Author: Press Room

A West Coast Regional Council contractor has been dismissed from her role for telling Westland Mayor Helen Lash to behave like an adult, at a meeting in Franz Josef on Wednesday.The incident followed a discussion about when work must start on the second stage of stopbank work on the Waiho/Waiau River, to meet government funding conditions.Ratepayers and councillors who oversaw the project as the Franz Josef Joint Committee, wanted clarification on the start and end dates for the multi-million dollar project.Lash – who chaired the committee – said a letter from Kānoa (the government’s Regional Economic and Investment Unit) sent…

From new coordination methods to more transparency over lobbying, here’s how Ursula von der Leyen reshaped the Commission in her own image. ADVERTISEMENTIt might’ve gone unnoticed—quietly announced in early January when many were still nursing their holiday hangovers—but the European Commission has radically changed the way it operates.While she was still recovering in hospital with pneumonia, Ursula von der Leyen signed off on restructuring the executive body into “project groups”.What went under the radar as a bureaucratic word shuffle will have an authentic impact on how decisions are taken, however, and cracking the code of this new structure means understanding…

Christchurch police are investigating major security breaches at two construction sites of large-scale anchor projects in the city with the exploits being filmed and posted online.The creator has this week posted a video from deep inside the Parakiore Metro Sports facility – a $696 million dollar venue under construction and expected to be completed later this year.In the video, they can be seen sitting of the diving boards and trekking down the hydroslides.The same account then posted a night-tour of the under-construction Te Kaha stadium site in January. The $683 million project is scheduled to open in April 2026.Both construction…

EU member states are currently negotiating whether to roll-out a so-called European preference for bloc-level defence spending. ADVERTISEMENTEuropean defence manufacturers are urging the EU to implement a European preference for common EU defence spending as a “strategic imperative”, as member states contend with how to deal with a transactional US leader.no“A strong European defence industrial base is essential to European defence preparedness – it is a defence capability in itself,” a spokesperson for the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD), told Euronews in an emailed statement on Thursday.”Many European procurement contracts are given to third-country suppliers. This trend must…

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi is reviewing the automatic speed limit reversal in Rakaia after facing a community backlash in the Mid Canterbury town.The transport agency confirmed it was considering options for consultation with the community, and the locals want to ensure it will be “face-to-face”.It comes after Transport Minister Chris Bishop back-pedalled on some automatic speed limit reversals, including two sections of State highway 6 in the Nelson area where consultation will now be held.Under new Government transport rules, urban connector roads like State Highway 1 through Rakaia were set to automatically revert to higher speed limits. In Rakaia,…

The organiser of puppy yoga sessions in Auckland has been forced to change the name of the event after yoga practitioners and animal lovers raised concerns about the young dogs’ well-being.The event, originally advertised as “ethical puppy yoga”, was scheduled to take place at the Ponsonby Community Centre on multiple days in March.However, an Instagram post by Urban List NZ promoting the event has ignited a heated debate, with many questioning the welfare of the animals involved.Puppy yoga typically involves young dogs roaming free during a yoga class, sometimes being incorporated into poses or followed by playtime.However, some in the…

The US Secretary of Defence sought to clarify that his country was invested in peace after Trump explosively announced talks were to begin after speaking with Putin. ADVERTISEMENTUS Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on Thursday insisted that President Donald Trump’s rapid push for peace talks over Russia’s war in Ukraine was “not a betrayal” of Kyiv by one of its most important allies.”There is a recognition that the whole world and the US is invested in peace, in a negotiated peace,” Hegseth said ahead of a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. His comments come after he declared on…

There will be pies and Pita Pit on the menu for schools receiving meals from the free lunch programme Ka Ora, Ka Ako tomorrow, allowing the provider to “get on top of our food production”. In a statement provided to 1News on behalf of Compass that was also sent to schools, the provider said the School Lunch Collective had reached the end of its three-week menu and there will be a “departure from our standard menu”, with pies and cold Pita Pit being delivered.Special meals will be delivered as normal.The group running the programme said the change will enable them…

The alleged victim in what a military prosecutor says was a violent attack by two soldiers on a junior colleague can now be identified as a man who drowned in an unrelated incident last year.Gunner Nikau Minhinnick Gill died when trying to rescue his dog from the Manawatū River in Palmerston North in November. He was 21.His name was suppressed, but Judge Mina Wharepouri on Thursday removed the interim order in place at a Court Martial at Linton Military Camp near Palmerston North.A military panel was now deciding the fate of two soldiers accused of assaulting Gill, their junior colleague,…

Former U.S. President Donald Trump decided to suspend certain USAID programs worldwide, sparking a significant debate. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Commission can’t make up the shortfall left by Donald Trump’s recent decision to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and suspend its funding, according to an EU Commission official talking with Euronews.That’s what we’re focusing on in today’s Radio Schuman. How are European NGOs reacting? What measures can the EU take? we ask Euronews’ Marta Iraola Irribarren who broke the scoop and gives us some insights.USAID allocates billions of dollars annually to provide aid and medical supplies to millions…