Author: Press Room

Parliament’s justice select committee has decided to reopen submissions on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill after some people trying to submit online encountered problems with the website. People reported issues with putting through their submissions online before the deadline at 11.59pm on Tuesday. MPs on the Justice Committee met at 9am today and unanimously decided that the ability for the public to make submissions would reopen until 1pm on January 14. Anyone who emailed a submission to the committee between Monday and Thursday morning — because they couldn’t do it on the website — would have the…

Bowel Cancer New Zealand says Te Whatu Ora is reintroducing the postcode lottery for healthcare, after it paused regular surveillance colonoscopies for people in Manawatū-Whanganui.The preventative checks have been instrumental in helping to improve the outcomes of those at risk of bowel cancer – the second deadliest cancer in New Zealand.More than 800 patients in Manawatū-Whanganui are affected. They received a letter last month saying their regular check-ups would be on hold until further notice because the system is at capacity.Among them is Malcolm Mulholland, a well-known patient advocate from Palmerston North who suffers from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and…

A person has died following a water incident in Mount Maunganui this morning.Emergency services were notified just before 8.20am after a person was pulled unresponsive from the water at Pilot Bay Beach.”Despite the best efforts to revive the person, they died at the scene,” a police spokesperson said.”Inquiries are ongoing, and a formal identification process is underway.”St John said it attended the incident but referred further inquiries to police.

After 18 months, governments have yet to agree on when a new class of genetically modified crops can be treated as equivalent to conventional strains, and whether producers should be granted monopoly rights through patents. ADVERTISEMENTWarsaw is looking to move forward a stalled proposal to remove a new generation of gene-edited plants from the stringent EU licensing and traceability requirements applied to conventional genetically modified organisms (GMO), leaked documents show.The European Commission proposed in July 2023 that crops created using ‘new genomic techniques’ (NGT) should be excluded from strict regulation under the 2001 GMO Regulation, but governments have been unable…

While residents in Napier and Hastings are being asked to conserve water under Level 2 restrictions this summer, there is unlikely to be any disruption to water bottling operations in Hawke’s Bay.The region is home to nine consents that allow water to be taken for bottling.In total, the plants are authorised to take roughly 4 million cubic metres of water from aquifers in Hawke’s Bay each year (3,990,969.14 m/3 per year to be specific).That’s the equivalent of 1600 Olympic-sized swimming pools, if they choose to take the maximum amount, although many don’t.Napier’s total urban water consumption for the year from…

Italian journalist Cecilia Sala arrives in Rome after spending weeks in solitary confinement in an Iranian prison. ADVERTISEMENTItalian Journalist Cecilia Sala was freed from detention and returned home to the Italian capital on Wednesday after weeks in an Iranian prison.A plane carrying Sala, who is 29-years-old, landed at Rome’s Ciampino airport. She was welcomed by her relieved family members and partner. As she descended from the plane, Sala ran to embrace her boyfriend, Daniele Raineri.Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was also present to welcome Sala back alongside her family. Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Rome’s Mayor Roberto Gualtieri were…

Two houses remain evacuated with one being threatened by a large vegetation fire that broke out east of Whangārei this afternoon.Fire and Emergency said it was notified of a fire on Whangārei Heads Rd betwen Onerahi and Tamaterau shortly after midday.”Ten trucks and five helicopters are currently on scene,” a spokesperson said.Assistant Commander Denis Cooper said the fire covered approximately 20 hectares.”It started at around 12.30pm in a narrow gully and it’s gone up both sides. One was farmland on the west and the east side has gone up into heavy fuels, such as scrub land, totara and gorse.”The steep…

The founder and CEO of Space X and owner of the social media platform X is making waves and today stages an interview with the leader of Germany’s far-right Alternativ fur Deutschland party leader Alice Weidel. Will the EU respond? ADVERTISEMENTHow far can the European Commission handle Elon Musk if his companies violate EU laws? How could his social media X, formerly Twitter, affect upcoming elections in Germany?Today Radio Schuman answers these questions with Euronews reporter Cynthia Kroet. X owner Elon Musk will livestream an interview on X with Alice Weidel, leader of the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland. Musk…

The New Zealand Army has paid tribute to a soldier killed in a South Taranaki crash last week — saying he’d had a “bright future” ahead of him.Private Rohaan Thomas died in a two-vehicle crash on State Highway 3 near Mokoia on January 5.Thomas, who was from Palmerston North, volunteered to serve in February before joining the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment in June.”Our thoughts and aroha go out to Rohaan’s whānau, his friends and his community as they come to terms with such a sudden loss, and we continue to support them where we can.”The 20-year-old died in a…

Several EU member states have suspended asylum claims from Syrians following the collapse of the Assad regime. But what next? Euronews spoke with a Syrian refugee in Berlin, Amnesty International in Rome and the NGO Relive for Syrian Refugees in Paris. ADVERTISEMENTFadi Zaim loves Berlin and loves Germany. The co-owner of the Jasmin catering company based in Germany’s capital arrived as a Syrian refugee in Germany in 2013. Originally born in Damascus, Fadi feels at home in Berlin and has even catered for former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He has built a successful business over the past 12 years, and…