Author: Press Room

Households are set to make big calls about their mortgages this year, as they weigh up their options amid falling interest rates.Property research company CoreLogic says four out of five borrowers kicked off the new year with either a floating mortgage rate or a fixed term of less than 12 months.For new loans, only 10% were fixed for longer than 12 months, whereas a year ago it was at 51%.The share of new loans on floating rates — which tend to be higher than fixed rates — has risen from around 17% a year ago to 28%.CoreLogic said it was…

Southeastern Europe is experiencing much lower than expected temperatures this week, bringing heavy snowfall and flooding risks. ADVERTISEMENTFreezing temperatures and heavy snow have caused disruptions in several parts of southeastern Europe, ranging from transport issues to schools being forced to shut.A storm system has brought strong winds, heavy rainfall, and snowfall in mountainous areas across parts of countries such as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Slovenia.More than 70 schools were closed in Albania on Monday after access to several villages was blocked by severe weather. Authorities have been clearing snow from roads and restoring…

Children with traumatic experiences in their early lives have a higher risk of obesity. But new research shows this risk can be reduced through positive experiences. Auckland University senior research fellow Ladan Hashemi reports.Childhood traumatic experiences are alarmingly common. Our analysis of data from nearly 5000 children in the Growing Up in New Zealand study revealed almost nine out of ten (87%) faced at least one significant source of trauma by the time they were eight years old. Multiple adverse experiences were also prevalent, with one in three children (32%) experiencing at least three traumatic events.Childhood trauma includes a range…

Held hostage in Iran for over 220 days, Bernard Phelan endured harsh conditions and witnessed executions, ultimately being released in May 2023 after diplomatic efforts. ADVERTISEMENTOf the many horrifying accounts from his incarceration as a state hostage in Iran, Bernard Phelan recalls the helpless nighttime cries of men due to be hanged in the morning.”Any prisoners in our prison to be executed were brought to our block the night before,” he tells Euronews’ Europe Conversation.”You couldn’t see them…you could hear them during evening time …crying in their cell and with their shoes in front of the door.””Just the idea that somebody beside you will be executed the next day after…

British actor and comedian Tony Slattery, best known for his work on improvisational comedy game show Whose Line is it Anyway? has died aged 65. Slattery’s death was confirmed today by his partner of nearly four decades, actor Mark Michael Hutchinson. “It is with great sadness we must announce actor and comedian Tony Slattery, aged 65, has passed away today, Tuesday morning, following a heart attack on Sunday evening,” Hutchinson told the BBC in a statement.Slattery was a series regular on Whose Line? – which involved a panel of four performers taking part in improvisation games through pre-determined scenarios from…

Ashburton is “turtle town” no more as the council ends permanent 30km/h school speed zones.Drivers will only need to slow down near Ashburton schools for the hour around drop-off and pick-up times under the changes.Resident Grant McFaul said he was pleased the permanent lower speed limit around schools was ending, which followed a Government speed rule change last year.In 2022, the Labour-Government aimed to improve road safety by lowering speed limits around schools.During the consultation at the time, McFaul described the permanent 30km/h school zones as “preposterous” and pleaded with the Ashburton District Council not to “turn Ashburton into turtle…

Child sexual abuse is a growing problem and crimes committed via the Internet make it much more difficult to combat. The EU is revising its the rules in an attempt to criminalise behaviour online as well as in the real world. ADVERTISEMENTOne in five children are estimated to be victims of sexual crimes on- and offline and EU member states made some progress with rules designed to criminalise the abuse at the end of 2024. But they failed to agree to controls over online image sharing since these could impact data privacy rights.MEPs and member states are working on two sets of…

Residents in a suburban Auckland street say they have been terrorised for months by someone throwing rocks through the windows of houses along the road.A number of houses on Sackville Street in Grey Lynn had their windows smashed by rocks on Monday, the latest in a series of attacks dating back to February last year.A long time Sackville Street resident — who RNZ has agreed not to name — said residents have spent thousands of dollars to repair damage and install security cameras.”We just really want this to stop,” they said.”It’s a really nice street with mixed housing, so there’s…

Over two-thirds of large companies struggle to fill their IT roles. What are the highest-paid jobs? Which countries are most in need? ADVERTISEMENTAs the IT sector continues to grow, thousands of European companies are having trouble filling the many positions available.According to 2024 Eurostat data, 57.5% of EU businesses can’t recruit all the necessary ICT specialists.The gap between labour demand and actual employment has grown by 20% in the past ten years.Large businesses are facing the biggest challenges. Sixty-eight per cent of them are unable to fill all their ICT specialist positions, followed by medium (59.2%) and small-sized enterprises (53.4%).Germany,…

Fire crews are monitoring the scene of a vegetation fire in the Waitākere Ranges, west of Auckland, which broke out early yesterday evening.Fire and Emergency NZ told 1News it was called to a fire on the northern side of Te Aute Ridge Rd, east of Bethells Beach – it sent ground crews and three helicopters.RNZ reported is was contained later in the evening.In an update this morning, FENZ said two crews had returned to monitor the scene and dampen hotspots.