Author: Press Room
New Zealanders chomped through over $1 billion of potatoes last year – mostly in the form of chips or frozen fries. The stat comes from Fresh Facts 2024, an annual report from pan sector group United Fresh which outlines eating and exporting trends. Total annual potato production decreased by 72,800 tonnes between 2019/20 and 2023/24, a drop of 13.7 percent. Domestically consumed processed chips and frozen/fries potatoes made up 61.3 percent of the total domestic industry value in 2023/24. The report also looked at eating trends of other fresh produce. Data showed Taiwan consumed $44 million worth of New Zealand cherries, and royal…
Megan Fox is pregnant.The 38-year-old actress — who already has Noah, 12, Bodhi, 10, and Journey, eight, with her ex-husband Brian Austin Green — has confirmed via social media that she’s expecting her first child with Machine Gun Kelly.Alongside photos of her growing baby bump and her positive pregnancy test, Fox wrote on Instagram: “Nothing is ever really lost. welcome back [baby and heart emojis]”Fox previously opened up about her experience of suffering a miscarriage, admitting that she didn’t know how to cope with the tragedy.During an appearance on Good Morning America, she explained: “I’ve never been through anything like…
House values in New Zealand remain largely flat, according to new data from QV, with the average home worth 0.3% less than at the start of 2024.QV operations manager James Wilson said, despite interest rate relief, the housing market remains largely flat “with essentially no growth to speak of during the month of October itself – neither up nor down”.”Home values have flattened out again after some more sizeable yet still relatively modest reductions throughout the winter months, but they are still showing no signs of taking off anytime soon.”The October QV House Price Index showed the average home value…
When Sarah Clarke was a therapist she noticed an alarming amount of women were coming to her feeling depressed and anxious because they had lost touch with their friends. She says many of them had friends who had moved away or were too busy and they hadn’t replaced those social relationships. “A lot of the stuff could have been cleared up with a friend over a coffee and here they are paying for me and so I thought we’ve got a major problem on our hands.” So she took it upon herself to create Find Your Tribe to help women…
Since Kent Marshall was a boy, he has been dismantling, fixing and rebuilding all kinds of electrical equipment – even the family oven – all without electrocuting himself. But recently, the 25-year-old Dunedin electrical apprentice got the shock of his life when he won the industrial category at the New Zealand Master Electricians Apprentice Challenge in Auckland. The win has qualified him for the WorldSkills Competition in Germany next year. “I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands. “Back in the day, I would pull things apart. “It started with normal toys, then it moved to anything electrical that I could…
The man charged with the murder of Christchurch real estate agent Yanfei Bao has accused police of falsifying evidence.Chinese national Tingjun Cao, 53, is representing himself in his High Court trial at Christchurch after sacking his defence lawyers last week.Bao, 44, vanished on July 19, 2023, and her remains were found in a shallow grave in farmland on the outskirts of Christchurch more than a year later.Cao is charged with her murder.The Crown is arguing that Cao murdered Bao on the day she vanished after arranging to meet her at a home for sale in Hornby.As the trial entered a…
The Government is today making a national apology to New Zealanders who were abused while in state and faith-based care.The apology comes after the release of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care in July, which found almost a third of people in state and faith-based institutions between 1950 and 2019 were abused. It described it as a “disgrace” and a “stain” on the national character.An apology from officials would begin at 9.45am today, and could be viewed here. The national apology will be delivered later in the morning by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at Parliament.After years of…
By Susan Edmunds of RNZ Facebook users are being warned to watch out for ads designed to cash in on New Zealand’s economic gloom. Netsafe chief executive Brent Carey said dodgy Facebook ads were a long-standing problem and new versions, which claim that businesses are closing down because of conditions in various parts of the country, for example, were the latest iteration. Often these businesses were not based in New Zealand if they existed at all. Multiple businesses with different names all claiming to be based in Wellington were advertising with identical text, which included a claim that the owners…
An immigration adviser has been recorded telling an overseas worker she can help get him residency with a fake job in return for $70,000.The conversation was taped by migrant Richard Wu, who arrived from Singapore in May and lost his job two months later. He claims he had already paid $18,000 to the adviser, Heidi Castelucci, for arranging a five-year Accredited Employer Work Visa and what he thought was a legitimate job as a driver and administrator at Liberty Consulting Group in Auckland.Castelucci is heard in the recordings discussing the job-selling scheme, which she says was her husband Toby Castelucci’s…
A major West Coast highway will remain partly closed until the end of this week as contractors battle unstable conditions with more rockfall occurring overnight.Heavy rain, flooding, and slips hit Westland over the weekend, which saw a local state of emergency declared in part of the region.On the West Coast, State Highway 6 is shut between Haast and Paringa. A section between Paringa and Fox Glacier re-opened late this afternoon. An update on the section between Lake Moeraki to Paringa is expected at 9am tomorrow.Rockfall on SH6. (Source: NZTA)Meanwhile, in Tasman, a sudden rockfall this afternoon has closed SH6 between…