Author: Press Room

Brad Pitt has starred in a new advertisement filmed in New Zealand and directed by Taika Waititi.In the commercial, the 61-year-old appears in Queenstown and uses a De’Longhi Perfetto coffee machine.Pitt also sported a beard and jewellery from his girlfriend Ines de Ramon’s line, Anita Ko.(Source: De’Longhi)The advertisement features comical elements, such as him being taught how to pronounce “perfetto” by Italian actor Riccardo Scamarco, who narrated the piece.In a statement, Pitt said: “Taika bought the humour, De’Longhi brought the ritual. Together, that was perfetto.”In an interview with People, Waititi said he enjoyed working with Pitt on the ad.Kiwi filmmaker…

Wellington house prices are now up to 30% below their peak, as the housing market continues to record a steady slide, QV says.It has released its latest data, which shows the QV House Price Index fell 0.8% in the three months to the end of August.The new national average value of $906,977 is 0.2% higher than the same time a year earlier but 13.4% below the January 2022 peak.In the quarter, Queenstown was up 2.5%, and Hastings 1.7%. But Nelson was down 3.2%, and Wellington 2.4%.Auckland, Whangārei, Hamilton, Napier, Palmerston North, Christchurch and Dunedin also recorded drops.Spokesperson Andrea Rush said…

A child of fugitive Tom Phillips cautioned police of firearms hidden at the campsite the group were staying at before entering yesterday.Phillips died after a shootout with police after they were called to reports of a burglary in the early hours of Monday.Follow our live updates hereOne of his children, who was with him at the time, then began assisting police.More than 12 hours later, the remaining two children were located in a remote campground.Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told Morning Report he was very relieved the children had been recovered safely.He said police knew there were firearms at the campsite,…

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including new details about the end of the Marokopa search and how the injured officer is doing, plus Banksy’s new politically charged artwork. Police have released new details about where the remaining children of Tom Phillips were found late yesterday, and given an update on the injured police officer. Prince Harry is back in the UK, fuelling speculation he could meet his father, King Charles, in a bid to heal their ongoing rift. Bansky has painted a mural on the outside of London’s main courts, depicting a judge bashing a protester.

The Commerce Commission has filed charges under the Fair Trading Act against New Zealand’s largest gym chain CityFitness for alleged misleading membership price advertising.The Commission alleges an advertised membership price did not include a compulsory 3% fee, which it says was inaccurately labelled as a “transaction fee”.Businesses should not exclude compulsory fees from their advertised prices as it goes against consumers’ right to accurate pricing, said general manager of competition, fair trading and credit Vanessa Horne.”It shouldn’t be a difficult exercise to work out how much your gym costs.”The charge period for the alleged misleading claims was between December 21,…

Two state schools are in contract negotiations to become charter schools as early as next year – but their identities remain under wraps.The Charter School Agency said the schools applied last year to convert and had consulted with their communities.”When the schools open depends on the outcome of these negotiations. Information will become publicly available after contracts have been signed. Until then, information is commercially sensitive,” the agency’s chief executive Jane Lee said.The agency said, in total, six state and six state integrated schools, including the two that had been approved, had expressed interest or applied to become charter schools.They…

By Nona Pelletier of RNZ There are signs the worst of the economic downturn may be over for New Zealand retailers, but the outlook remains far from optimistic. Retail NZ said latest Stats NZ data indicate a small uptick in consumer spending, but the bigger picture remained bleak, pointing to the recent closures of large retail chains, Smiths City and Kitchen Things, as well as smaller well-established shops in many centres. A retail sector report by brokerage Forsyth Barr expects three-out-of-four of listed retail companies, which included The Warehouse Group, Briscoe Group and Hallensteins Glassons, to underperform, while the fourth,…

Tom Phillips left his campsite in the early hours of Monday morning with one of his children intending to carry out another burglary. The day would end with Phillips dead and his children’s 1358 days in the bush coming to an end. RNZ’s National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood reports.It all began with an early morning call from a member of the public.About 2.30 on Monday morning police received a call from a Piopio resident to say they believed they were witnessing a burglary in action at PGG Wrightson.PGG Wrightson in Piopio (Source: 1News)There was more. The burglary involved two people…

A prominent sportsman has been found not guilty of breaking a baby’s ribs and collarbone.It took the jury about four hours to unanimously find the man, whose name is suppressed, not guilty of injuring with reckless disregard and an alternative charge of assault following a three-week trial in the Dunedin District Court.The prosecution claimed the man lost patience with the unsettled baby on July 16, 2023 while the infant’s mother was at the gym, squeezing him after a “brain explosion” and breaking more than a dozen of his ribs and his collarbone.But defence lawyer Anne Stevens KC called it a…

Smiths City liquidation sales across the South over the weekend left shelves stripped of their stock in just one day, as staff are left in the dark about what comes next. The future of Smiths City remains up in the air with more advice likely by the end of the week. The 107-year-old retailer went into voluntary administration on Tuesday last week and on Friday announced a nationwide liquidation sale over the weekend. Seven of the eight stores — Auckland, Christchurch, Greymouth, Oamaru, Alexandra, Gore and Invercargill — reopened to sell remaining stock. The exception was the Dunedin store, which…