New Zealand Herald
Australian stocks: Close down on back of Asian weakness
9:10PM Thursday March 01, 2007
PERTH - The Australian stock market closed in negative territory, with falls on Asian markets again dragging the bourse into the red.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index shed 22.3 points to 5810.2 while the all ordinaries lost 18.1 points to 5798.4.
At 1620 AEDT on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index contract gained 13 points to 5815 on a volume of 29,926 contracts.
It came after yesterday's sell-off, the biggest one-day drop on the Australian share market since the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Man Financial broker Anthony Anderson said the market recovered some ground early but falls on the Asian markets again weighed on the local bourse.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10426566
NZ shares weather China storm
5:00AM Thursday March 01, 2007
By Liam Dann and Christopher Niesche
New Zealand shares dropped sharply when the market opened yesterday, falling as much as 3.3 per cent. Photo / Kenny Rodger
The New Zealand market stood firm in the wake of the Chinese equity slump which sent shockwaves around the world yesterday, but market players warn more volatility is likely.
Indeed, the 1.5 per cent fall in the NZX50 index - one of the smallest drops around the world - could be a healthy dose of medicine for a market which, while fundamentally sound, was in danger of getting ahead of itself, NZX watchers say.
"This is a non-panic situation and that's reflected in the fact that stocks are starting to recover," the head of equities at ABN Amro, James Miller, said yesterday afternoon. "In actual fact, a small correction to bring valuations back to more prudent levels is probably a good thing."
Miller said New Zealand stocks were likely to be shielded from the worst of any falls in China.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10426396
Currency: NZ dollar regains stability after dive
Email this storyPrint this story 6:40PM Thursday March 01, 2007
The New Zealand dollar regained stability today after a volatile session yesterday when it lost heavily to the yen and greenback.
Currency markets took their lead from equity markets which settled after the turmoil precipitated by Tuesday's 9 per cent fall in the Shanghai sharemarket.
Comments by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that it was "reasonable" to expect stronger growth later in the year helped soothe markets despite a spate of weak economic US data.
The kiwi closed in the local market on US70.05c, virtually unchanged from yesterday. It was steady against the yen on 82.80 and a touch firmer against the Australian dollar on A89.15c.
Although there was a world swing against carry trade currencies such as the kiwi on Tuesday and yesterday, it proved to be short-lived.
Demand for uridashi bonds - issued in Japan but denominated in the New Zealand dollar - was as rampant as ever with $812 million of new issues announced overnight.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10426523
China reins in rich and famous on one-child policy
Email this storyPrint this story 9:00PM Thursday March 01, 2007
BEIJING - China plans to punish celebrities and wealthy Chinese who breach the world's most populous country's "one-child" policy by paying to have more children, a newspaper said on Thursday.
The rich and famous would face "double punishment" -- fines and a ban from accepting any "future awards" if they broke the law, the Beijing News said. It did not elaborate.
"We found out that most celebrities and rich people have two children, and 10 per cent of them have three," it quoted Yu Xuejun, a senior official at the National Population and Family Planning Commission, as saying.
"The phenomenon must be stopped."
China launched the controversial one-child policy in the early 1980s to curb its population, now over 1.3 billion.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10426533
Bill sets out to overhaul military prosecutions
Email this storyPrint this story 7:00PM Thursday March 01, 2007
Legislation overhauling courts martial for military personnel has been introduced to Parliament.
The Armed Forces Law Reform Bill says it intends to overhaul all existing legislation relating to military prosecutions to follow international developments and make sure it complies with the Bill of Rights Act.
Many of the pieces of legislation governing military prosecutions predate the 1990 Act.
Among its provisions the legislation would set up a Court Martial of New Zealand to try serious cases across the armed forces.
The court would have a chief judge and six other judges.
The bill also allows for the appointment of a director of military prosecutions who would decide on whether someone should be committed for trial and on what charges.
The bill would also line up the "summary disposal" regime among the different arms of the military.
Summary disposals are hearings for less serious offences.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10426508
Tornado death toll hits 20 in USA
9:00AM Saturday March 03, 2007
A television still shows people sifting through damage caused by tornadoes that swept across the southern United States. Photo / Reuters
ATLANTA - Tornadoes across the southern United States killed at least 20 people as they tore up a hospital and high school where students huddled for shelter, authorities said today, a day after the rampage.
The toll from the severe weather could rise. The US Coast Guard said six people were missing Friday after their 23-foot (7-metre) vessel began taking on water in stormy seas off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Thursday night.
The tornadoes killed nine people in Georgia, where a hospital was hit, and 10 people in two southern Alabama towns, officials said.
The powerful storms, which levelled scores of homes while flipping cars into the air and leaving thousands stranded without power, also killed a young girl in a mobile home in Missouri, the officials said.
In Georgia, two died in the town of Americus when the Sumter Regional Hospital was hit by a tornado, and six died, including two children, in hard-hit Baker County. The ninth fatality was in Taylor County, a north of Americus, said state emergency management official Michael Parker.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10426826
Bush gets first-hand look at tornado damage
8:16AM Sunday March 04, 2007
By Tabassum Zakaria
President Bush walks through the tornado-damaged Enterprise High School in Alabama. Photo / Reuters
ENTERPRISE, Alabama - US president George Bush got a first-hand look this morning (NZ time) at the damage from deadly tornadoes in the southern United States and said while buildings could be rebuilt the biggest impact was on shattered lives.
Bush got an aerial view of the region by helicopter and walked over glass-strewn rubble at Enterprise High School where eight students were killed when the storms struck on Thursday. Enterprise was in the area of Alabama that was hardest hit.
"Today I have walked through devastation that is hard to describe," Bush said after touring the school, including the hallway where the students were killed.
He pointed to the twisted metal remains of the science wing where 100 students were trapped but survived, and said, "One hundred kids got out of here alive, which is a miracle."
Bush approved a disaster declaration for the county where Enterprise is located which allows victims to apply for up to US$28,200 in federal assistance per household.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10426930
Select committee to hold inquiry into housing affordability
4:40PM Thursday March 01, 2007
Parliament's commerce select committee has decided to hold an inquiry into housing affordability.
National's housing spokesman, Phil Heatley, wrote to the committee last week asking for an inquiry.
Property prices throughout the country were demoralising for young people, and the relationship between incomes, prices and interest rates should be investigated, he said.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said an inquiry was not needed, and the Government was already doing what it could to ensure housing was affordable.
But Labour does not have a majority on the nine-member committee, and the decision to hold the inquiry was made at a meeting today.
Chairman Gerry Brownlee said terms of reference had not yet been determined, and the committee had not decided whether it would call for public submissions.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10426496
Prodi wins confidence vote, remains Italian PM
12:45PM Thursday March 01, 2007
By Silvia Aloisi
ROME - Romano Prodi won a confidence vote in Italy's upper house today to stay on as prime minister, but an opinion poll suggested his grip on power would remain weak.
Prodi resigned last week after only nine months in office when some members on the left of his coalition, ranging from Roman Catholics to communist, voted against him in the Senate over foreign policy.
He was given a second chance by President Giorgio Napolitano after he rallied his fractious allies, playing on their fears that his premature political demise would clear the way for former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to return to power.
To stay on, Prodi had to prove he could command enough support in the upper house, where his bloc has a flimsy majority.
He won today's vote by 162
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10426445
IBM to pipe Google gadgets into company sites
9:35AM Thursday March 01, 2007
By Eric Auchard
SAN FRANCISCO - IBM has reached a deal with Google Inc. to bring the consumer internet into the office by piping YouTube and thousands of other Web programs into IBM software used by millions of office workers.
The pact brings together Google, one of the world's most popular consumer Web technology companies, and IBM, the biggest supplier of employee portal software which big businesses use to offer a kind of personalised home page for office workers.
In coming months, millions of users of IBM WebSphere will be able to choose from 4,000 existing Google Gadgets services -- mini-Web applications that users can add with the click of a button onto public sites or internal office intranets.
These include practical business applications such as maps, language translators, package delivery trackers or instantly updating weather and news services, audio search or Wikipedia.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10426446
Scientists develop new ultra-thin material
10:20AM Thursday March 01, 2007
Scientists in Europe have developed an ultra-thin material only one atom thick, which they believe could be used to make super fast electronic components.
The new material could also pave the way for medical breakthroughs helping speed up the development of drugs.
Science journal Nature today released the findings of a team of researchers from the University of Manchester and the Max-Planck Institute in Germany.
The physicists have successfully created a membrane only one atom thick that is capable of existing in a free state.
Two years ago, scientists discovered a new class of material called two-dimensional atomic crystals, essentially a sheet of single atoms.
However, there was some doubt over whether the membrane could exist in a free state without the support of other materials.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10426451
NZ women close the gap
5:00AM Sunday March 04, 2007
By Nicola Shepheard
New Zealand is among the top 10 countries in narrowing the gender gap, says a major new report. But we're still some way off true equality of the sexes.
The Gender Gap Index 2006, a collaboration between Harvard University, London Business School and World Economics Forum, said New Zealand had the seventh-smallest gap between men and women out of 115 countries.
The index measured gaps in economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.
Our overall score was 0.714, where 1 represented total equality.
We were particularly strong in political empowerment and education, and had relatively more women in high-skilled professions than any other country.
Predictably, Scandinavian countries dominated the top five, with Sweden coming first with a score of 0.813. The United Kingdom came ninth, Australia 15th and the United States 23rd. No country scored a perfect one.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10426903
Teacher-student affair all over the internet
5:00AM Sunday March 04, 2007
By Miles Erwin
Schoolgirl Chelsea Havard and her drama-teacher lover Luke McIndoe
A 16-year-old student who ran off with her drama teacher after their four-month affair was discovered by students has been playing out the drama on the internet.
Luke McIndoe, a 24-year-old drama teacher at Wairarapa College, fled Masterton with Chelsea Havard, a student from his drama class, on February 21. The pair's relationship was discovered by other students - but, unwilling to face the music, they moved to Wellington where she's enrolled at Wellington High and he's playing in a band.
It is the fifth case of a teacher-student relationship made public in the past seven months - a number parent groups say is unacceptable.
Left in the wake of the modern-day elopement are Chelsea's family, her furious boyfriend Daniel Nixon and McIndoe's career. He's quit his job and it's unlikely he will ever teach again.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10426928
Condom care urged
Email this storyPrint this story 5:00AM Sunday March 04, 2007
NEW YORK - Many young men could use more instruction on proper condom use, according to the lead author of a new study that found nearly one in three experienced recent condom breakage.
Dr R Crosby of the University of Kentucky said men should also be instructed to avoid letting teeth, nails or other sharp objects to come in contact with a condom, and should never use scissors to open a package. He said sexually transmitted disease clinics should provide a range of sizes and brands so men can find the best fit.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10426876
They do it for the love of dancing - yeah right
5:00AM Sunday March 04, 2007
By Jonathan Marshall
Greer Robson with Dancing with the Stars partner, and last year's winner, Aaron Gilmore. Photo / Doug Sherring
For Greer Robson, Dancing with the Stars was to be a waltz in the park.
But the former Shortland Street actress stumbled on day one of the job when faced with the question: "Why do you like ballroom dancing?"
Enter publicist Corey Cooper, who said the Herald on Sunday's question line was too tough for Robson, of Celebrity Treasure Island fame. Cooper also said Robson would not be able to discuss her two children as an exclusive deal had been done with glossy women's magazine, Next.
Robson - who has chosen the family advice service Parents Inc as the charity to benefit from her appearance - said she hoped to take away some "great friendships" and "an amazing experience" from working on the show.
"I'm really, really, looking forward to learning to dance, I've always been interested in ballroom," she told the Herald on Sunday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10426918
Here come the Bryde's whales
Email this storyPrint this story 5:00AM Sunday March 04, 2007
By Michelle Coursey
Auckland's own local whale variety - the little known Bryde's whale - is making a comeback to the Hauraki Gulf.
The Bryde's whale, which is a member of the same group as the humpback and blue whales, is being seen more frequently in the waters around Auckland.
Bryde's are some of the least-studied whales in the world. However, a new study has shown there are many living in the oceans around the north of the North Island, and particularly in the Hauraki Gulf.
British researcher Nicky Wiseman has spent the past four years studying Bryde's whales for her PhD thesis at Auckland University.
After travelling out with Auckland's Dolphin and Whale Safari almost every day for the first year, and several times a week for the past two years, she has identified 67 adult whales in the gulf, but says there are more she has not been able to identify.
Wiseman has become "quite fond" of her large subjects.
She has a photo identification system, cataloguing the whales according to their unique dorsal fins, and has even named some. One is called Tin Tin, and another, whose fin has a tear in it, she calls Ripper.
There have been more frequent sightings of the whales since Wiseman started her research in the Hauraki Gulf in 2003. She says this is probably a combination of rising whale numbers and the team becoming better at finding them.
William Goodfellow, managing director of Explore NZ which runs the dolphin and whale safaris and which partially funded Wiseman's research, says they have been seeing more whales.
"One of the biggest battles is convincing locals the whales are there. There is a misconception in Auckland that you have to go to Kaikoura to see whales, but we see them just as often here."
The whales were once hunted from the Great Barrier Island whaling station, but only when other species had disappeared from the area. The station closed in 1962 when the animals ran out.
The Bryde's whale is still targeted by Japanese whalers for their scientific research programme.
Associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, Scott Baker - who was Wiseman's academic superviser - says the research she has carried out "is beginning to shed light on the feeding behaviour, diet, social organisation and reproduction of this poorly known species".
He points out the whales are vulnerable to being struck by ships or entangled in nets.
Wiseman says the busy nature of the gulf means that Bryde's whales face threats, particularly as many fishermen don't realise they are there.
Bryde's whale
* Pronounced broo-das, the Bryde's whale was named after Johan Bryde, who set up the whaling station in South Africa where they were first noted and described.
* Bryde's whales can grow up to 15m, and weigh up to 20 tonnes.
* They can be seen in the Hauraki Gulf in spring, summer and often in winter and autumn.
* They live in the oceans between 40 degrees north or south, and do not perform long migrations, unlike other baleen whales.
* They are similar to Sei whales, but can be identified by three prominent longitudinal ridges on the rostrum - the head behind the blowhole - which are evident when the whale surfaces.
* They feed on schools of sardines, anchovies, herring or mackerel. They travel as solitary animals, or in small groups of two or three.
* They are listed with the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as "data deficient".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10426904
British diplomats captured in Ethiopia
2:00PM Saturday March 03, 2007
By Cahal Milmo
Local women walk along a street in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia . Photo / Reuers
Three British officials were among 15 Western tourists being held yesterday by kidnappers in a remote corner of Ethiopia dubbed the "land of death" because of its extreme climate.
The Britons, who have links to the British embassy in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, were in one of two convoys intercepted on Wednesday in the barren Afar region close to the border with Eritrea roamed by separatist rebels and bandits.
Whitehall sources said last night that there was a "national security dimension" to the kidnappings and that the government's emergency committee, Cobra, had met over the incident.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10426834
Smoking warning
5:00AM Sunday March 04, 2007
WASHINGTON - Women who smoke while pregnant may cause permanent cardiovascular damage to their children that could heighten the offspring's risk of a stroke and heart attack, researchers said yesterday.
The new Dutch study showed that, as young adults, these children tended to have thicker walls of the carotid arteries in the neck, which can be used to determine a person's susceptibility to hardening of the arteries.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10426875
14 Iraqi police dead, Qaeda claims kidnapped
2:20PM Saturday March 03, 2007
IBAGHDAD - Iraqi police found the bodies of 14 policemen on Friday, all shot in the head, and an al Qaeda-linked group said it had killed them to avenge the alleged rape of a woman last month.
Police said the bodies were discovered close to Baquba, the provincial capital of Diyala province, not far from where the men disappeared on Thursday.
A group called the Islamic State in Iraq said in an internet statement it had kidnapped 18 men working for the Shi'ite-dominated Interior Ministry following "the rape of our sister ... Sabreen Janabi".
The group later said it had killed them all after the government ignored demands it made for their release.
Janabi has said she was raped by officers from the Shi'ite-dominated police force. The government says medical records show she was not raped.
In Baghdad, where US and Iraqi troops are engaged in a major security crackdown, police said a car bomb killed 10 people and wounded 17 when it ripped through a used car market in Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army, a Shi'ite militia.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10426837
US Army secretary quits in veterans scandal
11:00AM Saturday March 03, 2007
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Photo / Reuters
IWASHINGTON - US Army Secretary Francis Harvey has resigned after reports that troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan were being poorly treated at the Army's top hospital, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said today.
The resignation of Harvey, the top civilian at the Pentagon overseeing the army, was announced a day after the head of the Walter Reed Medical Centre hospital was fired.
Gates said problems at the Washington hospital were due to leadership.
"I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed," Gates said.
"Some have shown too much defensiveness and have not shown enough focus on digging into and addressing the problems."
Gates said a new permanent chief of the medical centre would be announced later today.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10426829
Recovering Castro 'Much stronger'
Email this storyPrint this story 9:15AM Saturday March 03, 2007
Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque says the country's ailing leader is mending so well he may retake the reins of the Americas' only communist country.
Fidel Castro "has gained weight, is much stronger", Roque said.
Castro, 80, underwent intestinal surgery in July and handed over power to his brother Raul Castro, 75.
- Agencies
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10426738
Climate change leaves wildlife confused and under the weather
5:00AM Friday March 09, 2007
By Terry Kirby
Britain's wildlife is sending out a clear message about the seriousness of climate change as its life cycles are thrown into confusion, often with fatal results.
Across the country mammals, reptiles, birds and insects have been prompted by the very mild winter, so far the second mildest on record, into emerging from shelter and starting their breeding seasons long before they should.
As a result they are getting caught out when the weather turns cold again, or just as harmfully, wet - and the young of many species are dying. Baby hedgehogs, baby squirrels, even baby grass snakes are being found in distressed conditions in many places.
The disturbing trend is emerging as climate change once again moves to the political centre stage.
The Government's long-awaited climate change bill will be published next week, Environment Minister Lord Rooker announced yesterday.
Delays in the preparation of the bill have led to questions being asked about the Government's commitment to tackling global warming.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10427839
Cyclone George death toll climbs to three
2:30PM Friday March 09, 2007
By Adam Gartrell
PERTH - At least three people are believed to have died when category four Cyclone George slammed into Western Australia's north overnight, says Premier Alan Carpenter.
Category four cyclone George crossed the coast east of Port Hedland at about 10pm (WDT), tearing off roofs, mangling fences, downing trees over power lines and cutting off power and phone services to most local towns.
Emergency services said they were expecting "lots of injuries" and were preparing to fly rescuers to the Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) rail construction camp.
But rescue attempts were being hampered by continuing strong winds as the cyclone moved south.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10427914
Huge river cut to a trickle in Australia
5:00AM Friday March 09, 2007
Australia's longest river has lost half its natural water and it is predicted to dry up by a further 20 per cent because of climate change by 2030.
The 2739km Darling River, the lifeblood for some important farmlands, loses the equivalent of four Sydney Harbours worth of water, or a quarter of its flow, each year through evaporation, according to a report.
The State of the Darling, released yesterday, paints a picture of a river under threat from global warming-induced drought, lower rainfalls and decades of poor water management.
"The result is that average [Darling River] outflows to the Murray [River] are now less than half the volume they would be under natural conditions," said the report. Australia is in the grip of the worst drought in 100 years and Prime Minister John Howard announced plans in January to spend more than A$10 billion ($11.5 billion) to restore ailing rivers.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10427836
Howard urged to tackle whaling on Japan visit
4:35PM Friday March 09, 2007
By Vincent Morello
SYDNEY - Greenpeace and federal Labor have urged Prime Minister John Howard to try to pressure Japan to end its whaling program when he visits the country next week.
Greenpeace also will take the fight to Japan, sending its anti-whaling ship Esperanza from Sydney to Tokyo next week.
The Japanese whaling fleet cut short a whale hunt in the Southern Ocean late last month after a fire broke out on its processing ship, the Nisshin Maru.
One crew member died and the ship was temporarily disabled, forcing its departure a month earlier than scheduled.
Greenpeace estimates the ships' early departure probably saved 500 minke whales.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10427956
Australian stocks: Close slightly higher, lacks drive
8:30PM Friday March 09, 2007
The Australian stock market managed a slightly higher close today despite falling away in afternoon trading.
The major banks and key resources stocks were mixed.
CMC Markets senior dealer James Foulsham said the local bourse had a solid lead from United States markets overnight.
But given recent volatile trading, investors were awaiting the release of more economic data from the US before making any firm commitments.
"Trading was quiet," Mr Foulsham said.
"Traders are holding the largest positions in both the finance sector and resources.
"Though we have seen a bit of a flight to security, there is still a great deal of interest in lots of the miners."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10427997
Rescue teams hunt for survivors of Indonesia quake
5:00AM Thursday March 08, 2007
PADANG - Aid began to flow to survivors of deadly earthquakes in Indonesia's West Sumatra as rescue teams searched frantically for victims who may still be trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings.
Officials said that between 70 and 100 people were killed by Tuesday's two quakes, which were also felt in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia, but many more were injured and thousands spent a night in the open, frightened of further tremors.
The disaster management agency in West Sumatra province, where the 6.4 magnitude quake and another measuring 6.3 were centred, put the confirmed death figure at 72.
Thousands of people in Sumatra were camped in tents outside their homes or in open fields.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=68&objectid=10427665
Photos: Indonesia quake toll rises to 70
A boy walks through the wreckage of a restaurant in Solok. Photo / Reuters
7:10AM Wednesday March 07, 2007
By John Nedy
PADANG, Indonesia - The death toll from a strong earthquake and a powerful aftershock that hit Indonesia's Sumatra island yesterday has risen to about 70.
Hundreds of people have been forced to camp out in tents or open fields after their homes were flattened.
As night fell, authorities said dozens were feared still trapped under the rubble in West Sumatra province.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=68&objectid=10427399
350 insurance claims made after Auckland earthquake
5:00AM Friday March 09, 2007
By Martha McKenzie-Minifie
Around 350 insurance claims from as far south as the Western Bay of Plenty have been lodged following the earthquakes that rocked Auckland late last month - and more are expected.
The value of the claims to date total about $1.3 million, with the majority for damage to interior walls, floors or ceilings. Others included claims for damage to exterior walls and foundations.
Earthquake Commission claims manager Keith Long said the largest claim was estimated to cost $25,000.
He said claims continued to be made, with around a dozen new ones lodged yesterday.
Auckland was rocked by three earthquakes on February 21, the strongest measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=68&objectid=10427862
Rise in domestic tourism
2:24PM Friday March 09, 2007
Domestic tourists within New Zealand spent $7.2 billion in the past year -- a 7.5 per cent boost -- the Tourism Ministry has estimated.
Tourism Minister Damien O'Connor welcomed the rise, which was for the year ending September 30, 2006.
"This really is great news for local businesses after a couple of patchy years of growth in domestic spend."
However, he said some of the rise would be due to increased fuel costs being passed on to tourists.
The Tourism Ministry figures are based on a telephone survey of 15,000 New Zealand residents.
Banks lift floating mortgage rates
2:42PM Friday March 09, 2007
Three of the main trading banks lifted their floating mortgage lending rates today in response to the Reserve Bank's lift in the cash rate yesterday.
ANZ, National and Westpac lifted their rates, in line with the Reserve Bank's quarter point rise, to 9.8 per cent.
That's the highest level floating rates have been at since the Labour Party came to power in 1999.
Kiwibank said it was inevitable it would have to raise its variable rate, currently on 9.0 per cent, while ASB said it was keeping its rate on hold at 9.55 per cent for the meantime.
Video: World's 20 richest revealed
12:58PM Friday March 09, 2007
Once again, Bill Gates of Microsoft sits atop the list.
NEW YORK - The world's richest are getting younger and richer with more Russians and Indians cropping up among the 946 people on Forbes magazine's 2007 billionaires list unveiled today.
The number of billionaires is 19 per cent higher than last year when there were 793, and their total net worth grew 35 per cent to $3.5 trillion, the magazine said.
The average billionaire's age fell by two years to 62, and 60 per cent started with very little. Two-thirds of those on the list were richer, with net worth up for nearly everyone in the top 50.
"This is the richest year ever in human history," said Forbes Chief Executive Steve Forbes. "Never in history has there been such a notable advance."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10427933
Water cooler legionella case may be world first
5:25PM Friday March 09, 2007
CHRISTCHURCH - Legionella bacteria detected in a Christchurch Hospital office-type water cooler filter may be the first case of its type in the world, health officials say.
They are warning businesses to check office water cooler filters after the find.
Testing was done at the hospital last October after a patient showed symptoms of legionnaires disease and one of 14 office-style water coolers was found to have a "significant level" of legionella bacteria in a filter.
Canterbury District Health Board spokeswoman Michele Hider told NZPA the bacteria found in the water filter was different to the type that had affected the female patient and the testing had been done as a precaution.
She said there was no evidence to suggest the water cooler was linked to any hospital patients or visitors becoming unwell.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10427961
Bush should be given 'gold medal for hypocrisy' - Chavez
5:15PM Friday March 09, 2007
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Photo / Reuters
BUENOS AIRES - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said today George W. Bush should be given "the gold medal for hypocrisy" as the US president embarked on a tour of Latin America aimed at making new friends.
Leftist Chavez, Washington's leading foe in the region, is on a one-day visit to Buenos Aires, where he will lead thousands of leftists on Friday in a soccer stadium rally that will coincide with Bush's arrival in neighboring Uruguay.
"You've got to give the US president the gold medal for hypocrisy, because he's said now he's worried about poverty in Latin America," Chavez told reporters soon after landing in Buenos Aires.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10427960
'Demonising' drugs does more harm than good
10:25AM Friday March 09, 2007
What do you think? Should drug laws be relaxed because drugs are prevalent and, at times, "harmless".
Drug laws are driven by "moral panic" says a new study which concludes that most drugs have been wrongly "demonised".
An independent study also recommended the setting up of "shooting galleries" where users can inject drugs safely.
The two year study by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, or RSA argued that "whether we like it or not, drugs are and will remain a fact of life".
"On that basis, the aim of the law should be to reduce the amounts of harms caused to individuals, their friends and families, their children and their communities."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10427906
Sex makes women sexier, finds study
12:50PM Friday March 09, 2007
Having sex makes women feel sexier, according to new Canadian research showing intercourse raises their testosterone levels.
Sexual activity boosts levels of the hormone in everyone -- men, women, gay or straight -- but in women it also fuels their desire for more sex, increases their chance of orgasm and heightens belief in their own sexiness.
The findings are among the first to suggest that men and women can alter their own hormone levels based on how often they cuddle or copulate.
The team from Simon Fraser University came to their conclusions by examining testosterone levels in 49 women before and after cuddling, intercourse and exercise.
Subjects experienced higher levels of the hormone just before and after cuddling and intercourse.
And the bigger the rise, the greater the likelihood that the woman experienced an orgasm and felt more sexually attractive the next day, researchers found.
Anne Frank diary burners sentenced by German court
11:15AM Friday March 09, 2007
BERLIN - A German court gave five far-right supporters in eastern Germany nine-month suspended sentences today for ceremonially burning a copy of the diary of Holocaust victim Anne Frank.
The five men, aged between 24 and 29, were found guilty of incitement and desecration of the dead by a court in the eastern town of Schoenebeck. Two other defendants were acquitted for lack of evidence.
The incident took place in February of last year during a summer solstice celebration in the eastern German village of Pretzien near Magdeburg.
According to news reports, one of the men cast the diary into the flames and said: "I commit Anne Frank to the fire," borrowing words used by the Nazis in 1933. They also burnt an American flag.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10427898
Ex-minister found guilty over arming East Timor hit squads
8:40AM Thursday March 08, 2007
DILI - A stern message from a Dili court for former interior minister and strongman Rogerio Lobato has relieved political tension in the East Timor capital.
Lobato was sentenced to 7-1/2 years in jail for arming civilians during last year's violence, which has left East Timor chronically unstable and divided.
The court's front seats were lined with leaders of Lobato's governing Fretilin party, including ex-prime minister Mari Alkatiri and his former Finance Minister Madalena Boavida.
With presidential party elections only a month away, Lobato's standing as deputy leader of the party was of keen interest. It is fielding parliamentary speaker Francisco Guterres as its candidate.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=171&objectid=10427710
Fijian women have been sexually molested, says US report
6:10PM Wednesday March 07, 2007
Fijian Army personnel walk the streets of Suva. Photo / Greg Bowker
Fijian women have been sexually molested for speaking out against the country's military coup, while other protesters have been beaten and intimidated, the United States says in a scathing report.
In its latest human rights report on Fiji, the US Department of State (DoS) said human rights had deteriorated sharply since the December 5 coup.
The report released yesterday painted a picture of dramatic change in Fiji since the coup, in which Fiji's military leader Commodore Frank Bainimarama took power.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=171&objectid=10427608
US polygamist sect leader Jeffs faces new charge
2:20PM Thursday March 08, 2007
SALT LAKE CITY - A federal grand jury in Utah has indicted US polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs on an additional charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Jeffs, arrested in August after two years on the run, is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, which split from the mainstream Mormon Church when it banned plural marriage more than a century ago.
Jeffs was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List for four months until his capture in a routine traffic stop outside of Las Vegas in August 2006. He is in jail awaiting trial on felony rape charges.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=301&objectid=10427758
Jordan's king urges US to work on peace
10:15AM Thursday March 08, 2007
By Susan Cornwell
King Abdullah told US lawmakers regional division was due to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Photo / Reuters
WASHINGTON - King Abdullah of Jordan has urged the United States to exert new leadership in the Middle East and said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is still the core problem.
Speaking to a joint session of the US House of Representatives and Senate, Abdullah noted that 11 US presidents and 30 Congresses had already wrestled with the dispute and said it could not be left once more to a future generation.
"Let us say together: 'No more!' Let us say together: 'Let's solve this!' Let us say together: 'Yes, we will achieve this!'" he declared.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=171&objectid=10427726
Northern Ireland votes in assembly election
12:45PM Wednesday March 07, 2007
By Anne Cadwallader
Ian Paisley's Protestant DUP party is expected to do well as is the IRA's Sinn Fein. Photo / Reuters
BELFAST - People in Northern Ireland are due to vote in an election that could allow the return of a government shared between Protestants and Catholics and help cement a lasting political settlement after decades of conflict.
Britain and Ireland hope the assembly election will lead to a power-sharing agreement by March 26 and have threatened to impose indefinite direct rule from London with more input from Dublin if there is no deal by the deadline.
The last 108-member assembly did not even manage to sit for a whole day after it was elected in 2003.
A 1998 peace deal ended 30 years of conflict in which 3600 people were killed, but there is still no agreement on how the province should be run between Protestants who want to maintain union with Britain and Catholics seeking a united Ireland.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=171&objectid=10427452
Attacks kill more than 100 Shi'ite pilgrims in Iraq
10:10AM Wednesday March 07, 2007
By Habib al-Zubaidi
A wounded pilgrim lies in hospital in Baghdad. Photo / Reuters
Hilla, Iraq - Insurgents killed 149 Shi'ite pilgrims heading for the holy Iraqi city of Kerbala overnight, including 115 when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in one of the deadliest attacks of the four-year war.
The attacks, just over a year after the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in the city of Samarra on Tuesday local time, are likely to increase sectarian tensions between majority Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs that are pushing the country to the brink of all-out civil war.
Two suicide bombers strapped with explosives detonated themselves almost simultaneously in a busy street lined with tents in the city of Hilla, south of Baghdad, killing 115 people, local hospital officials said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=301&objectid=10427422
Pilgrims undeterred by bombers' carnage
5:00AM Friday March 09, 2007
The United States' Baghdad battle plan has not been able to prevent almost daily bombings. Photo / Reuters
More than a million Shiite Muslim pilgrims have poured into Iraq's holy city of Karbala, defying sectarian attacks that have killed about 200 people in two days of bloodshed.
A suicide bomber killed at least 26 people in a cafe north of Baghdad in Diyala province, which has seen frequent sectarian violence.
The bomber targeted a neighbourhood in the town of Balad Ruz where Shiite Kurds live.
And at least 25 Shiite pilgrims were killed as they streamed into Karbala, including 10 by a car bomb in southern Baghdad that also left 12 Iraqi police dead.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10427856
Scientology could have saved Anna Nicole, says Travolta
1:18PM Friday March 02, 2007
John Travolta (left) says he wishes he had helped Anna Nicole battle her addictions. Photos / Reuters
John Travolta says Scientology could have saved Anna Nicole Smith.
The actor insists the late Playboy Playmate may still be alive if she had checked into the controversial Scientology drug and detox programme Narconon.
John, who worked with Anna Nicole on Be Cool, said: "It's so sad. We could have helped her with Narconon but didn't get the chance to. I wish we had."
Narconon has been widely criticised for its unorthodox methods which are inspired by the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
The treatment includes taking large doses of vitamins, an intensive running programme, and long sauna sessions which "run out" drugs and "radiation" from the body.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=301&objectid=10426673
Russian orthodox priest stabbed outside church
10:15AM Monday March 05, 2007
MOSCOW - A Russian Orthodox priest was stabbed in the neck outside his church in the city of Voronezh today, Itar-Tass news agency reported.
The attack in the south-western Russian city follows two violent deaths of Russian priests in recent months, which local media ascribed to a decline in moral standards.
The attacker stabbed Father Pyotr several times as he approached a church where he had been due to perform an evening service, Tass quoted local police as saying. The priest was taken to hospital in a serious condition.
In January, thieves killed a priest on the eve of the Russian Orthodox Christmas and stole religious artworks. In December, a priest and his children were burnt alive in their home.
- REUTERS
India's police try fighting rampant crime with faith
5:00AM Thursday March 01, 2007
By Rahul Bedi
NEW DELHI - A police officer in India's lawless eastern Bihar state is seeking divine help to control crime in a province where 16 people are killed, kidnapped or robbed every hour.
Rita Kumari, officer in charge of the Hajipur police station, 24km from the state capital, Patna, organised a special "yagna" or fire ritual.
"I performed the rituals according to the Hindu priest's advice, asking for God's blessings to change the mindset of criminals and to check the crime graph here," she said after the religious event that lasted many hours.
Police and locals continued singing hymns and dancing for hours after the formal prayers were over.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=301&objectid=10426397
Vandals desecrate Jewish cemetery in Bavaria
9:15AM Monday March 05, 2007
BERLIN - Vandals have knocked over some 60 gravestones at an 18th-century Jewish cemetery in Bavaria, destroying more than half of them, police in the southern German state said.
The vandals, who scaled a cemetery wall, also toppled 11 memorials to Jews who fought for Germany in World War 1, police in Mittelfranken said in a statement posted on their website.
"Because no graffiti or symbols with a political message were found, pure vandalism could have been the motive," the statement released yesterday said, adding that the crime could have been committed at any time since the end of January.
"Several tens of thousands of euros damage was caused, according to first estimates, but the loss of these historic cultural possessions weighs far more heavily," it said.
The cemetery is near the village of Diespeck between Nuremberg and Wuerzburg. There is a reward of 3500 euro ($6780) for information about the incident, police said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week condemned an arson attack on a Jewish nursery school in Berlin, calling it a horrifying attempt to disrupt Jewish life.
A leader of the Jewish community told Reuters anti-Semitic violence had reached a new and worrisome level with the attack, in which the building was defaced with anti-Semitic slogans.
- REUTERS
Irfan Yusuf: Bigots shield behind conservative facade
5:00AM Wednesday February 28, 2007
By Guest Columnists
Liberty and xenophobia don't make comfortable bedfellows. In a community consumed by grossly irrational hatred - including racism and sectarianism - economic and political freedom will never flourish.
This simple fact was taken for granted 140 years ago by American anti-slavery activist Wendell Phillips, who spoke the famous words that are now part of political folklore of Western liberal democracies: "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
Even after the abolition of slavery in the United States and much of Western Europe, paranoid xenophobia has reared its ugly head at times.
Seventy years ago, mainstream newspapers in parts of Europe sought to make Europe's small Jewish minority responsible for economic and political woes.
By 1945, Hitler's regime had massacred millions on the basis of ethnic and religious identity.
Today, irrational hatred is again endangering our fragile liberal democracies. The paranoid rants of Osama bin Laden and his ilk against the Crusader West and against Jews and Hindus, have led to horrific atrocities such as Americans saw on September 11 and that Iraqis see every day.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=301&objectid=10426110
Enjoying the limelight after life undercover
5:00AM Friday March 09, 2007
By Andrew Buncombe
The way Joe Wilson tells it, the first time he met the woman who would become his third wife the world went into slow motion. He smiled at Valerie Plame at a reception at the Washington home of the Turkish Ambassador.
"Suddenly I saw nobody else in a throng that must have numbered 200 people," he recalled.
Yet if their first meeting was the stuff of fairytales, the last four years of their lives have been anything but. Rather the couple have found themselves at the centre of a bitter controversy linked directly to the American and British Governments' use and manipulation of faulty intelligence to make the case for war against Iraq.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10427842
Garuda crash blamed on speed
5:00AM Friday March 09, 2007
By Greg Ansley
The scene of the accident. Photo / Reuters
The Garuda airliner that smashed into a bank and exploded into flames as it ran off the end of the runway at the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta on Wednesday almost certainly landed too fast, expert witnesses have told investigators.
The landing was so hard the jet's front wheels snapped off.
The crash killed 22 and seriously injured many more.
Yesterday severely burned victims were flown to Darwin and one of Australia's top burns experts, Fiona Woods, flew to Indonesia to help treat others.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10427858
Garuda blackbox due to arrive in Australia today
11:55AM Friday March 09, 2007
Related nzherald links:
SYDNEY - The black box from the Garuda plane that crashed in Indonesia killing at least 21 people is expected to arrive in Canberra today.
Four Australians have been confirmed dead after the Boeing 737-400 overshot the runway at Yogyakarta and burst into flames on Wednesday morning.
One of the bodies recovered from the crash is believed to be a fifth Australian, Jakarta embassy spokeswoman Liz O'Neill.
Her body could be formally identified today, Indonesia's Sardjito Hospital forensic doctor Ida Bagus Surya Putra said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10427919
New British spymaster is Islamic expert
5:15AM Friday March 09, 2007
The British Government has announced as the new head of MI5, an official who has specialised in tracking the threat of Islamist terrorism.
Jonathan Evans, currently the deputy head of the security service, will take over from Eliza Manningham-Buller, the outgoing director-general, who caused surprise in Whitehall by announcing that she was stepping down early from the job.
Evans previously worked on counter-terrorism, dealing mainly with the Irish republican movements. Since 1999 he has been directly involved in dealing with Muslim fundamentalist groups.
- INDEPENDENT
Terror case on track for court after five years
5:00AM Saturday March 03, 2007
Australian terror suspect David Hicks will face a US military court within a month charged with providing material support for terrorism, but a charge of attempted murder against him has been dropped.
The United States laid the charge against Hicks yesterday, making him the first detainee in the war-on-terror era to be charged under the new US law for military commissions.
Once Hicks, 31, is notified of the charges he will be arraigned within 30 days and a military judge will have 120 days to form the military commission.
Judge Susan Crawford dismissed a second charge of attempted murder against Hicks after concluding there was no "probable cause" to justify it, said Commander Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=340&objectid=10426706
Guantanamo inmate's father may be prosecution witness in son's trial
12:00PM Tuesday March 06, 2007
By Peter Mitchell
Protesters in Australia have called for Hicks' release. Photo / Reuters
LOS ANGELES - The father of Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks may become a key prosecution witness in the Australian terror suspect's trial.
Chief prosecutor at the US Office of Military Commissions Colonel Morris Davis said he has evidence of Terry Hicks referring to his son as a "terrorist".
Terry Hicks is a vocal supporter of his son and has been a key figure in the campaign to have him released from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and returned to Australia.
Col Davis, however, said Terry Hicks referred to his son as a "terrorist" in an interview soon after it became public Hicks had been picked up in Afghanistan in December 2001 and placed in US custody.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=340&objectid=10427252
Karzai slams US troops over Afghan deaths
11:05AM Tuesday March 06, 2007
By Sayed Salahuddin
Hamid Karzai. Photo / Reuters
KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned US troops for shooting dead 10 civilians at the weekend as officials said nine more -- five women, four children and an old man -- had been killed in an air strike.
The nine were killed on Sunday local time in Kapisa province, barely 90 minutes' drive northeast of the capital Kabul, the deputy provincial governor, Sayed Dawood Hashimi, said on Monday. That strike followed a rocket attack on a US base.
Both Nato and the US-led coalition force which also operates in the area said they were investigating.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=340&objectid=10427239
Sydney terror group 'had bomb components'
5:00AM Wednesday March 07, 2007
SYDNEY - A Sydney court has been told nine terror suspects possessed the ingredients and instructions to construct explosive devices capable of killing and causing massive damage.
The committal hearing for the nine Sydney men heard yesterday that they had all conspired to prepare for an act of terrorism.
In her opening address, prosecutor Wendy Abraham, QC, told Penrith Local Court the men were Islamic extremists determined to carry out violent "jihad" to protect Islam.
"They believed Islam was under attack," Abraham told the court. "Violence was the primary tool of their jihad."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=340&objectid=10427376
Madrid train bombers may have had more help, police say
10:20AM Thursday March 08, 2007
MADRID - Spanish police investigating the 2004 Madrid train bombings have not ruled out the possibility that more people were involved in the deadly attacks than those identified, the trial heard on Wednesday.
A police witness said that after finding fragments of 10 rucksacks and three bags which did not explode, police believe 13 people planted the bombs.
Each bag was packed with 10 to 13kg of explosives which the bombers detonated on four rush-hour trains on the morning of March 11, 2004, killing 191 people and injuring 1800.
Seven suspects blew themselves up almost a month after the attacks and four are on the run, one of whom police suspect died in a suicide attack in Iraq. A total of 29 people are on trial for involvement in the bombings.
Investigators have no evidence that more people were involved in the attacks, but cannot rule out that possibility, said the police witness, not named and giving testimony from behind a curtain for security reasons.
Investigators have previously said they found DNA from two or three people in cars and houses used by the plotters which is still unidentified.
The trial is expected to last until July.
- REUTERS
Car bomb kills 26 in Baghdad book district
10:30AM Tuesday March 06, 2007
By Claudia Parsons and Aseel Kami
Three witnesses said a suicide bomber was behind the blast. Photo / Reuters
BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber devastated Baghdad's historic booksellers' district overnight, killing up to 26 people and setting shops and cars ablaze in defiance of a US-backed crackdown on violence in the Iraqi capital.
A thick plume of choking black smoke rose over the city after the attack, the deadliest to hit Baghdad in a week.
US and Iraqi forces extending a major push into the key Shi'ite militia haven of Sadr City met little resistance. American troops arrested a leading figure in the Mehdi Army militia and three of his aides, the militia said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/search/story.cfm?storyid=0006C31D-9F28-143D-9B2683027AF1031B
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