Author: Press Room

Thousands of households are without power in Canterbury, as strong winds lash the region. According to MainPower, more than 6200 homes were affected by outages in Northern Canterbury this afternoon. “We have a large and diverse network in some very rural areas, including Hanmer Springs and around the Culverden basin, which have been particularly hard hit by today’s weather.” MainPower said crews had been deployed across the network to make repairs as quickly as possible, but warned it may not be until tomorrow when it is safe enough to send large teams and equipment to make major repairs. A powerline…

A man has been sentenced to nine months’ home detention for orchestrating a fraudulent immigration scheme where he created fake jobs to trick officials into accepting visa applications. Umesh Patel, a 59-year-old New Zealand citizen, was sentenced at the Waitakere District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to 37 charges related to creating false employment arrangements to support visa applications for foreign nationals.Initially, some of the businesses Patel used to run the scheme were legitimate, but he later used them to fabricate jobs and submit fraudulent documents to Immigration New Zealand. Applicants were required to pay Patel between $10,000 and $30,000…

From nurses to teachers, tens of thousands of workers have walked off the job today in a coordinated “mega-strike” across New Zealand. Thousands marched down Auckland’s Queen St with other rallies across the North Island, but with red weather warnings curtailing events in Wellington and the South Island. The industrial action includes teachers, doctors, health workers, and other public sector workers who are demanding better pay and improved working conditions.Many schools are closed, and non-emergency medical procedures have been delayed.Public Service Minister Judith Collins has labelled the planned action as “politically motivated” and insisted the Government had acted in good…

With Lotto’s Powerball jackpot hitting $25 million tonight, Lotto NZ has reminded players that the odds remain unchanged regardless of the size of the prize.The Powerball draw rolled over to $25 million last weekend after no tickets won the jackpot on October 18.“Powerball always offers the same one in 38.3 million chance to win First Division per line, regardless of the jackpot amount,” Lotto said.Buying more tickets had no impact on your odds either. “Even if you buy multiple tickets for the same draw, your chances of winning will hardly increase at all. Because each new ticket has the same…

An Australian police commissioner has apologised for using a force helicopter to fly to an interstate conference and says he won’t make the same mistake again.Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush flew from Melbourne to Hobart for a meeting with his counterparts from around Australia and New Zealand on Monday.A commercial airline flight between the two cities takes about an hour.Bush said in a statement more effort should have been made to find a commercial flight but using the helicopter didn’t cost taxpayers extra.The force’s helicopters were leased and a certain number of hours were already paid for each month…

Published on 22/10/2025 – 22:43 GMT+2 The European Union has agreed to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia just as the United States threatened a “substantial pickup” in restrictions, piling pressure on the Kremlin to agree to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. “We are going to, either announce after the close this afternoon or first thing tomorrow morning, a substantial pickup in Russia sanctions,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday, without providing further details. His comments come after the indefinite cancellation of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest.…

BNZ is the latest bank to cut its 18-month fixed home loan rate to 4.45% — but should you take it?The bank said earlier today it was cutting a number of its rates.Among them, the six-month rate would fall by 10 basis points to 4.79%, the 18-month by 4 basis points to 4.45%, the two-year by 16 to 4.49% and the five-year by 0.4% to 4.99%.ASB cut its 18-month rate to 4.45% on Monday, which it said at the time was market-leading. This makes the 18-month rate slightly cheaper than the one-year rate at both banks.Gareth Kiernan, chief forecaster at…

Published on 22/10/2025 – 11:07 GMT+2 The Organisation of Turkic States has significantly increased its combined force by cooperating in trade, agriculture, security, technology and other domains, the secretary general of the organisation Kubanychbek Omuraliev told Euronews during his visit to Brussels. “If you look at our total GDP, it is $2.1 trillion, and total trade between our countries is $1.1 trillion,” Omuraliev said. This joint economic growth is increasing “dynamically,” the ambassador added. Omuraliev said that most of their Turkic states have strategic partnerships with the European Union, and that the time has come to step up ties beyond…

Police are appealing for help to identify a “distinctive” container believed to have held the accelerant that fed a fatal fire in Auckland earlier this month, killing a father and son.The blaze – under investigation as a double homicide – broke out at a two-storey home on Murvale Dr in Bucklands Beach around 2.30am on October 2.Five people were inside the house at the time. Three survived, including the mother and another child, who were admitted to hospital but have since been discharged. A boarder living downstairs also escaped unharmed.The victims were 36-year-old Jung Sup Lee and his 11-year-old son…

The 27 leaders of the European Union are gearing up for a high-voltage summit in Brussels with a packed agenda devoted to Ukraine, climate targets and China, all of which could lead to fraught negotiations and delicate compromises in the room. The all-day meeting on Thursday will also address defence readiness, competitiveness, the Middle East, irregular migration and, for the first time, the housing crisis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend the gathering in person to plead for political backing for his strategy and fresh assistance for his armed forces, which is running dangerously low after US President Donald Trump…