Author: Press Room

Amid widespread concerns over the future of artificial intelligence (AI), many say that it presents more opportunities than risks. In its first study on AI integration in European health systems, the World Health Organization (WHO) says AI can enhance healthcare and alleviate pressure on overworked staff. Most European and Eurasian countries — 50 surveyed in total — are delivering. Despite the presence of legal voids, AI is already being employed for critical tasks. Which countries have already enforced AI-diagnostics? The most common use is in diagnostics, reported by 64% of countries, in sectors like ophthalmology, radiology or dermatology. France, Portugal,…

Consent has been granted for the sale of three adjoining South Otago dairy farms to an entity ultimately majority beneficially owned by pension funds administered by the Washington State Investment Board. Overseas investment decisions released by Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand yesterday showed the Minister for Land Information and the Associate Minister of Finance had approved the transaction. NZ Dairy Holdings Trusco Pty Ltd as a trustee for NZ Dairy Holdings Trust is an investment vehicle for Australian agricultural investment firm Laguna Bay. It has been given approval to acquire a freehold interest in about 845ha in Clydevale…

Former investment banker Rodger Finlay has been appointed chair of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.Finlay, who had been exercising the functions of the chair since August, has filled a role left open after former chairperson Neil Quigley resigned with immediate effect over his handling of the sudden resignation of Adrian Orr earlier this year.The appointment comes ahead of Swedish economist Anna Breman starting as the Reserve Bank Governor on December 1.Finance Minister Nicola Willis, who recommended Finlay, said it was the latest milestone in the refresh of the central bank.”I have confidence in him to lead the work to…

Published on 27/11/2025 – 16:24 GMT+1 People living near airports and ports are exposed to increasingly high levels of air pollution from shipping and aviation, according to a briefing from the European Union’s environment agency, which calls for greater monitoring of air pollutants in these areas. Aviation and maritime transport are the hardest sectors to decarbonise as they remain highly reliant on fossil fuels. According to EU data, they account for around 8.4% of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Maritime transport alone is projected to become the main source of transport-related air pollution in coastal cities by 2030, according…

Haast residents campaigning to get chlorine out of their water are asking Taumata Arowai to waive the hefty fee it would charge to consider the option.The water regulator can exempt a supplier — in this case the Westland District Council — from chlorinating a community water supply, if it was impractical or too costly, and there was a safe alternative.But the council would have to apply for the exemption and pay an application fee of more than $6000.Westland mayor Helen Lash had been less than enthusiastic about the move, saying the fee was not cheap, and the council would be…

Two seizures of cocaine totalling an estimated 33kg have been made by Customs at the Port of Tauranga.Customs said both illicit bundles of kilo bricks were found in refrigerated containers on board a vessel that originated in Ecuador and transited through Panama before arriving in Tauranga on November 20.The pair of containers had been risk-assessed as part of standard procedures and, during X-ray screening, Customs officers identified anomalies in the imagery which led to a physical inspection of the containers and their contents.Among legitimate goods inside the containers, officers located 17 bricks of cocaine in one container and 16 in…

Consumer protection groups, the European airline industry and EU member states have failed to agree on proposed new protections for air passengers, leaving regulations still stuck in legislative limbo after more than a decade. Dissatisfaction with the draft text has now reached such a level that the industry has called for a pause in the negotiations. “We urgently call for a 6-month pause to the deliberations until a thorough impact assessment of the proposed measures has been conducted,” reads a letter sent on Tuesday to the bloc’s transport ministers on behalf of the airline industry operating in Europe. The Council…

A “daring” rescue was carried out by surf lifeguards and police in the black of night on Tuesday after a surfer was pulled out to sea off Piha Beach. The surfer’s relieved mother expressed her gratitude to the hero responders, saying: “We wouldn’t be bringing our boy home today if it wasn’t for them.”Emergency services were called to the Auckland’s west coast at around 8pm, when a man reported to police that his brother was missing north of Lion Rock after being caught in a large rip. Police deployed the Eagle helicopter and the Piha Surf Life Saving Club sent…

Published on 27/11/2025 – 12:50 GMT+1 •Updated 13:26 Ukraine’s former Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that reducing the size of Ukraine’s armed forces as part of a peace deal with Russia would be “humiliation” for Kyiv and leave the country vulnerable to future aggression. “If you establish a cap on the army (…) it’s a clear message that a foreign power humiliates your army, your nation,” Kuleba told Euronews’ interview programme “12 minutes with”. “We will pave the road to hell with good intentions of satisfying the Russians. And capping the army is the most prominent example of that…

Thirty-seven former patients of the Lake Alice psychiatric hospital’s child and adolescent unit have received individual compensation payments of up to $600,000.The government last year announced its redress scheme for children and teens tortured with electric shocks without anaesthetic or through being injected with paralysing drugs at the unit in the 1970s.One hundred and five survivors opted to receive $150,000 rapid payments.Another 37 negotiated their compensation.Independent arbiter, former High Court judge Paul Davison, KC, determined the amounts these survivors received and he has released a summary of his work on Thursday.The majority received payments between $175,000 and $250,000, but the…