Author: Press Room

The Christchurch City Council has reached an $85 million insurance settlement over the fire-damaged Christchurch Wastewater Treatment Plant and offered a long-term solution for residents who have dealt with a foul odour for nearly three years. The smell coming from the Bromley treatment plant was exacerbated after a fire damaged its two trickling filters in November 2021. The fire affected the quality of effluent flowing into the system, causing the unpleasant stench to waft across eastern parts of Christchurch. A report into the fire found an “unauthorised heat source” that was used by contractors while repairing the trickling filter roof,…

This article was originally published in Spanish The French authorities have reported that the incident was caused by a technical problem which is already being solved. ADVERTISEMENTThe usual journey of MEPs and assistants from Strasbourg to Brussels was a little bumpier on Thursday after a “small explosion” forced the evacuation of one of the trains carrying MEPs back to the Belgian capital, a parliamentary assistant told Euronews.According to local authorities, passengers including European Parliament officials were evacuated at the Strasbourg train station due to “light smoke” emerging from the train.Around 20 firefighters were deployed to the busy station at 2:45 pm,…

A private investigator who has himself been out searching the bush for Marokopa fugitive Tom Phillips says it remains challenging for police to locate him because he knows the terrain well and is being helped by people.Until Thursday, Phillips and his three children Jayda, now 11, Maverick, nine, and Ember, eight, had not been seen together since 12 December 2021.A video captured by hunters north of Awamarino on Thursday showed a man followed by three children in wet-weather gear carrying camouflaged backpacks. The group could be seen trekking through rough, overgrown terrain before disappearing behind a hill.But the grandfather of…

A glitch in the BBC weather app led to absurd forecasts, such as 14,408 mph winds in Maidenhead and 404C in Nottingham. The BBC apologised, citing a third-party error. ADVERTISEMENTPeople across the UK awoke to wildly inaccurate weather forecasts from the BBC as a “bit of a glitch” resulted in extreme winds and temperatures being reported.”Hurricane-force winds” of 14,408mph were predicted in Maidenhead, and those living in Nottingham received reports that temperatures would reach a fiery 404C. This wasn’t much improved across the pond, where US users received temperatures of 384C in New York. In fact, users all over the world have…

A 22-year-old killed after the vehicle he was in crashed into a Marlborough river has been described as the “kind of person that would give you the shirt off his back”.Today police released the name of the third young man killed in the crash on SH1, Tuamarina, at 1.45am Sunday 6 October.He was 22-year-old Tyler Matekohi-Shields of Picton, Marlborough.Matekohi-Shields was one of five occupants of the vehicle when it plunged into the Tuamarina River.Brayden Allen and Jamie Cunningham, both 19 and both from Picton, were also killed.Brayden Allen with his pet dog Busta. (Source: NZ Police)The other two occupants of…

The Ukrainian president is working hard to shore up European backing for his country’s war effort. ADVERTISEMENTUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the leaders of the UK and NATO in London on Thursday to discuss his “victory plan” for the war against Russia.Aside from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, the meeting was also attended by UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Defence Secretary John Healey and armed forces chief Admiral Tony Radakin. The meeting was a chance to “go through the plan, to talk in more detail,” according to Starmer.After talks with the British officials, Zelenskyy…

Many people know to “drop, cover and hold” if an earthquake strikes – but what should people do if they’re asleep when the earth starts moving?Most of the thousands of people who felt the 5.7 magnitude earthquake near Wellington early Sunday morning would have still been in bed at the time.And the safest thing for all those people to do was to stay in their beds until the shaking stopped, said Tom Wilson, Chief Science Advisor at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).“If you’re in bed when an earthquake happens, stay in bed – stay, cover and hold,” he said.…

The schedule was revealed after the European Parliament’s committee on legal affairs, in charge of combing through conflicts of interest, cleared all 26 nominees. ADVERTISEMENTHopefuls to join the next European Commission will be grilled by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) between 4 and 12 November, it was announced on Thursday. The programme for the 26 confirmation hearings was released after a meeting of the Parliament’s Conference of Presidents, which comprises the leaders of each political group. Commissioners-designate – one from each EU member state, minus Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen who’s already been named as President — will each appear before one or…

Key points:A Government watchdog has found proper process was not followed in the Government and Ministry of Health funding of Gumboot Friday, in part due to a coalition agreementNational says the Mental Health Minister sought and received assurance from officials the process was compliant, and the service is effectiveLabour says its “outrageous” the Government used a “loophole” to secure the funding.A Government watchdog has vowed to keep a close eye on taxpayer-funded youth mental health programme Gumboot Friday after raising concerns “several aspects” of its procurement were “unusual and inconsistent with good practice”.In a letter sent and published today, the…

The Reserve Bank has cut the Official Cash Rate by 0.5% to 4.75%.The Reserve Bank said it made its decision based on its belief that inflation is now within the 1-3% target range, and heading towards the 2% midpoint.The big four banks – ASB, ANZ and BNZ and Westpac – quickly cut their variable rates by 50 basis points, following Kiwibank which went early and lopped 0.50% off its variable loan rates yesterday.Watch on TVNZ+: What does the OCR drop mean for your back pocket? 1News Business Correspondent Katie Bradford and Q+A’s Jack Tame explain.Finance Minister Nicola Willis reacted to…