Author: Press Room
A crop of online outlets which look just like French local media outlets are fooling internet users by sharing articles with alarming headlines, spinning genuine news reports with the help of AI, as part of a pro-Russian campaign peddling anti-Western narratives. Researchers from Recorded Future identified at least 200 new fictional media websites registered online between January and September — flagging 141 outlets which present themselves as French outlets — which they attribute to Russia’s Storm-1516 network. This sophisticated propaganda campaign, also known as Operation Doppelgänger, relies on an apparatus of photo and video montages relayed across social media, as…
Mouldy and liquefied mince served to students at a Christchurch school had likely been left out for days without refrigeration before being re-served alongside freshly-delivered meals, according to a New Zealand Food Safety investigation.The meals were served to several students at Haeata Community Campus on Monday as part of the Government’s free lunch programme.Haeata Community Campus principal Peggy Burrows told 1News all lunches had been recalled but some had already been eaten by students.She said staff members usually ate with the kids and that, when a staff member opened one of the lunches up, they found it mouldy and liquefied.A…
The European Union will ban Russian gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from entering the bloc by the end of 2026 and mid-2027 but with exceptions for Hungary and Slovakia, which will be allowed to tap Moscow’s gas in case of supply disruption, EU co-legislators agreed on Tuesday evening. With the law in force, by the end of 2027, no more Russian LNG or pipeline gas should be entering the bloc. The EU co-legislators established that for short-term supply contracts concluded before 17 June 2025, the ban will apply from 25 April 2026 for LNG and 17 June 2026…
The country’s top cop denies police has a culture problem or systemic bias – but he has set a new target of getting trust up from 69% to 80%.Commissioner Richard Chambers appeared at the Justice select committee for three hours on Tuesday, flanked by deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners, and other top brass – before being joined by Police Minister Mark Mitchell in the final 45 minutes.With last month’s damning IPCA report finding serious misconduct at the highest levels over the handling of complaints of sexual misconduct by former deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming, questions of trust in police and whether the…
A man is in custody after fleeing police and crashing in Invercargill last night. Police went to speak to the man about a driving matter when the vehicle fled about 5pm yesterday. Southland Area Commander Inspector Mike Bowman said a pursuit was authorised, but it was abandoned when the fleeing vehicle’s driving deteriorated.”Officers have used their training and co-ordinated their response that allowed other units to get into place ahead of the vehicle.”He said the car ran over spikes on State Highway 6, south of Winton, near the intersection with McKenzie Rd about 6pm, and crashed into a water table…
One person has died and another was seriously injured after a car crashed into a river in the Bay of Plenty yesterday. Emergency services responded after the vehicle crashed into a river on White Pine Bush Rd near Tāneatua just after 6pm.”One person died at the scene, and a second person was seriously injured,” a police spokesperson said. The road was closed overnight, and has since re-opened.Inquiries to determine the circumstances of the crash were ongoing.One person was also critically injured in a separate crash in Auckland’s Māngere overnight.The two-vehicle crash, involving a car and a truck, was reported on…
Published on 03/12/2025 – 11:44 GMT+1 •Updated 11:51 European ministers called on Wednesday for increased pressure on Moscow following US-Russia talks in which Vladimir Putin appeared to have made no concession to end the conflict in Ukraine. “Until I see anything different, then I’m going to continue to draw the conclusion that Russia does not want peace,” Sweden’s Maria Malmer Stenegard told reporters upon arriving at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. “That is why we need to stick to the two-point plan – increase the support to Ukraine and increase the pressure on Russia – and we need to…
The parents of a 13-year-old Christchurch girl who died after hitting her head while ice skating are angry the coroner will not open an inquiry into her death, saying they fear the same thing could happen again unless legislation changes to make helmets compulsory at rinks.Kymani Hiley-Hetaraka was not wearing a helmet when she fell at Alpine Ice in July last year. She died in hospital two days’ later.Kymani was a Haeata Community Campus student on a supervised outing with a group of other young people as part of a programme run by Crossroads Youth with a Future.In findings released…
Published on 03/12/2025 – 9:35 GMT+1 •Updated 9:38 Nobel Prize winner in economics Philippe Aghion has urged the European Union to lower internal barriers and establish “a true single market” in an interview on Euronews. The French economist said a fully integrated internal market for EU goods and services will boost competition and innovation in the bloc, which he argued is lagging behind the United States and China amid rising geopolitical tensions. “We don’t have a true single market and it is absolutely necessary,” he told Europe Today, Euronews’ flagship morning show. “Each member state has its own regulation, which…
A new mayor who dresses up as the Grinch for Christmas says his cutback-council may revive New Plymouth’s cancelled winter Festival of Lights.Mayor Max Brough campaigned on cost-cutting and a rates cap, to reign in council spending and debt.Brough dressed as the Grinch in New Plymouth’s Christmas Parade on the weekend and has a light-up likeness of the Dr Suess character at his desk.But as the Government announces new rules to cap rates, the mayor said the winter festival may be back in 2027.The previous council, which Brough slammed for loose spending, ‘paused’ the winter festival in February’s annual plan…