Author: Press Room

Three people have died in separate crashes in the North Island yesterday and this morning. A person died following a crash between a vehicle and a dirt bike in Auckland’s Takanini shortly after 8.30pm yesterday. Emergency services were called to the scene on Mill Rd, where the person was pronounced deceased at the scene.The serious crash unit attended and inquiries to determine the circumstances of the crash were ongoing.Police appeal after crash near PahiatuaAnother incident yesterday occurred on State Highway 2 near Pahiatua, east of Palmerston North, where one person died after a flatbed truck and a car collided.Emergency services…

Start counting the various groups and organisations Madison Duffy is involved in and you quickly start to run out of fingers. But there is a common thread; Ms Duffy (23), who is completing a bachelor of entrepreneurship at the University of Otago, is passionate about entrepreneurship, and that flows through to all her extra-curricular activities. She has recently been appointed operations assistant for the Global Entrepreneurship Network (NZ), the national affiliate of the Global Entrepreneurship Network which operates programmes in 200 countries. The organisation is aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. The…

A deputy principal from Onslow College in Wellington is on leave, while the police have confirmed they have received a complaint about a school staff member and are making inquiries.The school told parents it was “undertaking a process” concerning Connor Baird, one of five deputy principals at the college, who was currently on leave.The note to parents, sent on Wednesday morning and signed off by the principal and two board chairs, addressed a recent media query about “rumours circulating in our community relating to Deputy Principal Mr Baird, who is currently on leave”.”Onslow College is undertaking a process that ensures…

ADVERTISEMENTThe first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 ended after less than two hours on Friday. No agreement was reached concerning a full 30-day ceasefire and Moscow reportedly demanded Kyiv withdraw from four regions it invaded. Ukrainian media reported these four regions were Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – none of which Russia fully controls According to both delegations, the two sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each – the largest such swap since the war began. Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan said both sides have agreed “in principle” to meet again. Chief…

The return of Hillside Workshops is a statement of the government’s “belief in the city of Dunedin”, deputy prime minister Winston Peters says. The refurbished South Dunedin railway workshops, which were first constructed in the 1870s, were officially reopened yesterday. KiwiRail had closed the facility more than a decade ago. Mr Peters told media yesterday the reopening of the workshops was a “tremendous day” for Dunedin, the city’s workforce and the South Island. “What you’re seeing here will be here for the next 50 years. “It’s very wise expenditure and it’s a statement about our belief in the South Island,…

A man was arrested in Auckland this morning as part of an FBI investigation into a group alleged to have scammed several victims out of NZ$450 million in cryptocurrency. It was alleged cryptocurrency had been fraudulently obtained by manipulating seven victims between March and August 2024. The proceeds were then laundered through multiple cryptocurrency platforms. The offenders allegedly spent millions of dollars on exotic cars, hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxury handbags, watches and clothing, nightclub services, private security guards and rental homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Miami.”Over the past three days, search warrants have been executed…

ADVERTISEMENTEuropean Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen presented his simplification plan for the agricultural sector during a meeting organised by Euronews. The European Commission unveiled the plan, which aims to simplify the European Union’s agricultural rulebook, on Wednesday in Brussels. The measures are designed to reduce what the Commission sees as unnecessary administrative burdens in implementing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the EU’s farming subsidy framework.Hansen believes the proposed strategy should serve all stakeholders. The plan, therefore, aims to reduce the administrative burden for farmers and member states. “What is felt to be an administrative burden on the farm is not…

Rotorua, the birthplace of New Zealand tourism. Iconic for its history, culture and geothermal wonders — it’s also an adventure seeker’s playground. The city has worked to rebuild from the effects of closed borders and a heavily criticised emergency housing approach. In the wake of the country’s biggest visitor industry event Trenz, held this month in the city, Local Democracy Reporting looks at Rotorua’s path to tourism recovery.Five years ago, lives changed as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold and the world’s people stayed home.For Rotorua, which relied heavily on tourists, it was a blow.But now, the New Zealand Prime Minister…

ADVERTISEMENTRomanians will go to the polls on Sunday to choose between hard-right candidate George Simion and pro-European independent Nicușor Dan, in a presidential election redo expected to shape the country’s future.After coming fourth in last year’s cancelled race, Simion, the 38-year-old leader of the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) party, has been backed by surprise winner, ultranationalist Calin Georgescu, who was banned in March from standing in the repeat. Simion then surged to become the frontrunner in the 4 May first round, winning 40.5% of the vote, including a massive 61% of the Romanian diaspora’s ballots.Simion says he…

The Commerce Commission has identified seven more children’s products it considers unsafe as part of its ongoing investigation into bargain store Panda Mart.The items — a baby walker, doll, smartphone toy, fairy cake toy, sunscreen product and two car toys — have been added to a list of 40 children’s goods the commission declared to be unsafe in December.Recall notices have been issued for the 47 items sold in Panda Mart’s stores in Auckland and Christchurch.The commission has made “legally binding commitments” with Panda Mart for the first time, meaning the outlet needed to halt sales of the products identified…