Monday, April 27

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‘Good fella’ – tributes flow for New Zealand pilot killed in Cairns helicopter crash
13Aug By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments
World News

‘Good fella’ – tributes flow for New Zealand pilot killed in Cairns helicopter crash

Blake Wilson, 23, has been named as the New Zealand pilot killed in a helicopter crash in Cairns. Photo: Facebook Those who knew the New Zealand pilot who died in a Cairns helicopter crash on Monday say he was a "good all-round fella" and "one of the best out there". Nautilus Aviation chief executive Aaron Finn confirmed on Tuesday that a member of the company's ground crew misappropriated a helicopter following a celebration among staff to celebrate his promotion. Blake Wilson, 23, has since been named as the person who flew the few minutes from Cairns Airport into the no-fly zone over the CBD, before crashing into the roof of the DoubleTree hotel. Wilson, the sole occupant, died at the scene. New Zealand police have confirmed they have notified the pilot's next of kin after a request ...
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Green Investment Fund for household solar power attrracts overseas finance
13Aug By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments
Business

Green Investment Fund for household solar power attrracts overseas finance

The fund will help SolarZero install more household solar energy systems. Photo: Supplied The state-owned Green Investment Fund has raised $365m in capital from overseas private investors to fund solar power for New Zealand homes. It was working with SolarZero, a provider of more than 15,000 household solar energy systems, to finance the installation of more systems. Offshore investors, First Sentier Investors, Natixis Investment Managers and Societe Generale, have bought in to what the fund is calling a "pool of solar assets". Read more: NZGIF chief investment officer Jason Patrick said it was a unique offering that had proven to be attractive to foreign lenders. "What we're issuing debt off of is a pool of installed solar assets on more than 10,000 Kiwi homes and having a pool of ass...
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Only Gaza ceasefire can delay Iran’s Israel response, say Iranian officials
13Aug By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments
World News

Only Gaza ceasefire can delay Iran’s Israel response, say Iranian officials

Displaced Palestinians are doing chores by their tents at a makeshift displacement camp set up on a roadside in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via AFP By Parisa Hafezi and Laila Bassam, Reuters Only a ceasefire deal in Gaza stemming from hoped-for talks this week would hold Iran back from direct retaliation against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil, three senior Iranian officials said. Iran has vowed a severe response to Haniyeh's killing, which took place as he visited Tehran late last month and which it blamed on Israel. Israel has neither confirmed or denied its involvement. The US Navy has deployed warships and a submarine to the Middle East to bolster Israeli defences. One of the sources, a senior Iranian s...
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Approach by banks a ‘major barrier’ for housing, critical infrastructure
13Aug By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments
Business

Approach by banks a ‘major barrier’ for housing, critical infrastructure

Photo: 123RF Master Builders say the industry is being held back by the ability to get finance for housing and major infrastructure developments like schools and hospitals. A survey of more than 1000 homeowners and 300 builders ranked difficult financing as the number one issue, followed closely by weak consumer demand and the rising costs of construction. Master Builders chief executive Ankit Sharma said the current economic conditions had resulted in a slowdown. He said the highly conservative approach taken by the banking sector is a major barrier to the development of much needed housing and critical infrastructure. "We need businesses and clients to have the confidence that they can access money for projects, because it sends the signal that the economy is going to recover, and that...
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Expectations rising the Reserve Bank will cut the official cash rate
13Aug By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments
Business

Expectations rising the Reserve Bank will cut the official cash rate

Photo: RNZ The Reserve Bank will announce the Official Cash Rate at 2pm on Wednesday. The current rate is 5.5 percent. The Reserve Bank had previously indicated it wasn't likely to drop until 2025. But business leaders and economists now think it's likely they'll move sooner as inflation slows and unemployment rises. Most banks have been pre-empting lower rates with drops in their lending rates already. Expectations are building that the Reserve Bank will cut the official cash rate on Wednesday for the first time in more than four years. Wholesale interest rates have been falling in recent weeks as financial markets expect the first cut to the official cash rate since March 2020. The Reserve Bank started increasing the cash rate in late 2021 in response to high inflation, with the OCR ...
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Visa fee increases could cement tourism decline – airline industry
13Aug By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments
Business

Visa fee increases could cement tourism decline – airline industry

Photo: RNZ Board of Airline Representatives says rising visa fees could hurt New Zealand's tourism recovery. Visa fees will increase on 1 October. Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment says the new rates won't significantly impact demand. BARNZ criticised MBIE for not consulting airlines, which they say hold crucial tourism data. Rising visa fees could cement a decline in tourism too hard to bounce back from, the Board of Airline Representatives says. Higher visa fees are set to take effect from 1 October - a move Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said would free up more than $563 million over four years. A visitor visa would increase from $211 to $341, while the working holiday scheme would rise from $420 to $670. Official documents showed that in March the Ministry of Bus...
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NZ Pilot killed in Cairns helicopter crash named
13Aug By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments
World News

NZ Pilot killed in Cairns helicopter crash named

Photo: Facebook By Kristy Sexton-McGrath, Christopher Testa, and Sarah Richards, ABC Far North The pilot killed when a helicopter crashed into a Cairns hotel roof has been identified as 23-year-old Blake Wilson of New Zealand, who had been working as a ground crew employee with the company for four months. Nautilus Aviation CEO Aaron Finn confirmed late Tuesday afternoon that a member of the company's ground staff "gained unauthorised access to [the] helicopter hangar and misappropriated one of [the] helicopters". He said the employee held a New Zealand pilot's licence but had never flown in Australia. Finn said there was a gathering of company employees on Sunday night, including off-duty-pilots, celebrating a promotion of the man who flew the helicopter. "This was a privately organised...
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Construction industry losing confidence over lack of govt work
13Aug By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments
Business

Construction industry losing confidence over lack of govt work

One third of construction contractors expect to see revenue growth this year, compared with 47 percent in 2023. File photo. Photo: 123rf.com The construction industry is losing confidence, amid rising concern about the lack of a clear pipeline of government work in the immediate future. The 2024 Construction Industry Survey - commissioned by Civil Contractors - found just one in five contractors have confidence in the outlook, which compared with a third last year. A third expected to see revenue growth this year, compared with 47 percent in 2023, 52 percent in 2022 and 55 percent in 2021. Civil Contractors chief executive Alan Pollard said the industry was facing a severe lack of work, which was affecting 64 percent of businesses, compared with 29 percent in 2023. "There has to be chan...
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Know all about Neeraj Chopra`s inguinal hernia injury
13Aug By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments
Health

Know all about Neeraj Chopra`s inguinal hernia injury

For elite athletes, the impact of an inguinal hernia can be significant, affecting performance and requiring careful management, said doctors in the wake of reports on Neeraj Chopra suffering from a long-standing inguinal or groyne hernia. An inguinal hernia is a bulge of abdominal organs like the omentum or intestine through the natural openings through which testicular vessels and cord structures pass from the abdomen to the testes. Chopra, India’s leading track and field athlete, bagged a Silver medal in the recently concluded Paris Olympics 2024. His performance was reportedly impacted due to the condition during the men’s javelin final at the Olympics, finishing behind Pakistan`s Arshad Nadeem. The 26-year-old javelin star, while speaking to the media, said that he has been sufferi...
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Sugar, spice, and everything nice
13Aug By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments
Entertainment, Movies

Sugar, spice, and everything nice

Despite his pedigree, Siddhant Issar, the son of veteran actor Puneet Issar, has not found the road to fame easy. The actor claims he didn’t want it any other way. He began his career as a writer, then moved on to theatre and directed short films before making his television debut with Mahima Mata Vaishno Devi (2023) and Shiv Shakti—Tap Tyaag Taandav (2023). After two mythological shows, Siddhant now plays the protagonist, Devil Maalik, in the fantasy show, Shaitani Rasmein. He claims that the character is similar to Tom Ellis’s Lucifer Morningstar in the hit show Lucifer. “This is my first supernatural fantasy show. He is the Indianised version of Lucifer. He is one of the crown princes of Hell and hopes to rule the world. My character is a mix of sugar, spice, and everything nice and bad...
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