Author: Press Room

A woman was arrested at Auckland Airport last night after allegedly trying to smuggle $4.55 million of methamphetamine into the country.The 23-year-old’s baggage was searched after she arrived on a flight from Canada.Customs officers found 14 individually vacuum-sealed packages containing a “white crystal substance” weighing around 15kg.An initial test of the substance returned a positive result for methamphetamine.The woman was charged with importation and possession for supply of a Class A controlled drug.Customs said the seized drugs had an estimated street value of up to $4.55 million, with an estimated social harm and cost of $15.9 million to New Zealand.The…

The AI-generated video has been shared widely on social media, often with captions alleging that Ukraine is a dictatorship that spreads “Russophobic” propaganda. ADVERTISEMENTA video has appeared online purportedly showing a Ukrainian TV advert encouraging young people to turn in their family members if they show any interest in Russian culture.The advert is attributed to the Ukrainian children’s channel PLUSPLUS and shows a cartoon boy, wearing a black t-shirt with a Ukrainian trident, discovering his sister listening to the Russian song “Sigma Boy” over a video of US President Donald Trump dancing.The boy then picks up the phone and reports…

Police have made arrests — including a 13-year-old boy — after an investigation into three aggravated robberies at Auckland jewellery stores revealed they were linked.Kayson’s Fashion Store in Glen Eden was robbed on March 16 and the Krishna Jewellery Store in Papatoetoe and Michael Hill at Mānawa Bay were both hit on March 23.Acting Detective Inspector Simon Harrison said two arrests were made in recent days and further investigations were ongoing.”We are concerned with the violent actions of this group.“Our teams are still actively searching for the other offenders involved so that they can be held accountable.”A 13-year-old boy has…

Oxam official: ‘What’s happening at the border is a humanitarian and human rights crisis, and we need to find humanitarian and human rights solutions to it.’ ADVERTISEMENTHuman rights organisations have criticised Poland’s decision to temporarily suspend the right for migrants arriving via the border with Belarus to apply for asylum, fearing it may worsen the current humanitarian crisis.”What has already been a de facto reality at the Poland-Belarus border for the past three years may be further institutionalised with the implementation of the new law,” Oxfam wrote in a report published last week. Polish President Andrzej Duda, cemented the legislation…

A funeral director says Auckland Council should have moved faster to ease burial space demand at New Zealand’s largest cemetery.Waikumete Cemetery in West Auckland has paused the sale of adult burial plots until 2027 – when an additional 800 burial plots are set to be created.Funeral director Rachel Benns said there will be an impact on local families.”Waikumete has been well known to be running out of space for some time and the council seems to have taken a slow time to react to that,” Benns said.”This should have been in place prior to them running out of that land,…

Britain’s King Charles III’s health has been closely monitored ever since announcing his diagnosis with an undisclosed form of cancer early last year. ADVERTISEMENTKing Charles was briefly hospitalised for observation on Thursday after experiencing “temporary side effects” related to a scheduled cancer treatment, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.His engagements for Thursday afternoon and Friday were cancelled.“His majesty has now returned to Clarence House and as a precautionary measure, acting on medical advice, tomorrow’s diary program will also be rescheduled,’’ the statement said. “His majesty would like to send his apologies to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed…

The Warriors assistant coach who grabbed a journalist by the throat says he regrets his outburst in Las Vegas and wants to move on from the saga.A club statement on Wednesday said Richard Agar had a “different view” on the contents of the breach notice handed down after the incident, which occurred on game day during the NRL’s second annual trip to the US earlier this month.But Agar has nevertheless accepted the punishment offered by the NRL last week, meaning he will miss three matches and pay $5000 in fines.”I regret what happened and I know it’s not acceptable,” Agar…

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ Shoppers blindly accepting credit card surcharges need to understand the full impact they can have over the course of a month or a year, particularly if they’re allowed to compound, one investment adviser says. Credit card surcharges have become common as retailers try to recover the cost of increasing use of contactless payment technology. Use of the much cheaper eftpos network has fallen in recent years, as more shoppers opt for contactless debit and credit cards, as well as cards loaded on to phones. In January 2017, eftpos cards were used for about 40% of…

Auckland Council has this afternoon endorsed a staged redevelopment of Eden Park — deciding against a downtown stadium.However, the council stopped short of backing a full upgrade to the current Mt Eden stadium.The decision — passed by 17 votes to 2 this afternoon — gave the council a mandate to begin discussions with central Government on the future of a “main stadium” for New Zealand.Following the meeting, Mayor Wayne Brown said the chosen option wouldn’t be funded by the ratepayer and was contingent on Eden Park Trust “funding a business case and working with council staff to provide the best…

Two geckos living on a predator-free island near Canterbury are thought to be the oldest in the world.At an estimated age of 60 and 64-year-old, the two geckos were first discovered and marked in 1967 by late herpetologist Tony Whitaker, according to the Department of Conservation.Whitaker’s detailed record-keeping allowed DOC to accurately date their ages.The previous age record for a Waitaha gecko was 53-years-old — a gecko found on the same island in 2015.DOC biodiversity ranger Kaitlyn Leeds said the geckos were found during a five yearly species monitoring visit to Motunau Island.“We were all blown away to find two…