Author: Press Room

Health New Zealand has apologised after 25 Auckland City Hospital patients were incorrectly told that they had a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Group director of operations, Te Toka Tumai Michael Shepherd said clinical questioning of a result led the organisation to investigate, and the false positive result was identified on June 4. “Our initial investigation showed that the false positive result was restricted to a single test type and suggested potential contamination in the processing workflow. We identified that four test batches ran between May 23 and June 4 were affected.”We are undertaking further investigation to identify the root cause,…

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will travel to the country’s largest trading partner next week, before moving on to Europe. He will be joined by a delegation of senior New Zealand business leaders in China’s Shanghai and Beijing from June 17 to June 20. He will meet senior officials including President Xi Jinping.The visit would focus on growing trade, which was worth over $38 billion last year, as well as also look to strengthen education and tourism links and to maximise opportunities for New Zealand businesses. Luxon said China was a “vital part of our economic story” as New Zealand’s largest…

A mayday call has been made for New Zealand’s monarch butterflies amid concerns the population here is under threat.Current records suggest the population has dropped drastically over the last two decades, and butterfly enthusiasts are calling on the public to help monitor those that remain so they can protect them better.Moths and Butterflies Trust spokesperson Bianca Woyak said: “I’m totally worried about monarch butterflies in New Zealand.”The species is currently ‘wintering over’, a form of hibernation, with spots across Christchurch being monitored. Other parts of the country don’t have many, if any.“It’s a sleep-like state. In New Zealand, they’ve developed…

More than 240 people have been killed when an Air India plane bound for London crashed moments after taking off from the city of Ahmedabad in India on Thursday (India time), authorities said.It’s the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade and the first loss of life in a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.The police say the sole survivor managed to jump out an emergency exit.Air NZ chief executive Greg Foran told Morning Report he had been in touch with Air India’s Kiwi chief executive Campbell Wilson and offered his company’s support.He had also contacted Singapore Airlines which has a shareholding in…

People are losing more money to fraud and online scams, with recent months bringing the second highest total loss figure on record.There has been a 14.7% quarterly increase in financial loss reported by New Zealanders, according to the National Cyber Security Centre’s Cyber Security Insights report for the year’s first quarter.From January 1 to March 31, a total of 1369 incidents were reported.Of those, 77 were triaged for specialist support because they were of “potential national significance”. It equalled a financial losses of $7.8 million, up from $6.8 million in the previous quarter.The largest ever was $8.9 million, recorded in…

The Government has confirmed a Judicial Conduct Panel will look into the behaviour of Acting District Court judge Ema Aitken.She is accused of interrupting a New Zealand First function at the exclusive Northern Club in Auckland in November, allegedly saying leader Winston Peters was lying.She argues she did not recognise Peters’ voice and did not know it was a political event.The Judicial Conduct Commissioner in January recommended a panel be set up to look into the alleged misconduct.Judge Aitken challenged that recommendation through a judicial review – saying there was insufficient reason provided for a panel and it was unclear…

A man will face court after two people were seriously injured in an alleged assault at a property in Auckland’s East Tamaki last night.Police were called to Lissleton Dr at around 8pm on Thursday following a report of an assault.”Upon arrival, police have located two people with serious injuries,” a police spokesperson said, adding that one person was taken into custody.St John said it responded with two ambulances and one rapid response vehicle.”Three patients were assessed at the scene, with two transported to Middlemore Hospital in a serious condition,” a St John spokesperson said.Footage captured by 1News at the scene…

Yanfei Bao’s murderer has been kicked out of the courtroom during his sentencing due to his constant yelling and interruption of proceedings. Tingjun Cao was found guilty of killing the Christchurch real estate agent in December. He represented himself at trial, after sacking his lawyers. His performance in court led to regular breaks due to his outbursts and the judge’s need to keep him on track. Soon after appearing for sentencing at the High Court in Christchurch this morning Cao began calling out from the dock, despite repeated requests from the judge for him to wait his turn to speak.…

The sale of a farmer-owned flour mill in South Canterbury’s Washdyke must get Commerce Commission clearance to go ahead. The commission has received an application from George Weston Foods, trading as Mauri New Zealand, to buy the wheat milling and storage assets, including land, used by Farmers Mill. A purchase price was undisclosed with the sale subject to conditions including regulatory approval from the commission. The mill was opened at Washdyke in 2013 as New Zealand’s only independent grower-owned and operated flour producer. Farmers Mill supplies bulk and bagged flour to industrial food manufacturers, bakeries, and some retailers. The mill…

A New Zealand shark expert is concerned a proposed “safe” swimming area in Bluff could be anything but.This week, the Bluff Community Board discussed ocean swimming options for the southern town, with areas near the boat ramp highlighted as a preference.But a report prepared for the meeting noted safety concerns for that spot due to fish gutting attracting sharks.Auckland War Memorial Museum curator marine biology Clinton Duffy worked with great white sharks on Stewart Island / Rakiura for 10 years and was familiar with Bluff Harbour.He said the golden rule was to not swim anywhere people were cleaning fish or…