Author: Press Room

Fifteen years after Feilding farmer Scott Guy was shot dead, his parents remain hopeful the truth about what happened that cold winter morning will emerge.Bryan and Jo Guy say their lives are now divided into two parts — before Scott was killed, and after.The second part is hard to navigate, but they are determined not to be ruled by bitterness, and instead keep Scott’s memory alive.Scott Guy was 31. He and wife Kylee had a young son and another on the way when he was fatally shot at the foot of his driveway when he left for work on the…

Published on 08/07/2025 – 13:04 GMT+2•Updated 13:13ADVERTISEMENTThe EU and the US are preparing for a trade deal involving the US imposing a baseline 10% tariff on EU goods, according to several sources briefed by EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič.A preliminary agreement is expected to be concluded by Wednesday, with legal implementation by 1 August — the new deadline set by US President Donald Trump before additional tariffs come into effect if no deal is signed, sources said.“The US will not drop the baseline tariffs, because they’re a revenue source,” the Parliament’s trade committee head MEP Bernd Lange (Germany/S&D) told reporters on Tuesday.He…

A man has been charged after police found five “military-style” semi-automatic firearms hidden in children’s bedrooms in Napier. The discovery was made while police — working alongside the Firearms Safety Authority — were carrying out a search at the home of a firearms licence holder. Detective Senior Sergeant James Keene said concerns had been raised about the 42-year-old man’s fitness to hold a firearms license.”One of the most disturbing aspects of the arrest involved the discovery of five prohibited firearms, military-style semi-automatics, in children’s bedrooms,” Keene said.”The firearms were not locked away as required and ammunition was also accessible.”Keene said…

Research experts looking into the Covid-19 lockdowns say having people report breaches was highly ineffective and burdensome, as the first public hearings into New Zealand’s Covid response continue.The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Covid-19 is looking into the government’s response to the pandemic and its effects.This week’s hearings particularly concentrate on the impact of the extended lockdown in Auckland and Northland in 2021 and on vaccine mandates and safety.Today, Dr Antje Deckert told the Inquiry that 63,000 lockdown breaches were reported to police by citizens during levels 2, 3 and 4.Police road stops were also counterproductive because officers were often…

Despite “huge drops” in house values around Dunedin, realtors say there is no cause for concern. According to the latest QV House Price Index, over the past year Dunedin central values dropped 15.1%, the Otago Peninsula and coastal areas fell 10% and Taieri plummeted 20%. Taieri values plunged 9% in the past three months alone. The three Dunedin areas had “seen some huge drops in value over the past year”, a statement from QV said. To contrast, South Dunedin values decreased 2% over the June quarter and were 10% higher than a year ago. Overall, the average home value across…

The family of a 99-year-old Christchurch woman whose phone was accidentally cut off by a telco company are “deeply disappointed” it took days for what is essentially her lifeline to be reconnected.Doreen Robertson, who lives alone, relies on her landline for daily contact with friends and family and in case of an emergency.However, it went down last Wednesday while a contractor was installing fibre to her property.Spark told her family the phone would be back on within 12 hours — but only after five days and several calls later was the phone reconnected.Her son Trevor Robertson told RNZ his mother…

A woman held hostage at gunpoint for more than 15 hours in her Nelson home says she still lives in fear that the man who did so, will one day kill her.Phillip Clinton Mant, 56, kidnapped the woman and her father, last August over grievances with a court ruling, forcing the lockdown of a nearby hospital and four schools and the closures of several roads.Nelson Hospital and four schools are currently in a precautionary lockdown. (Source: 1News)He was sentenced in the Nelson District Court today to five years and two months imprisonment on nine charges including kidnapping, using an explosive…

ADVERTISEMENTThe majority of the political groups of the European Parliament will not back the vote of no-confidence tabled against von der Leyen’s European Commission, but even those from the coalition that voted her into office last year reproached her leadership, and some groups are split over how to vote. After the debate held in the hemicycle on Monday, some of the eight groups of the Parliament clearly staked their position ahead of the vote, while others were more ambiguous, and not all MEPs align with their groups.The European People’s Party (EPP), Ursula von der Leyen’s political force, is fully behind…

Business leaders from Auckland and Northland have spoken about the profound impacts on small to medium businesses coping with public health restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic.They spoke at the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the government’s response to Covid-19, with one leader saying they didn’t think vaccine mandates would work in the future.The legal challenges for businesses to implement the mandates, and the enduring financial repercussions that are still felt today were among some of the issues raised.These are the first public hearings of the inquiry’s second phase, which was called for by the coalition Government last year.The hearings concentrate…

Average house values have dipped slightly in the June quarter, down 0.3% to an average value of $910,479.The June quarter period runs from April 1 to June 30.In the latest QV House Price Index, QV said values in the main centres have softened under high stock levels and cautious buyer sentiment, but some regions have had significant gains.The average home value is -0.6% lower than last year, and -14.5% lower than its peak in late 2021.Average house prices lifted in Queenstown (1.9%), Invercargill (1.6%), Whangarei (0.3%), and Hamilton (0.5%). They remained steady in Tauranga (0.1%), and Christchurch (0.1%), and dropped…