Author: Press Room

Auckland’s Pasifika Festival, one of the largest and most vibrant celebrations of Pacific Island cultures, returns to Western Springs this weekend.The festival, in its 32nd year, will showcase the heartbeat of the Pacific through food, music, dance, and more.Manukau ward councillor Alf Filipaina fondly recalls the festival’s early days and attending with his Samoan perspective.”I remember when they started the Pasifika Festival at Western Springs, way back in the day, the first one,” he said.”You look and see your Samoan side of who you are performing, with the songs they sing and the performances.”Filipaina also emphasised the importance of experiencing…

Five people are vying to be Tauranga’s new Māori ward councillor.Nominations have closed for the Te Awanui Māori Ward by-election after Mikaere Sydney resigned from his position in January.Sydney was elected to Tauranga City Council in July 2024 but was unable to take up his position due to illness and has been on unpaid medical leave.Mayor Mahé Drysdale said the by-election was being held under unfortunate circumstances, but it was good to have five candidates standing.”It’s now up to voters to have their say on who they think will best represent Te Awanui at the council governance table.”He encouraged people…

A Far North man best known as Gandalf the green fairy has denied three cannabis-related charges in the Whangārei District Court.Supporters gathered outside the court house in protest this morning, claiming Paul Smith had helped thousands of New Zealanders by providing medicinal cannabis to people with chronic pain or anxiety, as well as chemotherapy patients battling nausea and appetite loss.They held banners bearing slogans such as “A garden is not a crime scene” and “Let nature nurture”.Smith pleaded not guilty to charges of cultivating cannabis, dealing cannabis and possessing cannabis for supply.He elected a trial by jury and was due…

A 70-year-old man was killed and others were left injured by a knifeman in a bus station in the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Monday. ADVERTISEMENTAt least one person was killed and four other people were wounded in a stabbing attack Monday in the northern Israeli city of Haifa. Israeli authorities said the assailant was killed.One teenager and two people aged around 30 suffered serious injuries in the attack, while a person in her 70s was said to be in moderate condition, according to the domestic press, citing Israeli authorities.The attack took place in a bus station, Israeli police…

New Zealand’s first “carbon zero milk” has been dropped by Fonterra as the dairy giant admits it did not meet emissions reduction targets last year.The Simply Milk range was launched in 2020, and as part of the carbon neutral certification, Fonterra was to reduce emissions by 2.2% per bottle by 2024 from farming, manufacturing, distribution, retail and disposal.However, this target was not met and Fonterra has now rebranded the products to focus on donating 10c a bottle to social supermarkets instead.Last week, 1News was unable to find copies of public announcements made in previous years about the carbon-zero product expansion…

A New Zealand telecommunications company has become the first in the world to clone a real customer to feature in its ads.Liz from Kerikeri – or rather her Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated clone – will be the face and voice of Skinny for the next two years.The 65-year-old has handed over her biometric data willingly and, for the past two months, the company has been capturing elements of Liz, Skinny marketing and data director Matt Bains told RNZ’s Checkpoint.”Her likeness, her voice and her mannerisms and then we have used various AI platforms to then replicate that, so when she’s…

Reactions from shocked European officials stacked onto social media over the weekend, following the heated exchange in front of TV cameras between Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, with the German foreign minister calling it the start of a nefarious new era. ADVERTISEMENTWhat did Ukrainians make of the public spat last Friday between US President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy? How does the Ukrainian military perceive the implications of an open rift between the US and Ukraine, and by extension, Europe?Radio Schuman reached out to Euronews’ Ukrainian correspondent, Sasha Vakulina, to provide insight into reactions from on the ground.The remarks…

X users recently flagged how the AI chatbot had seemingly been programmed to ignore sources criticising its owner Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. Euroverify investigates. ADVERTISEMENTGrok 3, the most advanced AI model developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, sparked controversy last week after X users noticed it was being instructed to censor criticism of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.An archived conversation shows Grok being asked to name the biggest disinformation spreader on X, and to share the instructions that it was programmed to follow when giving the answer.Grok’s response reads: “I don’t have enough current data to definitively name the…

It was Mike Nelson’s mother who inspired him to get into the flatpack coffin business. His mother, “a good Scottish lady”, had a stroke at 93 so Nelson realised he should start looking into funeral arrangements. “I went to a local undertaker and said ‘I know nothing about funerals, just educate me’. So he went through all this, that and the other, and at the end of the conversation, he said, ‘What sort of coffin would you like?’ “And I said, ‘Well, mum’s a good Scottish lady, so something affordable?’ And he said, ‘Well, our cheapest coffin is $1850’ -…

Two people are still in hospital after an altercation in the Auckland suburb of Takanini on Friday night.The incident, on Kutukutu Street at about 7.50pm, left three people in hospital with injuries the police said were “consistent with stab wounds”.In an update on Monday, police said one person had been discharged, and the others were in a stable condition.A 34-year-old man, arrested while allegedly fleeing the scene, was due to appear before Manukau District Court on Saturday.He faced three charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.Police at the scene in Takanini. (Source: 1News)The police said he remained…