Author: Press Room

Marta Kos, the EU’s Commissioner for Enlargement has said any expansion of the Union will be based on merit rather than geopolitics, and must serve existing Member States as well as future ones. ADVERTISEMENTSpeaking on the issue at a hearing of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs in Brussels on Tuesday, she stressed that the process must benefit both current Member States and potential new ones.“There will be no geopolitical discount. The enlargement process remains merit-based,” Kos stated. “As I told you on November 7th, I will walk the talk about European values. The rule of law and fundamental…

A once-in-160,000 years comet could be visible in the skies over New Zealand in the coming days.NASA said the brightness of a comet is “notoriously hard” to predict, but Comet C/2024 G3 (Atlas) could remain bright enough to be seen by the naked eye.On Monday, the comet was at perihelion — the point of its path closest to the Sun — which influenced how bright it appeared.Stardome astronomer Josh Aoraki said Atlas C/2024 G3 was known as a “long period” comet.These originated from a region of the outer Solar System called the Oort Cloud and took thousands, or in some…

After getting the nod in December, Bayrou became France’s fourth prime minister in just one year. He now faces a major challenge to pass the long-overdue 2025 budget plan. ADVERTISEMENTFrench Prime Minister François Bayrou delivered a much-awaited key policy speech on Tuesday in Paris, setting the tone for his government’s roadmap. After days of negotiations with various political forces, Bayrou hopes to strike a delicate balance between obtaining the left’s goodwill and antagonising his allies on the right.To win over some left-wing MPs, Bayrou announced he is open to renegotiating some aspects of French President Emmanuel Macron’s highly unpopular pension reform…

Bigger boats are expected to come to Carey’s Bay after a local boatyard seized a “pretty rare opportunity” to upgrade its equipment. Carey’s Bay Marine Services owner Eldon Donaldson said the acquisition of a new boat cradle was “really significant” for the business. Port Nelson had been changing its operations from cradles to hydraulic travel lifts, and the boat maintenance business had bought one of the cradles from them. It was a “pretty rare opportunity” that did not come up often, Mr Donaldson said. The new steel cradle had the potential to handle boats of up to 150 tonnes —…

A recording of a dangerous level of air pollution near the coast of Hawke’s Bay turned out to be salty sea air.A combination of onshore winds and a high swell contributed to the breach of the National Environmental Standard for air quality at the industrial area of Awatoto, near Napier.Hawke’s Bay Regional Council monitors the air quality with regular testing in three airsheds.Air quality scientist Jeremy Kidd said the Awatoto industrial area and the air quality monitoring site within the area were very close to the coast, so there were often a lot of sea salt particles in the air.“High…

A train was stopped and a section of railway had to be temporarily closed after a car was crashed and abandoned on tracks near Levin this afternoon.Police signalled for a vehicle to stop after it was sighted travelling at excess speed in Koputaroa at around midday.”It instead fled from police and was not pursued,” a spokesperson said.The vehicle was driven along railway tracks and crashed. Police said cordons were in place as staff work to locate the occupants.KiwiRail had to stop a train and close the track temporarily between Levin and Koputaroa due to the vehicle on the tracks.Lower North…

The surprise visit comes a day after Pistorius met with his counterparts from France, the UK, Italy and Poland to discuss coordinating their defence plans and assistance for Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENTGerman Defence Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday on an unannounced visit following a meeting in Warsaw on Monday with his counterparts from France, the UK, Italy and Poland.Pistorius said that his visit was meant to underscore Germany’s strong support for Ukraine at a time when the looming inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump looks set to transform Washington’s policy on the war.Pistorius said that his visit “is a…

Hoiho/yellow-eyed penguins could become extinct on New Zealand’s mainland within two decades as the number of known nests drops by 80% in 15 years, according to the Department of Conservation (DOC). One of the rarest penguins in the world, seasonal nest counts found that just 143 known hoiho nests exist on mainland New Zealand, including Stewart Island/Rakiura. This is down around 80% since 2008/2009, when 739 nests were counted.DOC said that without a “serious turnaround”, the hoiho could become “locally extinct” within 20 years.”Nest numbers are only part of the picture, the higher concern is there are currently less than…

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been embroiled in controversy after distributing campaign flyers that resemble “deportation tickets” in the city of Karlsruhe. ADVERTISEMENTPolice have launched an investigation into the local branch of the far-right AfD party in the city of Karlsruhe over campaign posters styled as “deportation tickets” sparked controversy in the run-up to the country’s election on 23 February. The flyers, which are based on airplane tickets, are being investigated on suspicion of inciting hatred according to local media. They show an airline ticket with the AfD’s logo on it with manipulated flight details reading “departure:…

The sale of all Lotto products to under-18-year-olds is set to be banned by the Government this year with fines to be issued to retailers caught selling these products to young people.1News can reveal an amendment to Section 301 of the Gambling Act 2003 — which refers to age restrictions on instant games and similar games — will restrict the purchase of Lotto NZ’s products both in-store and online to those aged 18-years-old and over. Currently, Instant Kiwi is the only Lotto NZ product with this restriction.The Government hoped to embed this amendment within a proposed omnibus bill planned for…