Author: Press Room

Six out of eight businesses failed an underage booze sting in Taranaki, a result police have called “concerning”. The operation, which took place on July 25, was aimed at making sure licensed premises were checking the age of patrons before selling them alcohol. Police, Te Whatu Ora, and South Taranaki District Council teamed up to run the sting. They used two volunteers under the age of 18 who visited eight businesses in the area and attempted to buy alcohol. “Only two premises requested identification, correctly identify the age of the minor and politely decline the sale,” Senior Sergeant Andrew Russ…

ADVERTISEMENT Is a global treaty to put an end to plastic pollution within reach? Meeting in Geneva from 5-14 August, delegates from around 100 countries, including the EU, are tackling the problem at source, with the aim of setting legally binding targets to reduce plastic production. “We really need to take urgent action,” Richard Thompson, professor of marine biology at the University of Plymouth and named in Time’s 100 most influential people of 2025 for his work on microplastics, told Euronews. “This cannot be solved by waste management alone. We need to take systemic action throughout the supply chain, which…

The Royal New Zealand Air Force carried out a “complex” and “high-risk” medical evacuation from Antarctica overnight. One US diplomat described the successful mission as “daring, dangerous, and deeply courageous”. The evacuation from McMurdo Station — the largest research station on the continent, located on Ross Island’s southern tip — was requested by the US National Science Foundation because staff were unable to get the care they needed in Antarctica. A C-130J Hercules was sent from Auckland to Christchurch on Sunday while the crew waited for a gap in the weather. The crew decided to fly yesterday afternoon and worked…

New Zealand’s shopping public will be relieved soaring butter prices had some of their steam removed at Fonterra’s global dairy trade (GDT) auction. An overall back-to-back rise will be music to dairy farmers’ ears, but family shoppers will be honing in on butter prices dropping 3.8% to $12,220 a tonne. Overall prices increased marginally 0.7% for about 37,000 tonnes of dairy products sold overnight on Tuesday, including a 2.1% gain for the main staple of whole milk powder to nearly $6800. The average price across the range was nearly $7200 a tonne, up on a 1.1% gain at the last…

A long-awaited east Auckland flyover designed to ease congestion at one of the country’s busiest intersection will open in October — five months ahead of schedule.Auckland Transport (AT) confirmed Rā Hihi, also known as the Reeves Rd flyover, would open to citybound traffic on October 1 and in both directions on October 27.The 600m-long flyover, a key component of the Eastern Busway project, provides a direct link between Pakūranga Rd and the Waipuna Bridge, easing congestion around the Pakūranga Town Centre.AT group manager Jane Small said the flyover would reduce congestion once it was fully open.”Rā Hihi is a critical…

It is hard to fathom how he does it. Final-year University of Otago medical student Josiah Bugden has somehow also found time to establish a rapidly growing platform to help students navigate university life with confidence. Mr Bugden (25) is a finalist in the Momentum student entrepreneur category in the KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards for CourseSpy, which is about creating transparency in higher education. What started as a side project has evolved into a platform with more than 250,000 visits, which helps students make better and more informed decisions about their tertiary study. CourseSpy was born of Mr Bugden’s own…

A man has been arrested and charged after a three-month-old baby in the Hutt Valley was taken to hospital with nine fractures. Police were called on June 14 after the baby girl was admitted to hospital. Fractures were found on her ribcage, ankle and upper arm.An investigation was launched by Wellington police’s child protection team. Today, police revealed a 23-year-old man had been arrested on July 31 and charged with four counts of assaulting a child.Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Wescott said the charges were related to the more “minor” injuries the baby sustained.”We are committed to establishing the full circumstances…

More official cash rate cuts could be on the cards after unemployment was reported at the highest level since 2020 today.Stats NZ numbers showed the unemployment rate rising to 5.2% in the three months ended June, from 5.1% in the previous quarter.That was a little less than was expected but economists said it still showed that there was significant “excess capacity” in the economy which should keep inflation in check.ANZ economists said there was even the possibility that businesses could shed “hoarded labour” over the rest of this year.They said there was evidence that some had been holding on to…

ADVERTISEMENT The number of customers in the European Union and the United Kingdom on online gambling platforms reached 38.6 million last year, representing a 19% increase from the 32.5 million recorded in 2023, according to the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA).  While this is an upward trend over the past five years, the number of people looking for help to stop gambling addiction across Europe has also increased. Data from The Lancet from 2024 claims that 54.7 million men worldwide experienced gambling disorders or problematic gambling, compared to 25.3 million women.  Gambling can lead to serious harms to health,…

A woman who defied conservation law by taking several dogs into Tongariro National Park and posting photos publicly on social media, including one holding a pooch in front of a “no dogs” sign, has been fined $400.Several images were shared to Facebook last month showing dogs playing in the snow within the boundaries of the dual World Heritage-listed national park. In response to a comment on the post, the woman wrote: “My dogs loved loved it was a good few minutes of joy well worth being a law breaker (sic).” The post was later deleted.Under legislation, dogs were not allowed…