Author: Press Room

A Manawatū man has been sentenced to six months in prison after one of his horses died from starvation and two others were found severely malnourished and without adequate shelter.He was sentenced today in the Palmerston North District Court on five animal welfare charges relating to the three horses he kept on his Ohakune property. SPCA said it began investigating after receiving a photograph of a horse lying dead in a paddock, along with a claim that two others were thin and without feed in August 2021. Inspectors visited the property and found a six-year-old bay thoroughbred mare, Mad About…

Auckland’s long-awaited City Rail Link will now not arrive for passengers until the second half of 2026, the Government and Auckland Council have confirmed.The $5.5 billion project, the largest transport infrastructure development in New Zealand’s history, consists of twin 3.45km tunnels linking renovated stations at Waitematā (Britomart) and Maungawhau (Mount Eden), plus two new underground stations at Te Waihorotiu in midtown and Karangahape Rd.The City Rail Link was expected to double the network’s capacity, slash travel times and redraw the supercity’s rail lines.In a joint statement today, Transport Minister Chris Bishop, Minister for Auckland Simeon Brown, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown…

Brussels will relax “strict” state aid rules and provide EU funding to help member states increase affordable housing, Dan Jørgensen, the first-ever European Commissioner for Housing, said on Euronews’ flagship interview programme, The Europe Conversation. “These rules refer to where the state can actually go in and support the building of new affordable housing or social housing,” Jørgensen explained. “We have to admit that in the situation that we’re in now and the way the rules are now, they are way too strict,” he added. “So, we need to transform them.” The EU Treaty prohibits state aid unless it is…

A judicial review has been filed by the mother of Kaoss Price, challenging the police investigation into the 22-year-old’s fatal shooting near New Plymouth in 2022. Price was killed by police gunfire on the evening of April 16, 2022. He had been driving in convoy with another vehicle along State Highway 3 between New Plymouth and Waitara in Taranaki.The young father had attempted to flee a routine traffic stop, driving dangerously and ramming a police car, shunting it off the road. He then tried to carjack “a number of vehicles” before being shot at six times on three occasions. He…

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will visit Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, breaking with a near-consensus among European leaders that more pressure must be applied on Moscow through sanctions and isolation to end the war in Ukraine. The meeting comes as Europeans work to sway the Trump administration to negotiate a peace settlement that ensures Kyiv’s sovereignty after a controversial plan shaped by Russian and US diplomats was leaked last week. It proposed sweeping concessions from Ukraine on its territory and the army, while shutting Ukrainian and European leaders out of negotiations entirely. The plan has since been tweaked…

Some councillors will be able to access allowances of up to $5500 to beef up their home security.The Remuneration Authority, which sets the rules around councillor pay and allowances nationally, has made the claim possible following incidents of abuse, harassment and threats against lawmakers.For the first time, elected members can receive up to $4500 to buy and install home security equipment, plus $1000 each year to cover monitoring, call-outs, and repairs.Hastings District Council Mayor Wendy Schollum said introducing security support, similar to what MPs already have, was a Remuneration Authority decision.”Our job is to decide the criteria around when it…

The European Union must move forward with a plan to use the Russian frozen assets to finance Ukraine with a reparation loan immediately, the EU’s ambassador to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová told Euronews in an interview on its flagship morning TV show Europe Today. The EU is looking for ways to keep Kyiv afloat and provide a constant funding line to pay for its military and budget needs next year and 2027. The Commission has pitched an unprecedented plan to convert the Russian frozen assets into a reparations loan for Ukraine. The Belgian government holds the key as the host of…

A small rural community is rallying behind its only hotel after the venue lost its liquor licence this month, in what one local described as “a body blow”.The licence holder at the Castlepoint Hotel had hoped to keep serving alcohol while the appeals process was underway, but this week the venue confirmed they had closed the bar.The move follows a decision earlier this month by Masterton District Council’s licencing committee not to renew the on and off licence, citing problems including serving drunk customers, and an accident involving a teenage driver over the legal alcohol limit.In a Facebook post late…

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has doubled down on his opposition to the European Union’s proposal to use the immobilised Russian assets and issue a so-called reparations loan to Ukraine, calling the idea “fundamentally wrong”. “Why would we thus venture into uncharted legal and financial waters with all possible consequences, if this can be avoided?” De Wever wrote in a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and seen by Euronews. Instead of using the Russian assets, the EU should jointly borrow €45 billion on the markets to cover Kyiv’s financial and military needs…

Councillors have backed a proposed $1.4m road extension to secure access to the Amberley Beach Golf Course.The Hurunui District Council backed a proposal, which was originally presented to the council three years ago by the Amberley Beach Golf Club, by 5-4, with two councillors abstaining.The decision means the council can get on with negotiating land purchases and preparing a tender to extend Griersons Ave to secure long term access to the golf course, which was threatened by coastal erosion.The new road would also provide access to Waimaiaia 899 Reserve, the mouth of the Waipara River and the northern beach.Councillors had…