Author: Press Room

ADVERTISEMENTChemicals that pose risks to children’s health and development will now be banned from toys sold in the EU, introducing stricter safety requirements for manufacturers and sellers, including those operating on online platforms, EU institutions agreed on Thursday. The new rules update the bloc’s 2009 Toy Safety Directive with further restrictions on the use of hazardous substances.  “We have also future-proofed the regulation, the Commission will be able to react more quickly to new scientific findings on chemical substances,” said MEP Marion Walsmann (Germany/EPP), negotiator from the European Parliament.  The regulation introduces essential safety standard to ensure a high level of health…

Trains in Auckland will not run for 16 days over the Easter holidays, as work persists ahead of the City Rail Link opening next year.KiwiRail says no passenger rail will operate from 12 April to 27 April, allowing crews to build critical upgrades and complete major infrastructure on the Auckland underground.A small number of freight trains will be working at times, it said.Chief of capital planning and asset development officer David Gordon said the shutdown was part of a concerted push to prepare for the City Rail Link.”We get a huge amount done when there are fewer people needing to…

ADVERTISEMENTA bomb planted near the offices of Hellenic Train, Greece’s main railway company, has in a busy district of central Athens, authorities have said.There were no immediate reports of injuries.Local media said a newspaper and a news website had received an anonymous call shortly before Friday evening’s blast, with the caller warning that a bomb had been planted outside the railway company offices and would explode within about 40 minutes.Police cordoned off the site along a major avenue in the Greek capital, keeping residents and tourists away from the building in an area with several bars and restaurants.Officers at the…

ADVERTISEMENTAfter a renewed demand by Donald Trump for the EU to buy more US oil and gas, Energy commissioner Dan Jørgensen has signalled the bloc is ready to increase imports, but not if it means abandoning climate and environmental goals – and that is a big if.Presumably referring to the trade in goods, Trump said on Monday as he rejected a ‘zero-to-zero’ tariff offer from Brussels that the US had a $350 deficit with the EU.“One of the ways that can disappear easily and quickly is they’re gonna have to buy our energy from us, because they need it…We can…

Watch this story on our home for news, indepth and consumer stories, TVNZ+.OPINION: It’s one week on from the 50th ASB Polyfest celebrations that packed out the Manukau Sports Bowl over four days and was a stunning display of Māori and Pasifika talent, community, hard work and joy. But why did the festival that’s been a part of my life for nearly three decades feel different this year? By Indira StewartSince January, I was privileged to have access to the stage coordinators who, for decades, have been behind the scenes building the ASB Polyfest legacy. I interviewed the students who…

ADVERTISEMENTUS Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is in Russia for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the third such meeting in a bid to get the Kremlin to accept a full ceasefire in Ukraine.Witkoff, who has been pressing the Kremlin to accept a truce, initially met with Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev. The meeting comes amid growing questions about Putin’s willingness to stop the more than three-year war.Earlier on Friday, US President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that “Russia has to get moving” towards ending the war, adding that it is “terrible and…

ADVERTISEMENTThe number of European companies unwittingly involved in business transactions with countries or entities subject to sanctionsis growing, with a notable surge taking place since 2022 and the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine.That uptick was first outlined in the “Kleptotrace” report by Transcrime, a research centre at the Catholic University of Milan, which was presented this week to Europol, the EU police cooperation agency based in The Hague. The study was co-funded by the European Union and focused mainly on sanctions imposed by the bloc on Russia and Kremlin-linked oligarchs since 2014, the year of Moscow’s unilateral annexation of…

Peri Drysdale’s eco-minded fashion business is on a runway heading towards a lighter touch on the planet, writes Tim Cronshaw. Smartly dressed in a two-tone merino outfit, Peri Drysdale reaches for a mineral water and takes a small sip. Her throat is hoarse from a four-hour talk earlier in the morning, recounting the passage of Untouched World, an ecologically sustainable clothing company launched nearly 30 years ago. Back at home base, the founder and chief executive relaxes in her award-winning cafe facing an outdoor courtyard. Above a mantelpiece is a large sculptural Māori kite, representing the close relationship between people and…

ADVERTISEMENTA Kremlin-linked oil tanker was detained by Estonian authorities on Friday just outside Tallinn, in what marks the first time the Baltic country has directly targeted Russia’s “shadow fleet”.The vessel, named the Kiwala, had been reportedly operating under the flag of Djibouti. However, it was caught not flying a flag, which is a violation of maritime law. Although the crew provided a flag certificate, the Djibouti naval authority said it could not find the Kiwala in its national registry.”Ships like this are actually not allowed to operate. Estonia exercised its right to detain the vessel for inspection,” Deputy Director General…

ADVERTISEMENTItaly on Friday transferred 40 migrants denied the right to remain in the country to Italian-managed detention centres in Albania — seemingly the first time an EU member state relocated rejected asylum seekers to a third place that is neither their country of origin nor a transit one.According to domestic media, the group departed from the port city of Brindisi, though authorities have yet to confirm the migrants’ nationalities or further details.The individuals are now being held at two Italian-built and operated facilities in Shëngjin and Gjadër, which were initially constructed to process asylum claims for migrants intercepted in the…