Author: Press Room
Three young people will appear in court over an alleged aggravated robbery of a Pukekohe jewellery store last Friday.Counties Manukau Police have been investigating after a group allegedly entered the Michael Hill Jewellers King Street branch at around 5.45pm.Detective Inspector Karen Bright said a vehicle of interest was identified at a Henderson petrol station at around midnight last night.”West Auckland police responded quickly to Lincoln Road and with the assistance of the Police Eagle helicopter stopped the vehicle.””Three occupants of the vehicle aged between 15 and 20 were arrested.”They are due to appear in the Manukau Youth Court today, charged…
Published on 12/06/2025 – 15:42 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTThe number of women hired to senior leadership positions has slowed for a third consecutive year, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report published on Thursday. The report, which covers 148 economies, says that despite women representing 41.2% of the global workforce, only 28.8% of them reach senior leadership roles.Between 2015 and 2024, the share of women in top management rose from 25.7% to 28.1%, but progress has slowed post-2022. “In many sectors, top-level gains are outpacing mid-level promotions, risking the sustainability of balanced talent pipelines. As cross-industry experience rises, particularly among women,…
An unregistered and uncertified lender has been charged after allegedly providing personal loans illegally to members of the Tongan community in South Auckland.Ilaisaane Malupo, trading as Nane Easy Loan Finance Services NZ (Nane Loans), provided loans to borrowers in South Auckland from March 2024.An investigation was launched by the commission after receiving inquiries, including from a financial mentor, about Malupo’s lending practices which were allegedly causing harm to borrowers. The Commerce Commission alleges Malupo’s terms including high interest rates of up to 15% charged on a weekly basis, which would double if borrowers failed to repay the loans within 28…
The organisers of the controversial Run It competition have announced its final will be moved from Auckland to Dubai, offering a prize of $200,000 to the winner. It comes amid calls for the activity to be banned. Brain health experts have been highly critical of the events, and criticisms of it have grown following the death of a 19-year-old, who was killed while playing an impromptu version of the game, which had been popularised on social media. In a post to Instagram, the Australia-based Runit Championship League, which organised two events in Auckland, revealed its final would be held in…
ADVERTISEMENTRussia has lost more than 1 million troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Thursday.The figure — which reportedly comes out to 1,000,340 — includes killed, wounded or incapacitated Russian troops. According to the report, Russia has also lost 10,933 tanks, 22,786 armored fighting vehicles, 51,579 vehicles and fuel tanks, 29,063 artillery systems, 1,413 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,184 air defense systems, 416 airplanes, 337 helicopters, 40,435 drones, 3,337 cruise missiles, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine.“The overall losses of the Russian occupying forces in manpower…
Westpac NZ is cutting its six-month and one-year home loan interest rates, effective from this Friday.Earlier this week, Kiwibank also cut its home loan interest rates. That followed ANZ and ASB, who cut their rates last week.Last month, the official cash rate was cut to 3.25%, the lowest rate since October 2022.Westpac NZ’s new special six-month home loan rate would be 5.29%, and its special one-year rate would be 4.89%. A special three-year rate would be raised to 5.59%.Its fixed six-month rate would now be 5.89%, and its fixed one-year would be 5.49%. The fixed three-year rate was being raised…
Videos filled with hacks and tips on how to falsely take claims out of your retirement fund are cropping up across social media — sparking concerns around whether hardship claims are being used for legitimate reasons.A record number of hardship withdrawals have been taken out from KiwiSaver in the past year.A fund manager told RNZ there were a multitude of social media videos full of workarounds to help people qualify for hardship withdrawals and effectively game the system.Inland revenue figures showed between July 2024 and April 2025, more than $389 million was taken out of KiwiSaver for financial hardship reasons.…
The opportunity to shape the future for her children motivated Emma Symons to stand for her local board of trustees.Every state and state-integrated school in New Zealand has a board with powers that can approve budgets or even expel students.A number of parents sit on the board and they have to be elected.School boards of trustees elections are being held in September, and the Rangiora Borough School presiding member is encouraging people to put their names forward.”Just give it go, even if you think you know nothing about governance and schools, you will learn and be supported,” Symons said.”It is…
Former chair of Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Rex Graham has a burning desire to stop orchardists from coating the Heretaunga Plains in smoke every winter.Graham sends regular photos of smoke from orchard burnoffs drifting over the Hastings and Havelock North airsheds to the council he once chaired.But he says he’s starting to feel like they don’t want to know about it, let alone do something with them.Recently a spokesperson for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council suggested it was possible his photo was showing “fog”.“While photos can be useful, our first step would be to determine if the substance in the image…
Key pointsExperts raise concerns about parole conditions that ban Mark Lundy from media interviews, and social mediaTwice convicted of murdering his wife and daughter, he maintains his innocenceParole Board says Lundy agreed to media banPrivate investigator says the restriction takes away a person’s most important tool – their own voice.Mark Lundy hasn’t said or written a word publicly since he was released from prison early last month.That’s because the man twice convicted of murdering his wife Christine and daughter Amber in Palmerston North in August 2000 cannot speak to the media, post on social media or blog about his case.Given…