Friday, December 26

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New Zealanders warned to leave Lebanon amid airstrikes by Israel and Hezbollah
24Sep By No Comments
World News

New Zealanders warned to leave Lebanon amid airstrikes by Israel and Hezbollah

Vehicles wait in traffic in Damour, south of Beirut on 24 September, as people flee southern Lebanon. Photo: IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP New Zealanders are being told to leave Lebanon now, as Israel and Hezbollah continue to exchange heavy fire and hundreds of people have been killed. The government's SafeTravel website warned the security situation could get worse and flights out of the country could be disrupted or cancelled with little notice. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which runs SafeTravel, also told citizens not to travel to Lebanon. "We continue to advise that New Zealanders do not travel to Lebanon. If you are currently in Lebanon, we encourage you to leave now via commercial options. "Airports and airlines may pause or cancel operations at short notice. If you choose not...
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Two men have allegedly attempted to assassinate Donald Trump. One of them remains a mystery
24Sep By No Comments
World News

Two men have allegedly attempted to assassinate Donald Trump. One of them remains a mystery

By Brianna Morris-Grant, ABC News Ryan Wesley Routh (left) and Thomas Matthew Crooks both allegedly sought to kill former US president Donald Trump. Photo: AFPTV / AFP and AFP / HANDOUT Two men have now allegedly tried to assassinate former US president Donald Trump. One, now sitting in a Florida detention centre, allegedly left behind handwritten multiple letters, Google searches, notebooks, and interviews. The other, shot dead, left behind only a mystery. A box that went unopened for months Before he was allegedly spotted pointing the barrel of a rifle through the fence of Donald Trump's Florida golf course, a witness says 58-year-old Ryan Routh left a box at his home. For months, the box went unopened. As news broke of the apparent assassination attempt and Routh's name and photo ...
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Working from home: Why employees like it, and what the law says
24Sep By No Comments
Business

Working from home: Why employees like it, and what the law says

Photo: 123RF A recruitment agency survey has found people who work from home are able to save more than $5000 a year, and often make decisions based on what jobs have more flexibility. Despite this, the government has told department bosses to tighten up on the numbers and the reasons people work from home, citing concerns over productivity and struggling retail businesses. It comes after more than 6500 public servants have lost their jobs under the current government, and as the cost of living continues to climb. Viv Beck, boss of Auckland business group Heart of the City, is urging the council and other employers to follow Willis and direct their staff back into offices too. Frog Recruitment managing director Shannon Barlow says its surveys show it was not always about the novelty of a...
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The pros and cons of working from home
24Sep By No Comments
Business

The pros and cons of working from home

Photo: Cristian Tarzi / Unsplash Working from home - at least some of the time - is just part of the job for many New Zealand office workers. But with the government cracking down on remote work, and international organisations such as Amazon and Tesla taking a harder line, more questions are being asked about the future of the home office. Here are reasons for and against the WFH life. For... Productivity Despite what some pundits might have you believe, there's limited evidence that whether you work from home has any impact on your productivity. Jarrod Haar, a professor at Massey University, said his research had consistently shown that hybrid workers - those going into the office and working from home - were most productive. Second and third would switch between full-time office work...
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Blis Technologies alleges European manufacturer hijacked its intellectual property
24Sep By No Comments
Business

Blis Technologies alleges European manufacturer hijacked its intellectual property

Photo: 123rf A small New Zealand biotech company alleges it has had its intellectual property hijacked by an overseas customer. Blis Technologies said it has found that the key customer has filed a patent for two of its processes in the USA, Europe, and China, which was expected to cut its revenue and add to its costs. Blis has developed probiotic products for mouth, throat, and skin healthcare, and disclosed trade secrets, with a non-disclosure agreement, to the European manufacturer as it worked on fermentation processes. It said a patent named two employees from the manufacturer as the inventors of the processes, and the wording in some parts of the application was identical or nearly identical to the information Blis disclosed. "Blis is concerned by the release of its confidential in...
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High Court rolls chair of Watercare just 3 months into job
24Sep By No Comments
Business

High Court rolls chair of Watercare just 3 months into job

By Jonathan Milne of Watercare's Taukau treatment plant (file image). Photo: Supplied via LDR When Auckland Council's performance and appointments committee made the decision on a new chair for its giant subsidiary Watercare, it was behind closed doors. The vote was taken with the mayor, his deputy and another councillor absent. A procedural amendment by councillor Maurice Williamson was passed, that the council's independent Māori advisory panel Houkura says breached standing orders - but that rule change enabled engineer Geoff Hunt to win the role. Hunt took up the chair of council-owned Watercare, New Zealand's biggest water company, on 4 July. Now, on application from the council's own advisory board Houkura, the High Court has set aside Hunt's appointment. And ...
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XEC: Know all about new Covid variant identified in 15 countries
24Sep By No Comments
Health

XEC: Know all about new Covid variant identified in 15 countries

Covid seems to be rising again with a new and more contagious variant -- XEC -- spreading rapidly across 15 countries.  First detected in Germany in June, XEC is a combination of the KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 variants. According to reports, it has already overtaken the previously dominant FliRT strain of the deadly virus.   The strain, belonging to the Omicron variant, is currently spreading "quite rapidly" across Europe, North America and Asia. About 550 samples have now been reported, from 27 countries, including Poland, Norway, Luxembourg, Ukraine, Portugal, the US and China have now reported samples. "At this juncture, the XEC variant appears to be the most likely one to get legs next," Eric Topol, Director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California, US, said in a recent...
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New Zealand’s most, and least, economically challenged regions
24Sep By No Comments
Business

New Zealand’s most, and least, economically challenged regions

Gisborne. Photo: CC BY 2/ Richard Grevers Forget Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch - Gisborne is where the most economic growth was happening in the June quarter, according to new data. ASB has released its latest Regional Economic Scoreboard, which ranks regions based on their annual growth in employment, building consents and retail sales. The three months to June were relatively bleak across the board, ASB said, but senior economist Chris Tennent-Brown said easing inflation pressure by the end of the year should mean a brighter 2025. He said he expected unemployment to hit 5 percent by the end of the year and the construction outlook was likely to remain weak, "However, we're seeing some positive signs in the housing market with house sales increasing by 6.8 percent and prices ris...
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Wellington’s largest taxi company in voluntary administration
24Sep By No Comments
Business

Wellington’s largest taxi company in voluntary administration

The administrators said the company and associated businesse were facing cashflow difficulties and could not continue to operate in their current form. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller Wellington Combined Taxis is in voluntary administration due to cashflow problems, and could be sold. The company is the largest taxi firm in the capital and one of the largest in the country, with 330 cabs operating as either owner-drivers or lease operators. Iain Bruce Shephard and Jessica Jane Kellow of BDO Wellington have been appointed as joint administrators of the taxi company, as well as the associated businesses Wellington Combined Properties and Combined Finance Limited. In mid-2023, Wellington Combined faced legal action from several drivers which BDO said had led to internal disruption and a lar...
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Best rainproof staycation ideas and hotels
24Sep By No Comments
Life Style

Best rainproof staycation ideas and hotels

Regretting the decision to fully embrace Blighty for the summer months, swapping the sun-baked edges of the Mediterranean for Pimms, bouncy green lawns and bucket-and-spade jaunts? Me too. It was one of the coldest summers on record since 2015. Plus the blissful last of the summer sun we’ve got used to in September is nowhere to be seen. But if you’ve got a British staycay in your sights, why not rainproof it? Many British hotels are well practiced in the art, with extraordinary spa treatments and indoor facilities that can engulf you for days on end, workshops that trump any forest trail and even a spot of indoor polo (why not)? Gilpin Hotel & Lake House, Relais & Châteaux, Cumbria For embracing the rainy Lake District, Beatrix Potter styleThere are hot tubs parked in every suite...
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