Author: Press Room

With fireworks going on sale tomorrow, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) is once again urging Kiwis to be smart and safe when setting them off. Kiwis will be able to buy fireworks between November 2 and November 5 ahead of Guy Fawkes on Tuesday. Speaking to Breakfast this morning, FENZ senior community engagement and education specialist Tom Ronaldson said the fire service usually gets “busy” at this time of year.“Over the last five years, we’ve seen 676 incidents caused by fireworks, 513 of which are vegetation fires,” he said. He said that if you were choosing to light fireworks…

With NCEA exams set to get underway, clinical psychologist Dougal Sutherland joined Breakfast to share his top tips on creating the best study environment.His first tip, for parents, was to “give your teen some space and some time off”.”If they have to do some chores or look after the younger kids, give them some space from that so they can actually have some space to study.”His next tip was to “map out” when the exams are scheduled, and study accordingly, giving priority to those which are set for closer dates.But when it comes to actually studying, Sutherland said “just do…

The Commerce Commission is taking GIB board maker Winstone Wallboards to court for anti-competitive behaviour. The competition watchdog said the Fletcher Building subsidiary’s use of rebates in supply agreements with building supplies merchants between 2017 and 2022 breached the Commerce Act. Commerce Commission chairperson John Small said the conduct was serious and harmed competition by reducing the ability of smaller suppliers or new entrants to compete. “While the use of rebates can deliver benefits, retroactive tiered rebates can also harm competition when they are used by a supplier with substantial market power because they can reduce the ability of smaller…

Philip Polkinghorne, who was charged with and acquitted of murdering his wife, has been sentenced to community work after a judge said the maximum available fine wouldn’t be enough.Polkinghorne was sentenced today for possessing methamphetamine and a methamphetamine pipe.They’re charges he pleaded guilty to just as his murder trial got underway in late July.The retired eye surgeon, 71, was the centre of a high-profile eight-week trial at the High Court in Auckland.The Crown accused him of murdering Pauline Hanna and staging the scene to look like a suicide.A jury found him not guilty of murder and manslaughter.Polkinghorne returned to the…

A $50 million community hub with wraparound support – believed to be the first of its kind in the world – has opened its doors in central Wellington.Whakamaru, developed and run by the Wellington City Mission, contains 35 apartments for vulnerable people and offers 24/7 support. It also offers services that can be accessed by anyone who needs it, including a medical centre, social supermarket, dental surgery, laundry service, and a café.The café, Craig and Gail’s, is open to the public during the day with a flexible pricing plan that allows coffee lovers to pay it forward. The public can…

State-owned carmaker SAIC Motor said it will take Brussels to the European Court of Justice to “protect its legitimate rights and interests,” as the ongoing trade row escalates into products like brandy, dairy products and chemicals. ADVERTISEMENTChina’s SAIC Motor plans to take the European Commission to the European Court of Justice over 45% tariffs imposed on its electric vehicles, the carmaker said on Wednesday, further escalating global trade tensions.It comes after the Chinese government said it filed a lawsuit at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over an EU probe which the Commission says is “fact-based” and “anti-subsidy”.Brussels says Beijing is…

A court has heard evidence indicating the signal of real estate agent Yanfei Bao’s phone was picked up at the same locations around the city as her alleged killer on the day she disappeared.Tingjun Cao is on trial for the murder of the 44-year-old mum, a charge he denies.The defendant wasn’t in the courtroom at the Christchurch High Court today, with a Mandarin translation of proceedings instead provided to him remotely through a headset.The day after Yanfei Bao disappeared in July last year, her phone was found discarded alongside Christchurch’s Southern Motorway.Detective Michael Hawke told the court where he found…

The Belarusian leader accused the West of inflating facts to pressure EU and NATO and called for unconditional negotiations. ADVERTISEMENTFollowing reports of North Korean troops deployed in Russia, Belarus’ leader said no one had seen any Pyongyang soldiers on the frontline with Ukraine, accusing the West of “inflating the fact”, which may lead to escalation. “They are inflating it for what? To finally put pressure on the European Union and introduce NATO troops into (the war in Ukraine),” President Alexander Lukashenko said at the Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security. All sides of the conflict should “sit down at the negotiation table without…

Central North Island iwi Ngāti Rangi is offering housing opportunities to tribal members in the iwi’s first housing development.The Orōnaki development in Ohakune has delivered four new three-bedroom homes. They will be offered to whānau as affordable rental properties.Ngāti Rangi pou ārahi/chief executive Helen Leahy said the small-scale initiative was the beginning of a long-held aspiration to address the lack of affordable, healthy homes in Ohakune.”We want to support whānau in meeting their housing aspirations, particularly those whānau where there is currently no support available to them,” Leahy said.The new houses on Foyle St were fully insulated to a higher…

Latest reports show the EU is bucking a global trend for continuously rising emissions, but still not on track to meet its own climate action targets. ADVERTISEMENTThe EU’s climate commissioner has seized on a sharp fall in emissions across the bloc as evidence that climate action is not incompatible with economic growth, as he prepares for the major UN climate summit in Azerbaijan next month.“As we head off soon to COP29, we once again demonstrate to our international partners that it is possible to take climate action and invest in growing our economy at the same time,” Wopke Hoekstra said…