Author: Press Room

The far-right Freedom Party is expected to top the polls in upcoming Austrian elections. ADVERTISEMENTThe EU needs to develop its migration policy and have asylum centres outside the bloc to meet the concerns of voters wooed by the far right, Austria’s EU minister has told Euronews.Karoline Edtstadler spoke to Euronews on the fringes of Forum Alpbach, the annual policy congress in the Tyrol, weeks ahead of a general election in Austria in which the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) is on course to win the largest share of the vote according to polls.Edtstadler belongs to the centre-right Austrian People’s Party, currently in…

A yawning gap continues to exist between a belief that locals should get involved with their council and the numbers of people that actually do.Poll data released by Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) shows almost 70% of people believe communities should be more involved when council decisions are made.Additionally, just over half of residents think more decisions need to be delegated to communities by councils.“Control should be faced as near the people as possible,” said LGNZ chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene.“Communities believe that councils are more effective if they do localism, because localism ensures communities get the right solutions for their…

By Anna Sargent of RNZ  Construction has begun on a $300 million solar farm by Christchurch Airport. Officials, including Energy Minister Simeon Brown, marked the milestone with a sod-turning ceremony on Tuesday morning. The airport partnered with Contact Energy and international solar developer Lightsource bp to develop the solar farm, which would span 230ha on land just beyond the runways. It would hold about 300,000 solar panels, and was expected to generate enough renewable energy to power close to 36,000 homes. Contact Energy chief executive Mike Fuge said once completed, the 162-megawatt (MW) solar farm would be the largest in the…

For the residents of Thames, the lights are flickering against the backdrop of a silver screen once again, and popcorn is back on the menu.Three-and-a-half years after the lights went dim on the town’s Embassy Theatre after 108 years, Thames is back from the cinematic dead with a new movie theatre.David Mulholland, a former Wellington civil servant and relative newcomer to town, is the lead character in this new chapter for Thames movie enthusiasts.David Mulholland gives Seven Sharp’s Michael Holland a grand tour of the Left Bank Theatre. (Source: Seven Sharp)Mulholland spent several months preparing the Left Bank Theatre for…

Hungary’s National Card immigration scheme has now been relaxed to include nationals from Russia and Belarus. ADVERTISEMENTNordic and Baltic countries have expressed concern over the potential security risk that Hungary could bring to the bloc by easing entry rules for nationals of Russia and Belarus.Hungary’s National Card immigration scheme allows foreign works to stay in the country for at least two years, and can pave the way towards permanent residency. Hungary has extended the scheme, originally available to Serbian and Ukrainian nationals, to EU candidate countries Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Moldova, as well as Belarus and Russia.In…

State Highway 1 has reopened at the scene of a triple-fatal crash south of Auckland yesterday afternoon.Emergency services were first called to the multi-vehicle crash near Ramarama at around 1.47pm.Three people died and three others were seriously injured.All lanes on the motorway were blocked around Bombay, with the closures expected to extend overnight due to “significant damage” to the median barrier system, police said yesterday.This morning, NZTA Waka Kotahi’s Journey Planner shows the stretch of road has reopened.Police earlier told 1News that initial indications appeared that a southbound vehicle crossed the centre barrier and collided with three northbound vehicles.Footage captured…

While the talks were “fair, sincere, and useful,” no practical solution was reached, said Macron. The government would probably fall apart upon the appointment of a left-wing prime minister, he said. ADVERTISEMENTPolitical uncertainty in the French government reemerged on Monday after President Emmanuel Macron refused to name a prime minister from the left-wing coalition that won the most parliamentary seats in the snap election last month.Macron will instead hold a new round of consultations on Tuesday to form a new government. In a statement on Monday night, the president said that while the talks so far had been “fair, sincere,…

Oasis has announced a long-awaited reunion, with shows planned in the UK and Ireland in 2025.The Britpop band known for their timeless hits like Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back in Anger announced the news tonight, ending a 15-year hiatus and, presumably, the long-held feud between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher.The tour will begin next July in Cardiff, Wales, before moving on to four dates in Manchester, four at London’s Wembley stadium, two in Edinburgh and two in Dublin where the tour will conclude on August 17, the band said in a social media post.Oasis split in 2009 after many years…

It is a problem that is starting to stink — literally.Hundreds of brand-new homes in the Cardinal West development near the Auckland suburb of Massey have not been hooked up to a permanent sewerage system.Instead, the waste from 341 households was being pumped to temporary tanks before being trucked away.The council had already received complaints about the smell.A Watercare spokesperson said the tank system was an interim measure, until permanent wastewater infrastructure could be established.That was supposed happen this year, but the completion date had been revised to late 2025.Henderson-Massey local board chairperson Chris Carter told Checkpoint the situation was…

Ukraine’s air force said swarms of Russian drones fired at eastern, northern, southern, and central regions were followed by volleys of cruise and ballistic missiles. ADVERTISEMENTRussia on Tuesday followed up with its massive missile and drone strikes on Ukraine, the second day of the deadly assault that has battered much of Kyiv’s energy and related infrastructure. The whole of the country is now under the threat of a ballistic weapon attack, warned Ukraine’s air defence forces.Air defence monitors sounded raid alerts early on Tuesday after detecting Russian aircraft launching hypersonic missiles.Earlier on Monday, scores of missiles and drones killed four…