Author: Press Room

Authorities said 46 other people were rescued from a heavily overloaded inflatable boat that got into difficulty. ADVERTISEMENTFrench maritime authorities pulled the bodies of two migrants from the English Channel on Wednesday, pushing the count of dead and missing in French waters so far this year to more than 50.Authorities said 46 other people were rescued from the aftermath of a failed attempt to cross the treacherous waterway between France and England aboard a heavily overloaded inflatable boat.While small boat crossings of the Channel have been a mounting problem in recent years, this year is proving to be particularly deadly.The…

Insurance premiums have “increased horrendously”, a Consumer NZ insurance expert says. Rebecca Styles told Morning Report the lack of competition was one reason for the high cost of insurance. House insurance premiums in New Zealand increased by 97 percent in the last 10 years, and over 30 percent this year, Styles said. “While it looks like there’s choice and you can shop around, there’s not really… they’re sort of different brands, but they’ll sort of go back to the main company,” she said. Another challenge specific to house insurance was getting the individual assessment required for each quote, which discouraged people from comparing…

Tauranga City Council’s decision to sell the Marine Precinct at Sulphur Point has been heavily criticised at a meeting this afternoon.The Council announced the sale of the precinct — established to support local fishing and the marine industries — in May. This decision was made prior to the Tauranga City Council’s first election since 2019, which was held in July this year.At the time of the sale, the previous council said it would “guarantee its future in bringing significant economic benefit to the wider community”.As part of the sale, the purchaser – a private, unknown buyer – is required to…

Valeo employees in Suze-sur-Sarthe are striking to save their jobs, as the automotive industry’s future in Europe remains in doubt due to competition and downsizing. ADVERTISEMENTDozens of funeral crosses line the road leading to the factory owned by car parts giant Valeo in northwestern France.Each one bears the names of the nearly 300 employees at risk of losing their jobs in the coming weeks.Since Monday night, the workers at this plant in Suze-sur-Sarthe — in a region where the automotive industry is vital for the local economy — are on strike. The site mainly produces battery cooling systems for electric vehicles…

A person who was taken to hospital in a critical condition after being stabbed onboard a bus in Auckland’s Onehunga has died of their injuries.”Police are making urgent enquiries to locate the offender who has been identified through CCTV footage,” police said in an update this evening.Emergency services were called to the route 74 bus on Church St at 2.30pm. Police Inspector Danny Meade said a passenger had been stabbed in a “grievous assault” on the bus.”It was a stabbing to the upper torso. The person is critically injured and is currently being taken care of at Auckland Hospital,” he…

The European Commission President has called on the bloc to look into so-called innovative solutions to stem the flow of irregular migrants, including the creation of return hubs outside the bloc to detain rejected asylum seekers awaiting deportation. ADVERTISEMENTMost of the political groups that supported Ursula von der Leyen’s re-election at the helm of the EU’s executive on Wednesday criticised her stance on the bloc’s migration policy. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the Socialists, Greens, and Renew Europe lambasted several key points outlined by the President of the Commission in a letter sent to the 27 EU leaders ahead of the last…

They say the apple does not fall far from the tree. But when it comes to Central Otago’s Rhoades family, the crumbs do not scatter far from the cookie. Chris Rhoades and his identical twin sons Tim and Tony all work in the Cookie Time business, based in Cromwell. Chris Rhoades is a finalist in the franchisee of the year — small business category — in this year’s New Zealand Franchise Awards which will be announced at a gala dinner at the Cordis Hotel in Auckland on November 9. The franchising sector contributed the equivalent of 12% of New Zealand’s…

The sight of a crop never grown before in New Zealand has been puzzling residents north of Kerikeri.The conversion of former dairy paddocks alongside State Highway 10 at Kapiro has sparked much conjecture in recent months about what the plants are, who’s growing them, and why.It turns out there’s a good reason even seasoned horticulturalists don’t recognise the young trees — hwangchil, a Korean medicinal plant, is new to New Zealand.The trees are being grown on a farm bought by Kerikeri resident Ilchi Lee, who is variously described as an author, a businessman and a spiritual leader.Hwangchil, a Korean medicinal…

The European Ombudsman has called for “concrete criteria” to suspend EU funds for Tunisia in case of human rights abuse. ADVERTISEMENTThe controversial deal signed between the European Union and Tunisia has come under renewed scrutiny over the human rights situation in the North African country and the lack of transparency on Brussels’ side.In a statement published on Wednesday, the European Ombudsman criticised the European Commission for failing to publish “any information” related to the risks it identified before signing the agreement in July 2023. This evaluation was done “carefully and diligently,” but fell short of the traditional human rights impact…

Two people have been arrested after allegedly attempting to sell a stolen barbecue in Hamilton – while parked in a disability car park.Police were called after the pair allegedly broke a window to enter a house in Fairfield around 3.30pm on Monday, setting off an alarm and alerting a passerby, who saw them running from the house carrying a television set.Witnesses spotted the pair ditch the television over a back hedge before fleeing in a white Holden vehicle which had been parked in the victim’s driveway, Inspector Andrea McBeth said.Police officers recognised the vehicle as suspicions had been reported about…