Author: Press Room

Iceland has traditionally been ambivalent about joining the bloc but issues like the 2008 financial crisis, Brexit and a range of domestic issues has meant the country is slowly warming to the idea of membership. ADVERTISEMENTIceland’s new government has said it aims to put the question of EU membership to a referendum by 2027.The incoming administration of Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, which takes over on Sunday, also said it will set up a panel of experts to look into the advantages and disadvantages of retaining the Icelandic crown over adopting the Euro.”We agreed that a motion in parliament be agreed upon,…

Andrew Ridgeley says George Michael would have been “utterly delighted” that Last Christmas has become such a classic.The 61-year-old singer shot to fame alongside George — who died on Christmas Day in 2016 at the age of 53 — as part of the duo Wham! in the 1980s and their festive track has claimed the title of Christmas number one for a second time.He told Official Charts.com: “37 years to get to Number 1, 39 years to Christmas Number 1, and then like London buses they all come along at once! I’m especially pleased for George, he would have been…

There can be a lot of unforeseen challenges at Christmas. Someone buys lite cream that won’t whip for the pavlova. You lose your last table tennis ball. Someone gets the Secret Santa wrong and one person gets two presents and another gets none (this has happened only once in my family).But have you thought about how your insurance might surprise you?A search through the Financial Services Complaints case study archive shows the Ombudsman scheme had dealt with a number of festive predicaments over the years.In one case, a man travelled to Boston for Christmas with his friends.He had a couple…

Hairy Maclary… famously of Donaldson Dairy… was created only because he fell out of a book.Author and illustrator Dame Lynley Dodd had been asked by her publisher for a story quickly — so she went to her “ideas book”.”I opened the ideas book and out fell a bit of paper that I’d written a very brief bit of rhyme and done a drawing of Hairy Maclary and that’s what happened. It fell on the floor… So I thought I’d better hurry up and get on with this.”First published in 1983 the scruffy little dog and his rag tag bunch of…

The Government has quietly cancelled plans to improve recycling and roll out a kerbside food scraps composting scheme.The Ministry for the Environment on Wednesday posted an update on its website, saying the Government has agreed that four of five policies for waste minimisation had been put on hold.No ministerial media release or statement was sent out notifying the public of the decision.The standardisation across the country of which materials could be included in recycling schemes took effect in February, but the remaining four policies “will no longer go ahead”.These included:Mandatory kerbside composting for all urban areasMandatory kerbside recycling for all…

Queenstown’s oldest employment agency turned 25 this year. Addstaff is still owned and run by the duo who started it in 1999, Jane Bamford and Kim Hamilton. They’d only got to know each other that year, working for guest services at Coronet Peak and The Remarks skifields. When they found they shared backgrounds in recruitment and HR, “we literally sat on the bus together and said, ‘we should do this’, and we did,” Bamford recalls. “We were young, we had lots of energy, I guess we never felt like we had anything to lose.” For their first 23 years or…

Large parts of the country are under severe thunderstorm warnings. MetService has issued red warnings for South Waikato, Matamata Piako, Waipa, Taupō, Ōtorohanga and Rotorua this afternoon. The thunderstorms were expected to move southeast. A warning for Horowhenua, Carterton, Tararua, Kāpiti Coast, Masterton and South Wairarapa went out at 5pm, with serve thunderstorms near Levin, Foxton, and Shannon. Weather warnings for the South Island. (Source: MetService)There was also a red warning for Timaru, Mackenzie and Ashburton with a red severe thunderstorm warning for the Four Peaks Range. Canterbury Plains, Canterbury High Country, North Otago and Central Otago all had a…

Queenstown’s now home to a different type of ride-sharing. RYD, a new mobility service, officially launched in the resort in May. The brainchild of Queenstowner Jason Roberts and James Ma, the fleet of Hyundai Kona EVs can be hired by the hour — casual rates are $19 per hour, or $9 an hour between 8pm and 6am, with daily, weekly and monthly capped rates also available — giving users the freedom to only pay for what they use. At present, there’s a car each at Sherwood, Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Hilton Queenstown, Holiday Inn Queenstown Remarkables Park, and the…

A person has died at a Southbridge property in Canterbury this morning in a work-related incident. Emergency services were called to Glasseys Rd in Selwyn around 10.30am. Worksafe said in a statement that it was notified of an “agricultural-related death in Southbridge earlier today and is making initial enquiries”. “Agriculture is one of the four most dangerous industries in Aotearoa, and is a priority sector under our new strategy,” the agency said.”Agriculture accounts for around 25% of acute work-related fatalities and serious injuries.”Police added that, “enquiries into the circumstances of the death are ongoing”.

Tourists have been meandering around a commercial wharf in Fiordland, moving cones and putting themselves into dangerous situations which could lead to serious injury or even death, a fishing company says. Fiordland Lobster Company is applying to permanently fence off the Deepwater Basin Wharf to public access. It has applied to the Department of Conversation to allow the fencing off, as the area is in a national park. Company director Mark Peychers said in the application to Doc that tourists were meandering around the commercial wharf, oblivious to the site’s dangers. He said “the inquisitive nature of people and especially…