Author: Press Room
Published on 25/07/2025 – 7:45 GMT+2 •Updated 7:49 ADVERTISEMENT The sophisticated pro-Russian disinformation campaign, dubbed Matryoshka, has ramped up its efforts to spread propaganda in Moldova. It aims to discredit its pro-European Union government as parliamentary elections loom, according to a study. The transparency tool NewsGuard said that the operation promoted false claims that Moldovan President Maia Sandu embezzled $24 million (€20 million) and that she’s addicted to “psychotropic drugs”. It said that one campaign alone targeted Moldova with 39 made-up stories in three months since the elections were called in April this year, compared to zero the year before.…
Deputy Police Commissioner Tania Kura has retired after 37 years of service.Police Minister Mark Mitchell said Kura had notified the Governor-General of her intention to retire from the role and from New Zealand Police in November this year.”I wish to acknowledge Deputy Commissioner Kura for her service, and I wish her and her family the best for the future.”Kura was the first female police commissioner in November last year on an interim basis after Andrew Coster stood down and before Richard Chambers was appointed.In 2023, she was also the first female police officer to be appointed deputy commissioner.Kura joined police…
By Mared Gwyn Jones & Jeremy Fleming Jones Published on 25/07/2025 – 7:00 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT China’s electric vehicle (EV) company Zeekr is committed to a broad expansion throughout the EU despite tariffs slowing its pace, the company’s top European executive has told Euronews. Lothar Schubert, the acting CEO of Zeekr Europe — which is the EV arm of Geely Holdings, one of the Chinese companies targeted by EU tariffs last year — told Euronews’ Europe Today the brand was “committed” to Europe. Last October the EU slapped steep duties on China-made electric vehicles (EVs) to offset the effects of Chinese state subsidies, including…
South Park co-creator Trey Parker had the briefest of responses on Friday to anger from the White House over the season premiere of the animated institution, which showed a naked President Donald Trump in bed with Satan.“We’re terribly sorry,” Parker said, followed by a long, deadpan-comic stare.Parker was asked for his reaction to the fracas as he sat on the stage at San Diego’s Comic-Con International at the beginning of a Comedy Central animation panel that also included his South Park partner Matt Stone, Beavis and Butt-Head creator Mike Judge, and actor Andy Samberg, who co-created the animated Digman!Earlier in…
A group of healthworkers — including specialists, GPs, nurses and paramedics — have signed an open letter to MPs asking them to waive private healthcare during their time in office.Politicians making critical decisions about the public health system system — to cut funding, defer maintenance, or implement restructures — should not be allowed to “insulate” themselves against the consequences, they write.Their prescription?All MPs — and the families of Cabinet ministers — should rely on the public system.The group’s spokesperson, Northland cardiologist Marcus Lee, said the public deserved leaders who were so committed to public healthcare that they were willing to…
Local council rates have increased by 7% to 12% a year on average across the country over the last four years, ANZ economists say. In their latest Property Focus update, they examined the rise in council rates as one of a number of costs of ownership that had increased significantly since the pandemic, alongside insurance and interest rates. “Interest costs are now falling, and insurance and maintenance costs have, on average, largely stopped increasing. However, council rates bills continue to shoot upwards.” Council rate inflation hit a record-high of 12.2% across the country last year. ANZ’s economists said councils had…
A plaque has mysteriously appeared at the grave of a young woman who was murdered and initially buried in soil excavated to build the Mt Victoria tunnel in Wellington, nearly 100 years ago.Her name was Phillis Symons, she was 17 years old, and pregnant, when she was killed by her lover George Errol Coats in 1931.Coates was later found guilty for her murder, and was hanged.”Something rather unusual has happened here in Karori cemetery and that is a plaque has recently appeared on the grave, formerly unmarked grave of Phillis Symons,” Wellington historian Gabor Toth said.The headstone was installed without…
By Susan Edmunds of RNZ Consumer NZ says supermarkets are still making pricing errors, despite increasing pressure and scrutiny on them. Charges have been filed and a number of supermarkets have pleaded guilty to breaching the Fair Trading Act due to inaccurate pricing and misleading specials. But Consumer NZ says misleading specials are still costing shoppers tens of millions of dollars a year and has launched a petition calling for tougher penalties for breaches of the act. It provided examples of a number of ways that people could be caught out by misleading signage in supermarkets. Dodgy multibuy A dodgy multibuy refers to a situation where…
An outburst from the dock, a “bizarre” conversation with a relative about her dead mother’s money at her funeral, and a murdered woman who was “not planning to die tomorrow” — these are some of the pivotal moments during the month-long trial of Julia DeLuney.The trial at the High Court in Wellington lasted four and a half weeks, and the jury took just over a day to reach its verdict.The court heard evidence from forensic experts to accountants and, in the end, the jurors sided with the Crown, finding DeLuney guilty of murdering her 79-year-old mother, Helen Gregory, in her…
Poor welding led to the rudder of a 177m cargo ship breaking off as it left Tauranga in 2023, with only the swift action of the crew preventing it from running aground, an investigation has found.A report by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) into the incident was released today which explained how the 14.2 tonne rudder of the Achilles Bulker detached on July 24, 2023.The Panama-flagged ship bound for China finished loading logs at the Port of Tauranga and began pre-departure preparations at about 2pm.Two pilots — one qualified and one trainee — from the Port of Tauranga had…