Author: Press Room

Friends and family of Yanfei Bao — who was killed in Christchurch in July last year — have gathered to remember her.The 44-year-old mother and real estate agent was last seen on her way to show a house to a prospective client, and her body was found a year later in farmland on the outskirts of Christchurch.Chinese national Tingjun Cao is on trial in the High Court at Christchurch, accused of her murder.A funeral service was held for her on Monday, with the organisers saying they wanted to remember her beautiful life and incredible accomplishments.About 100 people gathered at Our…

Tahiti have won through to the final four in qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, denying fellow Oceania underdogs Vanuatu a shot at glory.The main island of French Polynesia — the overseas collectivity of France — defeated Vanuatu 2-0 in Auckland on Monday in a crunch qualifier.Benoit Mathon made sure of progression with a second-half penalty after Jonathon Spokeyjack’s earlier own goal.The loss ends the World Cup dream for defender Brian Kaltak, the Central Coast title-winner and highest-profile Pacific player in the A-Leagues.Tahiti, the tiny island of just 190,000 people, would be the smallest to ever qualify to a…

The presence of paralytic shellfish toxins has sparked a warning for the public not to collect or consume shellfish gathered in parts of the Bay of Plenty.”Routine tests on tuatua from Waihi Beach have shown levels of paralytic shellfish toxins more than double the safe limit,” New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle said.The warning extended from the southern end of Pāuanui Beach down to the entrance of Tauranga Harbour, by Mount Maunganui. The warning also included Tauranga Harbour.”Please do not gather and eat shellfish from this area because anyone doing so could get sick.”Affected shellfish include bivalve shellfish…

There is no electric transport on the roads, and ‘invincibility’ points for heat, water and electricity have been set up across the city. ADVERTISEMENTThe southern Ukrainian city of Odesa has been without electricity for two days, following Russian attacks which damaged critical energy infrastructure.Emergency power outages have been introduced across the region, and some facilities have been switched to generators.”We hope the electricity will come back. There was no water all day, in the morning and until 6-7 pm, and there is no electricity,” says Natalia, a resident of Odesa.’Invincibility’ points have been set up across the city, where residents…

A hypothermic man on Mount Taranaki sparked a near six-hour rescue effort on Saturday in a incident police hope others learn from.At about 6.30pm, the man called for help after he realised he was going into hypothermia.He had been on a day trail run when he was caught out by weather in very cold temperatures, police said.”Unprepared for the local conditions, the solo traveller was running out of food, water, and phone battery, and was 1400 metres up the mountain when he phoned for an ambulance.”Taranaki Police Search and Rescue, the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter and alpine cliff rescue members were…

Prison reform advocates say the Corrections department is unable to deliver effective rehabilitation for prisoners.In the last financial year, Corrections spent $376 million on rehabilitation – but most of the programmes it ran reduced reoffending by less than 2%.This was because the programmes were not intensive enough – and there were better ones that should be funded instead, critics said.Canterbury Howard League for penal reform co-president Cosmo Jeffery spent two years in prison in the early 2000s.Corrections was spending “a hell of a lot of money” on rehabilitation programmes that made “marginal differences”, he said.”Imagine if the police department, say,…

At the Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, proposed the suspension of political dialogue with Israel due to human rights violations in Gaza but failed to get the support of all member states. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Union will not suspend political dialogue with Israel as no agreement was reached during a Council of Foreign Ministers held on Monday in Brussels.The proposal came from Josep Borrell, outgoing head of Foreign Policy of the European Union, who pointed out violations of human rights and international law by Israel in the Gaza Strip. However, Borrell’s proposal did not…

A Wairarapa egg farmer is trialling lockdown procedures for his hens and an industry group is warning New Zealand needs to get on a wartime footing — ahead of the potential arrival of bird flu.”We’ve been given this blessed window that other countries haven’t been able to have around getting prepared, we can’t squander the opportunity,” Wairarapa Eggs owner Chris Martin said.The highly contagious disease has killed millions of birds overseas since emerging in 2020, according to the Ministry for Primary Industries. The Government agency states human infection is rare.”Generally, it’s only occurred in people who have had a lot…

This article was originally published in French According to a coalition of NGOs, the European Union’s national delegations brought more than a hundred fossil fuel representatives with them to Baku for the UN climate conference. ADVERTISEMENTRepresentatives of the fossil fuel sector have a strong presence at COP29. According to a report by the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition, a body of 450 NGOs, up to 1,773 lobbyists travelled to Baku for the United Nations climate conference.What’s even more head-scratching is that 113 of them were accompanying various European national government delegations. “Greece led the way with 24, while Italy had 22,”…

Te Hīkoi mō te Tiriti begins its final leg this morning as tens of thousands of participants march to Parliament. 1News breaks down what you need to know.Up to 30,000 people are expected to join the national hīkoi in Wellington today, nine days after it began in the Far North.A convoy of people will be making their way from Takapūwāhia Marae in Porirua as well as Petone early this morning, however official proceedings are due to kick off from 9am at Waitangi Park in Wellington.TVNZ+ will have video from the event throughout the day, while 1News will have live updates…