Author: Press Room

The body of the first New Zealander killed in Ukraine nearly three years ago is finally being returned home.Dominic Abelen was killed in August 2022 while fighting in the East of Ukraine on leave without pay from the Defence Force.He was working to take over a Russian trench line in the Vuhledar region when he was wounded and died in battle.The soldier’s body ended up in Russian hands after his team came under intense fire while trying to retrieve him.Today he was finally returned to Ukraine where fellow soldiers and former members of his unit performed a haka before the…

French industries, including drinks such as wines and spirits, and pharmaceuticals, are the most at risk if the US president enacts the tariffs. ADVERTISEMENTThe spectre of a transatlantic trade war looms again as US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose sweeping tariffs of up to 25% on all EU goods. The potential move could send shockwaves through the French economy. In response, Brussels has signalled that it will be ready to retaliate.The US is France’s fourth-largest customer and fifth-largest supplier in 2023, according to Natixis, a major French banking group. Aeronautics, pharmaceuticals, wines and spirits together account for more…

Labour MP Peeni Henare has apologised to the Privileges Committee for stepping onto the floor of the debating chamber to perform a haka which interrupted voting on the controversial Treaty Principles Bill – but not for the performance itself. Henare and three other MPs – including Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi and MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke – were referred to Parliament’s Privileges Committee after performing a haka in November.In his opening statements to the Privileges Committee this afternoon, Henare apologised “for breaking the rule of stepping away from my seat and onto the floor of the debating…

Radio Schuman features an interview with France’s Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad, who discussed the country’s nuclear deterrent and how it could be used for the benefit of the EU more broadly. ADVERTISEMENTFrance’s nuclear deterrence could be open to other European countries French Europe minister Benjamin Haddad told Euronews in an interview featured on Radio Schuman today.Haddad also praised Germany’s next chancellor Friedrich Merz for his openness to discuss the sharing of nuclear deterrence. Radio Schuman also looks at another day of hot debates in Strasbourg and new rules in Spain to avoid a massive influx of tourists this summer.Radio Schuman…

A New Plymouth woman says a month-long delay in getting the results of a “semi-urgent” ultrasound left her feeling like a “ticking time bomb”.Health New Zealand has apologised, saying the scan results should have been reported back between 7-10 days, but it was struggling with staff shortages.The woman – who RNZ has agreed not to identify – visited her GP on 10 January and was advised she needed a “semi-urgent” pelvic ultrasound.The Radiology Department at Taranaki Base Hospital managed to get her an appointment on 27 January, which she felt was reasonably prompt, but there has been a deafening silence…

Residents in the wider Marokopa area can expect an increased police presence over the next few days as the search for fugitive father Tom Phillips and his three children continues. Detective Inspector Andy Saunders said officers would conduct inquiries north of Marokopa and in and around Te Waitere and Te Maika. “This has not been prompted by any specific sighting – it is simply a continuation of the ongoing investigation,” he said. “The activity is not because of any new sightings or information.”Saunders said regular follow ups were made in the area and that police endeavour to keep the community…

A small Far North community is “angry and frustrated” it’s been forced to once again fight a battle over speed limits it thought it had already won.A decades-long campaign by residents of Taumatamākuku, a settlement on State Highway 1 between Kawakawa and Moerewa, paid off in August 2020 when NZTA dropped the speed limit past their homes from 100km/h to 80km/h.Residents said they wanted lower speeds because they were tired of “running the gauntlet” every time they drove to the shops, and of tending to the injured every time there was a serious crash outside their homes.However, the highway through…

A man has been arrested after allegedly indecently assaulting a high school student on a bus in Auckland this morning.The incident occurred just after 8am on the 18 bus travelling along Great North Rd in Grey Lynn, according to Detective Senior Sergeant Martin Friend. Friend said the man allegedly sat down next to the student and “touched her inappropriately”.”This was witnessed by a passenger who quickly intervened and stopped what was taking place.”The man was told to get off the bus and did so at a stop near the intersection with Maidstone St. Friend praised the actions of the passenger…

As the moon rises on Friday night, those looking up at the sky will be treated to a rare sight when a total lunar eclipse turns it a striking “blood” red.The moon passes into Earth’s shadow in the early evening of Friday, March 14.The entire moon will move into the darkest part of the shadow, known as the Umbra — blocking sunlight from reaching it. The moon will turn red for a few hours until it finishes passing through the Umbra.Stardome astronomer Josh Aoraki told 1News the eclipse would begin as soon as the moon rises at 7.38pm on Friday.…

An army warrant officer’s medals stolen from a ute seven years ago are now on their way back to their owner – thanks to an eagle-eyed op-shopper.Warrant officer Clive Douglas was devastated when his set of miniatures, worn on formal occasions, were taken from his ute parked at Wellington Airport in 2017.He thought they were gone for good.But last week, Porirua woman Leslee Chase was rummaging through a box outside a local charity shop, and spotted the set of medals under some paints.Her own father’s World War 2 medals were stolen from her sister’s place in the eighties, and she…