Author: Press Room

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has showcased a two-door robotaxi with gull-wing doors and no steering wheel or pedals at a much-hyped event, sticking to long-held promises of autonomous cars driving long-term growth at the electric vehicle maker. Musk travelled to the stage in a “Cybercab” on Thursday, saying production will start in 2026 with the vehicles being available to buy for less than $US30,000 ($NZ49,000).   “The autonomous future is here,” Musk said. “We have 50 fully autonomous cars here tonight. You’ll see model Ys and the Cybercab. All driverless.” The Cybercab will cost 20 cents a mile (1.6km) to…

Motorists were warned to expect delays following a fatal two-vehicle crash on State Highway 32 in South Waikato this morning.Police said one person died at the scene and one other was taken to hospital with moderate injuries.Emergency services were called to the two-vehicle crash around 6.30am.New Zealand Transport Agency closed State Highway 32 at Kinleith between Old Taupo Rd, Tokoroa and State Highway 30 in both directions, meaning all traffic had to be diverted to an alternate route via Rotorua. The Serious Crash Unit was on site and the road was reopened by shortly after midday. Police wanted to hear…

What is the real power of MEPs to scrutinise the financial interests of European Commissioners-designate? Radio Schuman talks to MEP Manon Aubry (The Left/France). ADVERTISEMENTSince European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced her proposals for the new batch of European Commissioners, the legal affairs committee, also known as JURI, has been in charge of examining each candidate’s conflict of interest declarations. However, many members of the committee from the Greens and The Left walked out of the meeting, arguing that the examination was a total scam as the Parliament has no real powers to investigate — so what is the…

By mid-morning on Thursday, mortgage broker Glen McLeod, of Edge Mortgages, had already dealt with a number of inquiries from clients wondering whether they could break their fixed home loan terms to take new, lower interest rates.The Reserve Bank cut the official cash rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday and banks had already been moving rates significantly lower in recent weeks.While even specials on one-year rate were more than 7% in May, ANZ this week offered a 5.59% rate to its customers.The problem for people with fixed mortgage rates, though, is that breaking a term and taking a new…

Looking at the capitals, Northern and Western European cities reported higher satisfaction with public transport, while Southern and Eastern European cities exhibited lower satisfaction rates. ADVERTISEMENTGoing from point A to point B might not be the same experience all around Europe. Public transport has a big impact on residents’ overall satisfaction with the city they live in. Seven out of 10 residents in Europe are generally satisfied with public transport in their city, according to a report from the European Commission. However, there is a huge gap in public transportation satisfaction levels across European cities. When comparing factors like affordability,…

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has showcased a two-door robotaxi with gull-wing doors and no steering wheel or pedals at a much-hyped event, sticking to long-held promises of autonomous cars driving long-term growth at the electric vehicle maker. Musk travelled to the stage in a “Cybercab” on Thursday, saying production will start in 2026 with the vehicles being available to buy for less than $US30,000 ($NZ49,000).   “The autonomous future is here,” Musk said. “We have 50 fully autonomous cars here tonight. You’ll see model Ys and the Cybercab. All driverless.” The Cybercab will cost 20 cents a mile (1.6km) to…

An astronomer has described the best time for Kiwis to catch a glimpse of a comet that hasn’t been seen in our orbit for 80,000 years.Comet C/2023 A3 is currently visible with the naked eye in the morning sky in Australia and New Zealand, with its best yet to come in the next few weeks.Astronomer Ian Griffin told Breakfast the comet was “amazing” because it had been outside our solar system for about 80,000 years.”The comet was visible in the morning sky over New Zealand over the last few weeks, but it’s just gone really close to the sun which…

TSB has announced a new one-year fixed home loan rate of 5.99%, saying it’s “getting a jump on the big four banks”.The new rate, requiring a 20% minimum deposit, comes into effect on Monday.It’s current one-year home loan rates are a special rate (minimum 20% deposit) of 6.29% and a standard rate (less than 20% deposit) of 7.09%.None of the “big four” currently advertise one-year rates below 6%.For applicants with a minimum of 20% equity, ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac offer 6.19%.TSB’s general manager of product and marketing Nick Herbert said: “We know many families have been doing it tough…

Key points:The BBM Community Kitchen and Foodshare Service is to close, founder and leader Dave Letele saysLetele is calling on the Government to do more to support his community initiative and othersPrime Minister Christopher Luxon says his Government is helping people by fixing the economy but also funds the NZ Food Network.South Auckland community leader Dave Letele – who is closing his foodbank – is calling on the Government to do more to support his and other community initiatives.Letele, who runs Buttabean Motivation, announced the impending closure yesterday of the BBM Community Kitchen and Foodshare Service.He was visibly emotional on…

The statement comes after the British newspaper The Guardian reported on Thursday that senior officials in Kyiv and Seoul had said North Korean military engineers and troops had been sent to Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENTThe Kremlin has dismissed reports that North Korea has sent soldiers to Ukraine to support Russian troops in the war.”This looks like another bit of fake news,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.That comes after the British newspaper The Guardian reported on Thursday that senior officials in Kyiv and Seoul had said North Korean military engineers had been deployed to help Russia target Ukraine with ballistic missiles.The newspaper also said…