Author: Press Room

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including stalking bill passes through parliament, phone ban in class working, and Metallica deliver a Kiwi classic.A tough new law on stalking has passed its third reading in Parliament. Banning phones in class appears to be improving learning and reducing bullying. The UK and Russia are squaring off over a ship which has been accused of spying. Metallica performed a Six60 hit during their Auckland show last night. ADVERTISEMENT

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić is optimistic that his country will conclude the vetting process for EU membership in 2026. “We are gunning for closing all the chapters by the end of next year,” Spajić said in an exclusive interview with Euronews in Brussels. “And we have a really, really great chance to have a new member state” during the term of the current European Commission which expires in 2029. Montenegro is the smallest of the nine EU candidate countries, with just over 620,000 nationals. It is currently the most advanced in implementing the constitutional, judicial and economic reforms required…

Ashburton will be among the councils keeping a close eye on a rubber road trial in neighbouring Selwyn District.Selwyn’s council is planning a rubber road surface trial at Glentunnel in January.It’s understood Selwyn District Council’s roading contractor HEB will undertake the trial, using recycled rubber granules from Treadlite NZ.HEB is the roading contractor in Ashburton but its $30 million, five-year contract ends on November 30, with Fulton Hogan awarded a five-year, $40.7 million operations and maintenance contract from December 1.Infrastructure general manager Neil McCann said there had been no discussion with HEB on any similar trial in the Ashburton District.”We…

Published on 21/11/2025 – 11:22 GMT+1 •Updated 11:55 What do COP30, Shein’s Paris protests, and a possible rewrite of Europe’s privacy rules all have in common? They are all up for discussion this week in Brussels and they are conversations points on this week’s episode of our podcast, “Brussels, My Love?”. For the third episode, we are joined by Belgian climate activist Chloé Mikolajczak, the Finnish EU-watcher Tomi Huhtanen, who directs the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, and Dutch Renew Europe MEP Brigitte van den Berg, who joins us from Brazil. Send us your feedback to [email protected] Listen to…

A homicide investigation has been launched following the death of a man in New Plymouth last night. Emergency services were called to the scene on St Aubyn St after a report of an altercation occurring shortly before 7pm. On police arrival, a man was found with critical injuries.”CPR was performed, however he died at the scene,” a police spokesperson said. A 44-year-old man was arrested and has been charged with murder. He was due to appear in the New Plymouth District Court today. Another person was arrested but released without charge.”A scene guard has been in place overnight, and cordons…

A viral Grok-generated response in French, shared on X has sparked outrage and potential legal action after it falsely claimed that crematoria at Auschwitz concentration camp were built for disinfection rather than mass murder. On 17 November, Grok answered questions about common myths surrounding the Holocaust in a thread under a post by a convicted French Holocaust denier and neo-nazi militant. When one X user asked Grok about whether gas chambers in the camp were originally built as disinfection to prevent infectious diseases, Grok responded in French that “the plans of the crematorium at Auschwitz reveal facilities designed for disinfection…

The fees for applying for New Zealand citizenship are set to increase by 19% from tomorrow, the Department of Internal Affairs announced. From Friday, November 12, the price of applying for a New Zealand citizenship by grant for an adult will increase from $470.20 to $560. The fee for children under 16 will be $280, up from $235.10. The fee to apply for citizenship by descent will increase from $204.40 to $243. DIA said it would share a list of all citizenship service products and their amended fees on the NZ Government website. Adrian Jarvis, general manager of services and…

Published on 21/11/2025 – 10:27 GMT+1 The European Commission has confirmed an €82 million financial contribution to the Palestinian Authority after the first meeting of the Palestine Donor Group in Brussels. But the money had already been pledged by four EU member states: Germany, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and Spain – and despite the Commission’s efforts to engage with non-EU countries, the conference has yielded no other commitments. The contribution will be channelled through “Pegase”, the Palestinian-European Socio-Economic Management and Assistance Mechanism, which links European disbursement to specific reforms and aims to control the final destination of the money. The Palestine Donor…

A person is in hospital after a crash involving two buses and another vehicle in Auckland this morning. Emergency services were called to the incident on Apirana Avenue in Glen Innes just after 9am. St John said one person was assessed at the scene and taken to Middlemore Hospital in a moderate condition. Photos from the scene showed a bus being towed away with a smashed windscreen. A bus is towed away with a smashed windscreen after a crash in Auckland this morning. (Source: 1News)Fire and Emergency said one crew from St Heliers was at the scene. “No one is…

The hunt for the cheapest fruit and vegetables by both supermarkets and shoppers was putting pressure on locally produced crops in New Zealand.Over the past few months, well-known brand Wattie’s New Zealand of Hawke’s Bay made a series of cuts to local production, firstly of canned peaches, then tomatoes, beetroot and corn.A spokesperson for the brand, owned by American food giant Kraft Heinz, said it annually reviewed its crop intake to respond to market demand, increased competition from imported goods and rising input costs.David Hadfield, chairman of grower group Process Vegetables (representing processors McCains, Wattie’s and Talley’s) said food quality…