Author: Press Room

There has been a surge in Russian attacks on residential neighbourhoods in Ukraine’s most populated cities in recent weeks. ADVERTISEMENTFive people have been killed and one person injured in a Russian drone strike on Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv, according to local authorities.The city’s mayor, Oleksandr Senkevych, said Russia attacked overnight using kamikaze drones, destroying a house and damaging a residential building which was set alight following the attack.Meanwhile in Zaporizhzhia, one person has died and at least 21 people have been wounded, including children, in three Russian strikes.Ukraine’s National Police reports that the strikes were carried out using FAB-500…

Following a weekend of heavy rain on the West Coast and 30C temperatures for others, MetService has shared what weather could be expected for the week ahead.Franz Josef experienced its wettest 24 hours in more than four decades on Saturday after 350mm of rain fell across the coast, prompting a local state of emergency to be declared by Mayor Helen Lash which was lifted Sunday afternoon.Despite lingering rain and isolated showers sticking around for parts of the country, MetService expected the weather to be more settled throughout the week.The highest recorded temperature so far today was in Wairoa, sitting on…

Police are investigating after a road worker was threatened with a firearm north of Taupō yesterday morning.Officers were alerted to the incident on SH1 near Ātiamuri at about 10.40am.A firearm was reportedly pointed at the road worker from someone in a vehicle before it left the scene, police said.”There were no shots fired or any injuries, however the worker was understandably shaken by the incident,” a police spokesperson said.”The vehicle was described as a red double cab flat deck Toyota Hilux, which left the scene eastbound toward Ohakuri Road, Ātiamuri.”Police are now making enquiries into the full circumstances of the…

The climate summit begins today, in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, but many leaders will not attend the meeting. ADVERTISEMENTWith some European leaders boycotting the COP 29 summit, opening in Baku today days after the re-election of Donald Trump as US president, who has compared climate change to a hoax, Radio Schuman talked with Euronews science reporter Jeremy Wilks about the prospects for the conference.With thousands of leaders, diplomats, climate experts, NGOs and journalists beating a path to the United Nations Climate talks in the Azeri capital, is there a real chance of success in their mission to hash out a new…

Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton is calling on the Government to enable Ruapehu District Council to complete missing links in the Mountains to Sea trail network.He says the completed network will be vital in boosting economic growth and resilience in the district.The 11.4km first stage of Te Ara Mangawhero, the newest section of the Mountains to Sea Ngā Ara Tūhono Great Ride, opened on Mt Ruapehu at the start of November.Kirton said the council celebrates the Te Ara Mangawhero milestone but remained focused on seeing unfinished parts of the Mountains to Sea Ngā Ara Tūhono Great Ride completed.The ride was shaping…

Members of a Whangārei hapū feel like they’re trapped in their own, real-life version of Groundhog Day.In 1996, the hapū went to the Environment Court to stop a subdivision on land next to Onoke Pā, in Te Kamo, which they say is wāhi tapu, or sacred.The hapū won — but today, Ngāti Kahu o Torongare and Te Parawhau will be back in the Environment Court, appealing a decision to allow a subdivision on exactly the same piece of land.Ngāti Kahu o Torongare spokeswoman Nicki Wakefield said the hapū had been forced back to court to argue the same case as…

The so-called ‘Traffic Light Coalition’ – made up of Scholz’s Social Democrats, the liberal FDP and the Greens – collapsed on 6 November after Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner. ADVERTISEMENTGermany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he is willing to hold a confidence vote in parliament before Christmas after the ruling three-party coalition collapsed under a week ago.In an interview on Sunday night with public broadcaster ARD, Scholz said, “I am not glued to my post.””Think about what is best and where do the citizens and the parties that are competing with the parties now in government and the parties represented…

Taylor Swift has come out on top at the 2024 MTV EMAs, walking away with best artist, best US act, best live act and best video for Fortnight (featuring Post Malone).Swift, who is finishing up her Eras tour on the other side of the Atlantic, thanked the fans for the bounty of prizes via video message.The UK show opened with an acrobatic Benson Boone suspended in the air on a gold grand piano performing his viral hit Beautiful Things and latest release Slow it Down. Boone also accepted his first EMA for best new act.Rita Ora, left, and Taika Waititi…

Heart of the City is hitting back at critics of Auckland’s new Christmas tree saying it’s part of the rejuvenation of the central city at the busiest trading time of the year.Some have baulked at the cost of a million-dollar Christmas tree going up in downtown Auckland.Heart of the City’s Viv Beck told Morning Report the cost for the tree was being split three ways and Auckland Council’s portion was coming from a rate paid by city centre property owners, businesses and residents — not from general rates.”Heart of the City committed, when we had to retire Santa just before…

A man critically injured in a fire in the Hutt Valley last week has died.Ian David Moller, 82, was injured in the fire in a block of flats in Stokes Valley on November 5.He was pulled from the Hanson Grove fire — the third suspected arson at the property in the past month — and died late yesterday.”Hutt Valley Police pass on our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and the wider Stokes Valley community, who knew him as a local fixture,” Detective Inspector Haley Ryan, Wellington District Field Crime Manager, said.The police investigation has now been upgraded to a…