Author: Press Room
The US Secretary of Defence sought to clarify that his country was invested in peace after Trump explosively announced talks were to begin after speaking with Putin. ADVERTISEMENTUS Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on Thursday insisted that President Donald Trump’s rapid push for peace talks over Russia’s war in Ukraine was “not a betrayal” of Kyiv by one of its most important allies.”There is a recognition that the whole world and the US is invested in peace, in a negotiated peace,” Hegseth said ahead of a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. His comments come after he declared on…
There will be pies and Pita Pit on the menu for schools receiving meals from the free lunch programme Ka Ora, Ka Ako tomorrow, allowing the provider to “get on top of our food production”. In a statement provided to 1News on behalf of Compass that was also sent to schools, the provider said the School Lunch Collective had reached the end of its three-week menu and there will be a “departure from our standard menu”, with pies and cold Pita Pit being delivered.Special meals will be delivered as normal.The group running the programme said the change will enable them…
The alleged victim in what a military prosecutor says was a violent attack by two soldiers on a junior colleague can now be identified as a man who drowned in an unrelated incident last year.Gunner Nikau Minhinnick Gill died when trying to rescue his dog from the Manawatū River in Palmerston North in November. He was 21.His name was suppressed, but Judge Mina Wharepouri on Thursday removed the interim order in place at a Court Martial at Linton Military Camp near Palmerston North.A military panel was now deciding the fate of two soldiers accused of assaulting Gill, their junior colleague,…
Former U.S. President Donald Trump decided to suspend certain USAID programs worldwide, sparking a significant debate. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Commission can’t make up the shortfall left by Donald Trump’s recent decision to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and suspend its funding, according to an EU Commission official talking with Euronews.That’s what we’re focusing on in today’s Radio Schuman. How are European NGOs reacting? What measures can the EU take? we ask Euronews’ Marta Iraola Irribarren who broke the scoop and gives us some insights.USAID allocates billions of dollars annually to provide aid and medical supplies to millions…
By Nona Pelletier of RNZ The government says it will pull out all the stops to increase grocery competition but Monopoly Watch says it will probably require a break-up of the existing duopoly. The government said international supermarket chains and investors were interested in setting up shop in New Zealand and it was committing to helping them do it. Minister for Economic Growth Nicola Willis said the government was “dialling up the pressure” on New Zealand’s grocery duopoly and would make it easier for others to set-up and compete. Willis said consumers were paying among the highest prices in the…
The coalition negotiations have dragged on for four months after Austrians voted in September — the longest in the country’s history. ADVERTISEMENTThe leader of the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), Herbert Kickl, has called for “quick new elections” after coalition talks with his party and the centre-right People’s Party (ÖVP) collapsed on Wednesday. Kickl came first in elections held in September with 28% of the vote, however Austria’s other parties banded together in order to keep him and his party out of power. When those talks failed, Kickl was invited to hold coalition talks with the ÖVP.Yet negotiations between the pair…
MPs have gone head to head on health in a special debate about the recent resignation of Health New Zealand’s top boss.Margie Apa resigned as chief executive last Friday, shortly before Dr Nicholas Jones confirmed he would also step down as Director of Public Health.It followed Health Commissioner Lester Levy telling The Post newspaper he wanted a chief executive that did stuff, instead of writing about it.The Labour Party asked for an urgent debate on the developments on Tuesday, using it to take aim at the coalition’s handling of the health system.”What we know is that this government has continued…
Top economists have called for action on the pension age at a University of Waikato economics forum. ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner, ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley and Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen spoke as a panel on Thursday morning. Panel host Steven Joyce asked whether New Zealand’s current settings were right and whether the country was “in a box too much” with its thinking. Zollner said a place to start “unconstrained thinking” was the age at which people become eligible for the pension and capital gains tax. “If we are going to be different from almost the rest of…
A Nelson principal is “really happy” with a ministerial U-turn on speed limit consultation and was “cautiously hopeful” that the speed limit on the state highway near his school might stay at 60km/h.Residents might soon be given the opportunity to submit on a potential speed limit increase in northern Nelson after they were told two weeks ago that the change would be automatic.On January 29, the Government announced that dozens of sections of state highway around the country which had seen speed limit reductions over the previous five years would be reversed while many others would be consulted on.One of…
ASB has announced further decreases to its 6-month, 1-year and 18-month fixed mortgage rates from today.The bank dropped its 6-month fixed home lending term 10 basis points to 5.89%, and the 1-year rate dropped 5 basis points to 5.49%.The 18-month term also decreased 15 basis points to 5.19%.”We’ve lowered rates across several terms three times in the past month, giving our customers and prospective buyers a range of options – whether they’re after short-term relief or longer-term certainty,” said ASB’s Adam Boyd.He said the bank had seen growing interest in the 18-month term this year, and “competition is fierce when…