him of using offensive, racist and intimidating language towards them.In an email to members, obtained by 1News and other media, the party gave a scathing response to claims from Eru Kapa-Kingi last week that the party was operating a “dictatorship model”. It denied claims of a toxic leadership style and made allegations of its own against him.In the message, Te Pāti Māori said Eru Kapa-Kingi’s claims are “part of a larger issue with his behavior”.It…

ADVERTISEMENT Europe’s coastal landscape could be completely reshaped in less than 100 years. Sea levels are rising at an increasingly faster rate, the European Environment Agency (EEA) has warned in one of its latest reports. It said that, between 2006 and 2018, levels rose by 3.7 millimetres a year, more than twice as fast as during the 20th century. If emissions remain high, sea levels could reach between 0.63 and 1.02 metres by 2100. EEA simulations also considered the worst-case scenario: a rapid disintegration of the polar ice sheet. This would lead to an increase in sea levels of up…

Council hopefuls are enduring a nervous wait in some centres as several races remain too close to call under provisional results.In Invercargill, the final seat at the table is currently held by a razor thin margin of seven votes.Westland’s mayoral race is separated by just four votes, while further north, Kaipara’s mayoralty is a three-horse race with 31 votes in it.Local authorities are still working their way through special votes and final results are not expected until later this week.So what happens if it’s a dead heat?Invercargill City Council has provided some clarification, saying the winner would be determined by…