Author: Press Room

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu will not be detained despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. ADVERTISEMENTThe Polish government has guaranteed that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested if he attends the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant against him.Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, from the opposition Law and Justice party (PiS), this week wrote to the government requesting that Netanyahu not be arrested if he decides to attend the Auschwitz commemoration on 27 January, according to a presidential aide.The office of…

The end of an era arrives this month when Invercargill’s Wensley Cycles embraces change by moving to new premises. Owners Rob and Sandra McMurdo said the decision to move the 80-year-old business had been one they had been mulling over for years and was not an easy one to make. Putting the customer experience and business’ needs first ultimately became the catalyst to move to Deveron St. While city residents had become accustomed to the shop’s location, he believed the move was a positive change. “It was like any home that you’ve been in for more than a couple of…

Homelessness is increasing in Te Anau without any long-term support for those affected, a Fiordland conceptual plan has revealed.Meanwhile, efforts to target the issue with a new approach have come up empty-handed, a community board chairwoman says.The Te Anau Basin Development Plan was released last month with a goal of helping the Fiordland Community Board make future decisions.It covered a range of topics, including the local economy, population trends and housing.Regarding the latter, issues were highlighted around a lack of affordable housing in Te Anau as well as an increasing need for elderly accommodation.Homelessness was on the rise, for which…

Euronews has spoken to five students across Serbia who are part of the Western Balkan country’s protest movement demanding justice after the deadly Novi Sad train station awning collapse killed 15 and injured two. ADVERTISEMENT”I was under that roof about an hour before it collapsed,” 22-year-old Branislav, a student from Novi Sad said, remembering the day when the concrete awning of a railway station in Serbia’s second-largest city that collapsed on 1 November, killing 15 people and severely injuring two.”I attended the first big protest afterwards, some 27,000 people were on the street,” Branislav said.Many blame the awning’s collapse on…

A Dunedin-based cancer diagnostics company has been dealt a major blow after its flagship product was denied coverage by the United States government’s health insurance programme. Since August 2022, Pacific Edge has been awaiting an outcome on a decision on whether its Cxbladder tests would be covered by Medicare in the United States and has acknowledged the outcome could have a significant impact on its revenue. Cxbladder is a non-invasive test used for the detection of bladder cancer from a urine sample. This week, Medicare administrative contractor Novitas, which has jurisdiction for Pacific Edge’s US laboratory, dealt a blow to…

There are “no plans” for Ursula von der Leyen to attend the inauguration of Donald Trump, the European Commission has confirmed. ADVERTISEMENTUrsula von der Leyen has not received an invitation to attend the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th US president but she is seeking to establish “early contacts” with the new administration, the European Commission confirmed on Friday.Von der Leyen, a staunch advocate of transatlantic relations, is currently recovering from severe pneumonia in Hanover, Germany. As a result, the Commission president has cancelled all her external engagements for the first half of January.She is working from home and…

Some Uber passengers claim they’ve been ripped off by drivers forcing them to pay directly with cash or via a bank transfer.Upper Hutt woman Lauren Mudgway told 1News getting home after a night out in Wellington used to be a stress-free affair but two Uber trips at the end of last year changed all that.”So the guy both times took my phone and cancelled the ride from my phone on Uber and then just took me home. At the end, he was like, ‘OK, so you have to pay eftpos or cash,” Mudgway said.She was charged by Uber through the…

Sarkozy is accused by prosecutors of having struck a deal with Libya’s late dictator Muammar Gaddafi to receive millions of euros in illegal funding. ADVERTISEMENTFormer French President Nicolas Sarkozy has vigorously denounced receiving any money from Muammar Gadhafi at a Paris trial over the alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by the Libyan government while under its late dictator. Sarkozy, who served from 2007 to 2012, is facing charges of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, concealment of embezzlement of public funds and criminal association, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.In his first remarks since the trial…

Wellington landlords are offering incentives – including grocery vouchers and periods of free rent – as they compete for tenants in a renters’ market.Wellington renter Cait MacLennan said she gave notice for her previous flat with nowhere to go, but easily found a new place to call home.”Because the rental market’s been good at the moment, from what we’ve heard from all of our mates and stuff, we felt really confident that we could find a flat before our four weeks’ notice was up,” she told 1News.”We definitely did that with about two weeks to spare, I think, and we…

Officials say the damage to Estlink 2, a power connection with the capacity to provide half of Estonia’s winter electricity needs, did not disrupt service, although it did drive up energy prices in the country and the other Baltic nations. ADVERTISEMENTNaval authorities in Estonia say they have stepped up patrols in the Baltic Sea in a show of force after last month’s suspected cable sabotage.Maritime officials say at least three Estonian navy ships are part of the patrols by NATO countries following the damage done to Estlink-2 power cable and communication links between Finland and Estonia on 25 December. According…