Author: Press Room
A commercial fruit developer has announced the launch of a striking new apple variety – with pinky-red flesh and a flavour reminiscent of berries. Prevar, based in Havelock North, developed FIZZ apples – the first of its kind in New Zealand – through Plant and Food Research’s breeding programme. FIZZ apples will be introduced to key markets in small batches this season.”Its vibrant pinky-red flesh and bold, effervescent berry-like flavour gives it strong potential in premium markets worldwide,” Snazzy Fruit managing director Josh Parlane said.The first commercial plantings were already underway to bring more FIZZ apples to supermarket shelves in…
It’s one of the biggest shows on TV in both the UK and New Zealand, with a fearsome Chaser hunting down contestants as they seek to win the big money. But which of them has the best winning record?Thanks to researchers in Britain, this question can now be answered. And the outcome may be surprising – depending on how you calculate who wins.There are six Chasers currently on the show – made by ITV and broadcasting on TVNZ1 daily – and each have their own Chaser name which will be familiar to regular viewers.Mark Labbett is The Beast, Shaun Wallace…
Residents in and around Christchurch’s Riccarton are being asked to search their backyards for a “vulnerable” woman who went missing yesterday. Elisabeth, 79, was last seen on Bartlett Street in Riccarton at around 6pm on Wednesday. She was wearing blue pants, a dark coloured long-sleeve top, black shoes and has distinctive long blond/white hair.Police earlier said there had been “unconfirmed reports” of Elisabeth in Mona Vale at around 10am today. Senior Sergeant Todd Webley said there were “serious concerns” for the woman’s well-being. Police earlier described her as “vulnerable”. Webley said a large number of staff, including from land search…
A man has been arrested and charged with ripping off more than a dozen victims through Facebook Marketplace.Detective Senior Sergeant Ryan Bunting said the man allegedly used fake bank transfers and identification cards at in-person transactions to steal more than $150,000 worth of high value items including vehicles, phones and jewellery.“Unfortunately, the sellers have let the vehicles and goods go with the offender before later realising no transfer has occurred.”Bunting said the man was sought by police “in relation to 17 dodgy deals between November 2024 and April this year”.A 36-year-old man was due to appear in Waitākere District Court…
Police have revealed the details of their investigation into a former media advisor for the Prime Minister who was accused of taking covert recordings of sex workers.In the fresh disclosures, police said officers seized two phones and examined them before allowing the owner to delete the contents.Today, police said any new information regarding the “serious” and “concerning” alleged behaviour of the press secretary working in the Prime Minister’s Office would be “thoroughly considered”. Luxon’s acting deputy chief press secretary, Michael Forbes, resigned yesterday after allegations emerged that he made non-consensual audio recordings of sessions with Wellington sex workers last July.It…
The Government has opened a new 596-bed facility at Waikeria Prison this morning. It comprises 28 buildings across 21 hectares, 14 kilometres south of Te Awamutu. Surrounded by 1.7km of perimeter fencing and with a single point of entry, the new facility sits adjacent to the prison’s existing low-security facility, which has capacity of 460.The prison has high-security accommodation for 500 men alongside a dedicated mental health and addiction service within a new 96-bed facility. It also featured an education and rehabilitation hub with 10 classrooms, a large kitchen and laundry, a new waste and recycling centre, more industry training…
Parliament voted today to enact record suspensions for three Te Pāti Māori MPs who performed a haka to protest the Treaty Principles Bill.Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke received a seven-day ban while co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi were barred for 21 days. Three days had been the longest ban for a lawmaker from Parliament before.The Te Pāti Māori MPs performed the haka last November to oppose a widely unpopular bill, now defeated, that they said would reverse Māori rights.But the protest drew global headlines and provoked months of fraught debate among lawmakers about what the consequences for the lawmakers’ actions should be…
ADVERTISEMENTMost US allies at NATO have endorsed US President Donald Trump’s demand that they invest 5% of GDP on defence and are ready to ramp up security spending, the alliance’s Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday.”There’s broad support,” Rutte told reporters after chairing a meeting of NATO defence ministers at the alliance’s Brussels headquarters.”We are really close,” he said, adding that he has “total confidence that we will get there” by the next NATO summit in three weeks.European allies and Canada have already been investing heavily in their armed forces, as well as on weapons and ammunition, since Russia launched…
New Zealand Defence Force personnel and assets have begun to deploy to one of the world’s largest multi-national military exercises being held in Australia next week.Exercise Talisman Sabre features more than 30,000 military personnel and platforms from 19 nations and is being held from July 13 to August 4.The biannual exercise was designed to improve and strengthen interoperability and combat readiness.Close to 35 New Zealand Army vehicles, including light armoured vehicles and the new Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles, along with 150 personnel, boarded HMNZS Canterbury today bound for Queensland. Three RNZAF NH90 helicopters from No. 3 Squadron at Ohakea will…
By Gavin Blackburn with AP Published on 05/06/2025 – 16:30 GMT+2ADVERTISEMENTSyria’s new government has agreed to give UN inspectors access to suspected former nuclear sites immediately, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said. Rafael Grossi confirmed the development after talks with Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and other officials in Damascus.The UN agency’s aim is “to bring total clarity over certain activities that took place in the past that were, in the judgement of the agency, probably related to nuclear weapons”, Grossi said.He described the new Syrian government as “committed to opening up to the world, to international…