Author: Press Room

ADVERTISEMENTWith the European People’s Party (EPP) Congress under way in Valencia, where state and party leaders are set to gather, the party’s President Manfred Weber cautioned against the authoritarian wave arriving in Europe, pledging to firmly reject any formal alliance with parties he sees as extremist.”The main competitors for us for the coming years are the populists and extremists. We are facing an authoritarian wave all over the world, and it is also coming and arriving in Europe,” Weber told Euronews.”I work together with serious (parties), but with those who are really taking Europe into question, like (Alice) Weidel and AfD…

ADVERTISEMENTMalta’s controversial golden passport scheme, allowing foreigners to purchase EU citizenship in exchange for investing upwards of €690,000, was ruled unlawful by the EU’s top court on Tuesday.  The Commission took legal action years ago, arguing that the golden passport scheme breached Malta’s duty to cooperate sincerely. It offered people the chance to gain citizenship of Malta, and hence the right to work across the EU, even if they didn’t have family ties or a home there.The EU Court of Justice agreed with the Commission, finding that such a scheme “amounts to the commercialisation of the granting of the status…

A missing Wellington 12-year-old boy has been found and taken home to his parents.He was last seen in the central city about midnight on Saturday – but last night made contact with a friend saying he was OK.His father said the police had found the boy today and brought him home.Earlier today, the father told RNZ that a friend had received a text from his son yesterday, saying, “I’m at a friend’s house and I’m OK”.Soon after, the child made a short phone call. He said he had met other runaway kids in Wellington’s CBD and was now staying with…

ADVERTISEMENTGermany’s consumer confidence improved for a second consecutive month in April, although sentiment remains muted amid persistent economic headwinds, according to the latest GfK Consumer Climate survey powered by NIM.The forward-looking consumer climate index forecasts a rise of 3.7 points to -20.6 for May 2025, compared with -24.3 in April, marking the best reading since early 2024 but still deeply negative. The monthly survey, published by GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM), highlights that rising income expectations and a lower propensity to save have helped lift sentiment, even as broader economic expectations improved only marginally.Savings intentions decline…

After winning $23.3 million in last week’s Lotto draw, a couple from the upper North Island celebrated with fish and chips on the beach. The largest Powerball prize of the year was struck on Wednesday last week.The couple, who wished to remain anonymous, said seeing the enormous figure was “mind-boggling”.“I thought maybe it was the $333,333 – which would have been life-changing itself,” the man said. “I saw the 23 at the start, and it took me a few seconds to figure out it was $23 million. It was absolutely mind-boggling.”The man, who said he was “tearful” at this point,…

ADVERTISEMENTWhat is behind Manfred Weber’s longevity at the helm of the EU’s most powerful political family? As the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) meets in Valencia for the party’s triennial congress, Weber is set to be nominated for another three-year term as party leader.As he is running unopposed, does this vote constitute unanimous support? Sandor Zsiros travelled to Valencia to put these questions to Weber himself. We also spoke to Euronews’ European Parliament reporter Vincenzo Genovese on how to interpret this result.In this episode, we also look at a closed-door meeting of the EU Ministers for Environment and Climate, focusing on…

The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) has deployed a P-8A Poseidon to Japan, where it will monitor UN sanctions against North Korea. During the four-week deployment, the aircraft and its crew will carry out surveillance over the waters around East Asia to watch for evidence of ship-to-ship transfers of resources used in North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.The deployment is part of the Pacific Security Maritime Exchange (PSMX), a coalition formed to monitor UN Security Council sanctions. Commander Joint Forces New Zealand Major General Rob Krushka said New Zealand’s contribution was an “important one”. “New Zealand is committed…

ADVERTISEMENTA raft of social media posts have surfaced on X, TikTok and Telegram claiming that the US administration is prohibiting Germany from providing Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles, reportedly because they contain American critical materials.Euroverify investigated these claims, but found no evidence to date to corroborate them.The Taurus KEPD-350 missile is a long-range cruise missile more sophisticated than those already provided to Ukraine by the US, France and the UK.It can hit targets as far as 500km away — more than double the range of the cruise missiles Ukraine currently has — and could allow Kyiv to strike targets deep…

Some early childhood teachers say the process for getting the right pay rate if they switch to school teaching is a nightmare that leaves them despairing and in tears.They say the documentation required by Education Payroll Ltd — the school payroll company — to prove their early childhood teaching experience and place them on the correct step of the teacher pay scale is sometimes unreasonable and at times illogical.Some say they are being paid $40,000 less than they should given their experience.Some told RNZ the difficulties with Ed Pay was so bad they gave up and returned to early learning.Ed…

The Far North is under its second red severe thunderstorm warning of the day as a “significant low” moves south across New Zealand.A red severe thunderstorm warning was issued when a line of “severe thunderstorms” was detected near Cape Brett moving in a southwesterly direction at 4.30pm, Metservice warned.”These thunderstorms are expected to be accompanied by torrential rain.”Torrential rain can cause surface and/or flash flooding about streams, gullies and urban areas, and make driving conditions extremely hazardous.”A section of State Highway 1 had already closed due to flooding at Te Paki near Cape Rēinga at around 1.45pm, NZTA said.”There is…