Author: Press Room

Last week, Italy formally opened two return hub centres in Albania under Rome’s jurisdiction, where it plans to process thousands of asylum-seekers outside its borders. But the plan has proved controversial, especially among human rights campaigners. ADVERTISEMENTFrance’s Prime Minister Michel Barnier has said he doesn’t think the deal Italy has made with Albania to send asylum seekers there for processing will work in France.”I don’t think this example can be transposed (to France),” Barnier told reporters in Menton, a French town near the border with Italy.Barnier also said that the Albania deal wouldn’t work in France because of legal reasons.Last…

The owner of two retirement homes in Cromwell is looking to make changes, with jobs on the line, but says residents are at the centre of any decision. Nothing has been decided upon and nor have a specific number of jobs been targeted. Consultation on the changes will continue until early next month. Christchurch-based Promisia Healthcare Ltd bought the Golden View and Ripponburn villages in Cromwell in April this year for a combined total of $33 million. Promisia Healthcare Ltd said in April, when announcing the purchase from private operators, Golden View comprised a 79-bed care facility that included a…

Keeping young New Zealanders in the country — or encouraging them back when they leave — will be vital to help the country balance the books in the future.But economists say offering them a tax cut, as Portugal is, is unlikely to be the solution.The Portuguese government is cutting taxes for people under 35 to encourage locals to stay and young migrants to move to Portugal.It is one of many countries around the world facing an older population becoming more expensive while, at the same time, the working age population paying the bills grows smaller.It was an issue highlighted by…

The Green Party’s bid to oust former its former MP Darleen Tana from Parliament, under the waka-jumping legislation, is now in the hands of Speaker Gerry Brownlee.If he gives his assent, Tana will exit Parliament and the Greens will welcome new MP Benjamin Doyle in her place, party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said.Doyle is of Ngāpuhi and Pākehā descent and stood for the party in the Hamilton West electorate at the 2023 general election.They were 18th on the Green Party list at that election.Following a delayed meeting, delegates last night voted to use party hopping legislation against their former MP. (Source:…

If the South Korean intelligence is confirmed, the troop deployment would bring a third country into the war and intensify the standoff between North Korea and the West. ADVERTISEMENTFrance has said it is concerned about growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea after the South’s spy agency said Pyongyang had sent troops to fight in Ukraine.”An increase in North Korean cross-cooperation and military support for the Russian war effort in Ukraine is very worrying,” foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said.If the South Korean intelligence is confirmed, the troop deployment would bring a third country into the war and intensify…

The owner of two retirement homes in Cromwell is looking to make changes, with jobs on the line, but says residents are at the centre of any decision. Nothing has been decided upon and nor have a specific number of jobs been targeted. Consultation on the changes will continue until early next month. Christchurch-based Promisia Healthcare Ltd bought the Golden View and Ripponburn villages in Cromwell in April this year for a combined total of $33 million. Promisia Healthcare Ltd said in April, when announcing the purchase from private operators, Golden View comprised a 79-bed care facility that included a…

New Zealand has escalated its long-running dairy trade dispute with Canada by informing its government counterparts it is triggering compulsory negotiations.Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay alerted the Canadian government and other members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) early this morning of the developments.Under CPTPP dispute settlement process, mandatory negotiations must commence within 15 days of notification.In September 2023, New Zealand won a trade dispute, which found Canada was breaching the agreement by blocking dairy exporters’ access to the Canadian market.Canada had until May to change how it administered tariff rate quotas but, after it…

Another solid year despite a challenging macroeconomic environment is how Scott Technology interim chief executive Aaron Vanwalleghem describes the company’s full-year results. This week, the automation and robotics solutions provider announced its results for the year ended August 31, which showed a 3% increase on last year’s record revenue to $276 million, and stable operating ebitda of $30m. After-tax net profit was down 50% to $7.7m which it attributed to one-off strategic costs, higher lease and financing costs and change in tax legislation relating to building depreciation. Part of that cost had been around setting the business up for future…

Ōtāhuhu College students sang uplifting waiata, mingling their voices with mana whenua gathered in Te Taahuhu as the community celebrated the gifting of 21 te reo Māori names for sites around the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board area.The Māngere Ōtāhuhu Local Board, alongside mana whenua from Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua, Ngāti Tamaoho, and Te Ākitai Waiohua were present for the blessing, and local board chair Tauanu’u Nick Bakulich says the Māori names and narratives enrich and honour the area’s cultural heritage.“The whakarewatanga ceremony was a powerful and moving event led by mana whenua,” he says.“This initiative not only celebrates our Māori community…

Three months after a bid of liquidation failed, Dunedin’s last remaining chocolatiers are here to stay. Tim Scott hands in his golden ticket and takes a behind-the-scenes look inside the Ocho craft chocolate factory. Kyle Milner is no Willy Wonka. The brown top hat has been traded for a black hair net, and there is not an Oompa Loompa to be seen. But as he leads me through the doors to the Roberts St chocolate factory and a luscious aroma of cocoa fills my nostrils, he might as well be. “I don’t smell the chocolate any more,” he says. The chocolate-maker and head of production at Dunedin craft…