Author: Press Room

Two men have been arrested and charged following an investigation into an alleged text scam in West Auckland.The pair were arrested last week after police searched a property in Henderson as part of Operation Cargo — a joint investigation involving Waitematā Police and the Department of Internal Affairs. Detective Senior Sergeant Ryan Bunting said SIM cards and phones, a sawn-off shotgun, a Ruger 270 bolt action rifle, and ammunition were found and seized during the search. The criminal operation allegedly involved spam messages sent from the house “utilising the ‘hi Mum’, banking and Netflix scams to try and con unsuspecting…

The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress for survivors of torture at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit. Erica Stanford, the Minister in charge Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into Historical Abuse in State Care, confirmed details of the process to media this afternoon. Survivors of abuse could opt for a one-off payment of $150,000 “which recognises an individual’s experience of torture as a child”, or chose an individualised payment process where each claim is assessed by an independent arbiter who will make determinations on payment amounts.As well as the payment, survivors would be…

An Auckland construction company has been fined $500,000 as part of the country’s first criminal prosecution for cartel conduct, where two or more businesses agree not to compete with each other.The company’s director has also been sentenced to six months of community detention and 200 hours of community work.Earlier this year, Munesh Kumar, and his company Maxbuild Limited, admitted to bid rigging of publicly funded projects in Auckland, between January and May 2022.Those projects were the Northern Corridor Improvement Project and The Middlemore Railway Bridge Project.Bid rigging is a process where two or more companies agree on who will bid…

Euronews’ verification team has detected pro-Georgescu TikTok accounts falsely pinning responsibility for the cancelled second round of voting on the EU Commission chief. ADVERTISEMENTDisinformation circulating on Chinese-owned platform TikTok falsely claims that European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen personally intervened to call off the second round of voting in Romania’s presidential elections. The unprecedented decision to annul the first-round vote and cancel the run-off was made earlier this month by Romania’s Constitutional Court, citing declassified intelligence that suggested the first-round result was compromised by a “state actor”.Von der Leyen, who helms the EU’s executive arm, had no stake in that…

Multiple crews are fighting a pine plantation fire on Mount Edgecumbe near Kawerau. Fire and Emergency New Zealand received multiple calls about the blaze at around 2pm today. Initially, two firetrucks, one rural unit and a water tanker were dispatched.On arrival, it was found that a 100m by 100m section of pine plantation was ablaze. So far, 10 units, two helicopters, and a support unit were at the scene. Fire and Emergency said the fire was in a “very windy” area and was not contained. There were no structures at risk.

In an exclusive interview with Euronews in Budapest, Georgia’s new Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili questioned whether the protests by pro-EU groups in her country could truly be described as “peaceful”. ADVERTISEMENTIn an exclusive interview with Euronews in Budapest, Georgia’s new Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili justified the police crackdown on pro-European protesters by pointing to the actions of violent groups among the demonstrators who she alleged specifically targeted the police.Botchorishvili emphasised that everyone has the right to protest, but that these protests must stay peaceful.”Unfortunately, I have to say that we cannot really call this protest necessarily peaceful because the violent groups that were…

Athens says migrant arrivals have increased by about a third since autumn 2023, and that their journeys have become longer and more dangerous. ADVERTISEMENTGreece rescued 23 migrants from a dinghy near the island of Lesbos in the eastern Aegean Sea on Tuesday, just days after at least seven people died when another migrant vessel sank in Greek waters, the authorities said. On Sunday, a boat carrying migrants sank off of the island of Gavdos. Some 39 migrants were rescued from the sinking vessel while other operations saved at least 150 others. Seven bodies have been recovered while dozens remain missing,…

The minimum wage will increase on April 1 next year, the Government announced this morning.The adult minimum wage will move to $23.50 an hour – a 1.5% increase on the current rate of $23.15 per hour.The starting-out and training minimum wages will increase to $18.80, remaining at 80% of the adult rate.Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden confirmed the change today. She said: “Cabinet’s decision reflects the current economic climate and labour market conditions.”The New Zealand economy is still recovering from a sustained period of high interest rates and recessionary conditions. In that context, delivering a modest increase…

During her meeting with President Erdoğan, Ursula von der Leyen announced an additional €1 billion to support Syrian refugees in Turkey, which can be adapted “as things evolve on the ground.” ADVERTISEMENTPresident Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pushed for a tangible and immediate improvement in relations between Turkey and the European Union during a meeting with Ursula von der Leyen that was focused on Syria’s transition of power and the fate of refugees.Turkey was declared a candidate country to join the bloc back in 1999 but, after going through multiple ups and downs, the membership bid was put on a standstill in…

IKEA has taken another major step as it prepares for the opening of its first New Zealand store late next year.This morning, the furniture giant announced it has officially opened an external warehouse near Auckland Airport.The 20,000 square metre building at The Landing Business Park in Māngere is expected to start receiving shipments of IKEA products in May next year, before the company’s first store in Sylvia Park opens “by late 2025”. The warehouse was designed and built by Auckland Airport, IKEA said.”From the day IKEA opens, the IKEA range will be available for delivery to homes across New Zealand,”…