Author: Press Room
CCTV has captured the moment a truck tyre exploded on Saturday, prompting residents to run to safety from flying debris.A witness told 1News the truck started “playing up” and began to let out smoke from the back of the cab.The driver pulled over and called Fire and Emergency New Zealand, but the truck was quickly engulfed in flames before they arrived.Nearby property owners ran to help the driver to safety and attempted to dampen the flames with a garden hose, as well as protect their property and other vehicles.Moments later, a tyre exploded, something witness Margie McAleese said was “very…
European Union officials are looking for ways to bypass Hungary’s veto on the military assistance for Ukraine disbursed through the European Peace Facility (EPF). ADVERTISEMENTEuropean Union officials are looking for ways to bypass Hungary’s veto on the military assistance for Ukraine disbursed through the European Peace Facility (EPF).Budapest has been blocking the transfer of €6.6 billion for about a year and a half, drawing condemnation from other member states and Ukraine which has been facing difficulties on the battlefield as winter approached.But what exactly is the EPF?The facility was created in March 2021, before the Russian war on Ukraine, as an instrument…
A Queenstown-based residential construction business, placed in liquidation earlier this month, owes more than $177,000, the first liquidators’ report shows. Iain Shephard and Jessica Kellow, of BDO Wellington, were appointed joint and several liquidators by special resolution of the shareholders of Opus Construction on October 1. The company, which was incorporated in November 2021, was primarily a labour contractor but ceased trading in January this year. It faced “significant” debt with Inland Revenue and had not finalised its accounts since 2021. With no assets and having stopped operations, the shareholders — the sole shareholder and director is listed as Vance…
It’s a wet and windy start to the week for much of the country, with wind gusts of up to 90km/h on the cards for the upper North Island this evening. It comes after a low-pressure system centred west of Taranaki, with especially persistent and heavy rain for the south coast of the North Island, according to MetService. The big wet will be followed by clear skies for much of the working week, as the persistent rain eases this afternoon. But it’s not over yet for the North Island, with further showers and gusty winds expected as the low beings…
Laurent Vinatier, a French scholar, asked for leniency in court. ADVERTISEMENTA French citizen was sentenced to three years in Russian prison after being convicted by a Moscow court of collecting military information. Laurent Vinatier reportedly admitted guilt, with his lawyers asking the court to sentence him with a fine. Addressing the court before sentencing, Vinatier reaffirmed in Russian that he fully recognised his guilt and asked the judge for clemency. “I’m asking the Russian Federation to forgive me for failing to observe Russian laws,” he said. The 48-year-old political scholar said he fell in love with Russia 20 years ago when he began studying…
Find the thorns before they sting. That’s the mantra of Thistle Finder, a tech startup founded by Otago lad Hamish Darling which provides a global media search and social media vetting of potential employees. Based in the unlikely dual locations of Bilbao, Spain and Invercargill, the startup — which uses machine learning and high-performance computing — already has 60 companies on its books in just six months. Speaking from Spain, Mr Darling — a University of Otago law graduate and former winner of the Central Otago Young Fruit Grower of the Year competition — said Thistle Finder was driven by…
Robert Smith thinks dynamic ticket pricing is just a way to “scam” fans.The 65-year-old punk rock star was “shocked” at the profit that can be made by sell-out tours and insisted that artists don’t “need” to generate the kind of money that such ventures often pull in as he spoke out against the practice of allowing businesses to adjust ticket prices in real-time based on factors such as demand.He told The Sunday Times: “I was shocked by how much profit is made.”I thought, ‘We don’t need to make all this money.’ My fights with the label have all been about…
The Health and Disability Commissioner has criticised Kaitaia Hospital for its insufficient treatment of a woman who died from a diabetes-related infection.The woman, named Ms B in the report, developed Type 2 diabetes at age 23 and was in her thirties when she died.Her toe had to be amputated after she developed sepsis in early 2017, followed by a below-the-knee amputation just a few days later.She died from an infection in her groin after about six weeks.Deputy Commissioner Rose Wall found that a nurse had incorrectly classified the woman’s disease and referred her to the podiatry service instead of the…
The bite of tough times for Wellington hospitality businesses has been so hard, their annual awards celebrations have been pushed back to next year.Organisers said the Felix Wellington Hospitality Awards were being pushed back to 2025 after the year of challenges the industry had faced.Businesses, including hospitality, had seen a massive drop in customers, with the blame put down to public sector job cuts, people working from home, and the cost of living.So far this year, more than 50 stores had closed between Courtenay Pl and Lambton Quay, including the likes of Pandoro bakery and Egmont Street Eatery.The latest casualty…
The trial, which lasted for over six months, largely relied on historical documents from the Stasi records archive and testimonies from three pensioners. ADVERTISEMENTAn 80-year-old former officer of East Germany’s secret police, Stasi, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the murder of a Polish firefighter in Berlin 50 years ago. The court determined that Martin Naumann was guilty of shooting Czesław Kukuczka on Friedrichstrasse, a busy former border crossing in central Berlin. Kukuczka was shot in 1974 as he walked through a series of control posts, having been told he could escape to West Berlin. The public…