Author: Press Room

A man has been charged with the murder of a man found dead in Parakao, Northland, earlier this month.Geoffrey Wayne Ware was found by ambulance staff on his rural property off Mangakahia Rd, on State Highway 15, just before 4pm on May 9.A homicide investigation was launched into the 55-year-old’s death on May 12. A 26-year-old Northland man has now been charged with his murder. Detective Senior Sergeant Michelle Harris, of Whangārei CIB, says police are not seeking anyone else in connection with his death.Police are continuing to appeal for information and sightings of a man and a vehicle of…

ADVERTISEMENTIrish family members of Ryan Cornelius, a British businessman jailed for fraud in the United Arab Emirates, whose imprisonment has been labelled unfair by the United Nations, have sought to enlist the help of MEPs and EU officials in an effort to have him released.Heather Cornelius and Chris Pagett, respectively Ryan’s wife and brother-in-law, visited the European Parliament in Brussels to ask MEPs to help put pressure on the UAE to release him. Since Heather has Irish roots and holds an Irish passport, they feel the EU is their only avenue left to help secure Cornelius’ release.Who is Ryan Cornelius?Cornelius…

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has revealed her second Budget at Parliament today, outlining how much the coalition Government will spend and where it will go. Here are some of the main things to emerge.KiwiSaver: Raising default rate of employee and matching employer contributions to 4%KiwiSaver: Extending government contribution and employer matching to 16 and 17-year-oldsKiwiSaver: Halving government contributions to a maximum $260.72 a yearKiwiSaver: Those with income over $180,000 will no longer receive government contributionTwelve-month prescriptions for medicines if clinically appropriate and safe to do so – $91 million over four years.Investment Boost tax incentive – businesses can deduct 20%…

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has unveiled her second Budget, revealing major changes to New Zealand’s KiwiSaver system and outlining how much she’s reprioritised from an overhaul of the pay equity system. Within a tight $1.3 billion operating allowance, Willis has found $5.3 billion in savings and revenue-raising initiatives. That’s used to fund $6.7 billion in new spending annually.Some of that new spending is going towards the “centrepiece” of the Budget, a new tax break for businesses, dubbed “Investment Boost” by Willis.“This is a responsible Budget to secure New Zealand’s future,” Willis said. (Source: Other)Kiwis will also be able to receive…

ADVERTISEMENTEarlier this year, after nine years at the head of Croatian intelligence, Daniel Markić was appointed director of the European Union Intelligence and Situation Centre (EU INTCEN), the closest thing the 27-member bloc has to a European intelligence service.Reporting to the EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, INTCEN monitors what happens inside and outside the EU and provides analyses and alerts to institutions, decision-makers, and member states regarding security, defence, and counterterrorism.While in Lisbon to take part in a conference celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Strategic Intelligence and Defence Service (SIED), Markić gave an exclusive interview to Nascer do…

Big changes are on the way for the KiwiSaver scheme as Finance Minister Nicola Willis says she wants to system to become “more fiscally sustainable” and better for those saving for retirement or a first home. The changes were revealed earlier today as a significant part of Budget 2025 and heavily speculated about before the announcement. Default employer and employee contribution rates will increase to 4% from April 2028. But rates will first rise to 3.5% from April next year in a “phased” approach.John Campbell and Nicola Willis clash over govt payments, pay equity – watch on TVNZ+Meanwhile, the value…

Kiwis will soon be able to get 12-month prescriptions for medicines, Health Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Health Minister David Seymour revealed as part of today’s Budget.Currently, doctors and prescribers can write scripts for most medicines only for a maximum of three months, meaning patients must pay their GP for a follow-up appointment or to issue a repeat.“This creates unnecessary barriers for patients on stable, long-term medications like asthma inhalers, insulin for diabetes, and blood pressure tablets. It means added costs for patients and more paperwork for health professionals, taking time away from patients with more urgent or complex needs,”…

Budget 2025 has delivered a $646 million boost for learning support.Increased support for students with conditions affecting their learning is the issue schools have called for greater government investment in year after year.Education Minister Erica Stanford said today that, across different initiatives, the Budget will provide funding for more than an additional 2 million teacher aide hours per year by 2028.Stand out investments in Budget 2025 include $266 million to extend the Early Intervention Service so Year 1 students can access a range of supports such as speech language therapists and psychologists. The service currently stops when a child turns…

Published on 23/05/2025 – 8:12 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTCommissioner for Brussels Alain Hutchinson, credited for building bridges between the EU and its capital, tells Radio Schuman how the once weak ties blossomed into a strong synergy that benefits both. He argued that Brussels, including its public administrations, is more open to accommodating expats, while Eurocrats have started to break out of their bubble.In this episode, we also look at a NATO Parliamentary Assembly in the US state of Ohio as the Trump administration casts doubt over US’ defence of NATO allies in Europe. And finally, which countries in Europe get harmed most by…

West Coast iwi are backing a plan to make resource consents less of a bureaucratic maze for alluvial goldminers.The West Coast Regional Council is aiming to speed up the consent application process by working with Poutini Ngāi Tahu and the industry to write standard conditions and clearer templates.Goldminers keen to capitalise on the current gold price have been queuing for consents in recent months and some have complained about the complexity of the process and the time it takes to gain council and iwi approval of conditions.Under the Resource Management Act, the council must work with mana whenua on environmental…