Author: Press Room

After a “gruelling year” for many businesses in the capital, owners who have survived till 2025 are hopeful the worst is behind them.A common theme among Wellington business owners spoken to by RNZ was that 2024 was tough — with very few exceptions. Many people were unaware of just how tough, Business Central chief executive Simon Arcus said.”It was a gruelling year. It was a recession that was very deep and had comparisons to some of the big recessions of the past.”He said job cuts, businesses closing, and a general feeling of malaise all contributed to a difficult 12 months.The…

Retail investors are feeling more confident with record trading on the Sharesies platform over the three months to December.The Sharesies Index score of 55 indicates user sentiment moved into the confident range for the first time since 2022.Do-it-yourself retail investment app Sharesies said combined Australian and New Zealand trading on the platform of $3.12 billion in the last quarter of 2024 was nearly double the previous record.The company said almost all the key indicators that inform the Sharesies Index showed gains.”The ratio of deposits to withdrawals finished the quarter strong, with interest in the new Sharesies PIE Save (portfolio investment…

Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Lebanon, his first in more than four years, follows a 60-day ceasefire deal that aims to end the Israel-Hezbollah war. ADVERTISEMENTFrench President Emmanuel Macron visited Beirut on Friday to meet with Lebanon’s newly elected leaders, as the nation attempts to recover from the effects a 14-month war between Israel and Hezbollah and a devastating economic crisis.It’s Macron’s first visit in more than four years, and follows a 60-day ceasefire deal that aims to end the war. France helped broker the deal and a French officer is a member of the committee that is supervising the truce,…

Police have arrested five people over damage that cost around $1 million in damages to the businesses who manage the Kinleith Forests.The offenders would face charges that included “intentional damage, unlawful possession of firearms, and theft”, as well as illegal hunting.Tokoroa police sergeant Neale Saunders said police have arrested five people between the ages of 30 and 34 since November last year and all were due to appear in Tokoroa District Court over the next few months.The alleged incidents included damage to the “companies and contractors’ equipment and lost productivity”, said Saunders.Several gates were cut open across the forests to…

Three lawyers who represented late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were sentenced to up to 5,5 years in prison. A verdict that reflects escalating Kremlin repression. ADVERTISEMENTThree lawyers who previously represented the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny received prison sentences in Russia on Friday, intensifying the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent. The lawyers, Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin, and Alexei Liptser, were sentenced to terms ranging from 3,5 to 5,5 years by a court in Petushki, about 100 kilometres east of Moscow.The charges, tied to allegations of involvement with extremist groups, were linked to Navalny’s organisations, which Russian authorities outlawed in…

Two people have died after a single-vehicle crash in the Taupō suburb of Acacia Bay.Police said in a statement that emergency services were called to Mapara Rd, about 11.45pm.Two people died at the scene, police saidDiversions were in place overnight while the Serious Crash Unit examined the scene, with the road reopening shortly after 7am on Saturday.”Enquiries into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing,” police said

Fifteen fire crews from across Auckland were at a large fire at the site of the former Centrepoint commune in Albany overnight.Fire and Emergency said the fire was fully involved when firefighters arrived.Crews remained at the scene on Saturday morning dampening down hot spots.The commune was shut down in 2000.Nearly a dozen fire trucks also attended a blaze in a strip of surburban shops in Coutts Street, in the Wellington suburb of Kilbirnie, overnight.Fire and Emergency New Zealand said the fire was well involved by the time appliances arrived shortly after 1.30am.The fire as not thought to be suspicious, but…

There have been no issues with off-licence bottle shops in Auckland adhering to new strict 9pm closures, Auckland Council says.On December 9 last year, all off-licence alcohol outlets were expected to stop trading from 9pm, every day.It was part of council’s stricter rules under the Local Alcohol Policy, adopted in August.Council’s alcohol licensing principal specialist Rob Abbott said the licensing compliance team carried out 91 inspections of off-licence outlets across Auckland, since December 9.”We were pleased to find that all off-licences checked were sticking to the new times,” Abbott said.He said 19 of those inspections were in south Auckland, 27…

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made her first appearance in Berlin following her recovery from severe pneumonia. ADVERTISEMENTEuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European People’s Party Manfred Weber met with the leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, in Berlin for a two day summit on Friday. The meeting was the first time von der Leyen was seen in public following her recovery from severe pneumonia.On the agenda is European security, migration policy and competitiveness, along with Europe’s evolving relationship with the US ahead of president-elect Donald Trump inauguration on Monday.…

A trip to survey kea in the Nelson Lakes National Park turned into an overnight search and rescue mission for two Department of Conservation rangers, after they heard a person calling for help at nightfall in deteriorating weather.DOC rangers Ricki Mitchell and Lana Handley had set up a camp at Hinapouri Tarn, near Mt Angelus, early last week on an excursion to monitor kea in the national park.”It was a last-minute change actually, we were supposed to be on the St Arnaud Range but I saw there were quite a few [kea] calls coming from the Angelus area so we…