Author: Press Room

Rural supplies co-operative Farmlands has announced a $14.3million full-year net loss on the back of a $68.2m drop in revenue for the year ended June 30. The company said the result was exacerbated by a one-off accounting adjustment to previously recognised tax losses of $12.3m. The result compared to a $679,000 loss last year. Chief executive Tanya Houghton said the company’s efforts to improve pricing on rural supplies had put an additional $6.9m back in the hands of farmers and growers. That had been made possible through efficiencies gained from its supply chain transformation, careful inventory management, supplier negotiations and…

An ill-prepared solo tramper has been rescued after a night in the bush on the Kapiti Coast – 12 hours after calling for help.Police said they received a distress call from a man around 11.30pm on Monday after became lost on a track near Waikanae.The tramper – who had not intended on being in the bush after dark – was dressed lightly and had no food or water when he became disoriented and lost his way.He was being tracked by police using his cell phone’s coordinates when his device shut down.Wellington Search and Rescue coordinator Sergeant Jonathan Westrupp said the…

Regions in Portugal, Greece, and Romania reported the highest fatality rates. While EU-wide road deaths rose by about 9% between 2020 and 2022, the long-term trend offers hope. ADVERTISEMENTRoad accidents across the EU claimed 20,653 lives in 2022, according to the latest Eurostat data, which includes drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.The number of deaths has increased over the past two years, with a 9% rise between 2020 and 2022, and a 3.6% increase from 2021 to 2022.The EU regions with the highest fatality rates per million inhabitants were Alentejo in Portugal (149), Greece’s southern Aegean (131) and Ionian Islands (127), and…

The cost of shutting its Timaru meatworks is costing troubled red meat co-operative Alliance Group more than $50 million.The farmer-owned co-op reported a loss of $95.8m after tax for the year ended September in its 2024 annual report released on Tuesday.This year’s loss included the one-off charge of $51.3m to cover the redundancies and closure of the 139-year-old Timaru site, which has been owned by Alliance since 1989.Alliance confirmed the closure of the Smithfield plant in Timaru last month resulting in 600 jobs being cut from the plant.Excluding these costs, this year’s underlying loss of $47.6m was an improvement on…

Marius Borg Høiby, the eldest son of Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit, was detained in Oslo on Monday evening. ADVERTISEMENTThe eldest son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Marius Borg Høiby, has been arrested on suspicion of rape, Norwegian police said on Tuesday. Borg Høiby, 27, the stepson of Crown Prince Haakon and son of Mette-Marit from a prior relationship, has no royal title or official duties. Police detained Borg Høiby late on Monday in Oslo on a preliminary charge of engaging in “sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious or otherwise unable to resist the act”. A preliminary charge permits authorities to hold…

A light plane pilot has been rescued after ditching their aircraft into water off the Tasman coast this evening.The pilot was the only person on-board when the plane crashed in Tasman Bay, 42km north of Nelson, around 7.30pm, Maritime NZ’s Rescue Coordination Centre told 1News in a statement.They were “safely winched from the water by the GCH Nelson Rescue Helicopter” before being flown to Nelson Hospital.Police say they were called to the scene following a report of a light plane crash landing off the coast of Tasman around 7.30pm.Rescue helicopters from Nelson and Wellington, as well as a New Zealand…

Western technology has been found in Russian drones used to attack Ukraine, fuelling calls from Kyiv to tighten sanctions and export controls on Moscow. ADVERTISEMENTRussia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has reached the grim milestone of 1,000 days. Over this period, at least 12,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed, many by Russian missile and drone attacks.Reflecting on Russia’s aerial onslaught, Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said on Telegram this week: “Kyiv survived dozens of massive, combined airstrikes over the last 1,000 days. During the most intense attack, the Russian army launched nearly 80 missiles and…

Olivia Podmore’s former coach refused to wheel the young cyclist to the startline before her races at the Rio Olympic Games as he told her, “You do not deserve to be here”, an inquest into her death heard.Warning: This story discusses mental health and suicide. A list of helplines is available at the bottom of the page.Podmore’s treatment at her first Olympic Games was among a series of serious bullying claims described by the coach’s ex-wife Nicholle Bailey, who gave evidence at the Coroner’s Court in Hamilton on Tuesday.Podmore, 24, died in a suspected suicide in August 2021 — less…

As the war in Ukraine turns 1,000 days, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the European Union to ‘push harder’ against Vladimir Putin. ADVERTISEMENTPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the European Union to “push harder” against Russian President Vladimir Putin and deprive him of his “money and power” to force Moscow into “meaningful negotiations” to end the war.”Putin does not value people or rules. He values only money and power. These are the things we must take away from him to restore peace,” Zelenskyy said on Tuesday in a virtual speech before the European Parliament to mark the war’s 1,000 days.”No one can…

As a crowd estimated by police to be more than 42,000 people descended on New Zealand’s Parliament today — eyes from afar were watching.Today’s proceedings marked the end of Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, a nine day peaceful protest which had made its way through Aotearoa in opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill.Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, who attracted global attention for initiating in a haka while ripping up the bill in Parliament, told the crowd gathered “the world is watching”.”This march was never about the bill. I ripped that in half and chucked it away. This march was about…