Author: Press Room

New cost estimates have revealed the Government’s planned Northwestern Busway in Auckland will have a price tag of at least $4.4 billion.Transport Minister Chris Bishop said a staged delivery of the project would be a “game changer” for fast-growing suburbs in northwestern Auckland.Construction on the project “could begin from 2027”, the Transport Minister said today, but would be “dependent on further funding availability”.He said: “Currently, people in the northwest don’t have reliable public transport options, and 60% of residents commute out of the area.”Most people travel to work by car, more than any other area in Auckland, and the Northwestern…

A woman involved in a 2018 kidnapping and murder can now be named — seven years after the crime took place.Marica Toalei’s attempt to maintain name suppression ended in the Supreme Court this month.Toalei was 16 years old when she and two others kidnapped Dimetrius Pairama in an abandoned Māngere house where the 17-year-old was killed.The two other offenders, Toko (Ashley) Shane Winter and Kerry Te Amo, were convicted of Pairama’s kidnapping and murder in 2019, and jailed for life.Kerry Te Amo, left, and Toko (Ashley) Shane Winter at their trial at the High Court in Auckland. (Source: RNZ /…

More than a month after Abdul Nabizadah was killed it can now be revealed he may have been the victim of a robbery gone wrong.Five weeks on from his father’s death, John Nabizadah struggles to sleep. He wakes up to four times a night, unable to get two burning thoughts out of his mind.The first is why he lost his father, Abdul Nabizadah, and what happened to the 63-year-old before he was found critically injured in Camperdown Rd, Miramar at 2.20am on 17 March.The second is his guilt that he wasn’t there to help him.”He was 63… he shouldn’t be…

ADVERTISEMENTAs Europe wants to reduce irregular migration and speed up the return process for those whose asylum application has been rejected, the European Commission has proposed a Common European System for Returns. Currently, return rates stand at around 20%, a figure deemed insufficient by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The proposal includes the possibility of establishing return hubs in third countries, based on agreements concluded either bilaterally or at the European level. However, the implementation and legal feasibility of such agreements remain complex. The Italy-Albania deal is an example of this. In 2023, Rome and Tirana signed an agreement to create two…

“Woke barrel-hugging piece of scum.”It’s one of the latest insults sent to Selwyn District councillor Shane Epiha who says he is fed up with the insidious actions of faceless bullies.Epiha (Ngāpuhi, Waikato, and Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri) had already decided not to run for a third term on council, but the rising tide of online abuse has solidified his decision.”It’s not unusual to receive negative comments and messages over the past six years.”But they have been getting worse the last couple of years.”Recent consultation on the Government’s Local Water Done Well reforms became a powder keg in Selwyn, he said.Rather…

ADVERTISEMENTTalks between the US, Ukraine and European officials to discuss ending Russia’s full-scale invasion were supposed to take place in London on Wednesday — however, the meeting was downgraded to a lower level when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio cancelled his participation.Instead, Washington has sent in its Ukraine envoy, retired General Keith Kellogg, who has been absent from some of the most important stages of the negotiations since the new US administration took office.Ukraine is represented in London by Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who are currently meeting with European…

A Married at First Sight bride has accused her on-air husband of lying in his application for protection against her, which she claims he lodged out of retaliation.Ryan Donnelly and Jacqui Burfoot were paired together in the most recent season of the hit Australian reality TV series but chose to separate during an insult-laden final vows ceremony. Their bickering went from the small screen to the courtroom when Burfoot was granted an interim restraining order in Tasmania, preventing Donnelly talking about her on social media. Donnelly responded by applying for an apprehended domestic violence order against Burfoot, which came before…

A seven-year-old Dunedin boy who died after a car crash in the Catlins has been described as a “bright, loving, and adventurous little boy”.Police have named O’siah Prasad as the boy who died after a single-vehicle crash at Ōwaka last month.More than $10,000 has been donated to honour his memory and help support his family through a Givealittle page, which has since closed.A family friend who created the page said his presence brought so much love and warmth, and his loss had left an unimaginable void.”O’siah was a bright, loving, and adventurous little boy who filled every room with joy.”Among…

ADVERTISEMENTUS President Donald Trump has lashed out at Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying the Ukrainian leader is prolonging the “killing field” after he pushed back on ceding Crimea to Russia as part of a potential peace plan.”This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.”Nobody is asking Zelenskyy to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory but, if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when…

There’s been a tearful closing day to the coroner’s inquest into the death of Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore.Her family have sat through more than three weeks of evidence, in Hamilton and now Christchurch, her father Philip Podmore struggling with emotion as he talked of what they’ve learned about Olivia’s time in the High Performance Sport New Zealand system. Philip Podmore. (Source: 1News)“We hope Cycling New Zealand and High Performance can learn from this tragic event. From what we have heard during the inquest this could have been avoided.”Podmore died in August 2021. In a closing statement to the Coroner, her…