Author: Press Room

A 230-hectare solar farm project has had its first row of solar panels installed with many more to go on Christchurch Airport property. About 300,000 panels will be installed before the project is completed next year. By then, the 168MWp (megawatt peak) solar farm will be generating enough renewable electricity to power the equivalent of more than 36,000 homes. The Kōwhai Park solar complex is a joint venture between international solar energy developer and manager Lightsource BP and energy generator and retailer Contact Energy on land leased from the airport company. Construction costs of $273 million were estimated last year.…

A 27-year-old Northland woman charged with ill-treatment/neglect of a child after a two-year-old was found alive in a suitcase in a bus luggage compartment has appeared in court.Yesterday, police were called after a passenger asked for access to the luggage compartment during a planned stop in Kaiwaka shortly before 1pm on a trip from Whangārei to Auckland.The driver became concerned when he noticed the bag moving – and when the driver opened the suitcase, they discovered the two-year-old girl.At the North Shore District Court today, the name of the woman was suppressed. She made no plea and was remanded in…

A man has been arrested and a vehicle seized after a person was shot and critically injured in Lower Hutt yesterday.Emergency services were called to Hanson Grove in Stokes Valley at 9am on Sunday to reports of a gun being fired.A man was found with life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to Wellington Hospital, where he remains in a critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit.Detective Sergeant Martin Todd said a 25-year-old man was arrested last night and charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and unlawful possession of a firearm.”We have also located and seized a vehicle…

A person has been seriously injured after their car left the road and went 100 metres down a bank in Waikato’s Hauturu this afternoon. Police said they were alerted to the incident on State Highway 31 Kawhia Rd, between Te Rauamoa Rd and Harbour Rd, around 5pm. “The vehicle is about 100 metres down a bank and the eastbound lane is closed while emergency services work at the scene,” a police spokesperson told 1News. “Motorists should expect delays for the next couple of hours if they need to use the road.”

Former National Party Cabinet minister Aussie Malcolm likely engaged in coercive and/or criminal sexual conduct with “multiple young boys”, a police review reveals.Anthony ‘Aussie’ Malcolm died in September last year aged 83. Following his death it was revealed there had been at least three police investigations into alleged sexual abuse.Police then launched a review of historical complaints in relation to Malcolm. A summary of the review was released to RNZ on Monday under the Official Information Act.The document says a review was initiated following referrals from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care concerning historical sexual assault…

A West Auckland builder is today starting a jail sentence for importing what he thought was 200kgs of the drug methamphetamine.Joshua Auina-Anae was expecting to collect what Judge Evangelos Thomas called one of our biggest commercial methamphetamine importations. But he found himself at the centre of an international law enforcement operation involving China’s Anti-Smuggling Bureau (ASB), NZ Customs and Police.The drugs had been switched out en route from China and he was picked up by New Zealand police when he went to collect the haul.Today Auina-Anae was sentenced at the Auckland District Court to five years in prison. He had…

Unemployment is set to hit its highest level in nearly nine years, as the lagging effects of last year’s recession and the sluggish recovery hit hiring and wages.Economists expect the rate to rise to 5.3% at the end of June – the highest since the end of 2016 – and up from 5.1% in the previous quarter, with jobs having been shed and hiring almost at a standstill.”We expect the unemployment rate to rise… as very modest growth in the labour force – labour supply – meets a small contraction in employment – labour demand,” ANZ senior economist Miles Workman…

Published on 04/08/2025 – 12:54 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT France has become a country with no area free of drugs, according to a report by the country’s anti-narcotics office OFAST, raising concerns about the scale of cocaine trafficking and its grip on French society. Described as a “white tsunami” by French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, the report warns of an explosive rise in cocaine availability, calling it an “existential threat” and a form of “counter-culture” driven by violence and impunity, FranceInfo reported. In just the first six months of 2025, authorities seized 37.5 tonnes of cocaine, up 45% from the same period…

We wash our hands, sanitise shopping trolleys and wipe down cafe tables. But what about our phones? We touch these devices dozens of times a day, and take them everywhere from the kitchen to the dining table, and even the bathroom, writes Australian academic and technology expert Meena Jha.Phones can be contaminated with many kinds of potential germs. When was the last time you wiped down yours – and with what?If you use the wrong cleaning agents or tools, you could strip your phone’s protective coatings, degrade waterproof seals, or even affect its touch sensitivity.Do phones really need cleaning?Touchscreens get…

Former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming is facing eight charges of possessing objectionable material, namely bestiality and child exploitation, it can be revealed.McSkimming had name suppression since first appearing in court last month, but it has lapsed following his appearance in the Wellington District Court on Monday.He resigned as the country’s second most powerful police officer in May amid separate investigations by the Independent Police Conduct Authority and police.The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including toddler found in suitcase on bus, Russian volcano erupts, and Liam Lawson pips former world champion. (Source: 1News)In July, a court “superinjunction” lapsed, which allowed…