Author: Press Room

The country’s roading authority is to turn down the lights in Kaikōura.Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency will begin replacing the old-style sodium lights along State Highway 1, between Killarney St and Mill Rd, with LED lights from next month.The announcement follows the district’s international dark sky sanctuary accreditation, which was announced by Dark Sky International in September last year.The motivation behind the dark sky status bid was to protect the endangered Hutton’s shearwater birds/tītī, as the birds regularly crash land in the town after becoming disorientated by street lights.NZTA has commissioned MainPower and its subcontractor Power Jointing Ltd to replace…

Gamers will soon be able to explore some of NZ’s most popular tourism destinations — walking part of the Abel Tasman and gazing at the night sky from Lake Tekapo — in the cube-shaped world of Minecraft.Six locations could be downloaded from the Minecraft store this week as part of an initiative with Tourism New Zealand, introducing New Zealand and te ao Māori to millions of players around the world, in the hope some would follow the virtual visit with a real one.The first playable destinations within the game were offered ahead of the release of the live-action film A…

New Zealand’s economy has rebounded more strongly than expected out of recession, on the back of improved agricultural production and tourism spending. Stats NZ data shows gross domestic product – the broad measure of economic growth – rose 0.7% in the three months ended December, to be 1.1% lower than a year ago. Expectations had been for quarterly growth of 0.3%, and and annual contraction of 1.3%, after the previous two quarters of contraction. “Higher spending by international visitors led to increased activity in tourism related industries such as accommodation, restaurants and bars, transport and vehicle hiring,” spokesperson Katrina Dewbery…

A former Eminem studio engineer was charged today with stealing the Detroit rapper’s unreleased music and selling it online, federal prosecutors announced.Investigators say more than 25 songs have been played or distributed online without the consent of Eminem or Interscope Capital Labels Group, which owns Eminem’s music. The music was stored on password-protected hard drives kept in a safe at Eminem’s studio in Ferndale, a Detroit suburb, according to an FBI affidavit.Joseph Strange, 46, of Holly, Michigan, was charged via a criminal complaint with copyright infringement and interstate transportation of stolen goods, Acting US Attorney Julie Beck in Detroit said.…

Breaking up the major entities in the supermarket sector would be a quick way for the government to reintroduce competition and lower food prices. While waiting for an an international brand to establish itself in New Zealand could take years. By Lisa M. Katerina Asher, Catherine Sutton-Brady and Drew Franklin.New Zealand’s concentrated supermarket sector is back in the spotlight after Finance Minister Nicola Willis said she was open to offering “VIP treatment” to a third international player willing to create competition.However, New Zealanders hoping for a foreign hero to break up the current supermarket concentration will be waiting a long…

By Craig McCulloch of RNZ  Travellers calling for non-stop flights between New Zealand and India now have a date on which to pin their hopes – but it is still more than three years away. The airline announcement was unveiled at a Tourism NZ reception attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the grand Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai early this morning (NZ time). Luxon also found time to meet with popular Bollywood stars Aamir Khan, Vidya Balan, producer Siddharth Roy Kapur, entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala and filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker. “The film scene brings money into our economy which creates…

In 2001, 91% of Southland’s population was Pākehā. Only 0.9% was Asian. Twenty years later, that’s grown to 7% Asian, with more than a third of those being Filipino.When Southland’s dairy farming sector had massive labour shortages in the early 2000s, Filipino dairy workers came to fill those gaps.Filipinos came with the hopes for a better life, not just for themselves, but also for their families.Guillermo Tolentino was 25 years old when he moved to Southland in 2003. He says he was the second Filipino dairy worker in the region — the first was his friend, who helped him get…

The appointment of Samuel Migaľ as the new minister of investments and regional development was a result of a deal agreed on by three parties in the governing coalition headed by Prime Minister Robert Fico. ADVERTISEMENTSlovakia’s president has sworn in a new minister of investments and regional development, completing a reshuffle that keeps a parliamentary majority for the government. The appointment of Samuel Migaľ was a result of a deal agreed on by three parties in governing coalition to increase the power of the Smer (Direction) party of Prime Minister Robert Fico.Under the agreement, the coalition’s two junior partners — the Hlas…

Rock legends ZZ Top have added a South Island date to their upcoming May tour of New Zealand. The band will play at Christchurch’s Wolfbrook Arena on Thursday, May 15. The Christchurch show will be followed by others at Auckland’s Spark Arena on May 17 and Wellington’s TSB Arena on May 18. Live Nation and ticket agent pre-sales for the Christchurch show go live at 12pm on Monday, March 24 until 12pm on Tuesday, March 25. General tickets go on sale at 1pm on Tuesday March 25 on Live Nation’s website. The group will be supported by George Thorogood and…

We’ve all been there. Unloading bone dry dishes from the dishwasher but finding the plastic items still wet. What the heck is going on? Kamil Zuber explains why it happens and what you can do to reduce it. It’s annoying to open your dishwasher after the cycle is finished only to find half of the dishes still wet. Instead of being able to stack them away, you end up with a full drying rack.And you’ve probably noticed it’s always plastic items that end up the most wet. What’s going on?The answer is a bit convoluted and requires some materials and…