Author: Press Room

A passenger on board an Air New Zealand flight at the centre of a bomb scare says they only found out when they saw a news broadcast about the plane they were sitting in.Flight NZ247 arrived from Wellington at about 5.40pm local time (7.40pm NZT) on Saturday, with a tactical operations unit, paramedics and firefighters all called to the scene, 9News reported. The plane had 154 staff and passengers on board, the channel reported.Wellington’s Penny Nel was on the flight, heading to Sydney to see her daughter and her husband — she had not seen them since before the Covid-19…

Polls put support for EU membership in Moldova at around 60%, but a minimum turnout of 33% is needed for the referendum to be considered valid. ADVERTISEMENTPolls have opened across Moldova with voters making two crucial decisions: who should be their next president, and whether the country should join the European Union.Wherever they sit on the political spectrum, most Moldovans want higher wages and a better quality of life — but opinion is split on whether joining the EU will provide the bright future that supporters of the idea are promising.Some are sceptical that membership will deliver change, while others…

Spy movies are one thing, but state surveillance for this Kiwi activist has been all too real.The file on Maire Leadbeater was opened by the security services before she was even a teenager. Now, the veteran activist has written about the history of state surveillance in Aotearoa — and on her own family connections — in her new book The Enemy Within.”It is time for the state to stop spying on society’s critics,” she told Q+A. “I’m coming down with the conclusion that there are other ways in which we can approach those issues other than secretive, unaccountable security services…

Zayn Malik has postponed his tour following the death of Liam Payne as he comes to terms with the loss of his former One Direction bandmate.The 31-year-old pop star shot to fame alongside Payne as part of One Direction and had been due to take his debut solo concert Stairway To The Sky Tour on the road in October but has now decided to reschedule the US leg.On Sunday, he wrote on Instagram: “Given the heartbreaking loss experienced this week, I’ve made the decision to postpone the US leg of the Stairway To The Sky Tour. “The dates are being…

Police have confirmed they’ve previously called on the Defence Force to assist in the search for fugitive Marokopa father Tom Phillips and his three children.Outgoing Police Commissioner Andrew Coster revealed the presence of the Defence Force in the police investigation during an interview with Q+A earlier today.”I can assure you that support has been called on through the course of this operation,” Coster said, without elaborating on specific details of the military’s involvement.Footage of the group was shared for the first time since they went missing, after the group were spotted by young pig hunters earlier this month.Speaking to Q+A,…

On Friday, a spokesperson for the UN peacekeepers said they were maintaining their positions in southern Lebanon despite warnings from the Israeli military to move away. ADVERTISEMENTG7 defence ministers have expressed their concern for the safety and security of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon following a string of attacks by the Israeli military.In a joint statement issued after their first ever meeting in the Italian city of Naples, the G7 ministers said that the “protection of peacekeepers is incumbent upon all parties to a conflict.””We are concerned by the latest events in Lebanon and the risk of further escalation. We reiterate…

Two top health experts have called for more to be done to prepare for a potential future global pandemic, claiming there is a sense of “collective global amnesia” nearly five years on from Covid-19.An editorial published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, co-authored by former director-general of health Sir Ashley Bloomfield and Otago University professor David Murdoch, raises concerns about potential “gaps” in our pandemic preparedness.Titled “Pandemic prevention, preparedness and response: are we better off now than pre-Covid”, the editorial says New Zealand must prepare for the next pandemic as a national security issue as well as a health issue.”Despite…

Response to the Government’s tightening of the migrant exploitation visa has been mixed, with some in the sector saying it was needed and others saying it will come at a cost to both the country and vulnerable migrants.The Migration Exploitation Protection Work Visa (MEPV) was launched in July 2021 and was designed to help migrants leave exploitative situations quickly while remaining lawfully in New Zealand.It gave migrants time to find new employment, with the potential of an extension if they were unable to secure a job within six months.However, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said in an announcement that the current…

The new Thames St Smith & Smith building will open next week. The new business premises next to Hi Flo Plumbing comes after Hi Flo Group managing director Peter Ryder and his wife Helen bought the site 18 years ago from previous owner Gus Young. Mr Ryder said Hi Flo Plumbing, a family business of 50 years, had expanded by moving next door and the “timing was right” for the redevelopment of their old site. “When we were approached by Smith & Smith Glass, and following a few months including design and negotiations, we decided to push the green light…

The full terror of what happened in Whangārei’s Abbey Caves — and the acts of heroism that almost certainly saved students’ lives — has been revealed for the first time since the tragedy.On May 9, 2023, 17 outdoor education students from Whangārei Boys’ High School and two adults entered the cave complex on what was supposed to be an enjoyable day out.A torrential downpour while they were in the cave, on top of unseasonably heavy rain in preceding weeks, caused water levels to rise rapidly and led to the death of 15-year-old Karnin Petera, known to friends and family as…