Author: Press Room

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called on alliance members to step up their defence spending beyond their common goal of 2% of their GDP, ADVERTISEMENTNATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned on Monday that Russia was “trying to destabilise” countries in the Alliance as he called on members to increase defence spending. “To guarantee our security in the future we also need to ramp up our efforts now,” Rutte said in a joint briefing alongside Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, as he visited Lisbon on Monday. “We also know that the goal of 2%, now set a decade ago, will not be enough…

Revocation of coverage of Pacific Edge’s flagship product by a United States healthcare provider has been delayed two months. In a note to the NZX yesterday, the cancer diagnostics company said an update offered no explanation but followed representations by Pacific Edge to Novitas, its parent company GuideWell, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of the General Counsel (OGC), and incoming political leadership to have the local coverage determination revised or withdrawn. Earlier this month, Medicare administrative contractor Novitas, which has jurisdiction for Pacific Edge’s US laboratory, denied coverage…

After a half-century of public silence, a freelance photographer from Vietnam has asserted he took one of the most renowned and impactful photos of the 20th century — the image of a naked girl fleeing a napalm attack in South Vietnam that has long been credited to a staff photographer from The Associated Press.Nguyen Thanh Nghe claimed authorship of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “napalm girl” photograph in the new documentary The Stringer and on the sidelines of its premiere Saturday night (local time) at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.The AP conducted its own investigation and said it had…

The township of Mangawhai has been described as looking like a war zone, with houses destroyed, roofs torn off, debris scattered across the roads, power poles ripped off the base, and trees snapped like twigs after a tornado hit Northland yesterday.Two people were taken to hospital in a serious condition. One was flown to Auckland Hospital by helicopter and the other was taken to North Shore Hospital.Kaipara District Mayor Craig Jepson said at least four homes were destroyed.TVNZ+ Neighbour recounts ‘horrific’ moment tornado hurled woman from her homeBut he said the numbers displaced will be much higher.”There’s a whole heap…

The multimillion-dollar debts keep mounting for companies associated with a failed Southland Wagyu beef operation, which promoted its cattle as receiving massages and having music played “to keep them soothed and calm”. According to its website, Black Origin Wagyu combined the origin of Japanese breeding genetics and 200-year-old techniques with New Zealand’s grass, grain, water and air. The cattle were grazed for their first two years on farms throughout the country before being finished on grain at a “state-of-the-art” barn in Rakaia. A meat processing plant operated in Gore. In December last year, Origin Corporation — which was described as…

A memorial service for the 94th anniversary of the Hawke’s Bay earthquake will be held in Napier a day earlier this year so more people can attend.The event has been incorporated into Waiapu Cathedral’s 10am Sunday service, on February 2, with Napier MP Katie Nimon speaking about the personal impact on her family.The 7.8 magnitude quake struck on February 3, 1931, at 10.47am and lasted for two and a half minutes, followed by aftershocks.Two hundred and fifty-six people died, hundreds more were hospitalised and thousands injured. Much of Hastings’ and Napier’s central cities were destroyed.Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise says the…

Two teens have been arrested after a couple of unsuccessful attempted robberies in Invercargill. Police said there were failed attempts to rob a jewellery store and service station before a member of the public was threatened and a dairy was finally broken into for vapes, cash and lollies. Detective Peter Smallfield said the string of incidents began with a Mazda vehicle being stolen from a home in Kingswell early this morning which was driven to the jewellers in the central city around 5am. “They have got out and attempted to smash the windows with a scooter and, when they were…

A cheeky seagull has flown into high profile by pulling an aerial manoeuvre in front of a photographer’s efforts to snap a Wellington beach.Adnan Khalid Rao was documenting the capital’s waterfront with a drone last week when something grey and white flashed past his lens.There, in a couple of frames, was a winged interloper.Rao posted the shot on social media and it was swiftly shared around delighted users.”We are giving this the photobomb of the year!” posted Facebook group New Zealand Proud.One commenter called it a “well deserved honour”.Another suggested the seagull may have been motivated by something on the…

A huge heritage-listed tree towers over Maryanne Urquhart’s property in Allenton, Ashburton.For five years, she’s contacted the local council to help with the annual trimming back of new growth at the bottom of the California Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens).”This year, they said no and that it’s my responsibility,” Urquhart said.She said was caught off guard by the response, and felt the responsibility had passed to her without her knowledge or explanation.However, an Ashburton District Council spokesperson said the maintenance of heritage trees on private land has always been the property owner’s responsibility.”As per the district plan, the council can provide advice…

An automotive workshop in Masterton was incorrectly told it needed more loos being refused building consent as it had just one unisex toilet on the premises.Despite a maximum of four people being on the premises at any one time, the Masterton District Council said “future use of the building” needed to be considered and argued the correct occupant load for the floorspace was 40 people.The council said it used its discretion in the consent process to bring this occupancy down to seven people which required one unisex toilet and one accessible toilet facility.In a Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment…