Author: Press Room

New Zealand’s sharemarket closed down 3.68% yesterday, but the country had a “quiet day” and fared better than its neighbours, a Dunedin financial consultant says. Craigs Investment Partners investment adviser Peter McIntyre said while the market finished down, it was “actually quite a quiet day for our exchange as far as volume is concerned”. “If I put it into context with regards to how other Asia-Pacific indexes have performed, New Zealand’s done well,” Mr McIntyre said yesterday. “Even though we have had a pullback, it’s not as bad as what other indexes in the Asia-Pacific region have experienced. “If there…

There are renewed calls for the Government to recognise that many more survivors of abuse in state care were tortured beyond the group from Lake Alice psychiatric hospital.Patients who were at Lake Alice’s Child and Adolescent unit in Rangitikei between 1972 and 1977 were subjected to unmodified electroconvulsive therapy without anaesthetic and paraldehyde injections as punishment. The group is eligible for at least $150,000 compensation because of the horrific abuse they suffered at the hands of the state – treatment classed as torture by the United Nations.But human rights lawyer Sonja Cooper told 1News that “even if we just look…

ADVERTISEMENTThe German stock market has been badly shaken as fears of a recession continue to mount. The German DAX opened with nearly a 10% loss on Monday morning before recovering 3% a few hours later.27 EU trade Ministers met in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss the response. EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said the EU is ready for a “good deal” and underlined Europe’s readiness to negotiate with the US.Deutsche Bank said in a strategy update seen by Euronews that, “the damage is undeniable, the degree of damage still unclear.” It said it is difficult to assess the…

A global trade war touched by United States President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs has escalated further, as Trump threatened to increase duties on China and the European Union proposed counter-tariffs of its own. Financial markets across the globe posted a third day of losses on Monday, as investors worried that steep trade barriers around the world’s largest consumer market could lead to a recession. The S&P 500 closed lower after a rollercoaster session in which it touched its lowest level in more than a year. Trump said the tariffs – a minimum of 10% for all US imports, with targeted rates of up to 50% – would help…

As local elections loom this year, a torrent of online abuse has left some female councillors questioning their place in politics. Breakfast has collected the accounts of several women in local government across the country.Wellington City Councillor Teri O’Neill keeps a document of all of the abuse she receives online, “in case things escalate into real-life violence”. As she nears the end of her second term, the Word document is 26 pages long.Across the posts, she’s labelled as a “b***h”, “tart”, and a “shrew”, and many more slurs which cannot be published. But the content goes further than words. Photoshopped…

ADVERTISEMENTTrade ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday neared agreement on a list of US goods to target in response to the recent US decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium.But a second round designed to reply to the blanket 20% tariff on other imports from the bloc, and a flat rate of 25% on cars, remains under debate.The first round of countermeasures, which are expected to be adopted on Wednesday, is likely to include US products such as bourbon whiskey, though this inclusion remains moot, particularly after threats from US President Donald Trump to impose 200% tariffs on European…

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ  Mortgage brokers say they are hearing from many first-home buyers wondering what to do about the slump in their KiwiSaver balances caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Share markets are having a tough time as they digest the potential impact of the tariffs. The NZX had its steepest fall since March 2020 on Monday and markets in the United States were braced for a rough start to the week’s trading. Many KiwiSaver members have seen their balance fall by thousands of dollars as a result. While that generally doesn’t matter to people who are…

ADVERTISEMENTThe Netherlands has expanded a government-run initiative allowing legal cannabis sales.While growing cannabis is still illegal, cannabis shops — known as coffeeshops — in 10 municipalities will be allowed to sell marijuana from 10 licensed producers.”Weed was sold here legally for 50 years but the production was never legal. So it’s finally time to end that crazy, unexplainable situation and make it a legal professional sector,” Rick Bakker, commercial director at Hollandse Hoogtes, one of the regulated producers, said.Around 80 coffeeshops are taking part in the experiment which advocates hope will ultimately end a long-standing legal anomaly; you can buy and sell small…

A further warning has been issued over recalled heaters that are still installed in New Zealand homes which pose a fire risk.The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has urged people to check on any bathroom heaters they have and remove them if they are included in last year’s Serene heater recalls.It added the heaters are a “significant risk to lives and property”. A year since the recalls were issued, MBIE said it is aware around 28,000 Serene S2068 Heaters are still in properties across the country, despite the recall and a “prohibition to use” notice.“So far, since the recall…

ADVERTISEMENTKing Charles arrived in Rome on Monday for a state visit to Italy on his first overseas trip since being briefly hospitalised for the side effects of cancer treatment.Charles is traveling with Queen Camilla on the four-day visit, which includes the first address to the Italian Parliament of a British monarch.The visit will also see him meet with the Italian president and prime minister and include a trip to Ravenna to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Adriatic city’s liberation by Allied forces.In Rome, Charles is expected to highlight the close links between Britain and Italy, two NATO allies, at a…