Author: Press Room

ADVERTISEMENTLast month, the leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, was found guilty of embezzling EU funds and barred from running for political office in France for five years, causing a political firestorm.Her €100,000 fine and four-year prison sentence — of which two are suspended and the other two served with an electronic bracelet — will be put on hold until the appeals process is exhausted.However, this is not the case for her ban from public office or “ineligibility sentence,” which comes into force immediately despite her appeal.This is because that part of her sentence has been…

A Tauranga pub and connecting bottle shop have been stripped of their liquor licences after “repeated” breaches of the law. The Welcome Bay Sports Bar and Grill and the Welcome Bay Super Liquor bottle store attached to the bar will no longer be able to sell alcohol following a recent hearing at the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority (ARLA). Both establishments would remain closed “for the foreseeable future”, the council has said. According to the Tauranga City Council, the bar sold alcohol to an underaged person twice, in November 2023 and November 2024. Police had also applied to the ARLA…

It’s not every day you see a country’s prime minister chanting “Yum yum!” in public. But in the colourful, chaotic world of Eurovision, that’s just part of the hype – especially when Australia’s 2025 entry is a shirtless man dancing in an ice cream truck.Meet Go-Jo, also known as “Milkshake Man”, the viral pop star from Western Australia who’s about to hit Europe’s biggest stage with a song that’s part club banger, part life philosophy.“It’s a superpower,” he said of the song’s deeper message. “It’s about confidence. Feeling loud and proud. That’s why I made the Milkshake Man to help…

Ten water meters were vandalised in Huntly overnight on Friday, which the council said had an “immense” impact on the town’s drinking water network. Waikato District Council said it appeared the lids were lifted and a chain tied to the meters to rip them out using a vehicle. In some cases the backflow pipes were also ripped out. Waikato District Council waters manager Keith Martin said on Saturday morning Watercare engineers noted that treated water levels in Kimihia reservoir in Huntly were dropping at an alarming rate. Staff rushed to the damaged sites, with two locations with 50mm pipes of…

Power has been restored in Invercargill after an outage this morning that impacted the city centre and other areas, including Otatara. The outage occurred around 9.30am, with a second fault occurring 45 minutes later. “PowerNet is pleased to advise that power has been restored to all customers, as at approximately 1.30pm today,” a spokesperson said.”Our investigation into the cause and repairs have been completed – the outage was caused by a duck flying into power lines – not a downed power pole or lines as previously thought.”

ADVERTISEMENTCould Italian Prime Minister Meloni be help the EU avert a trade war with the United States by intervening successfully with Trump? What strategy is she pursuing? Radio Schuman explores these questions today in conversation with Federico Castiglioni, a researcher at the Italian think tank Istituto Affari Internazionali.Following Trump’s announcement of 20% tariffs on EU imports, Meloni stood was one of the few European leaders to caution against escalating, warning that retaliation by the EU would be the worst possible response.Italian media report that she has the implicit support of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and is seen…

A Woodville farmer has been banned from owning farm animals for two years and placed on six months’ community detention after his ‘unacceptable’ neglect of sheep led to 55 being euthanised. The farmer, 64-year-old Noel Thomas Cunningham, was sentenced at the Palmerston North District Court yesterday after admitting to three charges under the Animal Welfare Act.His sentence resulted from an investigation by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). Animal Welfare Inspectors grew concerned about the welfare of Cunningham’s animals after finding farm infrastructure like fencing and water distribution, “particularly on the 40-hectare sheep block,” had been “lacking for some time”.…

Breakfast presenter Jenny-May Clarkson has issued a warning after her likeness was used in an AI-generated video promoting what appeared to be a scam gambling website.The video used AI-generated audio and video to make it seem like Clarkson was promoting an app called “Māori Game”. Also appearing in the video was an AI-generated version of Kiwi director Taika Waititi. “I want to make it very clear that that wasn’t me speaking,” Clarkson said on Breakfast this morning. She said the video’s use of her and Waititi’s likeness shone a light on how Māori were being “targeted more and more” by…

Labour list MP and former Minister David Parker has announced he will leave Parliament.Parker was first elected to Parliament as the MP for Otago in 2002. He previously served as Attorney General and Minister of Trade, Revenue, Economic Development, Associate Finance, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, State Services, Transport and Land Information.He will deliver his valedictory speech in early May.”I leave enthusiastic for New Zealand and for the New Zealand Labour Party. I want to thank my Parliamentary colleagues and wish them well for the hard work ahead,” he said.”I was a serial entrepreneur before coming to Parliament and have been…

The owners of the troubled Du Val property group have been ordered to meet with receivers and answer questions under oath about their personal assets and more.The High Court issued the ruling after Kenyon and Charlotte Clarke refused to meet with receivers PwC.Du Val’s 70 entities are in statutory management, owing more than $300 million, and the Clarkes are in personal receivership, with their assets frozen.The receivers have been trying to interview the couple in part to understand which of the assets in their possession are theirs personally, and which belong to Du Val entities.In her decision, Justice Jane Anderson…