Author: Press Room

An old rumour has resurfaced alleging that a body double often steps in for the past and future first lady when out and about with her husband. ADVERTISEMENTVideos have gone viral on social media supposedly showing Melania Trump’s body double appearing alongside her husband, Donald, after they voted in the US presidential election.Rumours of a “fake Melania” are nothing new, but they resurfaced after Trumps cast their votes in Palm Beach in Florida on 5 November.Various posts on X claimed that the woman standing next to Trump was a body double, with many putting the video beside a photo of…

Sir Robert “Bom” Gillies, the last surviving member of the 28th Māori Battalion, has been remembered as an “incredibly humble” man who “carried the spirits of all of his deceased comrades”.Sir Bom’s death at age 99 was announced yesterday.”There will be a huge loss across the world and Aotearoa as we farewell the last member of the 28 Māori Battalion,” family spokesperson Jeremy Tātere McLeod told Breakfast today.”Last night was an intimate opportunity for the family to mourn a father, a grandfather and an uncle.”Rotorua will be inundated with thousands of mourners over the next few days, so it was…

In an exclusive interview with Euronews, former European Commissioner Thierry Breton says that when the newly re-elected US President Donald Trump wants to take the pulse of Europe, he turns to the Hungarian Prime Minister. ADVERTISEMENTEurope was unprepared for a Trump victory and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán could become the US 47th president’s key interlocutor, former French European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton told Radio Schuman in an exclusive interview we feature today.We spoke to Breton as European leaders convened in Budapest for the Informal European Council, seeking to forge a unified stance on Trump’s declared intentions to…

A new animal shelter will be in place in south Auckland to help ease the pressure on three other Auckland Council-owned facilities.Auckland’s three other shelters reported being full or overcapacity in the last financial year, with thousands of dogs impounded.According to Animal Management’s latest annual report, work on the new facility in Pukekohe was underway.It will add to the three other shelters in Silverdale, Manukau and Henderson. The new animal shelter, which was leased out to a Waikato council for their use, was undertaking some upgrades and renovation work to be ready to house animals. Extensive renovations were also in progress…

Two brothers have saved and repurposed some of the prized and popular pieces from the now-closed Waiwera Thermal Resort in Auckland.The destination fell into disrepair after a stalled refurbishment and the liquidation of a previous leaseholder.In October last year, after the neglected facility was demolished, the owners of Adrenalin Adventure Park just north of Whangārei said it had been able to save four of the resort’s slides.The first slide opened last weekend, and the second slide was set to open this weekend.Owners Cody and Klay Rouse joined Breakfast this morning.”So many people have around the community have that historic connection…

An ambitious project to rid Southland of pests has been put on hold amid financial issues.Predator Free Southland was created with the goal of protecting biodiversity across the region by targeting a range of species including rats, possums, stoats, ferrets, weasels, feral cats and hedgehogs.It came about on the back of conversations that began in 2018 and included representatives from four rūnanga of Ngāi Tahu, DOC and all four Southland councils.In October, an Environment Southland report revealed the programme had been put on hold for “a few months” while an assessment was done on what was achievable under existing budgets.Further…

The Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal has censured a former primary principal for serious misconduct seven years after RNZ first raised questions about his use of school funds.The tribunal ordered David Wallis to pay costs of $16,337 and cancelled his teacher registration.The tribunal’s decision said Wallis accepted charges of mismanagement and poor financial practices amounting to misconduct over a four-and-a-half-year period to his retirement in mid-2018, but denied he had misappropriated school funds.The tribunal’s Complaints Assessment Committee charged Wallis, who had been principal of Manurewa West Primary, following a mandatory report in 2019.The charges included:Receiving wellbeing payments from the school, including a…

A law change to protect comedians, critics and artists who make memes and poke fun at others will be debated in Parliament.The Green Party’s Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill was pulled from the ballot on Friday.It will allow people to use a copyright work for parody or satire, such as memes.Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter said Kiwis were known for their love of spoofs, parodies and dark humour.”Satire is more than a joke – it’s also a way of making sense of the world when sometimes it can feel dark and heavy,” said Carter. “It’s a little ironic that…

A 21-year-old Wellington man has been arrested and charged with arson after a fire at a block of flats in Lower Hutt last month.Police specified that he was charged in relation to only one of three recent fires at the Stokes Valley address.”The charge relates to a fire at a Hanson Grove flat on October 10,” a police spokesperson said.”Two further fires were reported at the flat, on October 14 and November 5; the latest blaze left an 82-year-old man critically injured.”The man arrested last night was set to appear in Hutt Valley District Court today.”Police are continuing to investigate…

Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease that occurs mainly in poultry and wild water birds but transmission to humans remains rare. ADVERTISEMENTAustria’s Ministry of Health has declared the whole country as a risk area for bird flu (avian influenza) with new, stricter safety measures coming into force from the early hours of Friday.That announcement follows an outbreak of bird flu in the Amstetten district of Lower Austria a week ago, which led to the culling of around 18,000 animals.On Friday, the Austrian military will start an assistance mission in Amstetten and will remove the dead animals and decontaminate…