Author: Press Room

Voting to elect a new parliament began in Iceland on Saturday, which opinion polls suggest is likely to unseat the ruling coalition after seven years in power. ADVERTISEMENTThe snap parliamentary election in the North Atlantic island nation was called in October after disagreements over immigration, energy policy, and the cost of living crisis forced Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson to pull the plug on his coalition government. Bjarni Benediktsson came to power in April after his predecessor resigned. He has struggled to hold together the unlikely coalition of his conservative Independence Party, the centrist Progressive Party and the Left-Green Movement. Support…

Labour leader Chris Hipkins is calling on his party to change, in order to win the next election.He made the opening remarks on Friday night, following a whakatau by mana whenua kicking off the annual party conference happening this weekend in Christchurch.Hipkins told the few hundred members, current and former MPs and media gathered that he understood “Kiwis did vote for change last year.”We have to accept that reality as we build to win in 2026. We lost, and now we need to change as well.”He said New Zealanders did not think Labour was focused, and they had lost faith…

After an interim report found the sinking of the HMNS Manawanui was due to human error, Samoans say they are still looking for better answers on the environmental and economic costs of the disaster.The Samoan community in both Samoa and Aotearoa reacted strongly to the report.People of Tafitoala, one of the villages in Safata, have already spoken about their livelihood being affected by the Manawanui disaster on October 5.A meeting was also scheduled to take place last month in Vaiee, another coastal village in the district, to present their case to the Samoan government and suggest that New Zealand should…

Three people across the country were arrested yesterday as police carry out enforcement on the new Gangs Act. Police arrested two people in Auckland who were wearing clothing with gang insignia police Assistant Commissioner Paul Basham said. One man was arrested on Hobson St in the CBD and another on Walsall St in Avondale. “In Customhouse Street, Gisborne, a man was also arrested for wearing clothing bearing gang insignia,” Basham said. “All three will appear before the courts in due course.”

One person has died in a single vehicle crash on Great South Road this morning.Police said the road remains closed, with diversions in place, while the Serious Crash Unit examines the scene.”Please continue to avoid the area if possible.”Hato Hone St John was notified of the crash at 10.57am and responded with one ambulance and one rapid response unit, a spokesperson said.

In this edition, we look at how Ursula von der Leyen gained approval for a second term in office by the narrowest of majorities, and dissect Hungary’s child protection act. ADVERTISEMENTThis week, we are joined by the Swedish MEP Tomas Tobe from the European People’s Party, Danish MEP Kira Peter-Hansen from the Greens and the Dutch-Spanish MEP Raquel García Hermida van der Walle from Renew Europe.The big news of the week in Strasbourg was Ursula von der Leyen’s team gaining a seal of approval from the European Parliament, allowing her new European Commission to start work within days.Raquel García Hermida van…

This week, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka announced the number of families living in emergency housing had reduced by 68% under this government.It is now down to 993 – to be precise.The difference between a stable home and being in crisis can be as simple as the loss of a job or a relationship break-up.Long-time child and poverty advocate Professor Mark Henaghan, is calling for changes to the Property (Relationships) Act to better protect children when relationships do break down.”In both the private and the public sector, we’re not doing enough… with regard to families that sadly have to separate…

Doctors warned officials that scaling down plans for the new Dunedin Hospital at an advanced stage of the design risked leaving it in a “clinically precarious state” – just two days before the government announced its cutbacks to the project.Documents released under the Official Information Act and seen by RNZ show the group leading the design sent a strongly worded memo which argued that cutting costs at this point was unlikely to save a meaningful amount, yet it would compromise clinical services.The memo, written by clinical transformational group executive chair Dr Sheila Barnett and its deputy chair Professor Patrick Manning,…

Alcohol sales laws need an overhaul, researchers say, after finding 73% of door-to-door booze deliveries happen with zero identification checks and almost half the alcohol is left unattended at the door.In some cases the contactless deliveries were made within half an hour.The study, carried out by Alcohol Healthwatch, included 46 online alcohol orders made during two months in 2023, by a researcher under 25 year old.Alcohol Healthwatch health promotion advisor Sarah Sneyd, the lead author of the study, told Checkpoint that new shopping patterns mean alcohol laws have fallen behind, and desperately need an overhaul.”There are a few problems here…

He was the first man appointed to the staff of Auckland FC — and that was only 10 months ago.Terry McFlynn was tasked with recruiting players from the ground up and also helping set up the new A-League club from scratch.”First and foremost, it was about getting the right characters in the building… people who want to be here for the right reasons, people who want to build a football club for the community, but also win trophies and titles,” he said.McFlynn knows about character and winning. A Northern Ireland youth international, the 41-year-old has lived for the past 20…