Author: Press Room

Ministers in the German government are reshuffling after its ruling coalition effectively collapsed. The opposition have called for an earlier vote of no confidence. ADVERTISEMENTGerman leader Olaf Scholz has replaced his finance minister with current state secretary in the chancellery Jörg Kukies, according to domestic outlets.Kukies, who worked at Goldman Sachs for 17 years, is considered a close advisor of Scholz and belongs to his centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).The politician was previously state secretary for financial market policy and European policy.Kukies will replace former Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who was sacked from the country’s unpopular ruling coalition on Wednesday…

The Lotto Powerball jackpot has grown to $10 million after no tickets won this evening.The winning numbers were: 07, 17, 30, 31, 38, 40, bonus ball 14, and Powerball 02.Two tickets from Auckland and Lower Hutt have won $500,000 with Lotto First Division.The winning tickets were sold at MetroMart Alicetown in Lower Hutt and on MyLotto to a player from Auckland.In addition, one MyLotto player in Auckland has won $200,000 with Strike Four.

The European judges dismissed appeals lodged by Credit Agricole and Credit Suisse against a 2021 Commission decision that exchange of sensitive information between traders was an anticompetitive cartel in the secondary trading market. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Commission was right to fine Credit Agricole and Credit Suisse (now UBS) for colluding on price fixing of dollar-denominated bonds, European judges have found.This is a final victory for competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who is about to hang up her gloves as Spanish pick Teresa Ribera is set to replace her in the new executive from December.Traders of Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Credit Agricole…

Protesters crammed into a meeting where Gisborne councillors decided on changes to the controversial Grey St trial after a report raised alarm bells about drivers performing dangerous about-turns.A new report into the divisive project showed there had been “unintended” safety issues because of the changes, which were based on audits, traffic analysis and community feedback.In an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday, which was at times interrupted by spectators, councillors approved the report’s recommendation to reinstate the T-intersection prioritising Grey St, as well as adding stop controls and a raised pedestrian crossing on Kahutia St.Installation of the T-intersection will begin this month.…

New lighting rules to protect Kaikōura’s night sky will come into effect next month.Kaikōura’s wider district gained International Dark Sky Sanctuary status in September, which means the town needs to reduce artificial lighting to ensure the stars shine bright.The new lighting rules will apply to new builds and when lighting needs to be replaced, but local residents won’t need to change their light bulbs immediately.The Kaikōura District Council adopted the new rules at a council meeting last week and they will become operative on December 19, once a 30-day appeal period has passed.Kaikōura Dark Sky Trust project co-ordinator Colette Doughty…

StarJam, a charity for children with disabilities, has closed, saying it cannot secure ongoing funding.Earlier this year, the charity — which gave young people with disabilities free opportunities in music, dance and performance — raised $165,000 in an emergency appeal. But its financial problems continued and in October, it scaled back its services.StarJam’s board of trustees announced on Wednesday night that it had had laid off its workers and immediately ceased all its workshops and programmes.”This is a heartbreaking decision, but it is the only responsible course of action given the financial instability,” chief executive Gilli Sinclair said.”We are incredibly…

After a somewhat unconvincing showing in the teeth of a grilling by several European Parliament committees, Swedish former EU affairs minister Jessika Roswall has been waved through as the next environment commissioner. ADVERTISEMENTSwedish conservative Jessika Roswell has cleared the last major hurdle on her route to becoming the EU’s new commissioner for environment, water resilience and circular economy, after receiving sufficient backing from political groups in the European Parliament despite an unconvincing performance in a public hearing.The news came late Wednesday afternoon (6 November) after the last of three rounds of discussions between coordinators for the various political groups, held…

First-home buyers are paying less and probably getting bigger houses this year than their counterparts in recent years have been able to buy.New data from Corelogic shows the median price paid by first-home buyers has fallen in recent years from $715,000 in 2022 to $695,000 last year and $685,000 over the first nine months of this year.But at the same time, the proportion of purchases that were standalone houses was up to 73% compared to 70% in 2023.Corelogic chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said that signalled first-home buyers were getting “good deals” in the current market.With prices still up to…

The contest between Trump and Harris was expected to be neck-and-neck, but Donald Trump was swiftly confirmed as 47th US president on Wednesday morning. ADVERTISEMENTIn various polls conducted across Europe days before the US elections, most Europeans sided with Kamala Harris. So the news of Trump’s re-election yesterday came as a disappointment for Harris supporters in Europe but it also bewildered many of them: where did her campaign go so wrong?Today Radio Schuman chews the question with Euronews’ US election analyst Boyd Wagner.In the second part of the podcast, we take a quick look at the European Political Community summit…

A sand mining company has been ordered to pay $500,000 in costs to community groups who fiercely opposed its plans to mine near Pākiri beach north of Auckland.McCallum Bros was ordered to pay the costs to Manuhiri Kaitiaki Charitable Trust and Pākiri local Damon Clapshaw after losing its Environment Court case in April.The award appeared to be among the largest ever ordered by the Environment Court. A $412,000 costs order against a Waiheke vineyard in 2022 was thought to be the highest at that time.McCallum Bros — which has mined offshore from Pākiri previously— was seeking to take up to…