Author: Press Room

Over the past decade, EU exports to the US have surged by 44%. ADVERTISEMENTIn 2024, the US imported a total of just over €584 billion in goods from the EU.  April, July, and November were the top months for US imports, according to the US Census Bureau.Between 2014 and 2024, US imports from the EU grew by 44%.  On the other hand, the US exported around €357 billion in goods to the EU in 2024.  The top months were March, August, and November.In 2014, the US exported over €266 billion in goods to the EU, with the following 10 years seeing a 34%…

Westpac has bumped up its farmgate milk price forecast for this season by 30c to $10.30, citing resilience in world dairy prices and a lower New Zealand dollar. In an update yesterday, senior economist Michael Gordon said global dairy prices had generally held their ground and the dollar was helping to boost local returns. In December, Fonterra raised the midpoint of the 2024-25 season forecast farmgate milk price by 50c to $10, giving a forecast range of $9.50-$10.50. Mr Gordon said the last two GlobalDairyTrade auctions had seen a solid lift in dairy prices although that followed declines in the…

A person has been taken to Middlemore Hospital in a critical condition after an incident in a shipping container in South Auckland, Hato Hone St John has confirmed.One other person received moderate injuries and was treated at the scene by emergency services at about midday today.RNZ understood they were hired labourers from a housing company and were unloading marble from the container at a property on Chonny Court in Manurewa.Debris at the site. (Source: RNZ / Marika Khabazi)A spokesperson for the freight logistics company where the incident happened said WorkSafe was being made aware.WorkSafe confirmed it was notified and it…

“The EU cannot fill this gap left by others,” the European Commission told Euronews as disability NGOs seek emergency aid from Brussels after US President Donald Trump blocked international development projects. ADVERTISEMENTFunding of international humanitarian aid, including to Ukrainians harmed by the Russian war of aggression, has been severely hit by the dismantling of USAID under the Trump White House, but the European Union cannot fill the gap, the European Commission has acknowledged.  NGOs supporting people with disabilities in the Balkans and Eastern Europe have seen their work disrupted due to the US decision to halt foreign aid funding. In response,…

Independent directors of Millennium and Copthorne Hotels have described a takeover bid by its majority shareholder CDL Hotels Holdings New Zealand Ltd as “too low” and “inadequate”. Last month, CDL Hotels Holdings New Zealand Ltd — which is owned by Singapore-listed City Developments Ltd — announced the offer to buy all of the ordinary shares that it did not already own, at $2.25 a share. In an update to shareholders yesterday, Millennium and Copthorne Hotels New Zealand independent directors committee chairman Leslie Preston said the independent directors believed the offer did not sufficiently reflect the value of MCK’s hotel and…

A landlord who says her tenant poisoned her dogs with chocolate has had her claim for compensation declined by the Tenancy Tribunal — and been told to pay $1320 to the tenant.Kate Bone rented a property to a tenant, whose name was suppressed, from early May last year. But the tenancy ended on May 27.The tenant said the landlord had terminated her tenancy without grounds, and Bone filed her own claim for damage to carpet, loss of rent, and doctor’s fees.The tenanted property was a granny flat of her home on the ground floor. A locked door connected the two…

Coalition talks between the FPÖ and ÖVP, which received a mandate to attempt to form a government last month, have gound to a halt. The two parties’ leaders are set to meet with President Alexander van der Bellen. ADVERTISEMENTThere is increasing uncertainty regarding Austria’s government formation, as coalition talks between the far-right FPÖ and conservative ÖVP appear to have stalled.While coalition talks between the two parties continued on Tuesday morning, critical voices from the ÖVP increasingly raised doubts throughout the day over whether a successful conclusion could be reached.ÖVP leader Christian Stocker and FPÖ chairman Herbert Kickl were expected to…

Next time you want to have a courageous conversation at a meeting, how about ditching the proverbial mints and replacing them with something altogether more tasty? One strategy for de-escalating conflict is to use food. Food lover and playwright Oscar Wilde observed this in A Woman of No Importance when he wrote “after a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s relations” and “the way to everyone’s heart is through their stomach”. Sharing food signals vulnerability and trust-building. It gives a communal focus to the people at the table. It can shift the tone of the room, even through the small…

Restoring a Northland wetland illegally drained and sprayed for a watermelon farm will take huge effort and expense, a local expert says.In a recent Environment Court decision, Paul Harvey and New Zealand Watermelon Distributors were ordered to undertake “immediate remedial work” to undo damage to the protected Kaimaumau Wetland, the largest wetland in Northland and one of the most ecologically significant.The decision stated that much of a 55 hectare area of wetland at Motutangi, north of Kaitāia, had been cleared, sprayed with herbicide, drained with 600m of illegally-dug channels, and pugged by cattle.The damage was first discovered by Northland Regional…

More than 1,200 police officers carried out a series of dawn raids targeting the Cosa Nostra mafia in and around Sicily’s capital of Palermo. ADVERTISEMENTAround 150 people were arrested on Tuesday in a huge sting operation against the mafia in Sicily’s capital of Palermo, according to local police. More than 1,200 officers took part in the dawn raids targeting the Cosa Nostra criminal organisation, an action that Italian media said was the biggest such crackdown on the mob in four decades.A total of 183 arrest warrants were issued against the mob’s members, although 36 of the suspects were already in…