Author: Press Room

“Frustrated locals” have vandalised parking machines in Tauranga in an attempt to stall paid parking, a business owner believes.Four Tauranga City Council parking terminals have been damaged in the past 10 days and will each cost about $2000 to fix.Rutherford Signs director Matt Batchelor believed the two machines on Glasgow St and Third Ave were damaged with hammers.”Frustrated locals have now resorted to vandalising the new, very expensive-looking paid parking terminals with hammers in an effort to delay progress [of paid parking].”Paid parking in the city centre fringe begins on Monday, August 18. It was meant to start on August…

Five flights across the country were delayed and others were grounded following a power outage affecting air traffic control this afternoon.Air traffic service provider Airways New Zealand “experienced a disruption to its main oceanic air traffic control system which temporarily disrupted air traffic services operating across the Tasman”, CEO James Young told 1News in a statement. “At 4.30pm, the main oceanic air traffic control system experienced an outage and operations were switched to a back-up system. During this time, flight plans for the Tasman sector were unable to be processed through the system, causing delays.”Five flights were held in the…

A Gisborne resident no longer keeps stock animals on her property after six roaming dogs killed more than 50 lambs, ducks and chickens in her community.After what she described as a “heartbreaking” attack last October, the unregistered dogs were surrendered to Gisborne District Council’s animal control department and euthanised.Adelle Tombleson, who lost 16 lambs and three ewes, gave up keeping animals on her land in the Nelson Rd-Campion Rd area because of the constant worry.Almost a year on, figures show there were more than 100 reports of dog attacks on humans and other animals in the region for the year…

Published on 16/08/2025 – 13:52 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT European leaders have said they are “ready to work with US President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy towards a trilateral summit with European support,” in a statement issued by the European Commission on Saturday. “It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders must not be changed by force,” the statement read, which was released a few hours after the conclusion of a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The statement was signed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian…

Another Cabinet minister has been caught up in the United Nations letter-writing imbroglio, with new documents showing David Seymour first ran his response past Paul Goldsmith before he sent it.Seymour, writing as Regulations Minister, fired off a blunt reply to the UN in July that prompted public rebukes from both Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters for bypassing proper processes.Seymour refused to concede any mistake but agreed to formally withdraw his letter so Peters could issue one on behalf of the full government.New correspondence, released to RNZ under the Official Information Act, reveals Goldsmith, the Treaty Negotiations…

A prison in Waikato was under lockdown for several hours after 11 inmates damaged prison property and lit “several small fires” in the exercise yard, Corrections says. Emergency services were called to Spring Hill Corrections Facility near Meremere around 3.30pm after a group of prisoners refused to exit the exercise yard.”Some of the prisoners are refusing to exit an exercise yard and are damaging prison property,” Corrections’ Commissioner Custodial Services, Leigh Marsh, told 1News in a statement. “The prisoners have lit several small fires on the concrete in the exercise yard they are in, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand…

A Wellington eco-sanctuary is once again celebrating weasel-free status after being confronted by multiple trespassers.Over the course of a week in June, Zealandia rangers discovered the bodies of mustelids who had weaselled their way inside the sanctuary.Zealandia confirmed the total body count in the traps was five.The traps had been set after a tree fell onto the predator-free fence during a storm in May, possibly providing an opening for the weasels to get inside the exclusion zone.In an update on the incursion, Zealandia said it was confident it was once again weasel-free after a thorough two-day search by a mustelid…

ASB has today dropped four of its fixed home lending rates, as all the major banks make moves ahead of next week’s official cash rate decision by the Reserve Bank.It comes in the wake of ANZ, BNZ, Kiwibank and Westpac, who all dropped some fixed and special home loan interest rates in recent days. Effective immediately, ASB said it had dropped the six-month fixed home lending term 17 basis points from 5.29% to 5.12%. Its one-year and 18-month terms were both reduced by 10 basis points, to 4.79%. All the major banks are offering 4.79% for one-year. The two-year rate…

A 25-year-old woman has been charged with murder and a homicide investigation launched following a woman’s death in the Bay of Plenty yesterday. District Manager Criminal Investigations Detective Inspector Lew Warner said emergency services were called to reports of a serious assault at a property on State Highway 30 in Awakeri around 4.30pm. “Despite medical attention, sadly the injured woman died at the scene,” he said. A 25-year-old woman was taken into custody, and was due to appear in Whakatāne District Court today, charged with murder. The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, Trump rates chances of success ahead of meeting…

A Whakatāne couple were slapped with a “first strike” sticker on their greenwaste bin despite being meticulous about following the rules.Due to rising contamination in recycling and greenwaste bins, Whakatāne District Council introduced a three strikes system at the beginning of July, with the threat of having the bins temporarily confiscated after two warnings.The council has issued 173 first warnings and another 10 second warnings.“My husband was so furious when he came home, he chased the rubbish man down the road and asked ‘what’s the idea’,” said one of the Coastlands residents, who didn’t want to be named for fear…