Author: Press Room

Free Christmas trees are on offer in Christchurch this festive season – and it’s helping the environment.A Lyttelton community group is helping families cut down wilding pines littering the Port Hills to take home and decorate.And there’s another benefit to spreading the Christmas cheer – clearing the pest pines to make way for native trees. Once the trees are cut, poison is placed on the trunks to stop them from regrowing.”What we’ve noticed is that the pine trees, the juveniles, they grow in clusters and so there must be some light getting to that area,” the Lyttelton Reserves Committee’s Kirsty…

Water Safety New Zealand is urging Kiwis to “stop and think” before entering the water this summer following three water-related incidents over the weekend.A child died after a water-related event at Motutawa Avalon Park in Lower Hutt on Saturday, while a man who leaped from a boat into the water off Whakatāne also could not be revived.A search for a man who jumped from a Hamilton bridge into the Waikato River on Saturday night was ongoing, RNZ reports.The organisation’s chief executive Daniel Gerrard told Breakfast that “once again, we’ve had a weekend filled with tragedy”.”Sixty-six people have lost their lives…

World football’s governing body has removed the image omitting Crimea from Ukrainian territory, which Kyiv called an “unacceptable error”. ADVERTISEMENTFIFA has apologised for displaying a map during the qualifying draw for the 2026 World Cup that excluded Crimea from Ukraine’s territory, which Kyiv had criticised as an “unacceptable error”.During last week’s draw, world football’s governing body showed a map of countries that cannot be drawn to face each other for geopolitical reasons, such as Spain and Gibraltar, Kosovo versus either Bosnia and Herzegovina or Serbia, and Ukraine and Belarus.The map highlighted Ukraine but did not include the Crimea peninsula as…

An alleged fraudster has been accused of conning multiple victims out of up to $200,000 worth of cash, goods and services.The 31-year-old man was arrested in Tauranga on Saturday, police said. He has been held in custody and is set to appear in Tauranga District Court today.A spokesperson said that, since June, the “prolific” alleged fraudster “has defrauded 18 victims of between $120,000-$200,000 worth of vehicles, goods, services and cash”.”Offending of this type against individuals can be absolutely life-changing and destructive,” said Sergeant Sam Watson.”There are few people who can afford to lose cash or goods worth thousands of dollars…

The multi-orbital satellite constellation, dubbed IRIS², is scheduled to come fully online in 2030. ADVERTISEMENTThe European Union on Monday moved forward with its plan to launch a multi-orbital constellation of satellites to boost its secure communication systems, in particular for security and defence.The European Commission signed 12-year concession contracts for the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²) system with a consortium of companies made up of SES SA, Eutelsat SA, and Hispasat S.A.The project, worth €11 billion, will involve just under 290 satellites that will start being launched in 2029.The objective is to provide secure connectivity services…

A landmark agreement was reached between a Te Tai Tokerau iwi and Northland Regional Council during a hui at Moerewa last week.The deal will provide iwi Ngāti Hine with greater voice at the council table in a major step forward for the council’s resource management relationships with Māori.It is Te Tai Tokerau’s first Northland Regional Council-iwi Mana Whakahono ā Rohe (MWAR) agreement, signed with Ngāti Hine at Otiria Marae in Moerewa on Thursday.At one point towards the end of the often-heated hui, Northland Regional Council (NRC) indicated it might pause the agreement, ahead of the deal eventually being signed.“The kaikaunihera…

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov vowed retaliation for the attack, amid an escalation in drone and missile attacks betwen Kyiv’s and Moscow’s forces. ADVERTISEMENTA Ukrainian drone struck a facility belonging to Russia’s National Guard in Chechnya on Sunday, as Kyiv continues to fight back after a large-scale air attack by Moscow.Footage shared on social media captured the drone flying over the Chechen capital, Grozny, located 800 kilometres southeast of the front line in Ukraine, before exploding. No casualties were reported. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov confirmed that the drone hit a site belonging to the Akhmat Grozny riot police battalion. Two other drones…

Residents of Wellington’s Mt Victoria say the city council has betrayed them by changing planning rules that may allow a seven-storey apartment building to go up in the neighbourhood.But the developer says the high-end residential block – named Mayfair – is the beginning of the suburb’s rejuvenation and the start of a fresh look for Wellington.Homes in Mount Victoria sit on sunny slopes between the city and the green belt. Real estate there is expensive, and features a number of heritage areas and well-kept character homes.Earlier this year, Wellington City Council voted to shrink the city’s ‘character areas’ and remove…

The EU has taken the first step to directly engage with HTS, the Syrian rebel force, while maintaining its designation of a terrorist organisation. ADVERTISEMENTKaja Kallas has instructed a senior diplomat from the European Union to directly engage with the provisional government set up by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the rebel force that led the offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad’s autocracy.The move represents the strongest indication yet about the bloc’s willingness to begin normalising ties with HTS, which has been blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations due to its previous alliance with al-Qaeda.The designation has been transposed…

The government’s financial outlook is expected to deteriorate as a sluggish economy and weaker tax take further delay a return to budget surplus and cause an increase in borrowing.The Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) will be released tomorrow with updated financial and economic forecasts for the next few years and comparison against May’s budget.Westpac senior economist Darren Gibbs said he expected a deeper shade of red for the numbers.”The Government is trying to keep tight control of its spending, but even there spending is running ahead of the budget forecasts.”1News’ Business Correspondent Katie Bradford joined Breakfast to preview…