Author: Press Room

Chipseal is cheap seal – that was the message to council, as Pāpāmoa residents continued their campaign against chipseal road resurfacing.After an RNZ story last week, Tauranga City Council acknowledged residents’ concerns, which included changing some streets from asphalt to chipseal.The council said it was committed to listening to the community and, on Tuesday, it got a chance to do just that, when Pāpāmoa Residents and Ratepayers Association chair Philip Brown presented at the council meeting’s public forum.”The current [council] maintenance plan to resurface all hotmix roads with chipseal will result in a citywide downgrade of all street surfaces,” he…

A 43-year-old Masterton man has been arrested after multiple mailed packages containing methamphetamine were intercepted by Customs.In July, officers stopped 10 separate packages containing an estimated 10kg of methamphetamine, concealed in items including a painting and roller-skate knee pads. The haul carried a street value of around $3 million. Follow-up inquiries linked the consignments to an individual. Seized consignment of methamphetamine concealed in a paintaing (Source: Supplied)Yesterday, officers carried out two searches, arresting a man and seizing $7000 in cash, 100 grams of methamphetamine, drug utensils and 12 established cannabis plants.He is due to appear in the Masterton District Court…

The CEO and co-founder of Affirm, which offers buy now, pay later plans, says artificial intelligence is poised to transform shopping by taking over human tasks and making financial products more transparent. AI agents will soon be able to instantly weed out products with prohibitively high interest rates or late fees, forcing businesses to rethink fee structures, Max Levchin said at the Reuters Momentum AI Finance conference in New York on Tuesday. “I think we’re headed for a future where we have a profound elimination, for lack of a better term, of business models that are designed to prey on stupidity, or lack of attention ……

Former Te Tai Tokerau MP Hone Harawira is calling for a rebuild of Te Pāti Māori in the face of the “greatest barrage of racist, anti-treaty, anti-environment, anti-worker legislation we have ever seen from one government”.In a statement posted on social media, the former Te Pāti Māori MP said the party was “tearing itself apart with not an enemy in sight” as its constituents were left wondering “what the hell is going on?””Our people don’t understand what’s happening with the Party, but what they do know is that they are getting hammered, every single day.”He listed hardships such as benefit…

One new cases of measles has been reported – linked to Auckland Airport – bringing the total number of measles cases nationwide to 19.Health NZ said the new case was confirmed late on Tuesday and was domestic. Officials said the case was linked to Auckland Airport. The infected person was now isolating, with public health services in touch to provide advice and support. “No other new cases of measles have been identified by public health at this time,” the statement from Health NZ said.Locations of interest for the case were still being assessed, with an exposure event so far being…

Metallica surprised a packed Eden Park crowd when they busted out two classic Kiwi covers at their only New Zealand show last night.Halfway into the show, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo played Six60’s Don’t Forget Your Roots and Split Enz’s I Got You for the 55,000 eager metal heads, many of who had travelled from around New Zealand for the show. It’s become a tradition for the band to play local tracks at concerts – The Chats, Rose Tattoo and INXS were among the bands covered in Australia The set as a whole was definitely well received, with…

Several orange-level heavy rain warnings remain in place as downpours saturate the Bay of Plenty and surrounding areas this afternoon.The Bay of Plenty Regional Council activated its Flood Room at 7am on Wednesday, with the council’s flood monitoring team out checking flood defences, river levels, flows, and rainfall.”This means our flood team is set up to monitor the situation 24/7 as it develops. We will be providing real-time river level information to supporting agencies (such as local councils and Waka Kotahi), to assist with planning and responding to local communities,” the council said in a statement.Downpours began yesterday as two…

Published on 19/11/2025 – 20:44 GMT+1 In this special episode, we are at the Rooftop of Maison de l’Alsace, on the Champs Elysées, where we meet Prisca Thevenot, ex-spokesperson of the French government and elected lawmaker with the centrist party “Ensemble pour la République”. Facing Thévenot is Ian Brossat, senator, councilor of Paris and spokesperson of the French Communist Party. Both agree that France is in need of a new model but their views on how that should look like are radically opposed. Since President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the Parliament, the French are witnessing a dance of prime ministers, ministers…

The youth charity trust which launched what amounts to a hostile takeover bid for a prominent Auckland state school says it has withdrawn its application due to mounting public pressure and concern for the safety of its students. Bangerz Education and Wellbeing Trust (BEWT), lodged a proposal to the Charter School Agency to convert Kelston Boys’ High School into a charter school from term one 2026. The controversial bid sparked a public outcry after the school’s acting principal Dan Samuelu announced the school did not support it and had concerns about the trust’s ability to work with the community. The…

Otago’s economy is the envy of many others — strong, resilient and growing, a new report says. The ANZ bank put the spotlight on Otago in a report released yesterday and called it one of New Zealand’s most recession-proof regions. Unemployment remained low, more houses were getting built, there were more businesses, exports grew and the economy had diversified, the bank said. Growth was particularly dramatic in Queenstown Lakes, followed by Central Otago. Dairy and meat products were the top export earners for Otago and fruit had shifted from being a modest contributor to a major export pillar. “The regions…