Author: Press Room

ADVERTISEMENTUS Vice President JD Vance met with Pope Francis at the Casa Santa Marta, where the pontiff is recovering from double pneumonia after his 38-day hospital stay.Sources at the Vatican said that Easter greetings were exchanged during the meeting, which lasted a few minutes. The meeting was a rapprochement between the Trump administration and the Vatican, after Pope Francis repeatedly criticised the US administration’s tough immigration policies.Vance’s Rome visitVance, who is visiting Rome with his family for Easter, met with senior Vatican officials on Saturday, including Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with…

Police have recovered the body of man reported missing after a bystander saw him in fall into fast-flowing water near Wairere Falls, northeast of Matamata.Police said this afternoon the man “has sadly been located deceased”.Police launched the efforts to find the man after he was seen falling into the river near Wairere Falls just before midday on Saturday.The person who saw him fall tried to help but could not reach him in time.The Paeroa Search and Rescue group joined the police Swift Water Rescue Team at the scene alongside a helicopter.The search faced challenging conditions as the country dealt with…

MetService has issued an upgraded thunderstorm warning for Auckland and Waikato this evening.An alert sent to mobiles phones warned MetService weather radar had detected severe thunderstorms near Auckland, Kumeu, Albany, Henderson, Manukau Heads, Whenuapai, Greenhithe, Coatesville, Paremoremo, Hobsonville, Massey, Te Atatu, Waitakere, Swanson, West Harbour, Glen Eden, Kelston, Ranui and North Harbour. The warning — upgraded from the all-day weather watch issued this morning — said areas of Auckland and Waikato were likely to be affected by the thunderstorms until 7.15pm Sunday evening.Earlier, MetService issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Waitomo and Taumarunui, following days of wild…

By Adam Burns of RNZ A recruitment firm says there is still fierce competition for jobs around the country as languishing employment openings look to bounce back. It comes as broad downsizing and cuts across the public sector continue, with unemployment creeping up to its highest rate since mid-2020. Last year, Beyond Recruitment saw its worst year of new job listings, although things were starting to improve over the early part of 2025. The company’s co-director Ben Pearson estimated job vacancies had plummeted by about 60 to 70 percent in two years. “There’s still a large amount of people out there looking…

Mount Maunganui cafes, bars and restaurants are facing an unexpected alfresco cost — with Tauranga City Council proposing to dish up an annual fee on businesses for having tables and chairs on the footpath.The proposed fee would be $100 per square metre of footpath used from July 1.Some businesses have labelled the added charge “unfair”, particularly during tough economic times.”In terms of council speak that’s a drop in a bucket in terms of any significant amount of money than can be invested into anything meaningful,” Mount Business Association’s Harris Williams told 1News.”It’s coming at a time where the economic climate…

A global trend inspired by the new Minecraft movie has taken a dangerous turn, after a fire extinguisher was let off inside a packed Melbourne cinema.The bizarre craze has fans erupt during a specific scene in the film when Jack Black’s character introduces a creature called a “chicken jockey” – a pixelated baby zombie riding a chicken.But what began as a playful online trend, with people throwing popcorn and cheering, has now escalated into full-blown cinema disruption.Footage from a Tuesday night screening shows chaos inside Ringwood’s Hoyts theatre, as smoke from a fire extinguisher fills the air and moviegoers flee…

A retail lobby group says Easter trading rules preventing stores from opening on Easter Sunday are outdated and in need of a revamp.Under the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990, most stores have to shut their doors on Easter Sunday — along with Good Friday, Christmas Day, and half of Anzac Day — with the exception of some tourist resorts and in areas where local councils have sought an exemption.Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said the inconsistency under the current rules created confusion and it was time the legislation changed.”The rules are set from a more traditional, old-school perspective, but…

Kerry Tong says his Category 3 land in Eskdale is a thorn in his side.He claims agents handling the buyout of his cyclone-destroyed property told him his best bet would be to take the relocation offer and keep the land.”They said my rates would be minimal,” Tong said.But he says they weren’t.However, a spokesperson for Hastings District Council says The Property Group acted as agents for the council and was unaware of any advice given regarding ongoing rates obligations.”The Voluntary Buyout policy developed and approved by council and jointly funded by both the government and council, set out a process…

One Auckland church is conducting a year’s worth of baptisms in one day.Religion expert Emeritus Professor Peter Lineham said St Patrick’s Cathedral in central Auckland was expecting 350 people to be baptised on Easter Sunday.”The whole Anglican church last year had approximately that number of people baptised over the whole year, so that tells you something is happening.”It’s an astonishing figure.”Several churches he had spoken to were seeing their congregations increase this Easter, he said.”Good Friday numbers, for example, appear to be significantly up in a lot of churches.”I don’t want to call anything significant at the moment but it…

A police officer has created a new nationwide interactive map of the last known location of people who have gone missing in the last 50 years.Nearly 500 people are missing and presumed dead, and police have hailed the new map as a “game changer”.Senior Constable Paul “Carlos” Spencer said he came up with the idea for his map after hearing about shrinking glaciers.”As the ice melts, human remains and property could be uncovered. If that happens, how will we start our investigation to know who it belongs to?”If that happens, the map could help provide clues to their identity.There are…