Author: Press Room
A man has been arrested and charged after a three-month-old baby in the Hutt Valley was taken to hospital with nine fractures. Police were called on June 14 after the baby girl was admitted to hospital. Fractures were found on her ribcage, ankle and upper arm.An investigation was launched by Wellington police’s child protection team. Today, police revealed a 23-year-old man had been arrested on July 31 and charged with four counts of assaulting a child.Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Wescott said the charges were related to the more “minor” injuries the baby sustained.”We are committed to establishing the full circumstances…
More official cash rate cuts could be on the cards after unemployment was reported at the highest level since 2020 today.Stats NZ numbers showed the unemployment rate rising to 5.2% in the three months ended June, from 5.1% in the previous quarter.That was a little less than was expected but economists said it still showed that there was significant “excess capacity” in the economy which should keep inflation in check.ANZ economists said there was even the possibility that businesses could shed “hoarded labour” over the rest of this year.They said there was evidence that some had been holding on to…
ADVERTISEMENT The number of customers in the European Union and the United Kingdom on online gambling platforms reached 38.6 million last year, representing a 19% increase from the 32.5 million recorded in 2023, according to the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA). While this is an upward trend over the past five years, the number of people looking for help to stop gambling addiction across Europe has also increased. Data from The Lancet from 2024 claims that 54.7 million men worldwide experienced gambling disorders or problematic gambling, compared to 25.3 million women. Gambling can lead to serious harms to health,…
A woman who defied conservation law by taking several dogs into Tongariro National Park and posting photos publicly on social media, including one holding a pooch in front of a “no dogs” sign, has been fined $400.Several images were shared to Facebook last month showing dogs playing in the snow within the boundaries of the dual World Heritage-listed national park. In response to a comment on the post, the woman wrote: “My dogs loved loved it was a good few minutes of joy well worth being a law breaker (sic).” The post was later deleted.Under legislation, dogs were not allowed…
More than 100 leg-hold traps have been discovered in a popular Invercargill reserve, prompting warnings from council that people and animals could be seriously harmed. Invercargill City Council manager of parks and recreation Caroline Rain said staff were alerted to the presence of the traps at Sandy Point by a member of the public on Tuesday.”Our rangers acted quickly and, on searching, retrieved more than 100 traps over a large area following the report.”Rain said the council was “extremely disappointed” to see the traps put in a public place where it could endanger visitors, including young children and dogs.”Leg-hold traps…
ADVERTISEMENT Europe’s ecosystems should be functioning again by 2050. The EU’s renaturation regulation requires the rewetting of some agricultural areas. Restoring moors is good for climate protection and biodiversity, because living moors serve as carbon sinks. For comparison: Forests cover one third of our planet’s land surface, moors three per cent. And yet moors bind twice as much carbon as all the forests on earth! However, when moors are drained, the millennia-old carbon reservoirs are transformed into CO2 emitters. In order to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the EU is promoting the research, mapping and renaturation of wetlands. The EU law on…
Swedish furniture giant Ikea has shared a first glimpse of some of the products on offer when it opens its doors in New Zealand later this year.The store is scheduled to open at Auckland’s Sylvia Park, with the retailer targeting a Christmas launch, Kiwi Property chairperson Simon Shakesheff confirmed last month.Ahead of its launch, Ikea NZ home furnishing and retail design manager Edward Hincks revealed five items that would be on shelves in Aotearoa, after research explored what New Zealanders might want from the home furnishings chain. The products were selected after Ikea commissioned a Life at Home Report New…
Police have renewed an appeal for the identities of others involved in the murder of Kyle Whorrall at an Auckland bus stop earlier this year.The 33-year-old American PhD student was attacked in Auckland’s St John on April 19 and later died in hospital.Whorrall was in New Zealand pursuing his doctorate in entomology at the University of Auckland.A 16-year-old was charged with his murder, while a 33-year-old woman was charged with being an accessory to murder.Both pleaded not guilty with a trial date set for August 2026.Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin said it was “time to do the right thing” for others…
A social housing initiative — described as ”like flatting for older people” — is a step closer to becoming a reality in North Canterbury.The Waimakariri District Council agreed to enter into an agreement to support and provide land for an Abbeyfields house to be built in Rangiora, at a meeting on Tuesday.An Abbeyfields house offers supported housing for single older people of limited means.Addressing the council meeting, Abbeyfield Waimakariri Incorporated chairperson Valda Reveley said it was “like flatting for older people”.She said granting the lease would allow her organisation to get on with raising the funds it needed to build…
A kuia has been left devastated after Hobson’s Pledge used her image in a billboard campaign against Māori wards.“I feel trampled. I did not do any of those. I did not give anyone permission to use my mug, my moko kauae.”Ellen Tamati spoke to Aukaha News about her experience. She said she was woken up in the middle of the night by her mokopuna who had spotted one of the billboards.“[My mokopuna] kept ringing and ringing to wake me up and she told me what was happening. I didn’t know what she was talking about, I had no idea. I…