Author: Press Room

Firefighters have brought a blaze upon a historic ship in Paihia under control. Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) crews responded to a fire which began on the ship The Tui, which had been converted into a building on land next to the Waitangi Bridge around 4am.Fire crews responded to the fire on The Tui around 4am. (Source: Supplied)The timber ship was “fully on fire” and “already significantly damaged”, a FENZ spokesperson said of when crews arrived. In an update shortly before 8am, community risk manager Mitchell Brown said “sadly, the structure is about 90% destroyed, which is a significant…

For the first time ever, Air New Zealand will operate direct flights from Christchurch to Adelaide twice a week this summer.  The flight will leave Christchurch every Friday and Monday from October 27 to March 28. The flights will depart Christchurch in the early evening and arrive in Adelaide in the late evening, with the return service leaving Adelaide the following morning and touching down in Christchurch afternoon. The service will provide more than 15,000 seats across the summer season. Christchurch and Adelaide have officially been sister cities for over 50 years and signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2022…

ASB has announced cuts to some of its fixed home loan and term investment rates, marking the bank’s seventh fixed rate mortgage drop in 2025. Yesterday, the country’s biggest bank ANZ announced cuts to its special and standard terms by between four and 20 basis points. This morning ASB announced it would reduce its 6-month fixed home lending term by 14 basis points from 5.59% to 5.45%. The 1-year and two year rates both dropped by 4 basis points to 4.95% respectively. The 18-month rate dropped 10 basis points from 4.99% to 4.89%. Twenty basis points will be cut from…

The deaths of five people in a boat capsize off the Kaikōura coast was caused by exposure to petrol fumes while they were trapped under the hull, a coroner has found.The Nature Photography Society of New Zealand members were two hours into a bird-watching excursion when the boat was hit by a whale and capsized in September 2022. The skipper and five other passengers survived.On Wednesday, coroner Alexandra Cunninghame publicly released findings into the deaths of Catherine Margaret Haddock, 65 and Susan Jane Cade, 63 of Lower Hutt, Diana Ruby Stewart, 68, Peter Charles Hockley, 76 and Maureen Pierre, 75…

The country’s newest retailer has opened its doors in Dunedin this week. The Outlet is in the old Torpedo7 store in Andersons Bay Rd which closed last month. Auckland-based Tahua Group Ltd, which owns Torpedo7 along with the likes of Burger King, Hannah’s Shoes, Number One Shoes and Starbucks in New Zealand, converted 10 existing stores into an “off-price retail concept”. Categories include apparel, footwear, adventure and outdoor gear, home and living, toys, health and beauty and gifts.

High-profile broadcaster Paul Henry has been revealed as the host of the New Zealand version of hit TV quiz show The Chase.Henry’s return to TVNZ was announced on Breakfast – the show he last worked for at the network before leaving in 2010.In The Chase New Zealand he will play the quizmaster role made famous by Bradley Walsh in the British version of the show.Across four primetime specials, Henry will guide Kiwi contestants through the ultimate battle of brains as they face off against the Chasers in a high-stakes test of knowledge and nerve.Henry told Breakfast it was “weird” to…

A group of Havelock North residents are considering legal action in a last-ditch bid to prevent a crematorium being built in the middle of the village.Lawyers say the only avenue open to them is to get the 2024 resource consents, issued by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and the Hastings District Council, overturned.Hastings District Council says the application to include a crematorium at the existing Terry Longley and Sons funeral home in Cooper Street, over the road from the New World supermarket, was carefully assessed.Resource consent required an air discharge consent from HBRC, and a land use consent from HDC.A Hastings…

ADVERTISEMENTBelgium has found itself in the midst of a scandal after it was revealed that a Danish sperm donor with a pathogenic gene mutation conceived 52 children with 37 different Belgian women between 2007 and 2018.The gene mutation, known as TP53, confers a significantly increased risk of cancer.Belgium has the so-called “six-women rule”, setting the legal limit of six families per donor. However, this was rarely implemented in practice because donations are made anonymously.As a result, fertility centres were unaware if they had each used the same donor multiple times. The Belgian government has decided to change the existing law…

A 42-year-old man is facing at least 18 charges after an alleged theft spree on Auckland’s North Shore that included taking a defibrillator. Waitematā East Police said businesses and commuters had been the target of the man’s spree.Among the items allegedly taken was a “defibrillator worth thousands of dollars from one Takapuna business”, Area Commander Inspector Stefan Sagar said. The man also allegedly stole scooters from park and rides at Constellation and Sunnynook stations. Police arrested the man near Takapuna late last week after staff pieced together the series of burglaries and shoplifting, Sagar said. “Thanks to this collation, the man…

ADVERTISEMENTMeloni first received Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico who arrived at the prime minister’s residence, the Chigi Palace, at around 4pm.According to a statement released by the Slovak government, the two leaders discussed the development of bilateral relations and the possibility of further cooperation in the field of energy.”I really appreciate the pragmatic approach of your Prime Minister. I really like your pragmatic way of dealing with issues,” Fico told reporters following the meeting.”We focused on the war in Ukraine. The President of the Council was very interested in my position, since Slovakia is a neighbouring country, of course,” he…