Author: Press Room
Removing barriers for installing solar panels is an incentive which should lead to more Dunedin people making the switch to clean energy, an electrician says. Changes made by the government to the Building Act, which came into effect last month, mean a building consent is no longer required to install many rooftop solar panels on existing homes and commercial buildings. The exemptions apply to roof-mounted installations under 40sq m in total area per roof, unless in very high-wind zones (more than 158kmh). For arrays more than 40sq m or in very high-wind zones, a chartered professional engineer must provide or…
Inoperable pistols gifted by FBI Director Kash Patel to senior New Zealand security officials, who had to relinquish them for destruction because they were illegal to possess, were revolvers inspired by toy Nerf guns and popular among amateur 3D-printed weapons hobbyists, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.The AP first reported that Patel gifted plastic 3D-printed replica revolvers as part of display stands given to New Zealand’s police and spy chiefs, along with two cabinet ministers in July. Police documents released this week identified the model as the Maverick PG22, a working revolver modelled on the brightly coloured toy gun…
France and the United Kingdom have urged the members of the “Coalition of the Willing” to provide Ukraine with robust security guarantees to safeguard a future peace deal, including by putting boots on the ground as part of a multinational force. The “Coalition of the Willing,” which brings together most European countries, Turkey, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, met virtually on Tuesday to discuss the diplomatic push launched by the United States to strike a peace deal. The original 28-point plan, secretly drafted by US and Russian officials, categorically ruled out any NATO presence on Ukrainian soil after the…
A track record of operating in Christchurch for nearly 90 years has ended for Idiens Sheetmetal & Roofing after it was forced to shut its doors owing creditors $1.13 million. The cladding, roofing and flashing business was put into liquidation at the High Court in Christchurch after an application by Inland Revenue Te Tari Taake. A total shortfall owed to creditors includes nearly $647,000 to IRD and 25 unsecured creditors totalling nearly $480,000. Idiens’ eight employees were paid in full after being let go, including a four-week notice period. PwC insolvency practitioners Wendy Somerville and Malcolm Hollis said in their…
The country’s biggest reggae music festival is the latest gig to be cancelled, with organisers blaming tough economic conditions.In a social media post on Tuesday night, Tauranga’s One Love Festival announced the event would not go ahead in 2026 after organisers “carefully reviewed several challenging situations”.”With the cost-of-living crisis ongoing — and more than 80% of our audience travelling for two days — we know the strain this puts on household budgets. We hoped for a strong economic recovery heading into 2026, but that hasn’t happened,” the post read.”Because of these factors, along with unforeseen developments behind the scenes, our…
More than a dozen flights to and from Tauranga have been cancelled on Tuesday due to volcanic ash from Whakaari/White Island.GeoNet had the volcano at Alert Level 3, denoting a minor volcanic eruption, and images showed a plume of steam and ash reaching over a kilometre high.Air New Zealand’s chief safety officer Nathan McGraw said 16 flights were been cancelled.Customers will be rebooked onto the next available service, he said.Earth Sciences NZ volcanologist Michael Rosenberg said the steam and ash was normal activity and didn’t suggest a larger eruption.”This is very typical of what we’ve seen intermittently over the past…
Published on 25/11/2025 – 17:42 GMT+1 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will travel to Moscow on Friday to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to media reports. The information came from Hungarian government sources who were involved in the preparations of the trip, according to investigative central European outlet VSquare. The Hungarian government has not confirmed the visit at this time, with Budapest saying it would inform the public about Orbán’s programme in due time. The agenda for the meeting is not yet known. But Orbán has maintained ties to Putin since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and…
MTF Finance has posted its third-strongest sales performance on record for the last financial year, with $792.2 million in new loans. Releasing its annual report yesterday, the company announced it had maintained record originator earnings of $91.6m. It achieved a net promoter score (NPS) of 81.9 compared with 16 for the finance industry, market-leading arrears of just 1% over 31-plus days and total assets of $1.2 billion. The MTF board declared a dividend of 17.5c, a slight increase on 2024, along with a special dividend of 10c per share. The special dividend recognised the continued strong business performance and the…
A person has been charged after a man died in a hunting incident off Stewart Island in July.Police said they were alerted to the incident near Lords River around midday on July 5. A Search and Rescue team was deployed to the island via helicopter, where Jock Grant Davies was found dead.A 39-year-old Ashburton man is due to appear in the Invercargill District Court on December 16 charged with careless use of a firearm causing death.
The EU and Africa have agreed to further green investments and regional infrastructure as the bloc’s representatives gathered in Angola’s capital Luanda for two days of the European Union-African Union summit. The EU is on a path to achieve net neutrality by 2050, a binding goal that will require large-scale deployment of renewable energy such as solar and wind, and batteries for electric vehicles. While the 27-member bloc is invested in domestic production, it sees Africa’s abundant sunlight and vast deposits of key raw materials such as lithium and cobalt as crucial to the energy transition. “We commit to continue…