Author: Press Room

A person has died in a serious accident at the Te Anau transfer station this afternoon.Police were called to the incident about 3.30pm.Southland District Council group manager Fran Mikulicic said the whole of council was shocked and saddened by the tragedy.“All our thoughts and sympathy are with the family of the deceased,” she said.Police and council contractor WasteCo staff were on site at the transfer station.The investigation would continue for some time, the council said, and WorkSafe had been notified of the accident. WasteCo was contracted by Southland District Council to operate the transfer station.The transfer station would be closed…

ADVERTISEMENTThe European Commission is sticking to its estimate that member states could spend up to €650 billion on defence over the coming four years despite just half of governments requesting more fiscal headway to boost investments in the sector in time. The EU’s executive proposed in March as part of its ‘Readiness 2030’ plan to ramp up defence expenditures to allow member states to request the activation of the national escape clause in the bloc’s Stability and Growth Pact in order to allow them to temporarily deviate from stringent fiscal rules to invest in defence.Under the proposal, member states would…

ADVERTISEMENTThe United States says it remains committed to peace efforts in Ukraine but intends to scale back its role as mediator, the US State Department has said.”We are not going to fly around the world at the drop of a hat to mediate meetings; that is now between the two parties, and now is the time that they need to present and develop concrete ideas about how this conflict is going to end,” spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters.The announcement marks a significant shift in Washington’s approach and comes after months of stalled diplomatic efforts to get Kyiv and Moscow to…

One of the country’s largest banks has been ordered to pay a penalty of $3.25 million for misleading and overcharging customers.Westpac admitted the breaches in a case brought against it by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) at the Auckland High Court in December last year.The historical breaches resulted in $6.35 million of overcharging and impacted more than 24,500 customers, including:Customers entitled to various benefits under Westpac’s Employee, Gold and Platinum (EGP) packages failed to receive the advertised discounts. The packages were offered between February, 2004 and November, 2021.Personal and business banking customers failed to receive benefits under one of Westpac’s…

The trial of a man accused of murdering an Auckland couple in their Ellerslie home in November 2023 has been suspended.Lok Fung Lorrence Li, 27, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok and wife Mei Han Chong and conspiring to murder another woman months prior.Proceedings were due to start on Monday, but were delayed, with Li’s trial commencing on Thursday.However, on Friday, the trial was suspended and the jury were discharged.Justice David Johnstone said a new trial will be held for Li at a later date.

ADVERTISEMENTNigel Farage’s Reform UK has won the UK’s closest post-war by-election to gain its fifth member of parliament. The right-wing populist party defeated Labour in the northwest English constituency of Runcorn and Helsby by just six votes. Reform’s candidate Sarah Pochin, who used to be a Conservative councillor, overturned the almost 15,000-vote majority that Labour won in the Cheshire seat in the national election last July. After a recount early on Friday morning, it was confirmed that Pochin had received 12,645 votes, with her Labour competitor Karen Shore falling narrowly short on 12,639. Thursday’s by-election was triggered by the former…

New Zealand businessman and former political party leader Sir Bob Jones has died. He was 85. Sir Bob earned his wealth through his property investments, holding a $2 billion portfolio of commercial buildings in Auckland, Wellington and Glasgow. Sir Bob was a well-known boxing fan, having commented on matches and written columns. Jones earned a university blue in boxing while at Victoria University of Wellington. In 1983, Sir Bob launched the short-lived New Zealand Party in an attempt to oust then-Prime Minister Robert Muldoon from Parliament. His party amassed 12.25% of the vote but, because this was prior to MMP,…

Two carriages of the TranzAlpine scenic train separated by about one metre while pulling into Arthur’s Pass Station due to a broken coupler component, a Transport Accident Investigation Commission report has found.The report, released yesterday, said the separation on December 17, 2023, was discovered as a crew member walked between the carriages, which were used for luggage storage and a kitchen. Only crew were authorised in these areas, and no one was injured.Earlier that day, shortly after departing Christchurch, the train’s second front locomotive suffered a fault, causing a “sudden jolt and temporary loss of power”, the report said.The faulty…

Torrential rain brought flooding, slips and road closures to parts of North Canterbury, but local leaders say they came out relatively unscathed.There were reports of slips in the Lees Valley, behind Oxford, while rivers rose around Hamner Springs, closing a local campground.But local councils say recent investment in flood defences ensured the region was protected against the rain, including new pumps in Kaiapoi.Waimakariri District Council chief executive Jeff Millward said the rainfall was similar to rain events in 2014 and 2021.But the council has made significant investment in stormwater infrastructure over the last 10 years and established a specialist flood…

ADVERTISEMENTMore than 60,000 users in Italy are playing Fantapapa, an online video game inspired by fantasy football that requires players to assemble a team of cardinals whom they believe have the best chance of becoming the next pope. To participate, players must choose 11 cardinals whom they see as the frontrunners in the upcoming conclave, set for next week. They must then also designate a “captain” — the cardinal they imagine is the one most likely to become the next pontiff — and a “goalkeeper,” or the one who they think is the least papal. Once they’ve hand-picked their “team,”…