Author: Press Room

An Auckland man who used hidden cameras to secretly film his female friends, colleagues, children and teenagers in vulnerable positions has been sentenced to four years in prison.Micah Te Ahu Fala, who had never previously appeared in court, now has an extensive rap sheet.The agreed court Statement of Facts makes for unsettling reading and reveals the extensive scale of the offending.Police found 236 videos and 1119 screenshots or images and there were known to be 22 victims of his crimes.The 41-year-old pleaded guilty earlier this year to 42 charges, including possessing objectionable material, making objectionable publications, making an intimate visual…

ADVERTISEMENTNorth Macedonia has made a clear warning of growing Russian influence in the Western Balkans if the EU does not commit quickly and clearly to enlargement.”We changed our flag, we changed our currency, we changed the constitution several times, we even changed the name of our country. All with the promise of a window of opportunity that we’ve been told existed if we do these changes for our path towards the European Union,” Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski told Euronews.Mucunski warned that the EU’s credibility is at stake, and that enlargement is necessary to prevent weaponising Russian propaganda.”There are malign actors out…

The boat that capsized off the coast of Kaikōura in 2022, killing five people had hit a whale, and those who died were trapped in the petrol-contaminated hull, the transport watchdog has found.It also found the “disorganised” emergency response was hampered with communication problems – but, even if emergency services arrived earlier, it would not have changed the outcome of the accident.Two hours into the i-Catcher excursion in September 2022, it capsized off Goose Bay, killing five of the 11 people on board when they became trapped under the flipped vessel and were exposed to petrol fumes.The Transport Accident Investigation…

ADVERTISEMENTThe EU and Uzbekistan will sign an enhanced partnership and cooperation agreement later this year, the European Council president has said.”I hope to welcome you to Brussels later this year to sign our enhanced partnership and cooperation agreement as a fruitful result of our talks during these days,” António Costa said at the opening of a trilateral meeting in Samarkand with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Euronews understands that the agreement’s text has been concluded, and it must now be translated and undergo a legal review. However, it could be signed as early…

Bruce Springsteen knows what Bruce Springsteen fans want. And that’s more Bruce Springsteen.The Boss will release seven new studio albums, titled Tracks II: The Lost Albums, on June 27. It will contain material written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018.The news arrived Thursday morning via Instagram. The 83-song collection is mostly previously unreleased tracks, 74 of them never-before-heard songs, in a box set that includes a 100-page hardcover book.In a short video clip posted to the social media platform, Springsteen explains that during the Covid-19 pandemic, he began completing “everything I had in my vault,” he said. “The Lost Albums…

Around 2.5 tonnes of heroin and hashish, worth around $181 million, has been seized by the Indian Navy as part of a New Zealand-led task force.It was the fourth bust this year for Combined Maritime Task Force 150, an operational task force currently aimed at disrupting drug smuggling operations in the Middle East. Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) Captain Dave Barr was leading the task force.INS Tarkash made the seizures while patrolling the western Indian Ocean on Monday.Crew from INS Tarkash conducts a boarding of the suspicious dhow. (Source: Supplied / NZDF)In total, 121kg of heroin and 2386kg of hashish…

ADVERTISEMENTBulgaria’s government has survived a parliamentary vote of no-confidence brought by a pro-Russia opposition party over a supposed failure in the country’s foreign policy.The motion brought by the Vazrazhdane party and backed by two small nationalist groups criticised the government’s pro-Western stance, its support for Ukraine and ongoing sanctions on Moscow.The move was defeated in the 240-seat parliament with 150 votes against and 54 in favour.Before the vote, analysts predicted the outcome, citing that the majority of Buglaria’s lawmakers support the country’s pro-European orientation.Bulgaria has been a member of the EU since 2007.”For Vazrazhdane, the vote is a tool to…

Huntly has crafted its own starring role in a Hollywood blockbuster.The Waikato town has stacked up some screen time in the highly anticipated A Minecraft Movie which hits theatres this week.Based on the best-selling video game of all time, the film — shot in New Zealand — stars Jack Black, Jason Momoa, and a couple of our own in Rachel House and Jemaine Clement.Most of the movie was shot in front of green screens at an Auckland studio but some scenes set in the fictional town of Chuglass, Idaho, will be unmistakable to Kiwi audiences as the north Waikato town.Bringing…

More than 600 roles are proposed to go at Kāinga Ora as part of proposed changes to the organisation, including a number of vacant roles.Formal consultation started on Thursday that could drop a net total of 673 roles, predominantly in corporate, back-office and other support functions. 195 of the roles are currently vacant.”When Kāinga Ora was established in 2019, its mandate saw it rapidly expand to deliver thousands of new social houses and urban development projects and other functions,” said Kāinga Ora chief executive Matt Crockett.”That period of growth, however, was not financially sustainable. Kāinga Ora has since announced its…

ADVERTISEMENTThe pharmaceutical sector on both sides of the Atlantic appeared to have dodged Trump’s tariffs last night, as pharmaceutical products were among several categories exempted from reciprocal tariffs, according to a White House fact sheet. Copper, lumber, semiconductors and energy were among others’ escaping the tariff guillotine.The industry had been bracing for impact since February, when Trump suggested imposing 25% tariffs on medicines.Among the most exposed EU countries to tariffs on pharmaceuticals is Ireland, where US companies such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and AbbVie have recently shifted significant manufacturing operations.Other key exporters of pharmaceuticals and…