Following global giant Kraft Heinz’s decision to close their iconic NZ Watties growing and processing operation, rival company McCain, also a food multinational with an annual turnover of NZ$17 billion, is following suit. McCain has announced the closure of their Hastings vegetable processing operation, effective at the end of the 2026 growing season. A McCain spokesperson said “the decision follows a strategic review of our Hastings operations…

The New Zealand Government has unveiled detailed contingency measures for managing a potential fuel crisis, confirming that a four-phase national rationing framework is now in place should global supply disruptions worsen. Caption and photo credit: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/590794/government-reveals-details-of-fuel-crisis-rationing-plan-and-who-will-be-prioritised · The plan—modelled loosely on the COVID-era alert system—signals a…

The New Zealand Government is now considering pausing planned fuel tax increases, as rising global energy prices begin to bite into households and businesses already under pressure. The move signals a growing recognition inside Government that the current fuel shock is not temporary—but part of a broader structural disruption to global energy supply. · Tax Increases Put on Hold · Planned increases to fuel levies—originally intended to support…

By the end of Part 3, the architecture was clear. New Zealand had become financialised, externally dependent, and increasingly vulnerable — but it had not yet been tested. Part 4 is where theory meets reality. When crisis arrives, structure is revealed. Not in reports — but in outcomes. · COVID, monetary expansion, rising global instability, and energy exposure did not create the hollowing out. They exposed it. · This is the moment where…

New Zealand was recently told we were staring down the barrel of a major diesel shortage with only 11 days of supply remaining... In this episode, Duncan looks at the fallout after MBIE admitted their data was completely wrong. Within just one day, the story changed from a looming economic paralysis to a comfortable 46-day buffer. · Duncan argues that this isn't just a simple rounding error. It is a massive failure of communication and basic…

New Zealand’s fuel crisis has revealed something far more serious than a temporary supply risk. · It has exposed a strategic delusion at the heart of government policy. · Because while ministers talk about shipping lanes, stock levels, and “seven weeks of supply,” they are carefully avoiding the one issue that underpins everything: · New Zealand cannot function without carbon fuels! The Reality We Refuse to Admit · This country consumes…

What started as compliance to protect her dream warehouse job ended in neurological catastrophe, years of medical gaslighting, media smears and bureaucratic battles—culminating in ACC cover approval on August 11, 2025. [Caption - Casey, 23, suffering a painful seizure Before the injection, Casey embodied vitality and joy] · “My health was the best that’s ever been. I was working Monday to Friday doing the job of my dreams. I had it all. I loved…

“Thought Covid was bad? If New Zealand runs out of diesel, Covid will look like the rehearsal.” That line from Matthew Hooton in the Herald this morning lands like a slap. Not because it’s designed to alarm, but because Hooton is making a precise argument, not a rhetorical one. During the pandemic, the circulatory system of the economy kept pumping. He explains today that trucks still delivered to supermarkets, harvesters still picked crops,…

The Courts of New Zealand had 6,200 followers on X. They walked away and set up on Bluesky, where they now have 113. That is a 98% drop in audience for official court information, and no one has explained why. They are not alone. A growing number of government agencies have quietly abandoned X, one of New Zealand’s most widely used platforms with approximately 716,000 users, without publishing a rationale, conducting a cost-benefit analysis, or…

New Zealand’s economic vulnerability to a global fuel shock is now being openly acknowledged by mainstream financial institutions, with Kiwibank warning that an escalating oil crisis could undermine the currency, weaken growth, and intensify inflation pressures simultaneously. · In its latest economic update, Kiwibank economists point to a rapidly deteriorating global backdrop driven by Middle East conflict and tightening fuel supply…

It happens in a split second. · A crunch. · A scrape. · That sinking “Uh ohh…” feeling in your stomach. · Whether it’s a car park mishap or a serious collision, the stress can be overwhelming. But in Pukekohe, there’s one simple piece of advice: · Keep calm and call the experts. · For more than 30 years, Classic Auto Body Panel & Paint Ltd has been the trusted name in collision repair across Pukekohe and the greater Franklin region. What began…

Who said getting older means slowing down? · At Acacia Cove Village, retirement isn’t about winding down — it’s about opening up a new chapter filled with freedom, friendship, and fun. · With practically everything taken care of, residents enjoy more time to focus on what really matters: engaging in activities, socialising with neighbours, relaxing in beautifully maintained surroundings, and living life with a genuine resort-style feel. · …

World Affairs In Context · What if the next financial crisis is already unfolding—hidden in plain sight? · This video exposes the private credit bubble that could trigger the next global meltdown. Born after the 2008 crisis and fueled by regulations like Basel III and the Dodd-Frank Act, private credit has exploded into a $3 trillion market—but cracks are forming fast. · With nearly 40% of loans tied to the struggling software sector, and AI…

Miles Franklin Media · Michelle Makori, President & Editor-in-Chief, Miles Franklin Media, interviews Edward Dowd, Founder of Phinance Technologies. · Markets may be watching the wrong risk. While headlines focus on the Iran war and geopolitics, Edward Dowd warns the real breakdown is already underway beneath the surface of the U.S. economy. From a weakening housing market to a bursting AI bubble and a frozen private credit system, Dowd argues…

APT · Watch Eva Vlaardingerbroek’s full speech at CPAC Hungary 2026, where she delivers a controversial message on Europe’s future, immigration, and national identity. · In her speech, Vlaardingerbroek praises Viktor Orbán and Hungary for resisting EU policies, warns of the demographic replacement of Europeans, criticizes the EU and Ukraine’s influence on Europe, highlights cases of migrant violence against European youth, and urges European…

The US top diplomat has dismissed Vladimir Zelensky’s claims Washington had pressed Kiev into ceding Donbass · US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. ©  Getty Images / PA / Michael Kappeler · [RT] Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has lied about Washington pressing Kiev into withdrawing from Donbass, according to US Secretary of State Marko Rubio. · In an interview with Reuters aired earlier this week, Zelensky accused the…

Critics say the move politicizes currency and risks blurring the line between national symbols and personal branding · RT composite. ©  Getty Images/Scott Olson;Kativ;Phil Ashley · US President Donald Trump’s signature is set to appear on US paper currency starting this summer, the Treasury Department said on Thursday. · It will mark the first time a sitting US president’s signature has appeared on legal tender. · The …

26 people are reported killed in a strike on a neighbourhood in the central Iranian city of Isfahan. Meanwhile in Tehran - a search is on for potential survivors from a series of overnight attacks. Iran condemns the US and Israel at the UN accusing them of intentionally striking a school killing 175 people. Still, European powers stopped short of placing blame as they insisted on redirecting attention to alleged rights violations…

Trump has opened a new diplomatic space with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, and Gulf States to de-escalate the Iran conflict—while the U.K., EU, and NATO are absent and increasingly irrelevant. · Susan Kokinda · Susan Kokinda argues President Trump has opened a new diplomatic space to de-escalate the Iran conflict by working through a regional roster—Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, Gulf States, and back channels into…

The critics of the initiative have slammed the facilities as detention centers located in “legal black holes” · FILE PHOTO. Refugees from Afghanistan and Pakistan protest against their deportation at a detention center in Lesbos, Greece. · European lawmakers have endorsed the opening of talks with the EU Council on a new controversial legal framework to establish block-wide mechanisms to expel illegal migrants, including creating the…

What the euthanasia of Noelia Castillo reveals about the future of European society · By Marina Akhmedova, member of the presidential human rights council of Russia · Noelia Castillo. ©  Antena 3 · Today in Spain, a 25-year-old woman named Noelia Castillo is scheduled to undergo euthanasia. Born into a dysfunctional family in Barcelona, Noelia spent her childhood in shelters and fell victim to gang rape in 2022. This…

The US president has previously made disparaging remarks about Mojtaba Khamenei · US President Donald Trump. © Getty Images / Roberto Schmidt · [RT] US President Donald Trump has said that the CIA told him that Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, may be gay, quipping to Fox News that it puts the cleric “off to a bad start.” · The claim comes amid failed US-Israeli regime change efforts in Iran, a…

Tehran violated none of its international commitments while Kiev trampled on them for years, the foreign minister has said · Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Moscow, on January 28, 2026. ©  Sputnik/Yuri Kochetkov · [RT] The US-Israeli war against Iran stands in stark contrast with the Ukraine conflict, Russian Foreign Minister…

The participants of the US-Israeli war on Iran have offered a rationale for the conflict that goes well beyond geopolitics · Both the US-Israel tandem and Iran have offered religious reasoning for hostilities in the Gulf to go on, painting the conflict as an existential standoff. RT’s Oumaima Ichchar looks into the arguments the warring sides have been providing, which appear to go well beyond geopolitics. · On Wednesday, US…

Tehran has detailed dozens of cases of US fighter jets and drones allegedly conducting missions over the Gulf states during strikes · FILE PHOTO. A general view of Tehran with smoke visible in the distance after explosions were reported in the city, on March 02, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. © Getty Images / Contributor · [RT] Iran has formally accused the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia of allowing the US military…

The reality is that BRICS is a voluntary network of countries that share the goal of accelerating financial multipolarity processes in order to facilitate global governance reform for giving the World Majority more influence. It is not, nor has it ever been, a security or political bloc. · Andrew Korybko · Bloomberg published a piece last week about how “Iran War Shows BRICS Limits as India Pushed to Choose Sides”, which shows that it still…

With the Operation Epstein Fury misdirection trick in full swing, more astonishing revelations emerge from extended Epstein Files release. · John Leake · Yesterday a deeply eccentric Polish friend called me at 8:30 pm in Dallas, which made it 3:30 am in Central Europe. I feared that it must be bad news, but in fact he was lying awake with a burning question in his head—namely: · “Was Jeffrey Epstein the most diabolically…

The lightening operation to seize Iranian oil fields and railroads to fuel the Red Army was launched a few months after Germany invaded the Soviet Union. · John Leake · For most of the 19th century, the British and Russians vied with each for control of Central and West Asia in what Rudyard Kipling the “Great Game” in his 1901 novel Kim. · One of the most intriguing British characters of this era was Harry St. John Bridger…

TASMAN, NZ – The New Zealand Outdoors & Freedom Party is sounding the alarm on a looming national crisis, as refined fuel stocks face potential depletion by late April 2026. Energy Spokesperson Lester Bryant warns that the escalating Iran US conflict has exposed the catastrophic vulnerability of New Zealand’s supply chain following the closure of the Marsden Point refinery. · With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed to stable shipping, New…

Israel claims it has killed an Iranian naval commander. No comments on that yet from Tehran as it ramps up its retaliatory strikes amid the latest escalation. Tehran reiterates that there are currently no direct talks between it and Washington. Iran has been boosting morale among its troops as the US is believed to be preparing to invade. Residents of Tehran insists they will stay put despite the danger. Islamic Resistance forces…

Ordinary citizens want peace, but bureaucrats are driven by military lobbies, Rudi Kennes has told RT · The EU is divided over the US war against Iran, with public opinion strongly opposing it, while unelected officials in Brussels back Washington, Belgian MEP Rudi Kennes has told RT’s Rick Sanchez. · European countries have failed to present a unified front on the war, with Spain and Italy voicing criticism, while others, including…

The EU and the UK are unprepared and face deindustrialization after rejecting Russian oil and gas, Kirill Dmitriev has said · Kirill Dmitriev. © Sputnik / Ramil Sitdikov · The world is heading toward the most severe energy crisis in history and Europe is unprepared, Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said. The warning comes as the escalating conflict in the Middle East has driven volatility in global energy markets. ·…