Author: Press Room

Residents in the Matamata area are in shock after a college student was hit and killed by a freight train.Matamata Mayor Adrienne Wilcock told Morning Report it was a tough time for the community following the death on Wednesday afternoon.”It’s always sad when these tragedies happen and you feel it quite emotionally — you know, I’m a mother and a grandmother — yeah, this is sad.”Wilcock said she was not aware of any safety concerns prior to the student being hit.”I do understand there will be investigations and enquires take in place and, you know, I think council will very…

Party leaders advocate for snap elections, which may occur on either 11 or 18 May. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is convening the Council of State tomorrow, will make the decision. ADVERTISEMENTNobody wanted early elections, but if they were to be held, they should occur as soon as possible. Today, the President of the Portuguese Republic listened to the parties with parliamentary seats in Belém to gather all the information necessary to determine the best solution to the current political impasse.Luís Montenegro was the first to be received. The Prime Minister advocated for the swift holding of elections alongside…

United States President Donald Trump is threatening to escalate a global trade war with further tariffs on European Union goods, as major US trading partners said they would retaliate for trade barriers already erected by him. Just hours after Trump’s 25% duties on all US steel and aluminium imports took effect, Trump said he would impose additional penalties if the EU follows through with its plan to enact counter tariffs on some US goods next month. “Whatever they charge us, we’re charging them,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday. Trump’s hyper-focus on tariffs has rattled investor, consumer and business confidence and…

Fires are being deliberately lit just outside of Christchurch this week to test new theories on how wildfires spread under various conditions. The experimental research is a collaboration between multiple organisations, including Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the United States Forest Service.A series of controlled stubble fires were lit in a dry field in Darfield – all in the name of research. “What we believe is that there’s a little bit of an old theory, which is fire uses radiation to spread, heats the fuels in front of it to the point of combustion. That’s happening out there, but…

Retailer Briscoe Group has reported near record full-year sales, though tight profit margins hit the bottom-line. The owner of Briscoes homeware and Rebel Sport said both brands delivered positive sales growth, though trading conditions were expected to remain tough. “Looking forward we do not underestimate just how tough trading will continue to be with the first half expected to be especially challenging,” managing director Rod Duke said. “We expect this will see second half profitability exceed that produced for the first half in a return to a more normalised shape of profitability. “We are hopeful that the economic recovery will…

Double murderer Scott Watson has appeared before the parole board, where it emerged he was involved in a misconduct incident in prison last year.The 53-year-old has spent nearly half his life in jail for the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope in the Marlborough Sounds in 1998.Watson wore his grey prison uniform during what is now his sixth parole hearing.But he didn’t get a chance to speak as the hearing sat for an unusually long six hours.The parole board wanted to understand his level of risk after previously receiving three reports with differing views.The hearing heard about Watson being…

“In the end, successful business is people working together.” That was one of the messages from economist Shamabeel Eaqub to those attending a People Expo in Oamaru this week, organised by Dairy New Zealand and the Dairy Women’s Network. Mr Eaqub outlined both global and national economic trends, and spoke about what farming businesses must to do stay successful and attract and retain people. With so much change and so much uncertainty, the world was becoming harder to make sense of, he said. People were used to a world that was relatively stable and where global politics “kind of makes…

When Re: News visited Ashburton and Greymouth as part of our new series The Regions, we asked rangatahi where they hung out in their free time. Why did so many of them say Macca’s?Fast food joints are a favourite hangout spot for young people, especially for those living in the regions. But not all small towns want their own Macca’s. In February, a consent application to build a McDonalds in Wānaka was declined.The commissioners who made the decision said the proposed restaurant would be “at odds with the character typically associated with rural living”.The Queenstown Lakes District Council received more…

Bosnia’s state-level prosecutors issued arrest warrants for the entity of the Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik and two other officials, accusing them of anti-constitutional conduct. ADVERTISEMENTBosnia’s state-level prosecutors issued arrest warrants on Wednesday for three top Bosnian Serb officials — including the president of the Western Balkan country’s Serb-majority entity of the Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik.Dodik, who has previously said he does not recognise the country’s state-level prosecutor’s office, has rejected the warrant’s validity and any attempts at his arrest, and said he will not go to Sarajevo for questioning. “There is no such blow or suffering that I…

As a teenager, Jeremy Duckmanton did not like the idea of milking cows or getting out of bed early. Fast forward 25 years and he says a career in the dairy industry was one of the best things he could have done. Mr Duckmanton, of DMT Dairies Ltd, is a 50:50 sharemilker of 1900 cows over two farms in Mid Canterbury. He shared his farming journey and approach to achieving productivity gains through different technologies and data at a People Expo, organised by DairyNZ and Dairy Women’s Network, in Oamaru this week. Milking his first cow in October 1999, he…