Author: Press Room

ADVERTISEMENTThe European Union has agreed to provide emergency funds to help keep Radio Free Europe afloat after the Trump administration stopped grants to the pro-democracy media outlet, accusing it of promoting a news agenda with a liberal bias.Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty started broadcasting during the Cold War.Its programs are aired in 27 languages in 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.Its lawyers have been fighting the administration’s decision in court.EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc’s foreign ministers had agreed to a €5.5 million contract to “support the vital work of Radio Free Europe.”The “short-term…

Silver Fern Farms says its focus on emissions reduction is driven by what its customers and markets want. “It’s not about the Paris Climate Accord or domestic methane targets. It’s wholeheartedly driven by the markets you need to be in,” chief executive Dan Boulton told shareholders attending yesterday’s annual meeting of Silver Fern Farms Co-operative in Dunedin. Many high-value customers were addressing their own emissions reduction targets while many farmers were also implementing changes on farm to improve efficiencies and reduce emissions. Some might call it woke, but the company’s view was that given New Zealand farmers’ track record of…

A rare endemic plant has been rediscovered in the Wellington area after it was believed extinct in the region for more than a century.Te pua o te Rēinga, also known as wood rose or Dactylanthus taylorii, was found near Wainuiomata and is the first time the species had been observed in the wild in Wellington since 1914.Plants had previously been transplanted from Pureora Forest in Waikato to the Zealandia wildlife refuge in Wellington in 2020.Greater Wellington ecosystems and community manager David Boone said a bird specialist was not looking for the plant but stumbled across several clusters in an area…

Published on 20/05/2025 – 19:41 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTUkrainians are pessimistic of an imminent peace deal after a long-awaited phone call on Monday between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin failed to make any significant breakthroughs.Residents in Kyiv were downbeat about the prospects of a peace deal before summer.”(Peace) is possible closer to the autumn, not now, (Putin) will stall for time,” one Kyiv resident told Euronews, adding that the Russian war machine needed to be worn down further before peace could be attained.Another resident of Kyiv expressed anger at the delay in the commencement of talks between Putin…

He described yesterday simply as Dog Tucker Day. After 17 years as a director of Silver Fern Farms, and more than 11 of those as chairman, Rob Hewett officially stepped down at 1pm from his governance roles with the company, which he estimated equated to 38% of his total life. “I’m so proud of this company. I’m going to miss it like hell,” he said. Reminiscing on his tenure, following the conclusion of Silver Fern Farms Co-operative’s annual meeting in Dunedin yesterday, Mr Hewett said he joined the board as a “very green” 38-year-old director. Since then, revenue had trebled,…

Published on 20/05/2025 – 18:39 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTThe European Union agreed on Tuesday to lift all remaining economic sanctions on Syria, hoping the relief will ease access to financial funds and speed up the war-battered country’s recovery after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship in December.”We want to help the Syrian people rebuild a new, inclusive and peaceful Syria. The EU has always stood by Syrians throughout the last 14 years – and will keep doing so,” High Representative Kaja Kallas said at the end of a meeting of foreign affairs ministers.The bloc’s decision comes less than a week after Donald Trump,…

For a long time, New Zealand’s cheapest petrol was often found at Gull Ātiamuri. But now, fuel price monitoring site Gaspy says it is U-GO Waikaraka, Auckland, that has the cheapest gas – and Gull is not the outlier it once was.On Monday, U-GO was selling 91 petrol for $229.7, Gaspy said.While Gull was credited with shaking up competition in the fuel sector through the “Gull effect” when it opened stations around the country, Gaspy director Mike Newton said that impact had been more muted recently.”In the past four months, the gap between the national average price for 91 and…

The remains of a Russian stuntman who had been missing for nearly 23 years have been formally identified thanks to useful information sent in by the public, police say.Artour Melikov was 36 when he was reported missing on September 10, 2002. Police located his vehicle at the Jellicoe Reserve, 400 metres north of Bulli Point at Lake Taupō.There was no sign of Melikov and police established he had not been seen since leaving Auckland two days prior.Before vanishing, he had worked on the locally-produced series Xena: Warrior Princess.On January 9, 2025, police were called to a holiday park at Motutere,…

Napier City Council has confirmed it is reviewing its structure and is consulting with staff on a proposal to reshape its operation.While it wouldn’t confirm the number of staff involved, three separate sources have told Local Democracy Reporting the proposal impacts more than 100 jobs.While restructures were not uncommon in local government, a source told Local Democracy Reporting the scale of this one was significant, and many staff, some with decades of service, had been told their positions may no longer exist.“What’s more concerning is that staff were reportedly warned not to speak to the media, raising questions about transparency…

Published on 20/05/2025 – 14:58 GMT+2•Updated 15:08ADVERTISEMENTEuropean Union’s budget Commissioner sought to reassure farmers protesting outside the institution’s headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday for the first time in almost a year.Farmers oppose a Commission plan to consolidate different EU funding streams, such as the bloc’s farming, regional subsidy and research funds, into a single budgetary pot.While the idea has not yet been formally proposed, they fear the dismantling of the common agriculture policy (CAP), particularly of its support for rural development.During an exchange on the sidelines of the protest witnessed by Euronews, budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin met with farmers’ representatives. Farmers…