Author: Press Room

Published on 29/09/2025 – 19:27 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT The Alaska summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was a “victory” for Putin, Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtona said in an interview with Euronews. “To be quite frank I was a little bit sceptical about the Alaska meeting,” she said, adding that “it obviously hasn’t led anywhere.” Ahead of the highly anticipated meeting in Alaska on 15 August, Trump said he’d push Putin to agree to a ceasefire while talks could commence on ending the war. There was also an expectation that a trilateral meeting between Putin,…

A group of Southland-based Alliance Group shareholders say the $250 million offer by an Irish meat company for a 65% stake in the co-operative appears to significantly undervalue the business, wiping out about $150m of shareholder equity. In a letter to fellow shareholders, Michael Wilkins, Mark Gunton, James Anderson, Dave Pinckney and Andrew Morrison proposed an alternative plan to recapitalise Alliance, saying retaining full ownership by farmer shareholders was critical. A two-week capital raise roadshow began in Tuatapere yesterday, Alliance leadership providing more details on the Dawn Meats Group deal ahead of a shareholder vote next month. Those farmers pushing…

A Christchurch builder has been sentenced to seven months of home detention for failing to declare more than $260,000 in tax.Gary Terence Moss, who arrived in New Zealand from the UK in 2014, evaded Inland Revenue (IR) for over a year and fled to Australia soon after being told of an audit investigation in 2023.He appeared in the Christchurch District Court last week for sentencing on one representative charge and one single charge of evading or attempting to evade the assessment or payment of income tax. He was also ordered to pay $20,000 in reparations.After coming to NZ, he began…

ADVERTISEMENT The European Union is mulling new plans to tweak the rules of enlargement in a fresh attempt to bypass Hungary’s persistent veto on Ukraine’s membership bid. As of today, each stage of the accession process is subject to unanimity, and any member state can hit the brakes with a veto at any given moment. For more than a year, Hungary has prevented Ukraine from opening the first cluster of the negotiations, known as fundamentals, which covers key topics such as democracy, human rights, security, the judicial system and public procurement. Budapest has invoked various reasons to justify its veto,…

Synlait Milk has entered an agreement to sell its North Island sites for $307 million to a United States buyer in a business shake-up to focus on core Canterbury operations. The company announced the sale agreement while releasing its financial results after posting a loss after tax of $39.8m — “adjusted” to a bottom-line profit of $0.8m — a drop from its large loss of $182.1m a year ago. Synlait matched Fonterra in producing a record final payout of $10.15 per kg of milk solids for the financial year ending July. Proceeds from the sale to US healthcare company Abbott…

The Government has announced an overhaul to the classification of earthquake-prone buildings, introducing a new system that will see thousands of buildings moved out of the regime.Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk revealed the “refocus” of the system for earthquake-prone buildings alongside Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at an announcement in Wellington this afternoon.They were due to speak at 2.30pm.To watch a replay of the announcement, click the video above.

Published on 29/09/2025 – 17:36 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT Water pollution is worsening in the EU with 62% of rivers, lakes and coastal sites currently in a bad ecological state, a significant increase from the 40% registered in 2020, according to a report from the EU environment agency (EEA) presented on Monday.  Published every five years, the EEA report provides a ‘health-check’ for Europe’s environment, climate and sustainability with this year’s report raising the alarm on the deteriorating state of its waters. Only 37% of Europe’s rivers and lakes had a ‘good’ or ‘high’ ecological status, according to EEA’s report, which urges policymakers to…

A Wellington man has been sentenced to more than three years in prison on 55 charges, including tax fraud, after pocketing $62,600 from fraudulent loan applications.Bradley John Croft appeared in the Hutt Valley District Court on September 25 on 55 charges brought by Inland Revenue, the police, and the Ministry of Social Development.Croft was charged by IR with tax fraud between May and August 2020.Over the four-month period, Croft submitted 12 Small Business Cashflow Scheme loan applications knowing he nor the loans’ intended recipients were entitled to them, IR said.He also filed four fraudulent GST returns, as well as false…

ADVERTISEMENT Intersex people — with biological characteristics that do not fit typical male or female patterns, or with traits of both — face increasing levels of violence and harassment in Europe, says the latest report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. Around one-third of intersex people in Europe (34%) reported having been physically or sexually assaulted in the five years before the survey was conducted, which is a sharp increase from 2019 (22%). This rate is three times higher than the figure for LGBTIQ people overall. The highest levels of violent experiences were reported by respondents in Austria…

An 85-year-old woman described smelling burning flesh after her rest home bed was pushed up against a heater, giving her second-degree burns.Her family told the Health and Disability Commission they would be forever haunted by the description.Oceania Care Company Limited (trading as Elmwood Village) has apologised in the latest Health and Disability Commissioner report after the bedbound woman needed a skin graft when her bed was left too close to a heater with no guard.The woman’s second-degree burn of her left leg subsequently became infected, and was not assessed physically or seen by a GP or senior registered nurse for…