Author: Press Room

Police are investigating the theft of burial plaques from an Invercargill cemetery – including several from the graves of World War I and World War II veterans.Acting Inspector Mel Robertson said the plaques were stolen from St Johns Cemetery between October 28 and November 22.”Several of the stolen plaques were taken from the graves of Returned Service personnel who served in the First and Second World Wars, making this a particularly distressing crime for families and the wider community.”According to the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, the St John’s Cemetery in the suburb of Waikiwi included the official war graves…

A man who was taken to hospital with fractured ribs and bruised lungs was left a paraplegic after a chest drain was inserted incorrectly.The man had been admitted to Auckland City Hospital following a car crash in 2022 where, four days into his stay, he was assessed as having a build-up of fluid between the tissue lining his lungs and chest and would require surgery.Health NZ’s Chest Drain Management policy stated, unless in an emergency, all chest drains for fluid aspiration should be guided by real-time radiology imaging.However, said the request for real-time radiology imaging was not accommodated by the…

The Government has announced it wants to bar councillors from lifting rates more than 4% annually, in a move to “protect local government’s social licence”.Councils would also have a minimum rates rise level mandated for the first time, with local government instructed to keep annual rises in a modelled “target range”.A proposed initial rates rises target range would be between 2% and 4%.Local Government Minister Simon Watts said a full cap will apply from 2029, but with monitoring of rates and grounds for interventions as soon as 2027.What the Govt’s proposed rates shake-up would mean for you – Watch on…

France is one of the few European countries where poverty rates have increased over the past decade. According to the latest Eurostat data, Paris has reported an almost 2% increase since 2014 in the number of people experiencing “difficulties” or “great difficulties” in making ends meet, as the statistics institute puts it. Aside from France, over the past ten years poverty rates have risen only in northern Europe: Denmark (+2.4%), Finland (2%), Sweden (2.8%) and, outside the EU, Norway (+4.7%). Which EU countries have reduced poverty rates the most? At the same time, many Eastern and Southern European nations have…

A challenge to court orders that suppress certain details regarding the Tom Phillips case has continued today with a two-day hearing beginning in the Hamilton High Court.Stuff and NZME have made an application for a judicial review of a Family Court ruling. Media, including TVNZ, are seeking to overturn an earlier privacy injunction lodged by the Phillips family.Court imposed restrictions have limited media organisations, as well as police and Oranga Tamariki, from sharing certain information since Tom Phillips was killed in the early hours of September 8.The fugitive Marokopa father had been on the run with his three children for…

A 19-year-old man has been arrested after Customs officers found 15.17kg of methamphetamine in his luggage at Auckland International Airport.Customs said the discovery was made on Sunday, and the amount of methamphetamine discovered had a potential retail value of approximately $4.55 million.The Canadian-national appeared in the Manukau District Court this morning, charged with the importation of a Class A controlled drug.He was first identified as a risk passenger through Customs’ standard pre-arrival screening. Customs said frontline officers then questioned the man on arrival from Vancouver, Canada, and was further referred for a baggage check.Customs located approximately 15 vacuum-sealed packages hidden…

Dozens of pro-Russia and anti-EU accounts on X have been accused of misleading users after the platform rolled out a new transparency feature revealing where profiles are posting from, how they downloaded the app and when they joined. The “about this account” tab, now visible on every profile, shows a user’s reported location. X warns that the feature may not be accurate, and can be affected by VPNs, travel or temporary relocations. “This is an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town square. We plan to provide many more ways for users to verify the authenticity…

A Christchurch school has warned parents of a “significant health and safety breach” after the school lunches it was provided were “mouldy and liquefied”.Haeata Community Campus principal Peggy Burrows said all lunches had been recalled but some had already been eaten by students.She told 1News staff members usually ate with the kids and that when a staff member opened one of the lunches up, they found it mouldy and liquefied.She warned parents of students at the school to watch for food poisoning symptoms, including vomiting and diarrhoea.”More severe symptoms can include bloody diarrhoea, a fever over 38 degrees and dehydration,…

When it comes to buying kids technology-based presents for Christmas, Sean Lyons from Netsafe – an organisation dedicated to online safety – likens these gifts to something they are not: A bike.”In my day, when there was a bike, and I said ‘I wanted a bike’, my parents were really, really sure what a bike was. They understood pretty much everything that a bike could do.”That’s not the same for devices, whether that be a smartwatch or phone, a tablet, or a gaming console, says Lyons.”We might think a PlayStation is a thing where you shove a CD in through…

A permanent holiday-time booze ban for popular Wairarapa hotspots could be in place from next year.The issue is raised in a report to be put before Masterton’s District Council on Wednesday as they consider renewing their annual alcohol bylaw.The report recommends renewing the current alcohol restrictions, with the possibility of extending restrictions in a new bylaw to be proposed next year – to include places such as Riversdale Beach in a permanent holiday-time ban.The report cited “alcohol-related antisocial behaviour” at Riversdale Beach over Labour Weekend.”These reports revealed that inebriated teenagers had damaged property and smashed glass,” it said.”Residents have queried…