Author: Press Room
A large vegetation fire in mixed scrub and wetland on Southland’s Tiwai Peninsula has exploded in size this afternoon, increasing nearly fivefold.The fire, which broke out shortly after midnight, has grown to 1200 hectares across the centre of the peninsula due to higher temperatures and wind speed this afternoon.Sixty firefighters and eight fire trucks are in attendance with ten helicopters in support, said Fire and Emergency NZ.Incident controller Hamish Angus said the fire was not an immediate threat to people, homes, the smelter, or the Tiwai Bridge.”The Tiwai Bridge is closed to all traffic except our crews and the smelter…
Diplomatic sources say the bloc is facing calls to suspend its wide-ranging minerals agreement with Rwanda amid fears it is inflaming the escalating conflict in eastern DRC. ADVERTISEMENTThe conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has prompted calls on Brussels to review an agreement with the Rwandan government intended to secure the supply of critical materials used in smartphones and electric cars.The deal, signed in February last year, was hailed by Brussels as a key step in securing the supply of highly-sought materials needed to power the so-called green and digital transition, but criticised for turning a blind eye…
Prospective Dunedin homeowners should feel confident they are able to find a property “regardless of what your budget is”, a realtor in the city says. New data released by realestate.co.nz this week highlighted “striking million-dollar price gaps” between the highest and lowest-priced suburbs across New Zealand’s main centres. The district-level data reflected the annual average asking prices of suburbs with ten or more new listings in 2024. In the Dunedin area, the highest-ranked suburb was North Taieri with an average asking price of $1,767,643, followed by East Taieri, Maori Hill, St Leonards and St Clair. The lowest…
More than 150 remote traps set to catch predators across a South Island national park have been “systematically tampered” with and disarmed, the Department of Conservation said.High-trapping lines between Dart Valley and the west Matukituki Valley were checked by volunteers and staff who found all 45 traps blocked off by “strategically placed” rocks.Staff also found all the traps from Shelter Rock Hut to Dart Hut and down the Rees Valley had been triggered or also had rocks placed in front of their doors.DOC Whakatipu operations manager David Butt said it was “very concerning” that someone had made the effort to…
In Sumy, a Russian drone strike killed four people, including a child, and injured nine. Over 100 residents were evacuated. ADVERTISEMENTIn another series of overnight drone strikes on Ukraine, Russian Shahed UAV hit a ten-storey residential building in Sumy in the country’s northeast, killing at least four people, including a child, according to local authorities. Nine others were injured, including an eight-year-old. The attack forced the evacuation of more than 100 residents, the regional administration reported.Rescue efforts are ongoing, with people possibly still trapped under the rubble.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the drone attack a “horrific tragedy, a terrible Russian…
A person has died following a “water incident” north of Tairāwhiti this afternoon.Emergency services are at an address on Te Araroa Rd in Hicks Bay, a police spokesperson told 1News in a statement.They were called just before 4pm.The death will be referred to the coroner.
Intelligence firm Graphika said a Beijing-linked campaign known as “Spamouflage” spread disinformation about Spain’s deadly floods last year. ADVERTISEMENTA Chinese online influence operation impersonated a human rights group in Spain to spread calls on social media for the Spanish government to be overthrown following deadly floods in Valencia last year, according to research by intelligence firm Graphika.The Chinese state-linked campaign — dubbed “Spamouflage” by analysts — posed as the Spain-based NGO Safeguard Defenders on social media platforms including Facebook, TikTok and X to circulate content criticising the government’s response to the floods that killed at least 225 people last October,…
The Department of Conservation (DOC) is considering whether it needs to revise trap standards after a “determined” kiwi was killed when its bill was caught in a pest trap.The dead North Island brown kiwi was found by a member of the public on Saturday in Northland’s Puketi-Omahuta Forest, west of the Bay of Islands.The person then alerted DOC.Kiwi Recovery Group technical advisor Emily King said the trap in question, a DOC200 housed in a wooden box, had been examined and was found to comply with best practice.Despite that, a determined kiwi managed to make its way in and had its…
The EIB, the largest multilateral lender, will double its funding for defence and security from €1 billion to €2 billion by 2025. Its group president defends a proactive approach to both sectors within the bank’s remit. “We are not a defence ministry,” she said on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Investment Bank (EIB) is targeting a €95 billion investment in 2025, supporting initiatives ranging from clean-tech and AI to affordable and sustainable housing and climate action—while allocating just €2 billion to Europe’s security and defence industry. “I want to be very clear: we are not a defence ministry. We are Europe’s investment bank,…
Winston Peters – after initially saying nothing was wrong with his and Shane Jones’ comments – has now backed down after the Mexican Ambassador raised concerns.MPs were debating the Prime Minister’s Statement on Tuesday when Shane Jones yelled “send the Mexicans home” across the floor.Winston Peters then told Green MPs Lawrence Xu-Nan and Francisco Hernandez to “show some gratitude” for being in New Zealand.The Green Party has written to the prime minister and the Speaker of the House calling for action, saying the comments were “outwardly racist and xenophobic”.RNZ approached the Mexican embassy, which confirmed it was “following up this…