Author: Press Room
With the climate agenda taking a back seat after the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine hit the economy and changed priorities, the European Greens arrived in Lisbon with a message, presented at an event attended by several personalities: they declared the European People’s Party of Ursula von der Leyen and Manfred Weber to be enemy number one. Faced with the dilemma of continuing to ally with the centre-right group, even if it means making concessions whenever it allies with far-right groups, or distancing themselves, the Greens chose the first option. At the start of the second day of…
Christmas has come early for an Auckland man who’s been reunited with his cat who went missing 14 years ago.Paul Myburgh’s family adopted Mo from the SPCA in 2010. The ginger tabby quickly charmed just about anyone he met, according to Myburgh.”He was an incredibly friendly cat. Very charismatic, loved human beings, would always walk up to the bus stop when he knew we were coming home.”Mo had a tendency to follow anyone who showed him attention or gave him treats. Myburgh said that friendliness toward strangers could have led to his disappearance.”Normally he’d come home but then, one day…
A 16-year-old has been arrested after allegedly attempting to steal more than $20,000 worth of clothing from an Auckland store overnight.Police received reports of several alarms going off at JD Sports in Albany at around 2.54am on Friday.Senior Sergeant CJ Miles said police attended the job immediately and found the glass shop front smashed and the roller door pulled up.”Officers also located a stolen vehicle parked in front of the store, full of stolen merchandise. A person, in the process of loading further stolen goods into the car, exited the store and was taken into custody immediately.”More than $20,000 worth…
The 2026 national broadcast for Matariki celebrations is set to take place in Tāmaki Makaurau with the theme Matariki Herenga Waka – For Everyone, a nod to host iwi Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei’s waka traditions and Auckland’s slogan as the city of sails.Matariki, Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Paul Goldsmith said the theme is about people coming together to celebrate in Auckland or “wherever they may be in New Zealand”.“The Māori New Year is a time of reflection, celebration, and preparation. It is a time to remember loved ones, come together with whānau to give thanks to what we have and…
A controversial piece of artwork that prompted 101 complaints in a week has now been stolen from a Hastings art gallery.The installation, Flagging the Future, at Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga Hastings Art Gallery asked gallery visitors to “please” walk on top of a quasi-NZ flag.Councillor Steve Gibson expressed his displeasure with the exhibition earlier this week. Since then there have been small protests outside, 101 complaints to the Hastings District Council and the gallery and at least one trespass notice issued.The flag was stolen from the Civic Square gallery on Thursday, a Hastings District Council spokesperson confirmed.A spokesperson for…
A Christchurch daycare has expressed their “shock” and “deep regret” after five children and two adults were taken to hospital after a corrosive chemical was mistaken for detergent and put on a water slide this afternoon.In a statement this evening, Kindercare Woolston said initial indications suggest the children and staff were “potentially exposed to a chemical detergent used for the centre kitchen steriliser unit, which was mistakenly believed to be dishwashing liquid and poured onto a slide with water for the children’s ‘slip ‘n slide’ activity”.All children were showered following the incident. Five children and two employees were taken to…
The mother of a Dunedin man who died after falling from a moving trailer is still haunted by the decision to turn off his life support, a court has heard.Robert Douglas Ralston died in hospital almost two weeks after the fall in Brockville in March, following a heated argument with his partner Andrew Jayden Mercer who was at the wheel of the car.Mercer was sentenced to almost three years in prison for the 32-year-old’s manslaughter at the High Court on Friday.The court heard Mercer was driving erratically and aggressively when he swung onto Brockville Rd as Ralston clung to the…
Mariameno Kapa-Kingi has been reinstated as a member of Te Pāti Māori after she took her expulsion from the party to court, just two days before its annual general meeting.Justice Paul Radich, who heard the case in the Wellington High Court, issued the interim order today, finding “serious questions to be tried” about the way Kapa-Kingi was expelled last month. A substantive judicial review hearing was scheduled for February.Kapa-Kingi was removed as a member on November 10 after the party’s National Council alleged she misused funds and brought the party into disrepute. Takūta Ferris was also expelled from the party…
Health New Zealand has today confirmed two new measles cases – with one attending a concert in Auckland last week.It brings the total number of cases nationwide to 30, of which 22 were no longer infectious.Today’s cases – one in Auckland and another in Queenstown – were linked to known exposures.Health NZ identified several new locations of interest, including two Bluebridge Connemara ferry sailings on Sunday, November 30. The sailings were from Wellington to Picton between 8.15am and 11.45am, and a return journey from Picton to Wellington between 2.15pm and 6.30pm. Another location of interest was identified as the Rüfüs Du Sol concert at Auckland’s Western Springs Stadium from 6.30pm to 11pm on Saturday, November 29.New locations of interest in Wellington and…
The Black Ferns will join the All Blacks on next year’s “Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry” tour of South Africa in a double header with the Springboks Women.NZ Rugby confirmed the Black Ferns will play the Springbok Women ahead of the third test between the All Blacks and the Springboks in Johannesburg on September 5.Chief executive Mark Robinson said the double-header added extra weight to what was shaping up to be “one of the most significant tours in modern rugby”.”It gives fans, players and the broader rugby community an opportunity to witness the depth, history, and intensity of rivalry between four of…