Author: Press Room

One of the climbers missing on Aoraki Mount Cook is an “accomplished” professional climber who taught others in the industry about snow and mountain safety, a colleague has said. The search for Kurt Blair, 56, and Carlos Romero, 50, from the US, and a Canadian national was launched on Monday after they were reported overdue. The operation has been on hold since late Monday due to the weather, and the search is now considered unlikely to resume until at least tomorrow.Michael Ackerman, executive director of the Silverton Avalanche School in Colorado, where Blair worked, said the missing climber is a…

The European Commission has set the volume of emissions allowances to be auctioned in the first year of a potentially controversial scheme that could push up fuel prices. ADVERTISEMENTGreenhouse gas output from fossil fuels for road transport and heating buildings will be capped at just over a billion tonnes a year, with suppliers having to compete in a new carbon market for emissions allowances in a system set to drive up fuel prices unless governments take swift action to cut demand.The scheme, due to start in 2027, is similar to the EU emissions trading system (ETS) launched almost 20 years…

The jury in the Yanfei Bao murder trial has retired to consider its verdict.Justice Lisa Preston summed up the case against the accused, Tingjun Cao, at the High Court in Christchurch today.She told the jury it was her duty to pose two questions.”Has the Crown made you sure that Tingjun Cao was the person who repeatedly stabbed Yanfei Bao causing her death, and if so are you sure he had murderous intent?” she said.The jury began deliberations just after 3pm. The case is in its seventh week.

The historical drama series Say Nothing depicts veteran Irish republican Marian Price shooting dead Jean McConville in 1972 during The Troubles. ADVERTISEMENTThe veteran Irish republican and convicted bomber Marian Price is suing Disney+ for defamation after its hit TV show Say Nothing depicted her shooting dead Jean McConville, which was one of the most controversial murders of The Troubles.The historical drama series, based on the book of the same name by Patrick Radden Keefe, portrays the abduction, murder and secret burial of McConville — a widowed mother-of-10 — by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1972.Price, 70, who is also…

The man charged with murdering Christchurch mother Yanfei Bao has been found guilty.The jury returned the verdict after just over an hour-and-a-half of deliberation. Tingjun Cao remained straight faced as the verdict was handed down.Nearly 80 witnesses were called during the six-and-a-half week trial, including Bao’s partner Paul Gooch. The Crown case was that Cao attacked the real estate agent at a house she was showing him in Hornby in July last year.Tingjun Cao, 53, was found guilty on Thursday afternoon of murdering the 44-year-old Christchurch real estate agent. (Source: 1News)In closing the case Crown Prosecutor Pip Currie said “this…

Most EU countries still have a long way to go in achieving energy independence, but the bloc excels in cleanliness and efficiency. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Union has only recently begun its journey to become a more energy-autonomous bloc.The reduction in gas imports from Russia — from 40% to 8% — following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine has largely been compensated by countries like the US and Norway, rather than domestic production, as re-elected EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen aims to secure more liquefied natural gas from the US.The EU’s limited self-sufficiency is described as a “critical vulnerability” by the…

Four water suppliers which draw water from the Waikato River have returned arsenic results that meet New Zealand’s drinking water standards.The suppliers involved include Waipā District Council, Hamilton City Council, Waikato District Council, and Watercare.Last week, an elevated level of arsenic was found in two drinking water suppliers which treat water from the Waikato River.Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai head of operations Steve Taylor today expressed cautious optimism about the results.”The results have been heading in the right direction for several days and are now within the acceptable range,” he said in a joint media release with the affected…

French NGO Bloom warns against a “health scandal of vast proportions” over mercury levels in tinned tuna. Their inquiry, published in October, echoed all over the world. Is it going to prompt a change in European legislation? ADVERTISEMENTThe NGO Bloom randomly tested 148 tuna cans from five European countries, finding mercury contamination in all of them. One out of ten exceeded authorized levels for fresh tuna. Some samples contained even four times the permitted threshold. Their report reignited the debate over food security in Europe.The main author is a 25-year-old biochemist, Julie Guterman. She didn’t only work on tuna samples,…

Humanities and social sciences research funding will be slashed under the Government’s cuts to the Marsden Fund.The Science, Innovation and Technology Minister announced the cuts to the Marsden Fund — a grant for scientific research, with proposals judged by independent panels — this afternoon.Minister Judith Collins said humanities and social sciences would no longer be supported, and the panels would be disbanded by next year.Areas such as physics, chemistry, maths, engineering and biomedical sciences made more of an impact on the economy, she said.”The government has been clear in its mandate to rebuild our economy. We are focused on a…

Ukraine’s allies should show Moscow that sabotage “won’t be tolerated,” says senior European diplomat. ADVERTISEMENTRussia was behind up to 100 “suspicious incidents” in Europe this year, the Czech top diplomat has said. The warning comes amid reports that Moscow is increasingly seeking to undermine Ukraine’s allies through cyber, arson and other forms of attack. Speaking to reporters shortly before a meeting with his NATO counterparts in Brussels on Wednesday, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský said Europe must not tolerate such actions. “This year there were 500 suspicious incidents in Europe. Up to 100 of them can be attributed to Russian…