Author: Press Room

SkyCity has closed its Auckland gambling areas for the next five days after admitting it failed to meet its host responsibility obligations. In July, SkyCity Entertainment Group Ltd announced it had agreed to close for five days over the issue. The closure was announced as part of an agreement with the secretary of internal affairs. It followed a complaint from a customer, with a subsequent investigation identifying 23 incidents during which they were able to gamble continuously without detection by SkyCity’s technological system. The closure began at 12.01am this morning, and was set to end at midnight on Friday, September…

A man has been arrested after an Auckland bus driver was assaulted over the weekend.Police were alerted to the incident in Avondale around 10.15am on Saturday which began when a passenger boarding a bus on Great North Rd and reportedly attempted to travel free of charge.The driver of the bus was allegedly assaulted when he challenged the passenger, with the offender then fleeing on foot.Tramways Union president Gary Froggatt said the driver had teeth knocked out and required stitches to his knee.Police Inspector Wayne Kitcher said a person has been apprehended and would be appearing in court later this week.”One…

By Juliana Santos Wahlgren, Director, Susana Anastácio is Senior Communication Officer, European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews. Without measures to tackle this issue, the digital divide will continue to exacerbate existing inequalities, further marginalising those who are already vulnerable, Juliana Santos Wahlgren and Susana Anastácio write. ADVERTISEMENTImagine navigating life without a phone, computer, or internet connection. When you picture this scenario, is it hard to imagine? For many, this is not a hypothetical scenario but a hard reality. In today’s…

Macleans College in Auckland recently made headlines because it reportedly kicked out nine students in the past year for being fraudulently enrolled. That means the families of those students didn’t live in the zone for Macleans College but lied about their addresses to make it look like they did. Secondary principals’ association president Vaughan Couillault told Breakfast this was not an isolated incident, and would continue as long as the population in Auckland continued to increase.Enrolment fraud isn’t a new concept — it’s been around since the 1980s, an expert says. Reasons for doing it varied but included the cost…

The boss of an Otago rescue helicopter operator is warning lives could be lost after two laser strikes on helicopters in the last week.The latest incident happened at 3.30am yesterday morning as an Otago Helicopters med-evac chopper returned from Oamaru to Dunedin.Five people were onboard — including one patient, the pilot and a full emergency medical team — when it was struck by laser from a reserve near Kakanui.Otago Helicopters chief executive Graeme Gale says the pilot pinpointed the location and advised police but, to his knowledge, no one was apprehended.”The people responsible for these incidents are muppets and clowns…

The bloc’s highest court is tomorrow set to resolve two billion-euro disputes with big tech firms Apple and Google. ADVERTISEMENTTwo landmark cases taken by the EU against big tech could be resolved tomorrow, as the bloc’s top court rules on billion-dollar cases against iPhone maker Apple and search giant Google.The EU’s Court of Justice is set to resolve a longstanding €13 billion conflict over the unusually low tax bill the iPhone maker paid in Ireland, one of a series of cases that followed the 2014 LuxLeaks scandal.Judges will also rule on a record-breaking €2.4 billion fine imposed on Google and…

A child has died after a quadbike rolled on a Waikato farm over the weekend.Emergency services were called to the Kaihere farm in the Hauraki District at around 4pm on Saturday.One person was found dead.The serious crash unit conducted an investigation, and WorkSafe was advised.”Inquiries into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.”An Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter spokesperson said a crew was set to Ngatea to assist wth a child involved in a quad bike rollover accident.”Unfortunately, the child died and crew returned to base.”According to WorkSafe, there was one confirmed fatality from a quadbike accident last year. The worst…

Common debt, China threat, innovation and cars: Euronews summarises 400-plus pages to give you five takeaways from Mario Draghi’s landmark report. ADVERTISEMENTFormer Italian prime minister Mario Draghi’s long-awaited report on Europe’s competitiveness has finally seen the light of day – and its first lesson for Europe’s slowing growth since the turn of the century is to stop procrastinating.   “We have reached the point where, without action, we will have to either compromise our welfare, our environment or our freedom,” Draghi warned at the report’s launch on Monday (9 September).   In his 400-page report, Draghi recommends how to finance and coordinate…

Hundreds of patients with advanced cancer will get free access to two life-extending medicines from the start of next month, Pharmac has confirmed.Pembrolizumab (brand name Keytruda) will be funded from October 1 for eligible patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer, head and neck cancer, colorectal cancer, bladder cancer, and Hodgkin lymphoma.Nivolumab (branded as Opdivo) will be free from November 1 for eligible people with kidney cancer.Director of pharmaceuticals Geraldine MacGibbon said the drug-funding agency was pleased to announce its first decision for cancer medicines since the Government provided additional funding in June to fund medicines for a range of cancer…

An off-duty police officer was caught engaging in “consensual sexual activity” in a parked car at a train station in the Wellington region.The details of the officer’s behaviour were made public by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) today through a summary of the case.The summary says the liaison took place at around 6pm, while it was still daylight, and lasted for about 15 minutes.The encounter was spotted by a member of the public who was crossing a footbridge and who reported what they saw to police.Inquiries soon identified one of the two involved was an off-duty officer.“The officer and…