Author: Press Room

A secretive sect under investigation by New Zealand Police for abuse says fellowship is voluntary, and members are free to leave if they wish.But others who’ve left the group known as the Two by Twos or The Truth say it’s not that simple, with coercive control keeping many locked in.One woman, who was a fourth-generation member, left the group four years ago.She spoke to 1News anonymously, as she worried about the consequences of being linked to the church, which was estimated to have two and a half thousand members in New Zealand alone.It has no official name, no buildings, and…

ADVERTISEMENTPortugal is facing its third national election in three years, following the collapse of the centre-right government of Luis Montenegro.The minority government of Montenegro lost a confidence vote in Parliament amid questions about the prime minister’s conduct, bringing the worst bout of political instability in Portugal’s 51-year democracy.With a population of around 10.6 million people, Portugal has had a series of minority governments in recent years as the traditional rivals for power, the centre-right Social Democratic Party and the centre-left Socialists, lost votes to growing smaller parties.On Friday, both Montenegro and Socialist Party leader Pedro Nuno Santos held their final…

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is bringing its stadium show to Auckland for the first time, with two performances at Eden Park on February 19 and 21 next year.Marking its 75th anniversary with this year’s theme The Heroes Who Made Us, the Tattoo celebrated community and Scottish tradition through a mix of music, storytelling, and performance. The production feature more than over 1000 performers, including Scottish bagpipes, massed military bands, and international acts from New Zealand, Australia, Europe, and beyond.The Tattoo last performed to New Zealand audiences in Wellington in 2015, making its return next year a long-anticipated event.Chief executive…

People in the South Island are being warned to prepare for a wet and windy Saturday, with heavy rain and strong gusts expected. MetService has issued a heavy rain watch for parts of the South Island, and a strong wind watch for the Canterbury High Country into Sunday. It followed severe downpours two weeks ago, which prompted three regions to declare a State of Emergency. MetService meteorologist Heather Keats told Breakfast a new active low pressure system moving in from the Tasman Sea, would “deteriorate weather for the weekend quite significantly”.”So as it moves off the Tasman and approaches the…

The seaside Christchurch suburb of Sumner is divided over lighting installed on a mast that has stood on top of Cave Rock since 1864.The solar-powered lights were installed in December 2021 on the former signal station mast and currently operate until 11pm daily.Some residents have raised issue with the brightness, frequency, and configuration of the lighting, prompting the Christchurch City Council to launch a survey to see how many are opposed to it.Norm Eade, who runs the Cave Rock Guesthouse across the road, told 1News he liked the light.”I feel quite warm when I see it at night when I…

Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale has bought a house in Pāpāmoa, but won’t move with his family from Cambridge until the end of the school year.Drysdale told Local Democracy Reporting he and his wife Juliette decided not to “uproot” their primary school-aged children mid-year to avoid disruption.Juliette was also doing a teacher training course and had a lot of family support in Cambridge, Drysdale said.”It’s a little bit challenging from a family perspective, but we’re all looking forward to being together again at the end of the year.”After being elected in July, Drysdale said he would move to Tauranga by the…

Neha Sharma appeared to be an honest, hard-working property manager at Oranga Tamariki. Her husband ran a construction company. No-one knew about their marriage until after they’d conned the Government agency out of more than $2 million. Roughly eight months after Christchurch-based construction company Divine Connection was added to Oranga Tamariki’s list of contractors questions began to emerge about the quality of its paperwork.Invoices that had been approved and paid to the company did not contain all the required information.The issue was flagged with Neha Sharma, the property and facilities manager at Oranga Tamariki.Unbeknown to her colleagues, Sharma had been…

A large US warship has arrived in Wellington’s harbour, making the first visit to the city by a US naval vessel since 2021.The nearly 200-metre long USS Blue Ridge arrived in the city this morning.The command ship, and flagship of the 7th US Fleet, was full of sensors, as opposed to missiles and shells. It was commissioned in 1970 and is the oldest operational ship in the US Navy. The nearly 200-metre USS Blue Ridge arrived in the city this morning. (Source: 1News)During the visit, leadership from the vessel would meet with their Kiwi counterparts to discuss ways of improving…

More than 100 staff from the now-former Whānau Ora commissioning agency for the South Island returned to the place where it all started to bid farewell yesterday.In March, Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu were notified their contract to distribute Whānau Ora funds would not be renewed. Instead, the Government awarded contracts to four new agencies following an open tender process, replacing Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, and two others – Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency for the North Island, and Pasifika First. Yesterday the agency held a poroporoaki, or farewell, for staff at Ngā Hau e Whā Marae in Christchurch, the…

Grammy-winning singer Chris Brown’s upcoming tour was thrown into question Friday as a British judge ordered him held in custody while facing allegations that he beat a music producer with a bottle in a London nightclub in 2023.Brown, 36, appeared in Manchester Magistrates’ Court to face one count of causing grievous bodily harm and was ordered held until his next hearing June 13 in London — the same day he’s due to take the stage in Frankfurt, Germany, on the third date of his world tour.Judge Joanne Hirst rejected Brown’s bail request after prosecutor Hannah Nicholls said that the crime…