Author: Press Room
Four men face “serious charges” after a police and Customs investigation into a Wellington-based syndicate led to the seizure of 23kg of methamphetamine and more than 1000 MDMA pills.Dubbed Operation Armani, the joint investigation identified a group smuggling “significant amounts” of drugs into New Zealand over several months.Twenty-three kilograms of methamphetamine, with a street value of more than $8 million, was intercepted at the border, while the MDMA seized was worth around $50,000.Search warrants were executed by police and Customs across the Wellington district.More than 1000 MDMA pills were seized as part of the investigation. (Source: NZ Police)Four men, aged…
The man accused of stabbing two people at an Auckland night market at the weekend has appeared in Manukau District Court.Police were called to the scene on Aylesbury St in Pakuranga about 6.45pm after reports of an assault on Saturday night.The 23-year-old has been charged with injuring the two victims. He handed himself in at the Manukau Police Station on Sunday.Both of the victims had surgery and were in stable condition in hospital.The accused appeared before the court on Monday with one of his hands bandaged.He was granted interim name suppression, remanded in custody, and was expected to re-appear next…
By Euronews Published on 23/06/2025 – 11:00 GMT+2Key diary datesMonday 23 June: EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.Tuesday 24-Wednesday 25 June: NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands.Wednesday 25 June: Gavi vaccine alliance’s high-level pledging summit in Brussels.Thursday 26 June: EU Council Summit in Brussels.ADVERTISEMENT In spotlightOn Wednesday international vaccine alliance Gavi will stage a ‘high-level pledging summit’ co-hosted by the EU and the Gates Foundation, set to feature appearances from the presidents of the Parliament, Commission and Council – Roberta Metsola, Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa – alongside tech royalty Bill Gates.Gates will be in the headlights in Brussels…
A Dunedin hospitality veteran is branching out into retail with a new store she says has been more than a decade in the making. Moray Pl homeware store Klein & Blue opened its doors earlier this month in the former Two Squirrels Vintage Emporium premises, which closed in August last year. Owner Riah McLean — who also owns Vogel St Kitchen and is the original owner of Heritage Coffee — said the store was her first proper venture into retail. She had briefly started a small homeware store called Mrs Brown in the back of Vogel St Kitchen, when it…
All Blacks and Blues winger Caleb Clarke says he’s “deeply sorry and embarrassed” after being discharged without conviction for clocking speeds of 110km/h on a motorbike in a residential area. “Just want to apologise for my actions, especially to the police for taking up their time and resource,” he told reporters in a prepared statement read outside court.“This is all on me and I absolutely accept the consequences and respect the court’s decision today.”On December 3, the 26-year-old was spotted by police travelling above the 80km/h speed limit on State Highway 16 shortly after midnight. Police signalled for him to…
Published on 23/06/2025 – 15:43 GMT+2•Updated 17:26ADVERTISEMENTHungary and Slovakia announced they would block the EU’s 18th sanctions package against Russia during the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Monday, adding that the move came in response to the European Commission’s RePowerEU plan that aims to cease all energy imports from Russia.”They demanded today that we create a sanctions package that is as strong, as comprehensive, and as severely punishing the energy sector as possible. However, we, together with Slovakia, prevented the adoption of the sanctions package today. We did this because, in parallel with…
Police are continuing to appeal for information on a motorcyclist who drove off after striking a 24-year-old pedestrian in Rotorua on June 15.The pedestrian, who was sight- and hearing-impaired, died in hospital on June 19.The motorcyclist allegedly overtook a stationary vehicle and struck the 24-year-old as he was crossing Edmund Rd and Mangakakahi at around 2.15pm on Sunday.Earlier, police said the rider then performed a U-turn, rode back towards the crossing, and fled the scene without stopping or checking on the victim.The pedestrian was then airlifted to Waikato Hospital in a critical condition. Edmund Rd was closed while emergency services…
ADVERTISEMENTNATO’s increased defence spending target will see allies finance a five-fold increase in air defence capabilities, the purchase of “thousands” more tanks and armoured vehicles and “millions of rounds” of artillery ammunition, the alliance’s chief Mark Rutte said on Monday on the eve of a summit in The Hague. Leaders from the 32 allied countries are expected to sign off on a new defence spending target of 5% of GDP on Wednesday, more than double the 2% level agreed in 2014 at a summit in Wales. Rutte described the hike as “a quantum leap that is ambitious, historic and fundamental…
A Crown prosecutor has told a court Wellington woman Julia DeLuney violently attacked her mother, leaving her dead or dying, in January last year.A post-mortem found Khandallah resident Helen Gregory, aged 79, died from complications of blunt force trauma, with 12 lacerations to her head and three skull fractures.Her daughter DeLuney is charged with murder, to which she has pleaded not guilty, with her trial opening Monday morning in the High Court in Wellington.Crown prosecutor Nicole Jamieson told the court that on the evening of January 24, DeLuney visited her mother to book tickets to the ballet.But sometime between 8.16pm…
Published on 23/06/2025 – 16:29 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTA Ukrainian journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) was freed on Sunday after being detained by Russian authorities for more than four years in occupied Crimea, according to the media organisation.Vladyslav Yesypenko was arrested and imprisoned on 10 March 2021 in Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.Yesypenko was charged with spying for Ukraine — a charge he denied — and a Russian-installed court in the territory sentenced him to six years imprisonment in February 2022, although his sentence was later reduced to five years.As well as being denied by Yesypenko himself,…