Author: Press Room
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…
ADVERTISEMENT A wave of viral claims has brought Spain’s 2023 amnesty law, which sparked controversy when introduced, back into the spotlight. A series of posts initially posted in 2023, claiming that 16 European countries issued a statement against Spain’s amnesty law, have resurfaced. Other resurfaced claims announced the EU itself labelled Spain’s system for appointing the attorney general a “democratic anomaly.” However, both claims are false. Fact-checkers confirmed that no such statement was made, and the European Commission’s Rule of Law report never used such wording. It did note concerns raised by outside stakeholders. What is Spain’s amnesty law? Spain’s…
A Northland man has been fined $15,000 for cruel treatment of calves he was supposed to be raising.Animal welfare inspectors found nine calves dead over the course of three visits to Dargaville calf rearer Vivian Philip Flett, and had to euthanise four more.The inspectors weighed 250 calves and only 12 of them were at a healthy weight.The animals lived on poor quality pasture and were fed kūmara and mouldy hay, MPI regional manager of animal welfare Brendon Mikkelsen said in a statement.”These welfare problems were avoidable if Mr Flett had been providing sufficient feed and meeting the physical health and…
Published on 29/09/2025 – 14:36 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT The Council of Europe (CoE) is “ready to create the tribunal for Ukraine”, but now member states must make it a reality, the institution’s Secretary-General, Alain Berset, told Euronews in an interview. “We had a strong commitment addressing the necessity to create this tribunal. We are ready to have an advanced team to make it real. What we need now is really a clear support and commitment from states,” Berset said in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The Special Tribunal for Ukraine is a new international judicial body…
Nine firearms have been seized and four people arrested after police carried out a search warrant at a Whanganui home last week.Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Carey Priest said items were found throughout the house, shed, and in a roof space at the Puriri St property on Thursday.”Officers found a significant number of items and arrested four people, one of whom had a warrant out for her arrest.”Priest said the seizure of the items was an “excellent result” from a combination of police teams.”Nine firearms were seized ranging from .22 calibre rifles, through to .308 calibre and other high-powered rifles.”Some of…
The Reserve Bank could have moved more quickly or aggressively to counter rampant inflation during the pandemic, but struggled against conflicting forces, according to a new report.The central bank has reviewed how it handled monetary policy – setting interest rates to manage inflation and supporting employment – between 2021 and 2024, which included the response to the pandemic.In that period the official cash rate (OCR) was reduced to 0.25% by October 2021, but then rapidly increased to 5.5% by May 2023 as inflation surged to 7.3% by late 2022.RBNZ chief economist Paul Conway said the rate rises had helped to…
By Euronews Published on 29/09/2025 – 12:01 GMT+2 Key diary dates Monday 29 September: EU Competitiveness Council to discuss Multiannual Financial Framework. Tuesday 1 October: Informal meeting of EU heads of state in Copenhagen. Wednesday 2 October: Meeting of the European Political Community in Copenhagen. ADVERTISEMENT In spotlight When EU leaders meet to discuss defence and drone incursions for an informal summit in Copenhagen this week, the urgency of the discussion will be reflected in the level of security. Drones were again observed at several military facilities over the weekend in Denmark following multiple reports of drone sightings last week that…