Author: Press Room

A veiled woman burst screaming from an elevator. The small crowd gathered in a basement corridor of New Zealand’s Parliament drew back nervously.Their guide, wearing a trailing, white gown, smiled sweetly. “You’re welcome to take the elevator,” she said. Nobody did.Mysterious deaths, unexplained noises and late-night apparitions are not the usual fodder of daily tours offered at the Parliament Buildings in Wellington. After hours on Thursday, however, guides donned Victorian-era garb to regale visitors with the precinct’s less savoury history — “mostly factual” tales of real-world tragedy and paranormal lore that have grown established among political staffers through decades of…

A man has died while jetboating on the Ruamāhanga River in the Wairarapa region.Police said they received reports of an unresponsive jet boat passenger in his 20s at 4.20pm on Friday.Emergency services were called to Lees Pakaraka Rd, Te Ore Ore.The man later died at the scene.Police were investigating the death on behalf of the coroner.Maritime NZ principal advisor Vince Cholewa said the agency was supporting police who were leading the investigation.He said, “no next decisions have been made”.rnz.co.nz

Organisers of the demonstration warned against the rise of the far-right in the Netherlands, whose government veered to the right last year. ADVERTISEMENTThousands took to the streets of Amsterdam to demonstrate against racism and fascism on Saturday. The protest was peaceful and police did not arrest anyone, according to an official spokesperson. Groups involved in organising the event included Amnesty International, Kick Out Zwarte Piet, the Dutch Palestine Committee and Another Jewish Voice. Protesters held signs reading “Never Again” and “Fact or Faber.” They waved flags for Palestine, Turkey, Ukraine and Black Lives Matter. Local media report that speeches at the march increasingly focused…

Emergency services are responding a serious incident at a New World supermarket in the Wairarapa town of Carterton.Carterton Mayor Ron Mark told 1News a person arrived in Carterton’s main street in a vehicle with a gunshot wound and the person has subsequently died.He said police have the incident under control.Detective Inspector John Van De Heuvel said two people have been taken into custody and a homicide investigation launched.”Around 4pm, police responded to reports of a firearms incident, where a firearm was discharged at a vehicle exiting the supermarket carpark on State Highway 2, Featherston.”A short time later a man has…

A local business has bought Flaxmere’s village shopping centre after 17 years of foreign ownership.Hawke’s Bay-based property development firm TW Property has taken over the 2.17ha shopping centre from the Hong Kong-based Sung Family Trust, which has owned it since 2008.TW Property chief executive Terry May said it saw huge potential in Flaxmere.”It’s an up-and-coming suburb that will appeal to first-home buyers and young families, but strong community infrastructure and quality amenities are essential,” May said.”Hastings District Council often refers to the suburb as ‘Fabulous Flaxmere’ and we share that vision for the community’s future.”He said while there were no…

In the municipality of Mejorada del Campo near Madrid 48 people were evacuated after storm Martinho brought heavy rains. ADVERTISEMENTSpain continues to be hit by rainstorms, with the latest one, called Martinho, causing some cities to declare a state of emergency and evacuate their inhabitants.Dozens of roads have been closed, and rivers have been seen overflowing in large areas of central and northern Spain.In the city of Ávila in central Spain, a state of emergency was declared due to flooding after the Adaja and Chico rivers overflowed.In Madrid, several roads have been closed as the alert remains in place due…

Hundreds gathered in Auckland this morning to protest a decision to shut down Western Springs Speedway.After 96 years of operating at Western Springs, today marks the final speedway event before it was set to move to Auckland’s Onehunga.After decades of debate, notably over noise from events at Western Springs, Auckland Council voted late last year to move speedway racing activities to Waikaraka Park, sited between industrial sections of Onehunga and Penrose.Tonight, the popular quarter-mile dirt oval would host a final Legends Night, headlined by Midgets, Sprintcars, and other open-wheel categories.The march began shortly after 9.30am, closing part of Auckland’s Great…

Local authorities say Russia also attacked other parts of Ukraine including Sumy, Kharkiv and Kyiv. ADVERTISEMENTA family of three was killed after Russian drones struck a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia late on Friday night, according to local media. Regional governor Ivan Fedorov said the attack killed a 17 year-old girl and her father. The girl’s mother was reportedly taken to hospital, but later died of her injuries. A further 14 people were wounded in the attack, suffering from burns, and other blast injuries. The bombardment damaged at least 24 high-rise buildings and over 20 houses, according to local media…

Police are working to ease heightened gang tensions in Gisborne after shots were fired at a house – the latest in a series of incidents believed to be gang-related.Tairāwhiti Area Commander, Inspector Danny Kirk, said police were called to Ranfurly St about 6.30am after someone living nearby heard a gunshot.”On arrival, police determined that a house in the street had been shot at while people were inside.”It’s incredibly fortunate no one was injured,” he said.Kirk said detectives were investigating this and other incidents in the Kaiti and Mangapapa areas over the past week, “and believe them to be gang-related”.He said…

A Queenstown councillor is speaking out about what she says are plans to use emergency powers to discharge treated wastewater into the Shotover River.The Queenstown Lakes District Council made the announcement to councillors on Thursday in a workshop behind closed doors —media weren’t invited.But councillor Niki Gladding is so concerned she has decided to blow the whistle.”I was stunned, it’s not something that you hear every day.”The wastewater plant has been a problem for Queenstown’s council in recent years. It has been slapped with infringement and abatement notices by the Otago Regional Council and there was an ongoing Environment Court…