Author: Press Room

A “catastrophic event” was only narrowly avoided in Christchurch after the driver of an SUV ran through a red arrow while a child began to bolt across the road. Video of the incident, shared by police on social media, showed the grey SUV turn right despite a red arrow — while the green walk signal was active at the crossing. As the vehicle turned, a child began to run across the road, stopping just before meeting the SUV, which continued to drive over the crossing. The child then walked back to their family waiting at the lights. “This could have…

A Greymouth election candidate has called out Grey District councillors for laughing at a meeting, when they were asked about pushback over recent rate increases.Terry Donaldson, who’s running for council in the southern ward, posted about his concerns on social media after watching Monday’s council meeting online.“What I witnessed left me deeply concerned – not just as a candidate but as a ratepayer,” he said.“A councillor asked if there’d been any pushback regarding the proposed rate increases. The answer was yes. What followed, however, was deeply troubling: several councillors and staff laughed.”That was unacceptable and disrespectful to ratepayers, and the…

Published on 28/08/2025 – 6:16 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT A mass Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital early Thursday killed at least four people and injured 24, local authorities said. Among the dead were two children, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said, citing preliminary information. The numbers are expected to rise. Russia launched decoy drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city administration. A five-story residential building in the Darnytskyi district was hit directly. “Everything is destroyed,” Tkachenko said. A strike in central Kyiv left a major road strewn with shattered glass. The attack affected over…

By Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira of RNZ Opposition parties say the government’s plan to drive down supermarket prices does not go far enough, but have varying solutions of their own. The government on Wednesday announced a suite of policies designed to make it quicker and cheaper to build supermarkets in New Zealand, so long as they improved competition. Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis said the new “express lane” approach would assist new and existing players, like Costco, to scale up. But the Greens’ commerce and consumer affairs spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March said that was only “one part of the puzzle” and the government needed…

Police dispatcher Julia Jordan accidentally added a dash of celebrity gossip to her public service this week when she shared “Taylor Swift is engaged” over a hot microphone.That appears to be how officers in the Lansing, Michigan, area learned about the superstar singer’s betrothal to Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce.The official announcement, made in a five-photo joint post on Instagram, marks the fairytale culmination of a courtship that for two years and has thrilled and fascinated millions around the world.Joyful chaos ensued nationwide, with oddsmakers taking bets on when and where the celebrity couple will wed. Swifties,…

Jurors gasped as footage was today played in court of a Loafers Lodge resident jumping from his third storey window to escape the fire consuming the hostel. Faamatala Sili said he was panicking, afraid and thinking about God as he got ready push himself out and towards the roof of the neighbouring building. “I had no choice but to do it, to jump, because if I didn’t I was probably gonna die that night but I didn’t really want to do it,” he explained.”When I was looking down at the height I was terrified.””It was either burn inside my room…

E tū members at media company Stuff are going on strike on Thursday afternoon. They are protesting in response to what they say are low pay offers and attempts to divide the workforce. From 3pm until 5pm, staff will walk off the job and picket outside newsrooms in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, and Christchurch. Auckland-based journalist and E tū delegate Sapeer Mayron said the strike was about years of being undervalued. “Stuff has shown its employees over and over again that it thinks we are replaceable and not worth investing in with decent wages and working conditions. And yet we stay,…

The Government is launching a sweeping set of reforms aimed at boosting competition and making it easier for businesses to open and expand in New Zealand’s grocery sector.The changes followed a Request for Information process earlier this year which revealed widespread frustration among prospective supermarket operators over restrictive zoning, slow consenting, and regulatory hurdles they said were making it “extremely difficult” to enter or expand in the market.Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis today said the Government was creating “an express lane” for new supermarkets to boost competition and deliver better deals for Kiwi shoppers.She said international retail giant Costco had…

A woman who died in police custody in Christchurch on Monday morning had earlier been tasered.At around 1am on Monday, August 25, police attended an address in Rakaia after receiving reports of an intoxicated woman in possession of a knife, who was reportedly hurting herself and threatening harm to others.”Faced with a tense and dangerous situation, and after unsuccessful appeals for the weapon to be put down, police tasered the woman.”She was then arrested and taken to the custody site in Christchurch, where she was assessed by a doctor shortly after 4am.At around 6.50am, the woman was located unresponsive in…

Air New Zealand’s profit has fallen, as soft demand and continuing engine maintenance and plane supply problems weigh on earnings. The airline reported a profit of $126 million for the year to June, compared with $146 million a year earlier. It said it had to cope with fewer people flying, at times more than 10 planes grounded for engine maintenance, and rising costs for fuel and regulatory charges. The airline’s chairperson, Dame Therese Walsh, said the result had shown its resilience in the face of operational and economic changes. Outgoing chief executive Greg Foran said it had had up to…