By rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission

Air New Zealand has confirmed Nouméa airport in New Caledonia is closed until Tuesday, as civil unrest continues in the French territory.

In a statement, Air NZ said the closure of the airport left it “with no option but to cancel our services on Saturday 18 May and Monday 20 May”.

“Even when the airport does reopen, Air New Zealand will only operate into Nouméa when we can be assured that the airport is safe and secure, and that there is a safe route for our ground staff and customers to reach the airport.

“We are in close contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), who are providing us with updated information and guidance, as well as our codeshare partner Aircalin.

Once we are able to resume operations again, customers will be rebooked onto available services. We are also offering flexibility for customers to defer travel.”

Earlier today, Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters told Morning Report government officials had been working on an “hourly basis” to see what could be done to help New Zealanders wanting to leave.

That included the Airforce or using a commercial airline.

More than 200 New Zealanders were registered as being in the country, his advice to them was to stay in place and keep in contact.

Before the closure of the airport, Wellington researcher Barbara Graham – who has been in Nouméa for five weeks – said the main issue was “the road to the airport … and I understand it still impassable because of the danger there, the roadblocks and the violent groups of people”.

More to come…

By 1news.co.nz and is republished with permission

A mother has been told she will need to pay to have her “not drivable” car towed from a yard after it was stolen with her baby in the backseat in Taranaki last week.

The incident occurred just after the mother had got out of the vehicle on May 10 in the tight-knit community of Waitara.

CCTV footage uploaded to social media appears to show the person who stole the car dumping the infant on a grass verge.

The car was then driven all over Taranaki over the weekend and found abandoned in New Plymouth.

The father of the victim told the Herald police had “done nothing” to support his daughter, and said she had since received a $200 towing bill to get her damaged car back.

A police spokesperson confirmed the vehicle involved was initially towed and stored at a vehicle storage facility for forensic examination.

“Police paid for this, as is usual where forensic tow is required,” they told 1News.

A spokesperson explained that once the examination was complete, the victim was advised that her vehicle was ready to be collected.

“Unfortunately, the vehicle was not driveable, and costs associated with towing the vehicle from the yard to where the owner/s are wanting the vehicle towed to, and repair of the vehicle are the owner’s responsibility.”

“While we can appreciate that paying to retrieve her vehicle in this instance could be distressing, this is something required of everyone in instances where a vehicle has had to be forensically towed,” they said.

One person was arrested following the incident, while efforts remain ongoing to locate another person responsible and put them before the court.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico suffered life-threatening injuries when he was shot and wounded in an attempted assassination on Wednesday, the government office said.

Slovak media said the shooter was a 71-year-old man but the motive was not immediately clear.

The incident shocked Slovakia, a small central European nation with little history of political violence. Slovakia’s partners in the European Union and NATO condemned the shooting.

Fico, 59, was rushed to hospital in the central Slovak town of Handlova where he had been chairing a government meeting. He was then transported by helicopter to regional capital Banska Bystrica for urgent treatment, it said, adding that his condition was too serious for him to be taken to Bratislava.

This image taken from video footage obtained by AFPTV shows security personnel carrying Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, centre, towards a vehicle after he was shot. Photo: AFP

A Reuters witness heard three or four shots as Fico exited a building to shake hands with a crowd of people who had been waiting to greet him. Police then wrestled a man to the ground.

“An assassination (attempt) on Prime Minister Robert Fico was carried out today at the government’s off-site meeting in Handlova,” the government office said in a statement.

News outlet Aktuality.sk reported the shooter was a 71-year-old man and cited his son as saying his father was the legal holder of a gun licence. It did not name either of the men.

“I have absolutely no idea what my father intended, what he planned, what happened,” it quoted the shooter’s son as saying.

Broadcaster TA3 reported four shots had been fired, and that the leftist prime minister had been hit in the abdomen.

“I don’t think I will wake up from this,” Lubica Valkova, a 66-year-old resident told reporters. “This kind of thing just can’t happen in Slovakia.”

Veteran leader

Fico, who returned as prime minister last October for the fourth time, has drawn criticism in some quarters for taking a more pro-Russian stance in the Ukraine war and initiating reforms of criminal law and the media which have raised concerns over the rule of law and prompted street protests.

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico. Photo: AFP

Following the shooting, Slovakia’s biggest opposition party Progressive Slovakia called off a planned protest against government public broadcaster reforms set for Wednesday evening.

“We call on all politicians to refrain from any expressions and steps that could contribute to an escalation of tension,” said Michal Simecka, leader of Progressive Slovakia, a liberal pro-Western party.

Slovakia’s acting speaker of parliament Peter Ziga condemned the shooting as an attack on the principle of democracy.

“Such a horrible act has never happened in Slovak history. I consider it to be the result of whipped-up passions and the division of Slovak society into two irreconcilable camps,” he said.

Under Slovak law, a deputy prime minister will replace Fico while he is incapacitated.

During a three-decade career, Fico has moved between the pro-European mainstream and nationalistic positions opposed to EU and US policies. He has also shown a willingness to change course depending on public opinion or changed political realities.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen led international condemnation of the attack.

“Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. My thoughts are with PM Fico, his family,” she said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed shock on X, adding: “News of the cowardly assassination attempt on Slovakian Prime Minister Fico shocks me deeply. Violence must have no place in European politics.”

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova wrote on X: “Utterly shocked by today’s brutal attack on #Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, which I condemn in strongest possible terms.

“I wish him lot of strength in this critical moment and early recovery.”

President-elect Peter Pellegrini cut short a foreign trip and is returning to Slovakia, a spokesperson for his HLAS party said.

This story appeared on rnz.co.nz

Police said there were no signs of foul play after a body was found face down on the side of the road in Tongatapu’s Tokomololo village during the early hours of May 5.

As Kaniva News reported recently, 50-year-old Kepueli ‘Ahome’e’s body was discovered by a passer-by.

Photos and streamed videos taken at the scene were shared on social media.

Police reportedly said that there was no indication of foul play.

It is understood a post-mortem examination was cancelled after recommendation by the Minister of Health due to ‘Ahome’e’s known health conditions.

Meanwhile, ‘Ahome’e is being remembered as a “friend to many”.

“It is with deep sadness we announce the tragic and sudden passing of our  brother, father, uncle and friend to many,” a tribute on Facebook said.  

Another tribute described him as “tangata angalelei koe mo fklogologo”.

By 1news.co.nz and is republished with permission

New Zealand’s population has risen by more than 100,000 people in the past year, Stats NZ revealed today.

The year ended March 2024 saw New Zealand’s population grow by 2.5%, or about 130,700 people, the agency said this morning.

That figure stems from an estimated natural increase (births minus deaths) of 19,500 and an estimated net migration (migrant arrivals minus migrant departures) of 111,100 people.

And New Zealand saw fewer births and deaths in the year ended March 2024 than the year before.

The agency said there were 56,277 live births registered in New Zealand in the year ended March 2024.

That’s down from 58,707 in the year ended March 2023, a decrease of about 2500.

And there were 37,623 deaths registered in the year ended March 2024, over 1000 less than the 38,835 deaths registered in the year ended March 2023.

“The total fertility rate was 1.52 births per woman, down from 1.65,” Stats NZ said. “The infant mortality rate was 3.8 deaths per 1000 live births, up from 3.5 per 1000, but down from 4.2 per 1000 in the year ended March 2022.”

The agency also released New Zealand’s provisional national population statistics for the same period.

“At 31 March 2024: New Zealand’s estimated resident population was provisionally 5,338,900.

“There were 2,680,900 females and 2,658,000 males.

“The median age of females and males was 38.9 and 37.1 respectively.”

Today’s release comes after Stats NZ’s population insights analyst Rebekah Hennessey said in February that 2023 had seen the “lowest number of births registered in 20 years”.

Hennessey explained the number of deaths “generally increases as the population both grows and becomes older”.

“The number of births, however, is driven by a more complex mix of social and demographic factors that change over time.”

By 1news.co.nz and is republished with permission

A woman has been arrested in Auckland’s Papakura after being found with a dozen boxes of scorched almonds allegedly stolen from a supermarket.

Police found the woman, who was riding a bike, shortly after 5pm last night.

She had been wanted for arrest after committing “multiple” alleged shoplifting offences.

“On seeing police, she ditched the bike and started to run, but we eventually took her into custody and located 12 boxes of scorched almonds in her possession,” Inspector Matt Hoyes said.

“These were confirmed as stolen from a supermarket in Papakura about five minutes earlier.”

The 25-year-old woman was scheduled to appear at the Papakura District Court today, charged with 20 shoplifting charges.

This morning, Foodstuffs North Island told 1News retail crime at its stores had more than doubled in the past two years.

Also yesterday, a 45-year-old woman was arrested in Papakura after police were called to a supermarket on East Street.

“A shoplifter had taken an amount of meat products and left the store,” Hoyes said. “Our staff located her nearby about 20 minutes later and took her into custody. She had a warrant to arrest for an incident in Papakura last month, where a person was allegedly assaulted and money stolen.”

The woman was due to appear in the Papakura District Court today on burglary, assault, shoplifting and bail charges.

Shortly before 10pm, another woman, again in Papakura, was arrested after allegedly walking out of a supermarket with several unpaid items.

“While the offender had left the store, our staff were quickly on scene and located her inside a parked vehicle nearby.

“The stolen items were located inside and recovered. She was taken into custody without further incident,” Hoyes said.

The 42-year-old will appear in the Papakura District Court tomorrow, facing four charges of shoplifting.

“These brazen acts are a blight on our community, and we will do everything in our power to hold those who behave in this manner to account,” Hoyes said.