Author: Press Room

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson says she believes her party is uniquely positioned to cut through the “dominant, divisive politics” despite several traditional left-leaning political parties falling out of favour globally.Davidson, who’s nine months into her breast cancer recovery, spoke to Q+A earlier today, claiming that New Zealand could be a “leading light” with her party’s brand of politics.”There are some very real frustrations that some political leaders are exploiting and pitting people against each other, when instead, New Zealand can be a leading light.”We have proven time and time again that we resist that divisive, hateful politics that the…

Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone, a member of the all-female hip-hop trio The Sequence and known for the hit song Wish I Didn’t Miss You, was killed in a car crash. She was 63.About 4am Saturday (local time), the vehicle she was riding in back to Atlanta from Alabama “flipped over and was subsequently hit by a big rig,” music producer Walter Millsap III told The Associated Press in an email.Everyone else in the cargo van survived except Stone, he said.Millsap said he learned the news from Angie Stone’s daughter, Diamond, and longtime The Sequence member Blondy.Stone was scheduled to…

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon expects Associate Education Minister David Seymour to give problems with the new school lunches programme his “full attention”.RNZ has reported concerns raised by multiple schools about the lunches being late, inedible, repetitive, or failing to meet dietary restrictions.Speaking to reporters in Vietnam, Christopher Luxon described them as teething problems.”David Seymour will work his way through those issues — he’s minister responsible for it and I expect he will, and I know that he’s well aware of the challenges and working his way through what have been some teething issues up front, but he will work his…

Microsoft’s email service, Outlook, appeared to be affected by a global outage on Sunday. According to Downdetector, a site which monitors internet outages, nearly 75,000 people across the world reported being unable to access Outlook. There were also nearly 1000 reports of Microsoft 365 outages too. In a post on X – formerly known as Twitter – Microsoft said it was investigating an issue in which users may be unable to access Outlook features and services. “We’re reviewing available telemetry and customer provided logs to understand the impact. “We’ve confirmed this issue is impacting various Microsoft 365 services.”

The government is expanding powers for the police and courts in hopes of keeping firearms from gangs and high-risk offenders.From Sunday, police have been given new search powers to check compliance with Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPOs).Courts will also be given expanded criteria to apply FPOs, and a process has been set up for orders to be modified or removed.Justice Minister Mark Mitchell said the move demonstrated this government was taking law and order seriously.”The changes in the Act mean courts will be able to issue FPOs to any gang member or associate convicted of a significant offence, and police will…

David Johansen, the wiry, gravelly-voiced singer and last surviving member of the glam and protopunk band the New York Dolls who later performed as his campy, pompadoured alter ego, Buster Poindexter, has died. He was 75.Johansen died Saturday at his home in New York City, according to Rolling Stone, citing a family spokesperson. It was revealed in early 2025 that he had stage 4 cancer and a brain tumour.The New York Dolls were forerunners of punk, and the band’s style — teased hair, women’s clothes and lots of makeup — inspired the glam movement that took up residence in heavy…

Te Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue from Te Arawa have been named champions of Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga 2025.Ngāti Rangiwewehi, also from Te Arawa, and Ngā Tūmanako of Tāmaki Makaurau have been named second and third, respectively.Watch Te Matatini finals performances on TVNZ+The Kohine Ponika ‘Aku Mahi’ Memorial Trophy for the new People’s Choice Award has been awarded to Te Kuru Marutea (Te Tauihu) for their waiata tira.The announcement comes at the end of a brutal five-day kapa haka competition that saw 55 groups split into four pools and whittled down to a top 12. Te Kapa Haka…

Dilworth College has formally apologised to survivors of historic sexual abuse that occurred at the private boarding school, acknowledging it had “buried, blocked, ignored and denied” horrors over decades.Former pupils and their whānau gathered at the school this afternoon to hear the apology from the Dilworth Trust Board, which acknowledged the school’s failure to protect students.”Today we are saying to all of you, from the depths of our hearts, that we are sorry,” Incoming board chairperson Jonathan Mason told survivors. “It was your school that let you down and failed you by allowing horrible things to happen to you.”He said:…

While most New Zealand employees are contributing 3% of their salaries to KiwiSaver, matched by 3% by an employer, there are a number of people for whom their employer’s contribution is much more generous.MPs can have their contribution matched at a rate of 2.5 times, up to a maximum of 20% of their salaries.Judicial officers, such as judges of the district and high courts, can receive a subsidy of up to 37.5% of their salaries to their own superannuation scheme.Junior and senior doctors employed by Health NZ can have their KiwiSaver contributions matched up to a maximum of 6%.Chief executive…

Victimisation rates for violent offences have stayed mostly steady according to new official data, released two days after the Government said violent crime had dropped.Ministry of Justice data out on Thursday counted violence differently than the police and justice ministers did on Tuesday, when ministers Mark Mitchell and Paul Goldsmith said violent crime had dropped by 2% in 2024, for the first time since 2018.”It is encouraging to see a reversal of this rise,” Mitchell said.However, the ministry said that its latest crime and victims survey, out on Thursday, found: “Victimisation rates for violent offences [physical and sexual assault, and…