Author: Press Room

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…

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his family have embraced the festive season by again donning matching pyjamas for their annual Christmas photo tradition.Luxon shared the coordinated snapshot on social media last night, which included wife Amanda and adult children Olivia, 23, and William, 25.”Christmas pyjamas and Christmas movies. Keeping our tradition going. “Happy Christmas everyone,” Luxon wrote.The PM’s family has continued their tradition from previous Christmases.The bit also included a viewing of the 2003 film Love Actually.”The night of the 23rd of December is always a compulsory family viewing of Love Actually in our house. This year Amanda added a…

After a heart-wrenching 42 hours fearing her teenage daughter was dead, Amy Walsh received the best Christmas present of all: “I have my girl”.19-year-old Maia Johnston left Walsh’s Upper Hutt home on Saturday night, and was found on Monday afternoon in the bushy hills surrounding Totara Park where she had fallen down a waterfall, breaking her leg, multiple ribs, and suffering facial injuries.”Got lost in mountains and fell down [an] almost two-storey waterfall, couldn’t walk my way out and I’ll be in hospital for a while,” she posted on social media yesterday morning.The search for the missing teen began on…

While the EU saw a drop in toy exports, China was the EU’s biggest supplier, providing 80% of these imports, valued at €5.2 billion. ADVERTISEMENTIn 2023, the EU imported €6.5 billion worth of toys from countries outside the bloc, a €2 billion decrease compared to 2022. According to the latest Eurostat figures, China was the EU’s biggest supplier, providing 80% of these imports, valued at €5.2 billion. Vietnam followed with 6% and the United Kingdom with 2%. Around a fifth of the EU’s toy imports ended up in Germany, while France and the Netherlands received 16% and 14%, respectively. At the same time, the…

Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan’s next movie will be The Odyssey, adapting Homer’s epic poem, which follows Odysseus’ journey home after the Trojan war.The 54-year-old filmmaker was known to be working on a mystery project with the likes of Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, and Lupita Nyong’o for a 2026 release.Universal have confirmed he is working on The Odyssey, which the studio says will be a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology.”The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX film screens for the first time and opens in…