Author: Press Room

In a few weeks’ time, West Coasters will be able to find out if their home – or one they’re planning to buy – may be at risk of damage or even demolition in a landslide.Regional council staff are working on the final parts of a natural hazards portal on the council website that lets the public zoom around on the map and check out the threats posed by nature in a given area.That included flooding, storm surge, liquefaction and, now, the risk of landslide – triggered either by rainfall or earthquake.The addition of landslide hazard maps to the portal…

Published on 05/12/2025 – 16:54 GMT+1 For the fifth episode of our podcast, “Brussels, my love?”, we are joined by Irish author and professor Donnacha Ó Beacháin, Swedish correspondent with Svenska Dagbladet Teresa Küchler and Euronews’ own Mared Gwynn Jones. We dive straight into the corruption scandal that shocked the EU capital this week that saw the former foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini arrested as a suspect in probe into procurement fraud. Donnacha Ó Beacháin said that depending on how it ends, this could be a good news story for the EU as it could serve as a trigger for…

A new twice-weekly flight route connecting Auckland and Buenos Aires will take off later tonight, marking what the Government is calling a milestone for the tourism sector.China Eastern Airlines launches its Auckland to Buenos Aires service tonight, adding to its existing daily Shanghai to Auckland flights and positioning the city as a transit hub between Asia and South America. Tonight’s flight departs just before 9pm. Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said he would be representing New Zealand on the inaugural flight, celebrating his successful advocacy on the issue.”I think we’ve been living at the mercy of the Mercator projection; this most…

Published on 05/12/2025 – 15:00 GMT+1 It looks like a manufacturing plant but it’s actually a huge research facility. Inside Borealis’s Innovation Hall in Linz, Austria, raw materials with bizarre names — like polymers — are mixed with additives, antioxidants or glass fibre to test the manufacturing of a wide array of everyday products. “The different products we design could be pipes or bumpers, or of course packaging material to wrap a sweet,” explains Doris Machl, the Head of the Competence Center at Compounds & Recyclates. From insulating materials to fully recyclable transparent films, these real-size manufacturing lines enable developers…

About 100 people crowded into the Whakatāne District Council chambers yesterday in a show of support for the restoration of Ōhope Beach’s iconic West End walkway.A second meeting room with video and audio links to the chambers was opened to accommodate supporters of Austin Oliver and Angus Robson’s proposal to allow volunteers to restore the track.Four years after the section of Ngā Tapuwae o Toi walkway between Otarawairere Bay and West End, Ōhope, was closed by slips, the track around a steep, rocky point providing one of two access points to the secluded Otarawairere Bay remains closed.Oliver and Robson told…

The Trump administration has released a new National Security Strategy for the United States in which it describes Europe as a continent in decline, warns that European nations are facing “civilisational erasure” because of migration and proposes to “cultivate resistance to Europe’s current trajectory within European nations”. Published on Friday, the strategy spells out the administration’s vision for the US’s role in the global order, doubling down on President Donald Trump’s “America First” mantra and insisting that he is a “president of peace” who will err on the side of non-interventionism. However, it also accuses European governments of “subversion of…

A second teenager has been charged with being involved in a series of crimes across Christchurch, including the stabbing and robbery of a dairy owner.Officers were called to a report of robbery and assault carried out by three people at a business on Opawa Rd shortly before 7am on Tuesday.”During the incident, the store owner was stabbed, causing serious injuries to him,” Christchurch District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill said at the time.The trio fled the scene in a vehicle – a silver Toyota MarkX – taking a till and “other items” with them.It followed at least four reported aggravated robbery…

Concerns have long been expressed about vapes making teens more susceptible to nicotine addiction. However, Belgium’s first-ever drug commissioner, Ine Van Wymersch, has warned that there is a much darker side to the use of e-cigarettes among youngsters. She told Euronews that children could get “hooked” on the hidden opioids found in illegal vapes. “I’m very concerned about illegal vapes,” Van Wymersch said in Euronews’ flagship interview programme 12 Minutes With. “Of all the illegal refill capsules for vapes which we have seized [in Belgium], more than 80% contain synthetic opioids, and they don’t have a specific smell or colour.”…

A recall has been issued for three Tom & Luke brand Low Carb Snacka Balls products due to the possible presence of hard plastic. The affected products include batches of its chocolate-coated Cookies and Cream (BB: 11 SEP 2026), Raspberry (BB: 15 SEP 2026, 11 SEP 2026, and 16 OCT 2026), and Hazelnut (BB: 03 SEP 2026 and 11 SEP 2026) Snacka Balls.The products were sold at selected retail outlets and supermarkets across the country and exported to Australia.”These products should not be eaten. You can return them to the place of purchase for a refund. If that’s not possible,…

The European Commission slapped a €120 million fine on Friday on Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, for the first time under its landmark Digital Services Act following a two-year investigation. At the centre of the probe is the blue checkmark, previously used to signal official accounts at no cost but now sold for €7 a month, which risks confusing users about the veracity of identities. Under the new X settings, an account with a checkmark may not signal a real user and could instead be a bot, the Commission said. As a result, it decided…