Author: Press Room
A foreign national has been sentenced to six years and three months in prison after attempting to smuggle nearly 10kg of methamphetamine – worth $3 million – through Auckland Airport hidden inside neatly packed travel cubes. The 27-year-old arrived at Auckland International Airport from Vancouver, Canada, on August 26, 2024. Customs officers questioned and searched the man, which led to the discovery of seven black branded travel cubes concealing an estimated 9.898kg of methamphetamine, New Zealand Customs said today.The passenger was subsequently arrested and charged with importation and possession for supply of a Class A controlled drug and failure to…
Published on 11/06/2025 – 10:00 GMT+2•Updated 10:05ADVERTISEMENTA video circulating widely on social media claims to show NATO forces striking Moscow at night, in what users have described as an “escalation” and an attempt by the Western alliance to start a “nuclear war”.Users claim, without evidence, that the strike occurred earlier this month, on the eve of the 2 June peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in the Turkish capital of Istanbul.Known US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones shared the false claim on his X account, garnering more than 2 million views.”NATO is openly trying to start a nuclear war with…
A new Covid variant is spreading quickly with a spike of the illness shown in wastewater testing and as the winter flu season ramps up too. Institute of Environmental Science and Research science leader David Winter said the prevalence of Covid in the community started rising at the start of May with the introduction of a new variant, known as Nimbus. “This is the first time we’ve tracked a variant growing as quickly as this one since the summer of ’23/24,” he said. “It’s the first time we’ve had a really fast growing variant in the community for quite a…
By Sertac Aktan with AP Published on 11/06/2025 – 8:52 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTAfter receiving historic support for the High Seas Treaty at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday that its entry into force is “within sight”.The treaty, which provides a legal framework for establishing marine protected areas and regulating activities on the high seas, gained momentum on Monday. However, its implementation is not yet guaranteed.Guterres urged all remaining nations to ratify the pact quickly to make it legally binding. During his address, he highlighted significant opposition to the treaty’s goals. “There is a tipping point approaching, beyond which…
The South Island is attracting a growing number of internal migrants, with new figures revealing more than 85,000 Kiwis have relocated there from the North Island in five years.Between 2018 and 2023, 85,575 people made the move south, 30,000 more than those heading north, according to Stats New Zealand.Auckland alone saw a net migration loss of 50,000 people over five years.Canterbury and Otago had the highest number of people living in the region that had moved between the two islands since the 2018 Census.Stats NZ 2023 Census spokesperson Rosemary Goodyear said housing affordability and study opportunities were likely to be…
Nelson City councillor Campbell Rollo has condemned an “AI-generated” video of him that was posted to social media.The video, which featured the first-term councillor shooting a military-style firearm, was uploaded to a Nelson community Facebook page on Friday, but was later taken down.It had been posted by an account called Nelson NZ Video Game Buyer, with a caption: “This is who your [sic] voting for Nelson community! How shameful, encouraging violence!”Rollo said the video was generated by artificial intelligence and was “quite taken back” when he saw the video online.“The video was not real. It was generated by someone using…
Qantas Airways will close its Singapore-based budget airline Jetstar Asia, the group said on Wednesday, blaming rising supplier costs, high airport fees and strong regional competition. The shutdown of the 20-year-old airline next month would result in up to 500 job losses, a Qantas spokesperson said, and Jetstar Asia’s fleet of 13 Airbus A320 planes would be redeployed to Australia and New Zealand. Airlines across Asia, including budget rivals like Singapore Airlines’ Scoot, Malaysia-headquartered AirAsia and Vietnam’s VietJet Aviation, have restored and grown their capacity post-pandemic, driving competition between carriers up and airfares down. Jetstar Asia, which operated 16 intra-Asia routes from Singapore’s Changi Airport, has faced growing…
A Dunedin restaurant and bar will have its liquor licence suspended for three days after patrons were filmed drinking excessive amounts of Champagne from an ice sculpture during a sponsored event last year.Vault 21, located on the Octagon, held a Moët et Chandon event at its premises in November that featured a large ice sculpture of a hollow oversized Champagne bottle set up on the footpath outside of the premises.”Staff of the licensee company allowed alcohol to be poured freely through this ice vessel that was drunk by people crouched before it,” Judge Spear said in a ruling by the…
Worries about a new Manutahi Park being mistaken for another Manutahi an hour’s drive away has New Plymouth’s council considering adding the name of a British Military Settler.The park is a planned green space in Lepperton village, about 15km from New Plymouth, on the site of a hall demolished three years ago.New Plymouth District Council asked mana whenua about a name for the park, and Manutahi was suggested by Puketapu hapū.Manutahi remembers the name of the Māori village where Lepperton now stands, as well as nearby Manutahi Pā which was built to defend against British invasion in the Taranaki Wars.The…
The Reserve Bank has revealed a dispute over funding was behind Adrian Orr’s abrupt resignation as governor. A raft of documents – released by New Zealand’s central bank under the Official Information Act – reveal an “impasse” as Orr argued that Finance Minister Nicola Willis was not providing enough funding for the next five years. In an accompanying statement, an RBNZ spokesperson said it became clear in late February this year that the board – chaired by Neil Quigley – was willing to agree to a “considerably” smaller sum that Orr thought was needed. “This caused distress to Mr Orr and the…