Author: Press Room
A major shake-up of Auckland Transport has been confirmed, with its core focus to be delivering public transport services for the city. The changes, which had previously been signalled, will make Auckland Council responsible for all transport policy and planning work, the road controlling authority, and deliver transport capital projects while maintaining transport infrastructure.It will also establish the Auckland Regional Transport Committee, which will comprise of both Auckland Council elected members and Ministerial appointees, alongside an independent chair.“Auckland Transport will become a smaller transport council-controlled-organisation so it can focus on its core role of delivering high-quality public transport services for…
Published on 02/09/2025 – 6:38 GMT+2 •Updated 9:03 ADVERTISEMENT Belgium will recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session, set to open on 9 September, according to Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot. “Palestine will be recognized by Belgium during the UN session! And firm sanctions are being imposed on the Israeli government,” Prévot announced in a post on X. Belgium’s top diplomat revealed that the government will implement 12 sanctions on Israel at the national level following what is unfolding as a “humanitarian tragedy in Palestine” and in response to violence perpetrated by Israel in violation of…
The Government has outlined a plan aimed at expanding the support available for people sleeping rough and helping them into social homes as the country grapples with a homelessness crisis.The announcement followed the release of the Homelessness Insights Report, which revealed a sharp increase in people living without shelter, including those sleeping in cars and on the streets.The 2018 to 2023 period showed a 37% increase in people living without shelter despite the large-scale use of emergency housing costing more than over $1 billion across that period.Housing Minister Chris Bishop said homelessness had been a problem in New Zealand for…
Published on 02/09/2025 – 17:59 GMT+2 •Updated 04/09/2025 – 14:20 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT Technical work on the security guarantees for Ukraine is advanced enough that allies now only need confirmation of US support, the Elysée said on Tuesday ahead of a meeting of the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing’ later this week. According to the French presidential palace, most of the technical work which started following the first meeting of the coalition in mid-February to ensure Ukraine can deter further aggression attempts following a ceasefire, is now almost completed. This includes work on how to consolidate the Ukrainian armed forces over…
The New Zealand Defence Force has filed a notice of appeal against the sentence handed down in a landmark Court Martial held at Linton Military Camp last month, where a soldier was convicted of attempted espionage.The Director of Military Prosecutions was appealing the sentence to the Court Martial Appeal Court, arguing it was “manifestly inadequate”.The soldier, whose name remains suppressed, was sentenced to two years’ detention at Burnham Military Camp and dismissed from the NZDF after pleading guilty to three charges: attempted espionage, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose, and possession of objectionable material.Justice Kevin Riordan, who presided…
By Euronews Published on 04/09/2025 – 13:00 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT An image is circulating widely on social media claiming to show an Allied forces WWII nurse taking the names of soldiers who died during the D-Day landings in Normandy in France. The picture is typically shared with captions saying that the men were buried in makeshift graves on Omaha Beach before proper cemeteries were built, and that nurse Clara Thompson wrote down the names of each soldier that she tended to. Her notebook was supposedly found decades later in her daughter’s attic. The image has appeared all over Facebook and X, but…
A car fire on a major Auckland motorway has blocked lanes and snarled traffic in the central city this afternoon.Emergency services responded to reports of a car fire on the southbound lanes of State Highway 1 near Grafton at 1.09pm.Police said the fire occurred just after the on-ramp from the port link.”No one has been injured inside the vehicle,” a spokesperson said.Traffic was being impacted in both directions due to smoke.
ADVERTISEMENT More than half of respondents across the EU are in favour of further enlargement of the bloc, with nearly one in ten being very much in favour, according to the latest Eurobarometer study. In 23 member states, at least 50% of respondents are in favour of further enlargement, with the highest support in Sweden (79%), Denmark (75%), and Lithuania (74%). Ukraine, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Georgia, Albania, Kosovo, and Turkey are the ten countries wanting to join the EU. Support is also particularly high among young people. Younger respondents aged between 15 and 24 are…
A gang pad in Christchurch was hit by an attempted firebombing this morning. Police said “flammable projectiles” were thrown at a fence of the Cuffs Rd property at around 7.30am. The fence did not catch fire, and the damage was “minimal”, police said. Inspector Craig Scott said Wainoni residents could expect to see more officers over the coming days in efforts to prevent further offending. “Police will not stand by as gangs create chaos in our communities,” he said. “While this morning’s incident didn’t result in any significant harm, the violent actions of gangs cause real unease, particularly for any…
By Euronews & Olga Lavrentyeva Published on 05/09/2025 – 11:44 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT European honey production recovered in 2022 to 280,000 tonnes after declining for four consecutive years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, bee diseases, pesticide use and climate change, according to Dutch government organisation CBI. EU’s biggest producers of honey in 2022 were Romania, Spain, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Greece, France and Poland, CBI’s data shows. European honey production has fluctuated considerably in recent years. Overall, honey production showed a negative trend, falling from 274,600 tonnes in 2018 to 228,300 tonnes in 2021 before going up again in 2022. The decline in…