Author: Press Room

Kawerau is, once again, suffering from unpleasant odours — this time described as a chemical smell like burning rubber or plastic.People have reported having trouble breathing from the smell, which has haunted the town since Sunday and was continuing to disturb the community on Tuesday.Fingers have been pointed at people burning rubbish and the town’s industrial sector, but Bay of Plenty Regional Council, which has responded to the reports, said yesterday afternoon that it was still investigating.Compliance team leader Trudy Richards said, since Sunday, the council had received 26 calls to its 24/7 Pollution Hotline regarding strong, unpleasant odours.”The first…

ADVERTISEMENT Jens Eskelund, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, warned of a sharp rise in Chinese exports to Europe following Washington’s announcement of sweeping import tariffs in April.  “We have seen in the first half of the year how exports from China to North America have been declining. So I think you could perhaps term it a trade diversion, but I don’t think it’s the whole story,” he told Euronews in an interview on Tuesday. Eskelund pointed to three main drivers behind the export surge — the competitiveness of Chinese firms, a weaker currency, and strong state…

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has shrugged off being lowly-ranked by big business leaders and says he isn’t worried by chatter about his leadership. The Prime Minister and his Finance Minister, Nicola Willis, were ranked 15th and 13th respectively out of Cabinet ratings in the NZ Herald’s annual Mood of the Boardroom, released today.Luxon scored 2.96 while Willis scored 3.09 out of 5, where one would be “not impressive” while five was “very impressive”. Instead, top-ranking ministers included Erica Stanford, Winston Peters and Chris Bishop, who scored 4.38, 3.82 and 3.80, respectively.Responses from 150 chief executives and business leaders inform the…

Acclaimed Italian actor Claudia Cardinale, who starred in some of the most celebrated European films of the 1960s and 1970s, has died, AFP reported Tuesday. She was 87.She starred in more than 100 films and made-for-television productions, but she was best known for embodying youthful purity in Federico Fellini’s 8½, in which she co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni in 1963.Cardinale also won praise for her role as Angelica Sedara in Luchino Visconti’s award-winning screen adaption of the historical novel The Leopard that same year and a reformed prostitute in Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western Once Upon a Time in the West in…

Analysis: The new Reserve Bank boss has a heck of a job on her hands, writes 1News business correspondent Jason Walls.Dr Anna Breman smashed the central bank’s glass ceiling today, after Nicola Willis named her Governor. She’s the first female at the head of the Reserve Bank in its almost 100-year history.She’s got her work cut out for her when it comes to navigating New Zealand through troubled economic waters, and pressure is building on the Reserve Bank to cut its rates to bolster sluggish economic growth.Breman will need to hit the ground running when she starts in December. But…

By Nona Pelletier of RNZ The latest Treasury outlook on New Zealand’s fiscal future indicates current government polices are not suitable for the long-term and change is required. Treasury’s 2025 Long-term Fiscal Statement, which looks 40 years out, has been warning for 20 years that population ageing will place increasing pressure on New Zealand’s long-term fiscal position. Population ageing remains a significant long-term fiscal challenge.Despite favourable economic tailwinds in the past 20 years, New Zealand’s debt is higher than anticipated.It is vital New Zealand closes its structural fiscal deficit sooner rather than later.Fiscal pressures will accelerate in coming decades with…

The parent company of Kathmandu and Rip Curl has posted a shock $93.6 million statutory loss – its worst in at least a decade.KMD Brands said when excluding a $45.5 million non-cash writedown of its Oboz footwear business and other items, it still lost $28.3 million on an underlying basis for the year to July 31.KMD said it was once again not paying shareholders a dividend, as it hasn’t since 2023, and was taking steps to carefully manage capital.KMD announced earlier this month it was closing 21 stores, mostly outside Australia, out of its global portfolio of 328 company-owned Kathmandu…

Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television today after a nearly weeklong suspension and nearly broke down in tears, saying he wasn’t trying joke about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.“I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said, his voice breaking. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”Kimmel added: “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for…

Tributes for Te Ariki Sir Tumu Te Heuheu Tūkino VIII, the paramount chief of central North Island-based iwi Ngāti Tuwharetoa, are pouring in following his death early on Tuesday morning. He was 84.A statement from the Kiingitanga on behalf of Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po expressed her “profound sorrow” at Sir Tumu’s death. She acknowledged the “deep whakapapa”, “mutual respect” and “enduring bond” between the Kiingitanga and Ngāti Tūwharetoa.”A steadfast pillar of strength and mana within te ao Maaori,” the statement read, “Ngāti Tuuwharetoa has long stood as an enduring support to Kiingitanga. Under three decades…

ADVERTISEMENT Italy’s right-wing government will not recognise the state of Palestine, despite several other EU member states moving to do so this week – but Premier Giorgia Meloni’s stance appears at odds with Italian public sentiment and triggered a wave of protests in Italian cities. A general strike took place on Monday across Italy involving around 500,000 people, in response to “the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, the blockade of humanitarian aid by the Israeli army and the threats against the international Global Sumud Flotilla mission”, as a statement from the USB trade union federation stated. Recognising Palestine is one of the requests…