Author: Press Room
The demolition of the Gordon Wilson Flats will begin later this month, expected to be the end of a long-running saga over the derelict “eyesore” ex-public housing units. Victoria University today confirmed a contractor was about to be appointed, with work anticipated to begin this month. Chief operating officer Tina Wakefield said: “There is significant work ahead to ensure that the demolition will be carried out with the utmost care, beginning with site preparation work in the coming weeks.”We recognise and understand that demolition work may be disruptive for our neighbours, and we are fully committed to keeping them informed…
Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has secured a revised $3 billion contract with the US Navy, including approximately $1 billion in compensation, after the original 2020 agreement for 10 frigates was scaled back to just two vessels. The rescheduling, announced on 26 November, came ahead of Monday’s EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting of defence ministers in Brussels, where military support for Ukraine and defence readiness will be discussed. Under the revised deal, two Constellation-class frigates already under construction will be completed, but four additional units previously commissioned will be discontinued. The remaining vessels will be replaced by smaller ships for amphibious operations,…
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has labelled the conduct of Labour MPs “unbecoming” after a fiery Scrutiny Week appearance which saw accusations of name-calling and conspiracy-thinking.Under questioning in the meeting, Willis also confirmed the government had no intention of buying offshore carbon credits to meet the 2030 Paris agreement as part of a “performative awards ceremony” even if that meant it would breach its commitment.Christmas cheer? From the meeting’s outset, the exchanges were heated. Labour’s finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds asked Willis to explain why she claimed infrastructure spending was increasing despite that not being the case in the most recent financial…
Published on 02/12/2025 – 9:29 GMT+1 Europeans need to have their own peace plan for Ukraine and stop waiting on the Americans to take all the initiative, European Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius told Euronews’ Europe Today programme on Tuesday. “We need perhaps to overcome some kind of our mental problems that usually we’re awaiting when some plans will come from Washington,” Kubilius said. “It would be very good for us to have our own plan and then you know to compare with (the) American plan to see what is good, what we want to discuss,” he added. “I think…
The Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga Hastings Art Gallery is backing a controversial exhibition that encourages people to walk over a New Zealand flag, despite a councillor saying it “feels so wrong”.Māori artist Diane Prince’s installation Flagging the Future was hastily removed from the Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū in Nelson earlier this year for what the gallery described as staff safety reasons following abuse and complaints.The controversial installation includes a New Zealand flag laid on the floor, inviting people to “please walk on me”.Prince’s exhibit at the Hastings District Council-owned gallery also includes weaving, drawings, paintings, a…
By euronews Published on 02/12/2025 – 7:39 GMT+1 •Updated 7:53 Another day, another attempt to end the war in Ukraine, now entering its fourth winter. As the US piles pressure on the country to make concessions, the French president rolled out the red carpet for President Zelenskyy and his wife Olena Zelenska. As they move on to Ireland today, concern is rising that Ukraine will be forced into a bad deal. For an update, we are joined on set by Euronews’ Ukraine correspondent Sasha Vakulina and Euronews’ EU editor Maria Tadeo. Also on set, we will be joined by Andrius Kubilius,…
The mother of a girl who ate a mouldy school meal said she is now unwell.Christchurch parents were horrified after their children ate a contaminated meal from the Government’s free school lunches programme.The School Lunch Collective told RNZ it was investigating a “food quality issue” after mouldy mince was served up to students at Haeata Community Campus on Monday.The Collective represents Compass Group, which was contracted to provide government-funded lunches for the Christchurch school.The school, which had students from Years 1 to 13, said a teacher noticed Monday’s lunch was off after they had been distributed to a number of…
A man has been charged after allegedly stealing from an Auckland jewellery store – by swallowing a pendant worth more than $30,000. Police were called to the store in central Auckland around 3.30pm on Friday, Inspector Grae Anderson told 1News.”A man inside the store had allegedly picked up a pendant and swallowed it,” he said. The pendant was a limited-edition Fabergé James Bond Octopussy Egg worth $33,585, according to court documents seen by RNZ. The locket – a nod to the 1983 film featuring the fictional Secret Service spy – featured an 18k yellow gold and green guilloché enamel Fabergé…
A Christchurch-based financial advice provider has had its licence cancelled by the Financial Markets Authority after it found a “serious and deliberate departure from standards” and that it had misled clients.Hope Group Limited previously held a full financial advice provider licence, and provided personal risk insurance advice to retail clients.This included life and health insurance, income protection insurance, and trauma and disability insurance, the authority said.After it was alerted by the impacted insurer – which had terminated its distribution agreement – the authority reviewed 14 insurance policy applications submitted by Hope Group Limited’s sole director and financial adviser, Junpu Wang,…
A Paeroa business has been fined more than $150,000 after migrant workers were forced to work up to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, without being paid their lawful entitlements. Chetna Dave and her husband Hitesh Dave – the directors of Dev Trading Limited (DTL), trading as Super Clearance – recruited two Indian nationals under the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) scheme. Dev Trading has since been sold and is under new management. An investigation into the company revealed that the workers were subjected to unlawful employment practices, Immigration NZ said. It included being required to work extremely…