Author: Press Room

A Southland mayoral hopeful has taken shots at a council chief executive during a fiery public speech.On Wednesday, Wendy Baker presented to district councillors about the council’s dog control policy and bylaw review.But her presentation began on an unrelated note when she read out a letter she’d received from the Minister of Sports and Recreation about her sporting accomplishments.“I wanted to bring that up because it’s a positive letter of praise. And unfortunately, just recently, your CEO — who is extremely well paid — sent me a letter which was very upsetting to me,” Baker said.“This letter as you all…

A man died in hospital overnight after being critically injured in an incident at a Westport motel yesterday afternoon. One person was arrested and charged following the incident, and a homicide investigation was also underway.Police were called to the motel on Palmerston Street at 3.10pm yesterday after an “altercation” was reported. When police arrived, a man was found critically injured and flown to Greymouth Hospital. He died shortly before midnight. A 35-year-old man was arrested at the scene and charged with intent to injure. He was due to appear in the Greymouth District Court today. Inspector Jacqui Corner said a…

Wānaka’s award-winning Top 10 Holiday Park has been sold to an overseas-based joint venture, which intends to maintain its current use. Overseas Investment Act decisions released yesterday show Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand has granted consent to Tasman Tourism New Zealand Ltd to acquire a freehold interest in about 3ha of land in Studholme Rd. The applicant is a joint venture between an Australian private equity firm with experience in the holiday park industry and an investment company based in the United Arab Emirates. It owns and operates holiday parks in New Zealand, including Te Anau, under the…

Justin Timberlake has been diagnosed with Lyme disease, the former NSYNC star said on Instagram overnight.Timberlake shared the news in a post commemorating his Forget Tomorrow tour, which wrapped in Türkiye on Thursday, adding that the disease “can be relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically”. The SexyBack singer, who described himself as a private person, wrote he considered ending the tour when diagnosed, but wrote that he “decided the joy that performing brings me far out weight the fleeting stress my body was feeling. I’m so glad I kept going”.Lyme disease is transmitted by Ixodes ticks, also known as deer…

The owner of a vehicle is being sought by police after a young person was assaulted and robbed in Christchurch earlier this month. The incident took place near the corner of Kendal Ave and Whitby St around 3pm on Friday, July 18.”The victim sustained minor injuries and is understandably very shaken by this incident,” police said. Police have today released a photograph of a vehicle as part of their investigation.”We would like to speak with the owner of the vehicle pictured, or anyone who may have information about the vehicle, or may have witnessed the incident.”Anyone with information has been…

Christchurch-based Ravensdown has reported a loss of $5.4 million after tax and one-off costs for the year ending May, with the costly closing of Dunedin fertiliser manufacturing among business challenges. The fertiliser co-operative’s result follows a profit after tax of $2.8m a year ago. Closing the site, off-loading five lime quarries and the sale of assets from its agritech subsidiary C-Dax in a bid to reshape the business resulted in impairments of $9m. Fertiliser manufacturing officially ended at Ravensbourne earlier this year with the loss of about 30 jobs. The site will remain a port store and distribution centre with…

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has set up a base in New Zealand to “strengthen and enhance” its cooperation with a “key Five Eyes partner in the southwestern Pacific region”.The director of the US domestic intelligence and security service, Kash Patel, travelled to Wellington yesterday. He met with key officials — including Defence Minister Judith Collins, Police Minster Mark Mitchell and Foreign Minister Winston Peters — this morning. He also met with Police Commissioner Richard Chambers; the Director-General of the Government Communications Security Bureau, Air Vice-Marshal Andrew Clark; and Director-General of the Security Intelligence Service, Andrew Hampton.Agency sets up…

A Southland dairy business and its owner — who have paid over $116,000 in arrears owed to three employees and were last year ordered to pay penalties of $215,000 by the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) for minimum employment standards breaches relating to those arrears — have been penalised a further $15,000 for obstructing the ERA’s investigation. The company, Rural Practice Ltd (RPL) was ordered to pay a penalty of $10,000 and its owner Reza Abdul-Jabbar ordered to pay a penalty of $5000. Labour Inspectorate head of compliance and enforcement Joanne Hacking said the latest penalties imposed on RPL and its…

From the start of September, vintage light vehicles and private heavy motorhomes will only need to get a new Warrant of Fitness (WoF) or Certificate of Fitness (CoF) once a year, instead of every six months. The updated rules were proposed by the Government in February. Under the new regulations, warrant of fitness checks for light vehicles over 40 years old would change from every six months to every year. Certificate of fitness checks for privately-owned heavy motorhomes would also change from every six months to every year. Eligible “vintage” vehicles are cars and motorcycles over 40 years old. There…

Published on 31/07/2025 – 18:51 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT Portugal’s government says it will consult the country’s main political parties and President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa about potential recognition of a Palestinian state, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said on Thursday. Portugal has diverged from neighbouring Spain, who recognised Palestinian statehood last year, saying it wanted to work on a common EU position first. Ireland and Norway chose to recognise a Palestinian state in 2024 around the same time as Spain. The announcement from Lisbon comes after a series of diplomatic switches regarding Palestine’s status. French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that his country…