Author: Press Room

The Treaty Principles Bill is an attempt to “oppress iwi Māori”, according to a critic, while a supporter saw it an as attempt to ease New Zealanders’ anxiety over the Treaty of Waitangi.The sharply opposing views were expressed on the opening day of oral submissions at Parliament on Monday.The architect of the Treaty Principles Bill, David Seymour, says he has a “thick skin” and isn’t concerned about the “name-calling and abuse” he might receive during oral submissions at Parliament this week.He remains open to having his mind changed on some aspects of the legislation.”No doubt there will be new ideas…

The US is set to pull out of the climate fight with Donald Trump in power. The new American president announced last week that he would withdraw from the Paris agreement and launch a national energy “emergency” that could result in suspending environmental regulations. ADVERTISEMENTToday Radio Schuman looks at how US President Donald Trump policies on climate could impact on the EU with Euronews reporter Robert Hodgson.Last week, Trump’s stance on climate and energy had ripple effects in Europe, particularly among the far-right Patriots for Europe and the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament. Jordan Bardella of…

A woman has been arrested after a spree of rocks being thrown through windows left locals rattled in a leafy Auckland suburb.A number of houses on Sackville Street in Grey Lynn had their windows smashed in January, the latest in a series of attacks dating back to February last year.On one particularly bad day, six windows were smashed.”We just really want this to stop,” one resident told RNZ at the time.”It’s a really nice street with mixed housing, so there’s some rentals, and there’s some owners, and there’s the Kāinga Ora flats, which we all really like.”It’s terrifying lying in…

Sunday’s rupture follows a string of incidents that have heightened fears of Russian sabotage and spying in the strategic region. ADVERTISEMENTSwedish prosecutors have announced a preliminary investigation into suspected aggravated “sabotage” and ordered the detention of a vessel in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fibre optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland on Sunday.”Several authorities, including the National Police Operations Department, the Coast Guard and the Armed Forces, are involved in the investigation,” said Mats Ljungqvist, senior prosecutor at the National Security Unit.The Swedish Coast Guard confirmed to the newspaper Expressen that they were…

Mount Hutt ski field in Canterbury was blanketed with snow on Monday after a chilly blast blew through.The general manager of operations for Mount Hutt, James Urquhart, said it was not unusual to get some snow about once a month on the mountain, but often in the summer months, it is just a skiff, or light dusting, of snow.He said he woke this morning to see about 5cm of powder on the monitoring webcams.”It’s not going to affect us too long, it’ll melt pretty quick. It’ll be gone probably by this afternoon. Tomorrow we’ll be back to bare rock again,…

The crash happened just before midnight on 28 February, 2023, when a freight train and a passenger train crashed head-on on the line linking Athens with Thessaloniki. ADVERTISEMENTTens of thousands of people have protested in central Athens to demand justice for the 57 people who were killed in the Tempi rail disaster.It was the largest protest in Greece in more than a decade and rallies also took place in more than 100 other cities across the country.The protests come following the release to local media of a chilling new audio recording suggesting that dozens of the victims may have died…

The Government says it will loosen visa requirements for overseas visitors who want to tour New Zealand while working remotely for their employer at home.The so-called “digital nomads” include visitors such as IT specialists, as long as they are not receiving any income from New Zealand sources.It would also extend to influencers — provided they were being paid by overseas companies.These changes would apply to all visitor visas, including tourists and people visiting family.Visitor visas can be extended for up to nine months, although the ministers warned that working in New Zealand for more than 90 days could require them…

Final votes are still being counted and the result isn’t expected to be released until later on Monday morning but state television predict Lukashenko winning with almost 88% of the vote. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Union has threatened new sanctions on Belarus after President Alexander Lukashenko looked certain to score his seventh consecutive election win since 1994.”Today’s sham election in Belarus has been neither free nor fair,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a joint statement with enlargement commissioner, Marta Kos.”The relentless and unprecedented repression of human rights, restrictions to political participation and access to independent media in Belarus, have…

Mystery surrounds the identity of a sign bandit in Napier who has been changing dozens of street names into crude words for months without being nabbed.So far, the handiwork has cost ratepayers more than $5000 for repairs.Residents say the culprit might feel like a practical joker, but their tampering isn’t funny.Taradale resident Jo Coffin thought someone was having a laugh when she saw a post about her street name on social media.”I live in Cornwall Rd but in the post it said Pornwall Rd. I just thought it was a joke,” Coffin said.”But no, it’s real.”A spokesperson for Napier City…

The government says it will loosen visa requirements for overseas visitors who want to tour New Zealand while working remotely for their employer at home. The so-called ‘digital nomads’ include visitors such as IT specialists, as long as they are not receiving any income from New Zealand sources. It would also extend to influencers, provided they were being paid by overseas companies. In 2023, National campaigned on a 12-month digital nomad visa to attract skilled mobile people, with the option to apply for a work or residence visa later. The announcement is Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ first since taking on the new economic…