Author: Press Room

A central North Island iwi says it is bitterly disappointed that the opportunity to support regional development has been overlooked despite last-minute efforts to save 239 mill jobs.Ngāti Rangi says the community has drawn together over the past 22 days to try to save the mills in the Ruapehu district but on Tuesday, Winstone Pulp International (WPI) announced it would close permanently.The news comes after WPI shut down operations “indefinitely” early last month, citing unsustainable energy prices.Ngāti Rangi spokesman Whetu Moataane said the iwi had fought to find a way to keep the mills going.“We have hosted political leadership from…

Mario Draghi’s EU competitiveness report, launched with much fanfare in Brussels yesterday, included a proposal for an electricity market reform that the European Commission shied away from during the energy crisis of 2022. ADVERTISEMENTElectricity producers have warned that decoupling the price of abundant and cheap renewable electricity from that of gas-fired power generation could discourage power companies from investing in clean technologies like wind and solar power, and rejected a charge of rent seeking.Presenting his report on Monday, Draghi said the EU’s energy market had been designed when fossil fuels were the most important parts of the energy mix. “It’s…

The Ministry of Justice has warned the proposed Treaty Principles Bill isn’t “grounded in the Treaty” and relies on a “novel reading” of the founding document that isn’t supported by the “available evidence”.Advice provided to Cabinet on the proposed Treaty Principles Bill recommends the coalition continue the status quo – rather than redefining the principles.Associate Justice Minister David Seymour has released the regulatory impact statement and corresponding Cabinet paper for the Treaty Principles Bill.The advice from Ministry of Justice officials and contributing agencies was that the bill would be damaging to Māori/Crown relations and hadn’t met the standard of good…

The chancellor stressed that many people from other countries have helped the economy but added that the government must be able to choose who comes to Germany. ADVERTISEMENTGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz underlined the public’s wish for “serious politics” rather than “a theatrical performance” after talks about migration with opposition party CDU collapsed on Tuesday.Addressing the recent success of the anti-immigrant hard-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) during the two state elections in eastern Germany, Scholz said the AfD is “married to the past” and trying to rob the country of its future.Although Scholz aggressively defended his coalition government’s policy of…

To know Lissie Cleave, who is legally blind, is to know there are always dogs in tow — dogs that have taken the Paparoa resident to the top of the fiercely competitive world of canine agility. Her four-legged crew’s love of chasing tennis balls has also contributed to a new adventure. Cleave is in her first year of playing blind tennis, and she’ll shortly be travelling internationally to serve up a storm at the European Open Blind and VI Tennis Championships in Poland.”Playing tennis internationally — that’s a bizarre sentence to me. I don’t know how to cope with that…

Edmundo González arrived in Spain on Sunday after fleeing Venezuela on a Spanish army jet following a hotly contested presidential election, which several foreign governments believe he won. ADVERTISEMENTSpain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that Madrid would not recognise Venezuelan exiled opposition leader Edmundo González’s victory in disputed presidential elections held in late July, according to Spanish media. However, Spain would work with Brussels to find a solution by the end of the year, Sánchez added.His comments came after the Spanish parliament debated whether Spain should recognise González as the legitimate winner of the Venezuelan presidential election over incumbent President…

Police have named the 8-year-old boy who died following a violent altercation in Hamilton earlier this month. He was 8-year-old Zahquiel-John Thomas Patrick Taipeti, of Bader.”Police would like to extend our sympathies to his family at this incredibly difficult time,” a police spokesperson said. Officers were called at around 5.20pm on September 1 to a property in the suburb of Bader after receiving reports of a “violent altercation”.Three people were taken to hospital, including the eight-year-old boy in a critical condition. The boy later died from his injuries.Emergency services were called to the incident in Anthony Crescent, Bader at about…

This article was originally published in Italian “In the 1980s, we had to get off the bus and they checked all our passports,” said one Belgian citizen. “We’re not going back to that time, are we?” ADVERTISEMENTGermany’s decision to introduce controls at each of its nine land borders for the next six months has irked those who frequently cross them.The measures announced on Monday will apply from 16 September until 15 March 2025 at the borders with Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Denmark. Considering that the Austrian border has been subject to controls since May, the frontiers with Switzerland, Poland and…

Mpox vaccine Jynneos has been given provisional approval by Medsafe as the Government says the risk in New Zealand from the disease remains low.Two confirmed cases of mpox have now been found with “likely links” to Queenstown’s Winter Pride Festival, according to the Government.The vaccine has been used since last year for those at the greatest risk from mpox, but the new approval means greater opportunities for access.Health Minister Shane Reti said he was now receiving daily reports on the spread of the disease. The overall risk in New Zealand remains “low”, he said.”Medsafe and Health New Zealand have been…

The Accident Compensation Corporation is proposing rises in levies that will cost households and businesses hundreds of dollars a year over the next three years.It has started a one month public consultation on suggested rises of more than seven per cent for motorists, and more than four per cent for employers and earners.It says the number of injuries has been rising, as has the cost of treating them and rehabilitation.Chief executive Megan Main said the proposed changes in levies, and reclassification of some industry and sports activities, were needed to ensure future generations were not carrying the cost of current…