Author: Press Room

ADVERTISEMENTAlmost two weeks since a massive blackout paralysed the Iberian Peninsula, unfounded claims and conspiracy theories continue to run rampant online.These are fuelled by the lack of official confirmation as to the cause of the outage, which the Spanish government says will take “three to six months” to determine. Both the governments in Madrid and Lisbon are conducting their own investigations, while an independent probe will also be led by an expert panel at European level.The Spanish grid operator, Red Eléctrica, has signalled the likely cause to be two consecutive “disconnection events,” barely 1.5 seconds apart, in energy generation plants in…

Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says the government is planning to increase ventilation requirements in new homes, to address the problem of sweltering townhouses.Auckland homeowners have complained of 30 degree Celsius temperatures overnight and huge air-conditioning bills because of over-sunny and poorly ventilated buildings.Penk said changes were needed to avoid people being “cooked alive in their own house”.Meanwhile, the Minister has pulled back from wanting to repeal recent upgrades to energy efficiency requirements.The government is now proposing relaxing some aspects of the home efficiency standard, known as H1, as well as improving ventilation to keep homes cooler.The minister told…

Drugs and $45,000 in cash were found during a Queenstown drugs bust yesterday morning, leading to a man’s arrest. Officers searched a property in Queenstown following an investigation into the distribution of illicit drugs in the community. A 39-year-old man was arrested and charged.It’s alleged “varying amounts” of drugs were discovered at the property, including ketamine, cocaine, MDMA, LSD, cannabis, and psilocybin.Digital scales and $45,000 in cash were also found. The arrested man would be set to appear in the Queenstown District Court on May 12, charged with offers to supply LSD, offers to supply psilocybin, possession of cocaine, and…

A community board’s decision to close a heavily-used recycling facility in Raetihi is back on the table after a public outcry.The decision could be quashed this week following a recommendation for the Waimarino-Waiouru Community Board to revoke a resolution to disestablish the Raetihi Recycling Station.At a meeting in October last year, the community board also approved replacing the station with a trailer collecting recycling for an hour once a week for two months and then, for the following four months, once a fortnight.The new recommendation comes in a report from Ruapehu District Council managers to be considered by the community…

ADVERTISEMENTRadio Schuman spoke with Euronews’ Sasha Vakulina about what to expect from Russia’s Victory Day celebrations, the ceasefire disruptions, the European participants and what punishment they could risk for attending.Europe’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, warned European leaders to stay away from Putin’s 9 May party, but that hasn’t dissuaded everyone. Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić are set to show their faces.In this episode, we also head to Nancy in France, where French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk are set to sign a wide-ranging pact to deepen defence ties. And finally, we…

A young person has been arrested after a spate of robberies and burglaries in Invercargill earlier this week. Police were also looking for information on two vehicles seen in the area at the time of the incidents. Police responded to two aggravated robberies, two burglaries, and an attempted burglary between 1.50am and 4.30am on Monday morning. One of the incidents, at a premises on Dee Street, allegedly saw two people enter a store, demand cash, and assault a worker. An attempted burglary and two burglaries were reported at three further premises on Windsor St, Elles Rd and Yarrow St.Police then…

US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer have announced a limited bilateral trade agreement that leaves in place Trump’s 10% tariffs on British exports, modestly expands agricultural access for both countries and lowers prohibitive US duties on British car exports. The “general terms” agreement is the first of dozens of tariff-lowering deals that Trump expects to land in coming weeks after upending the global trading system with steep new import taxes aimed at shrinking a $US1.2 trillion ($NZ2 trillion) US goods trade deficit. Trump hailed the deal in the Oval Office with Starmer patched in on a speaker phone, as US Treasury…

Fire crews are battling a blaze at the Work and Income building in Auckland’s Glen Innes this morning.Fire and Emergency NZ was called to the fire at the multi-occupancy building in Mayfair Place around 7am, Incident Controller Shane Munro said.A total of 15 crews were called to the scene, as well as additional support vehicles. Eight crews remain at the scene to check for hotspots and dampen them down. Emergency services at the scene of the fire in Auckland’s Glen Innes. (Source: 1News)Police said there were no reports of injuries. “We recommend avoiding the area so our crews can work…

Inland Revenue (IR) says the property sector failed to pay at least $150 million in tax in the first nine months of the current financial year. The department said it had found more than $150m in undeclared income tax and GST. It had been looking at the tax affairs of developers, property investors and people whose sales were captured by the bright-line test. The largest discrepancies were from developers and GST bills. The $153.5m discrepancy is about the same as the amount found in the whole of the year before. IR said there was a pattern of property developers claiming…

A near mid-air crash at night between two planes has sparked calls for improvements to visibility measures and pilot communication, a new report outlines.The two aircraft got “dangerously close” to crashing as they made final approaches towards Ardmore Airport, south of Auckland, during a night-time flight in October 2023.The airport, which is about 5 kilometres southeast of Manurewa, is uncontrolled or unattended, meaning it operates without a control tower.In a report released today, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) said a twin-engine Beech Duchess flew over a single-engine Cessna 172, missing it by about 20 feet, or 6 metresThe Cessna…