Author: Press Room

A person was found dead on an “isolated” property in rural Auckland last night after a tractor crash. Police were called to the property on Paparimu Rd in Hunua at about 11.30pm. A person had not returned home after spraying weeds, police said.”The Police Eagle helicopter did a fly over the farm at around midnight and located a body and a tractor that appeared to have rolled down a bank.” Emergency services responded to the scene and confirmed the person had died. WorkSafe was notified and the serious crash unit was investigating. “Police would like to express their condolences to…

By Niva Chittock of RNZ  Air New Zealand and Qantas are among several airlines that have cancelled flights to and from Bali due to volcanic ash blanketing flight paths. Mount Lewotobi’s Laki-laki volcano in Indonesia erupted on November 3, killing at least 10 people. It erupted shortly before midnight (local) time, sending lava and rocks flying, with some hitting villages 4km from the crater, burning homes. The Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMG) said at the time it was clearing a 7km around the eruption, displacing thousands of people. Since the initial event, the volcano has erupted repeatedly. It…

Opinion: The Treaty Principles Bill is already straining social cohesion – a referendum could be worse, write law professors Alexander Gillespie and Claire Breen.With the protest hikoi from the far north moving through Auckland on its way to Wellington, it might be said ACT leader David Seymour has been granted his wish of generating an “important national conversation about the place of the Treaty in our constitutional arrangements”.Timed to coincide with the first reading of the contentious Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill on Thursday, the hikoi and other similar protests are a response to what many perceive as…

Josep Borrell’s proposal, made in view of alleged human rights violations, is highly likely to be vetoed by member states. ADVERTISEMENTJosep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, has proposed to formally suspend political dialogue with Israel over the country’s alleged violations of human rights and international law in the Gaza Strip.Borrell’s proposal was first raised during a meeting of ambassadors on Wednesday and will be officially submitted next Monday, when foreign affairs ministers meet in Brussels, an EU official and two diplomats with knowledge of the process told Euronews.The suspension of political dialogue depends on unanimity among member states,…

In the first Bundestag meeting since the ruling coalition collapsed last week, the leader of Germany’s largest opposition party laid out his plans for the country in a fiery debate. ADVERTISEMENTChancellor Olaf Scholz called for compromise in order to keep Germany functioning, as the leader of the opposition, Friederich Merz, kickstarted his own election campaign in an full first Bundestag meeting one week since Germany’s ruling coalition collapsed.Scholz, who was unusually defiant as he took the stand, appealed to his parliament to unify to pass through key outstanding bills, including on tax reforms and child benefit, before and after the…

A Kiwi start-up has achieved a “huge milestone” in its quest for fusion energy — by creating and confining plasma for the first time in New Zealand.”First plasma” is the moment a fusion device first creates and confines a super-hot cloud of ionised gas, with plasma being the necessary fuel to spark a fusion reaction.In other fusion concepts, plasma is contained by superconductors pushing a field inwards. This is notoriously difficult, and OpenStar’s key engineering innovation stemmed from inverting that process using an elegant solution inspired by nature; the levitated dipole.OpenStar chief executive and founder Ratu Mataira told Breakfast the…

NGO Sea-Watch alleges that the Italian coastguard’s failure to respond immediately to a shipwreck off Lampedusa led to the death of 21 migrants. ADVERTISEMENTThe migrant rescue charity Sea-Watch has filed a criminal complaint to Italian prosecutors accusing the nation’s coastguard of negligence and “multiple manslaughter” over its response to a shipwreck off the island of Lampedusa that left 21 people dead.The German NGO said it had asked the public prosecutor’s office in Agrigento, Sicily, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the 21 migrants in a shipwreck involving a boat that had departed from Libya in early September.A Sea-Watch…

The largest distillery in New Zealand is here — and could become a “significant tourist attraction” for Central Otago in time, its co-founder says. After eight years in development, Scapegrace Distilling Co officially unveiled its $30million state-of-the art facility yesterday. The Central Otago distillery, located on a 38ha property overlooking Lake Dunstan, measures 3000sq m and comprises a head office, bottling facility, warehousing and barrel hall along with the newly completed distillery — which includes single-malt production and a white spirits portfolio of gin and vodka. The new facilities will allow Scapegrace to produce 160,000 cases of single-malt whisky a…

Thousands of people have marched across Auckland’s Harbour Bridge today to take part in the national Toitū te Tiriti hīkoi in opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill. The hīkoi left Onepoto Domain in Northcote earlier this morning before walking over the bridge with assistance from police and other agencies.Earlier this morning, two northbound lanes on the Harbour Bridge were closed to allow the hīkoi to travel by foot into the city.Some drivers waved flags and tooted their car horns in support. The Toitū te Tiriti hīkoi on the Auckland Harbour Bridge (Source: 1News)At some points, the bridged swayed due to…

President von der Leyen steps in to broker a deal among major groups and salvage the new Commission. ADVERTISEMENTPolitical manoeuvring between the key centre-right European People’s Party and the Socialist & Democrats has put the process of agreeing the next European Commission on ice as candidates remain subject to final approvals.All of the hearings of the candidates has now been staged, and evaluation letters are expected to be published on November 21 with the Parliament expected to vote in the Commission as a whole the following week.Each candidate needs the support of at least two-thirds of the European Parliament (EP)…