Author: Press Room

A sexual abuse survivor has spoken out after ex-ACT Party president Timothy Jago was found guilty of historical indecent assault against him and another teenager at Auckland’s Muriwai Surf Life Saving Club.In September, Paul Oliver spoke in an emotional interview with 1News, describing the impact of abuse that occurred in the 1990s when he was a teenage club member. He sought permission from the court so he could be identified as one of the two victims.1News asked him what he felt when a jury found Jago guilty. “It was wonderful to have the truth recognised,” Oliver said after an anguished…

The Dunedin Hospital build turned into a “political football”, wasting time and money, a doctors’ union says.On Friday, the government confirmed the long-awaited hospital build would go ahead at the former Cadbury factory site.Health Minister Simeon Brown said the new $1.8 billion hospital would have 351 beds – 59 fewer than originally proposed – but with capacity to expand to 404 beds over time.There would also be 20 short-stay surgical beds and 58 emergency department spaces.The plan was described as a broken promise by some and good enough by others.Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Sarah Dalton said the…

Police have launched a homicide investigation after the death of a man in central Ōpōtiki overnight.Detective senior sergeant Mike Varnam said emergency services were notified of a fight involving six people on Church Street at about 12.20am.One of those had “received an injury to the chest consistent with a stab wound,” he said.”Despite medical attention, the man died at the scene.”Police said no arrests have been made, however they are following lines of inquiry to identify and locate those involved.”It is believed gang members were involved.”Police urged those who have information on what happened to get in touch by phoning…

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics next week, she has announced.In June 2024, Davidson announced she had breast cancer, and would undergo a partial mastectomy and take leave from Parliament.In September, she gave an update on her treatment, and said “we’re in the thick of it”. She also expressed her appreciation to those who supported her and her whānau at the time.Today, Davidson said she would make her return to politics on February 3 at Waitangi, where she will speak with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.“I am alive, I am well and I am back,” she said. “I’m…

A body which washed up on Auckland’s Bethells Beach is likely that of a man missing at Piha Beach, police say.Police were notified of the body at about 8.10pm last night.On Tuesday, a helicopter search was underway for a man who went missing while swimming in a group of six at Piha Beach.Lifeguards said the group were “swept out to sea” after being caught in a rip.Police said at the time they were aware of five people who were rescued shortly after, but the sixth was not located.Formal identification is ongoing. However, police said it is “likely the body of…

South Islanders saw a fireball break through the atmosphere near Wanaka overnight with a loud sonic boom.The meteoroid became a fireball and raced above Queenstown around 11pm, before burning out over Southland.Fireballs Aotearoa, a group interested in meteorites, said a sonic boom was widely reported as the object came in overhead.Although most of its mass burned up in the fireball stage, it was believed a small meteorite may have landed in a remote portion of the Eyre Mountains in northern Southland.Fireballs Aotearoa are on the hunt for it.Spokesperson Steve Wyn-Harris said there was too much cloud cover to get specifics…

Police have confirmed the victim in the Otaika homicide in Northland was shot and are appealing for any footage of the incident. The man was discovered in a creek after 5am on January 29, adjacent to Otaika Valley Road on State Highway 15. Detective senior sergeant Shane Pilmer said a postmortem examination of the victim has been completed. “I can confirm that the victim was shot. “At this point in the enquiry, we believe the victim has been shot in that layby late on 28 January, between 7pm and 11pm.”After polices initial appeal for information Pilmer said, “we know now…

Trump has said repeatedly he wouldn’t have allowed the conflict to start if he had been in office, even though he was president as fighting grew in eastern Ukraine between Kyiv’s forces and separatists backed by Moscow. ADVERTISEMENTUS President Donald Trump has said his administration has had “very serious” discussions with Russia about the war in Ukraine and that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin could soon take “significant” action toward ending the almost three-year conflict.”We will be speaking and I think will perhaps do something that’ll be significant,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.”We want to end that war.…

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex will give viewers an “authentic look” at herself in her new Netflix show, according to pal Abigail Spencer.The 43-year-old royal stars in lifestyle series With Love, Meghan with a number of celebrity friends including her former Suits co-star Abigail Spencer, who said she feels “grateful” to have been given the opportunity to share the screen with the duchess again because she “learned a lot”.Spencer told People Magazine: “What I’m so excited about is that people will really get an authentic look at the woman that I love and know.”Also, you’re gonna learn a lot. I learned…

Despite this week’s DeepSeek shakeup, commentators are picking a generally positive year for sharemarkets, albeit with some challenges close to home.Jeremy Sullivan, an investment adviser at Hamilton Hindin Green, said the revelation that Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek had developed its AI app at a fraction of the cost of US models, could end up being a positive for the sector, if it produced competition.”There’s potential for the large players to learn from competition and potentially align their more powerful CPUs in a similar fashion and create exponential growth in the development of AI computing.”Nvidia has seen its share price slump…