Author: Press Room

Justin Baldoni’s podcast co-host has quit their show.The 40-year-old actor has fronted The Man Enough Podcast with Liz Plank and Wayfarer Studios president Jamey Heath since 2021, but in the wake of Blake Lively filing a lawsuit accusing her It Ends With Us co-star and director of sexual harassment and waging a campaign to discredit her reputation, Plank has announced she is stepping down.The author wrote on Instagram: “I have had my representatives inform Wayfarer that I will no longer be co-hosting The Man Enough Podcast.“Thank you for trusting me with your hearts and stories, for holding space for mine,…

MetService says Christmas Day could feature showers or rain for much of the motu, but it’s still going to be a great day, a collection of mayors say.Rain was expected to arrive in the morning along the western side of the South Island, and extend eastwards in the afternoon.In the North Island, rain was forecast for during the afternoon on Christmas Day for the western parts, and to reach the rest of the North Island later in the day.During Christmas morning, MetService issued a severe thunderstorm watch for parts of the South Island until 8pm Wednesday, and for inland Canterbury,…

A family-owned restaurant in the Far North is making sure people who could have gone hungry today will instead go home full of good food and Christmas spirit.Jesse’s on the Waterfront, in the historic town of Mangōnui, is putting on a free three-course meal for 100 people, with sittings starting at 10am and 1pm.The restaurant is owned by Danielle and Anaru Moa, and their sons Jesse, the head chef, and Tyler, front-of-house manager.Jesse said the family bought the restaurant just over two years ago, when he came home from Melbourne, and they figured now was the right time to give…

A woman who was carjacked by a prisoner who escaped Waikato Hospital last month is shocked another prisoner from Spring Hill Corrections Facility has escaped from custody at the same hospital again.Police are still searching for the latest escapee, 48-year-old Damon Anderson who escaped custody during a visit to Waikato Hospital on Monday afternoon. It is the second time in a month that a prisoner has escaped from Waikato Hospital.Earlier in the month, Chloe Mather was carjacked by a 25-year-old prisoner who managed to break free from custodial staff during an offsite specialist medical appointment.The manhunt began on November 22,…

Christmas Eve was the busiest shopping day of the year with 10,408 sales a minute at its peak. Payments company Worldline said from noon to 1pm yesterday 607,299 sales were recorded on its network. The company’s network covers about three-quarters of the electronic terminals in operation. Worldline did not have a dollar value for spending, but the peak number of transactions is the lowest of the past six years and well shy of the record 679,436 in 2019, before the pandemic. Earlier this month it noted an increase in sales in the first two weeks of December on a year…

Several lanes are blocked on State Highway 2, near Lower Hutt after a motorcycle crash this morning. Emergency services were called to the Christmas Day crash at around 9.15am, between Hebden Crescent and the Haywards Hill Road off-ramp. The motorcyclist was taken to Wellington Hospital in a serious condition, according to a spokesperson for Wellington Free Ambulance. Southbound traffic remains diverted over the Haywards interchange, police said just before 11am. As a result of the crash, State Highway 2 was earlier closed in both directions, but has since re-opened for northbound traffic.

Swiss snowboarder Sophie Hediger died in an avalanche at a mountain resort in Switzerland, at the age of 26. ADVERTISEMENTSophie Hediger, a Swiss snowboarder who competed in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, has died following an avalanche at a mountain resort in Switzerland, the country’s skiing federation said on Tuesday.The incident occurred on Monday at the Arosa resort.The 26-year-old athlete competed at the Beijing Games in the women’s snowboard cross and the mixed team version of the same event.Hediger achieved her first two World Cup podium finishes in the 2023-24 season. Her best result was a second place in St.…

Sir Rod Stewart is planning to take his model railway to Glastonbury.The 79-year-old singer and his friend, and fellow train enthusiast, Jools Holland has revealed that he intends to take one of his stations to keep himself occupied before he performs on the Pyramid Stage.Jools told The Daily Mirror newspaper: “He can’t bring the whole set because it’s enormous. But whenever he’s on tour, he’ll have a station building which he will take with him to a hotel.”The musician and TV presenter believes that the ‘Maggie May’ hitmaker could even make a miniature version of the festival.Jools said: “He could…

Two people have died in separate crashes on Christmas Eve, with accidents in Tauranga and north Auckland claiming the lives of a driver and a motorcyclist.Police said a motorcyclist died after colliding with a car on Lloyd Street in Parkvale, Tauranga. Officers were called to the crash at about 8.20pm.Emergency services responded to the two-vehicle crash but the rider died at the scene.Two hours later, another person died in a single-vehicle crash on Pah Hill Road in Wharehine, north of Auckland.The sole occupant of the vehicle died at the scene after emergency services were called to the crash at about…

Chocolate maker Cadbury no longer has Royal approval after it was stripped from King Charles’ list of warrants. The chocolatier was first given Royal endorsement in 1854 by Queen Victoria and was reportedly a favourite of Queen Elizabeth II until her death in 2022, the UK’s Guardian reported. But it was among 100 brands and products to have their warrants withdrawn under King Charles, with the latest list being published by Buckingham Palace’s Royal Warrant Holders Association. It is the second list announced by the king since he ascended to the throne. The only two named chocolatiers are Bendicks and Prestat, while…