Author: Press Room

Former National Minister Hekia Parata said the Treaty Principles Bill is “unreliable and unnecessary,” recommending the Justice Select Committee report the “irretrievably flawed” bill back to the House, and “waste no further resources nor our nation’s tolerance”.Parata and former Labour prime minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer were among those making submissions on Thursday as the Justice Select Committee resumed hearings on the bill.The committee is due to hear 80 hours in total of submissions on the controversial bill over the course of a month.Parata said the principle of equality was well known to New Zealanders.”My issue is not that we need…

JD Vance and Marco Rubio are set to speak with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security conference. They are expected to discuss Donald Trump’s push for Ukraine and Russia to begin negotiations ADVERTISEMENTUS Vice President JD Vance landed in Munich on Thursday, where he is set to hold critical talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about Russia’s nearly three-year war on Ukraine.Vance, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is due to sit down Friday with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. They are expected to discuss President Donald Trump’s intensifying push for Ukraine and…

Builders are being warned to check their security after a flurry of burglaries from construction sites in South Auckland. Over the past week police have charged four people for burglaries in Pukekohe, Pōkeno and Papakura. Items stolen include tapware, light fittings, building materials, tools and appliances yet to be installed, said Counties Manukau South CIB detective Simon Taylor. “One of the four has also been charged with seven separate shoplifting charges and other driving matters.” Police said CCTV footage had been gathered during the investigation and they were not ruling out further arrests and charges. “It’s pleasing we have been…

Two experts have told Euronews that Trump’s bellicose rhetoric towards America’s allies is playing to Russia’s advantage. Aiming to do deals on trade deficits and raw materials in exchange for continued military support is the best policy given the circumstances Europe faces. ADVERTISEMENTTrump’s ‘chaotic’ actions targeting EU partners as well as Canadian and Mexican neighbours with tariffs is ‘exactly what Russia wants’, experts on US and Russian policy told Euronews in The Europe Conversation.“This sort of instability in American institutions is sort of chaos. It’s exactly what Russia wants and it’s exactly what they exploit to amplify discord, to amplify polarization,…

Mount Maunganui locals say they are fed up with the rubbish and broken glass left by people partying on the beach and drinking outside their homes.They are calling for more police enforcement and for alcohol-free zones to be extended in the beachside suburb.John Tawharu, who lives near the intersection of Oceanbeach Rd and Marine Pde, said there had been groups drinking on the beach for years.“All of us kaitiaki, all the surfers, all the community are picking up glass and broken glass and lots of it.”It was frustrating because people were also having to put out bonfires still burning the…

Hundreds of students from multiple cities across Serbia began a four-day march on Tuesday to Kragujevac, where a mass protest is set to take place on Saturday. ADVERTISEMENTOn Thursday, Serbian students from multiple cities icluding the capital Belgrade continued to march toward the central city of Kragujevac for a protest rally set for Saturday.The demonstrations led by university students demand accountability and justice for the deaths of 15 people in a train station awning collapse last November, which critics have blamed on government corruption. University and high school students from cities such as Niš, Čačak, Užice, Kraljevo, Gornji Milanovac and Novi…

Best mates Mike Fahey and Jon Kwiatkowski are looking forward to grabbing a few more beers together after retirement. The duo, both 65, are closing their construction outfit Fahey Kwiat Builders Ltd after 35 years of running it together. Mr Kwiatkowski said he was looking forward to working less and socialising more with Mr Fahey — his friend for about 60 years after they met in primary school. “He’s like a brother, he is my best friend.” They were like chalk and cheese, he said. If he was a bit more of a hard-nosed business man, Mr Fahey was the…

Police have arrested a man after a police car was rammed near Auckland Airport and a vehicle was driven off through several Auckland suburbs this afternoon.The incident escalated from an initial report of a man reported to be assaulting a woman in a vehicle while parked in a shopping centre car park at around 12.55pm.Inspector Peter Raynes said airport police arrived as the vehicle concerned was leaving and a traffic stop was conducted on George Bolt Memorial Dr.”The female driver suffered minor injuries after exiting from the vehicle as it rolled back at slow speed,” he said.”The male passenger then…

With the U-turn of Poland’s public funding for IVF treatment, all EU member states now support this fertility treatment. However, the conditions and waiting times vary among the 27. ADVERTISEMENTIn the European Union, 25 million citizens face infertility.  In 2025, Poland welcomed its first baby conceived by in vitro fertilisation (IVF) after President Andrzej Duda signed into law a bill which restored public funding for fertility treatment.Funding was previously slashed by the former conservative government in 2015.This policy change ensured that all EU member states now provide public funding for IVF treatments. However, only five out of the 27 EU countries offer…

Police searching for an Argentinian tramper who fell into a river in Mt Aspiring National Park have found items believed to belong to the man.Hector Gaston Artigau, 21, was reported missing on February 6 after he fell from a rock and failed to resurface on a trip with two friends, Blas Antonelli and Santiago Ponce, who worked with him at an Alexandra cherry orchard.On Thursday, police said they had found a number of “personal items” along the river.”Search efforts in the last two days have been hampered by extreme hazards and limited visibility, resulting in a brief suspension of the…