Author: Press Room
Published on 11/12/2025 – 12:00 GMT+1 “French politics, money and sex“ was the answer of the Europe Today team to your reporter when he asked what today’s explainer is about. Easy to mock and laugh at, as you cannot imagine a more powerful trio. But perhaps the topic needs a more mature take? Brothels have been banned in France since 1946. But French far-right lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy wants to bring them back. His pitch? They would not be run by souteneurs. The plan would be to create “cooperatives” managed by the women themselves. As Tanguy poetically put it: “sex workers…
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa plan to travel on December 20 for the signing of a contentious agreement with the Mercosur trading bloc of South American countries. The Commission, which has been negotiating the deal for 25 years, is confident a majority of member states will support it. But EU diplomats say the arithmetic remains uncertain, with the split between supporters and opponents still razor-thin. The next ten days will be decisive. The deal was concluded in December 2024 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay with the EU aims to create a…
It’s social media D-Day for more than a million young Australians, who, in theory, shouldn’t be able to access their online accounts from today.Major social media companies, including Meta and Snapchat, have spent recent weeks removing under 16s, to comply with the Federal Government’s world first ban.Its aim, according to Australia’s online safety regulator, eSafety, is “to protect young Australians from pressures and risks that users can be exposed to while logged in to social media accounts”.1News asked Kiwi politicians if they would support a similar ban in New Zealand. (Source: 1News)Countries the world over are watching Australia to see…
Wholesale rates are getting the blame for the fact that two weeks after the official cash rate was cut, one major bank has increased some of its fixed-term home loan rates.Westpac said on Tuesday it was increasing its home loans over two- to five-year terms by 30 basis points.That takes a two-year fix to 4.75%.At the same time, it is reducing its six-month rate by 20 basis points, to 4.69%.Before the latest OCR decision, wholesale markets had virtually priced in one more cut.So when the Reserve Bank indicated it thought another cut might not be needed, wholesale rates ticked up.Westpac…
A Nelson teenager was fleeing police at about 183km/h when she lost control of the vehicle and smashed into a tree.Tieylr Saige Ayrton, 17, died from a head injury sustained in the crash on Rutherford Street in March 2022.The girl was under the influence of alcohol and driving on a restricted driver licence in the early hours of the morning. Her two passengers suffered serious injuries in the crash.Coroner Megan Armistead, in findings released on Wednesday, said Ayrton’s death was avoidable and highlighted the dangers of driving while intoxicated and the importance of complying with restricted licence conditions.The Transport Agency…
A homicide investigation has been launched following the death of a Mt Eden Corrections Facility prisoner.Detective Senior Sergeant Martin Friend said officers were notified by Corrections about a serious assault at the prison on November 29. He said the male victim was taken to hospital with critical injuries.”He has remained in intensive care at Auckland City Hospital since that time. Unfortunately, despite ongoing medical assistance, the man succumbed to his injures yesterday,” Friend said. Police had continued inquiries since late November, which would now become a homicide inquiry.”Our thoughts are with the man’s family at this difficult time,” he said.…
The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including a man arrested after a murder on an Auckland bus, new material about Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein to be released, and malware warning for thousands of New ZealandersA man’s arrested after two stabbing attacks on an Auckland bus.Tracks in Tongariro National Park will reopen today after a large fire was contained. New material about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell is about to be released. Australia’s world first ban on social media for under 16s has kicked in. Thousands of New Zealanders will get emails this morning, alerting them to the presence of…
The 36-year-old man accused of stabbing two people in separate incidents aboard a bus is due to appear in court today, as Auckland Transport describes the event as “deeply concerning”. One man died yesterday, and another was seriously injured after being stabbed by the same person at different times aboard the number 76 bus as it journeyed from Glen Innes towards Ōrakei on Monday evening. A 36-year-old man arrested for murder and causing grievous bodily harm yesterday afternoon in Auckland’s CBD, and was due to appear in the Auckland District Court today. Speaking to Breakfast, Auckland Transport’s public transport director…
A 55-year-old man has been sentenced to five years and two months’ imprisonment for possessing “disturbing” child sexual exploitation material, including of infants under the age of two.Warning: Details in this article may be distressing to some readers. Helplines are provided.Alexandre Harpur, a repeat offender, was sentenced on Tuesday at the Christchurch District Court, pleading guilty to 19 charges of “distributing and possessing objectionable images depicting the sexual exploitation and abuse of babies and children and creating adult bestiality material”.Hapur had previously been jailed for sexual offending against a child.The Department of Internal Affairs’ Digital Child Exploitation Team launched the…
The country’s cyber agency is alerting tens of thousands of New Zealanders that their device has been infected with malicious software.The National Cyber Security Centre was sending emails to around 26,000 email addresses on Wednesday warning about the malware Lumma Stealer, which was designed to steal sensitive information like email addresses and passwords.Some of the stolen passwords were connected to government agency systems and bank accounts.The cyber security centre’s chief operating officer, Michael Jagusch, said it was the first time the agency had contacted so many people.”We have worked with New Zealand government agencies and financial institutions to help protect…