Author: Press Room
New alfresco dining fees in Mount Maunganui have been slated as “unfair” for businesses “struggling just to keep the doors open”.Tauranga City Council is proposing to charge cafes, bars and restaurants a yearly fee of $50 per square metre of footpath they use for tables and chairs.The fees would start from July 1 and apply for businesses north of State Highway 2 in Mount Maunganui and from 11th Ave to the Tauranga city centre.Mount Business Association business improvement manager Harris Williams said the fees were another time waster and expense for businesses.”It just seems unfair.”I’ve had a lot of conversations…
A man has been arrested after he allegedly damaged the Kawerau police station in an attempt to gain entry in the early hours of this morning.Senior Sergeant Al Fenwick said a man smashed windows and attempted to smash a glass door at the station on Bledisloe St at around 2.50am.An officer was inside the station at the time and a pickaxe was located by staff nearby, he added.”The offender did not gain entry to the station and left the area in a vehicle.”Police identified a suspect after making inquiries. He was located at an address in the Cobham Dr area.The…
Retail giants such as Temu and Shein may step up their activity in New Zealand as the United States hits China with punitive tariffs.President Donald Trump has raised the tariff on Chinese imports into the US to 145%.Gareth Kiernan, chief forecaster at Infometrics, said there could be a lot of Chinese-based companies left with excess stock they would struggle to sell into the US – “because of the effective doubling in price faced by American consumers”.He said that could result in discounted products being sold elsewhere, including via Temu, to reduce inventory levels and keep up activity in factories in…
The man who murdered 18-year-old Ariki Rigby in 2022 has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 12 years.She was brutally killed following an argument sparked by her wearing a gang member’s t-shirt, and her body was found in a burnt out car in Havelock North in September 2022.Jimmy Heremaia, a 32-year-old orchard worker from Auckland, pleaded guilty in February to the murder and was sentenced in the Napier High Court on Friday.Also in court was Ropine Paul, 29, a labourer from Havelock North, who pleaded guilty to arson and was sentenced to 12 months…
President Donald Trump’s trade war rattled global markets anew on Thursday, as stocks and oil prices sank amid fears China may once again respond in kind with higher tariffs to match the latest levies imposed by the United States. Battered global markets and anxious global leaders welcomed Wednesday’s reprieve when Trump suddenly decided to freeze most of his hefty new duties for 90 days. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to further assuage sceptics by telling a meeting of Trump’s cabinet that more than 75 countries wanted to put in place a process for trade negotiations, and Trump himself expressed hope of a trade…
Ariki Rigby has been remembered by her sister as someone who loved hard, lived boldly and stayed true to herself after the man who murdered her was sentenced at the High Court at Napier today.”She was staunch, loud and proud, and not afraid to be herself no matter where she was,” Anahera Rigby told 1News.”I’m proud to say that I got the chance to know her and feel her love.”Ariki Rigby of Napier. (Source: Supplied)18-year-old Ariki Rigby was murdered following an argument sparked by her wearing a gang member’s T-shirt and her body was found in a burnt-out car in…
Emilia Wickstead hopes Air New Zealand staff feel “the empowerment and the prestige” when they start wearing their new uniform. Emma Gleeson talks to the Kiwi designer. Wickstead is emotional. It’s a big deal, outfitting your home country’s flag-carrying airline – and it’s been a long time coming. “It’s been like quite a long journey,” she says standing by the new uniforms at Air New Zealand’s Fanshawe St headquarters. “I’m even crying now.” Seventeen months after the company announced its collaboration with the London-based Kiwi designer to much fanfare, it’s finally unveiled the new staff wardrobe. Wickstead is home for the occasion.…
The union for supermarket staff say some workers feel like they are “being stabbed in the back” as Woolworths moves ahead with a restructure.The supermarket chain had been consulting on changes to its operating model across the country.It will see their Blockhouse Bay and Māngere Mall stores shut, with some senior staff roles changed.Woolworths said the key difference under the new model was that staff would “collaborate together on tasks” rather than working separately in departments.It said this should mean more people on the shop floor to help customers.”We’ll continue to learn and adjust as we pilot the new operating…
StudyLink has processed more student loan and allowance applications than last year, but thousands remain uncompleted, figures leaked to RNZ show.RNZ understands StudyLink has struggled to deal with a 12% jump in applications that universities warned would be coming as their enrolments rose.A source told RNZ the situation was avoidable, chaotic, and a crisis.Students said delays created financial problems for many people.RNZ understands there were delays of as much as two months between students providing documentation and staff processing the information.RNZ was told StudyLink staff were offered overtime to help get through the backlog and staff from other parts of…
ADVERTISEMENTDavid Bendels, editor-in-chief of the Alternative for Germany (AfD)-affiliated Deutschland Kurier, has been sentenced to a seven-month suspended prison sentence for spreading a fake meme featuring German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on social networks.Bendels must also apologise in writing to Faeser.Der Spiegel reported that the photo in question was posted by Deutschland-Kurier’s David Bendels on the outlet’s X account (formerly known as Twitter) at the end of February. The manipulated photo showed Faeser holding a sign reading, “I hate freedom of speech,” and was widely shared and viewed. The original image reportedly came from another official post by the Ministry…