Author: Press Room

Police believe a man fatally shot in Naenae, Lower Hutt yesterday and the gunman are known to each other. Police received reports a person had been shot outside a house on Seddon St around 3.15pm yesterday, Detective Inspector John Van Den Heuvel told reporters in a media standup today.Nearby officers arrived at the scene “very quickly”, where they found a man “injured, lying on the road”, he said. “The officers immediately applied first aid on this man but sadly, his injury was fatal, and he died at the scene.”It is apparent the victim’s injuries has been caused by a gunshot.”…

Schools should not be required to consult parents about the content of relationships and sexuality lessons, the Education Review Office says.A report out on Tuesday shows misinformation, bigotry and threats of violence have derailed some schools’ attempts at consultation and prompted some to reduce or avoid teaching the topic.The Education Review Office (ERO) said relationships and sexuality education was compulsory from years 1-10, but schools figured out themselves what to teach and that had led to inconsistency.”Relationships and sexuality education is too important to leave to chance and we need to make it easier for schools so they can focus…

Your bank might have stopped offering an ATM in your neighbourhood — but there’s a good chance it has been replaced by a private provider.As the number of bank-run ATMs shrinks — hundreds have closed around the country in recent years — they have been replaced in many areas by those provided by providers such as Next or Allpoint.Reserve Bank data shows there were 2489 bank-owned ATMs in 2011 but that had dropped to 1440 last year.But while most banks no longer charge a fee for withdrawing cash at another bank’s ATMs, the privately-run machines often charge about $2.50 or…

Gisborne can now produce a significant amount of drinking water during severe weather events through a first-of-its-kind filtration unit that converts seawater into fresh, drinkable water for 10,000 people per day.In another boost to the region’s emergency response capacity, with Tairāwhiti Emergency Management (Temo) group manager Ben Green said there was now more capability in Tairāwhiti than what can be deployed anywhere else in the country.A Temo technology demonstration day held at Gisborne’s inner harbour on Friday, and attended by Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell, featured a filtration unit demonstration by its Australian engineers.The unit, named the Garrison,…

The Interior Ministry said a reassessment of about 40,000 Syrians granted status in the country over the last five years has begun. ADVERTISEMENTThe Austrian government says it has started preparations for a deportation programme for Syrians living in the country. The decision followed the government’s suspension of asylum applications from Syrian refugees and comes as millions of refugees are now able to return home following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government.The Interior Ministry said a reassessment of about 40,000 Syrians granted status in the country over the last five years has begun. “I have instructed the Ministry of the Interior…

By Farah Hancock of RNZ An Otago gold mine set to have an expansion written into fast-track legislation has repeatedly breached resource consents, a second independent audit has found. The audit, ordered by Dunedin City Council and Waitaki District Council, uncovered “widespread and ongoing non-compliance” with several conditions of land-use consents held by Oceana Gold’s Macraes mine. The breaches are in addition to issues identified in a different Otago Regional Council audit, which found numerous breaches of consent related to water quality. Many of the new breaches relate to land protected under a QEII covenant and include damage caused by stock…

Hundreds of people, including politicians from across the party lines, attended a “Save Our Mill” community meeting in Tokoroa last night to discuss a proposal to shut some operations at the Kinleith Mill. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said “we will be speaking to Japan” – the mill’s owner Oji Fibre Solutions – in the next few days about its planned stopping of paper production which would impact 230 jobs. Other politicians including Regional Development Minister Shane Jones, and Social Development Minister Louise Upston, along with MPs from the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and Labour. Speaking at the event,…

The agreement includes intelligence sharing, targeting smuggling networks’ financial flows, and removing online content promoting illegal mi ADVERTISEMENTThe UK and Germany announced a joint commitment on Tuesday to tackle people-smuggling operations responsible for sending migrants across the English Channel in small boats. UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser signed a “joint action plan” in London to strengthen intelligence sharing and cross-border cooperation. Under the agreement, Berlin will make facilitating migrant smuggling to the UK a specific criminal offence. Many of the dinghies used for Channel crossings are stored in Germany. “These criminal gangs who organise dangerous small boats…

Most New Zealanders are still keen on using physical cash, a Reserve Bank consultation has found.The recent call for feedback on digital cash drew the highest response the bank has received, a statement from the bank said.The responses showed large numbers of people remained committed to physical currency.”Kiwis say cash is crucial and current payment options are not delivering what customers want,” the bank said.What’s digital cash?The Reserve Bank has been exploring a proposal to make cash available in a digital format.Digital currency would be issued by the Reserve Bank and hold the same value as the traditional banknotes and…

In this edition, we look at EU Member States’ decision to adopt a recommendation reducing exposure to secondhand smoke in certain outdoor spaces. The aim is to not only ban traditional cigarettes, but also inhaled tobacco products. ADVERTISEMENTNearly one-third of all cancers are attributed to tobacco use, including exposure to secondhand smoke. The EU’s executive branch made a recommendation, adopted this month by Member States, to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke in some outdoor spaces. However, each of the 27 governments will have full discretion over how to implement it in the next five years.”There were some Member States that…