New Zealand Herald
Team NZ hammer Oracle, snatch top place
VALENCIA - Team New Zealand made a statement in the challenger series this morning thumping Chris Dickson's BMW Oracle Racing by 1 minute 34s to win the round robin competition.
The win meant Emirates Team New Zealand earned the right to choose their semifinal opponent. They chose Spain's Desafio Espanol.
Oracle will race Luna Rossa in the other semifinal. The semifinals are a best of nine race series starting on Monday night (NZT).
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10438861
Bridge flag angers Maori MP
Maori Party MP Hone Harawira says he is appalled that Transit allowed the European Union flag to fly on Auckland Harbour bridge.
"I'm referring this to the Race Relations Office," said Mr Harawira.
"It's an insult to Maori, and an insult to the intelligence of all New Zealanders.
"Transit can't say that we won't fly your [Maori] flag because it doesn't represent a country, and then go and fly another one that doesn't represent a country.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10438842
Martinborough: Wines, vines and wheels
It takes a lot to upstage a bride, but that's exactly what our retro-style bicycles did as we gently rode up to the Te Kairanga winery, wicker baskets brimming with a picnic lunch.
Smiles broke across the faces of the bridal party, and onlookers waved as we pedalled by, knowing we resembled something out of the Famous Five.
It had been a while since either of us had jumped on a bike - but as we discovered, getting back in the seat was as easy as ... well, riding a bike. And riding a bike around Martinborough's vineyards on a sunny afternoon was thoroughly pleasant.
We were in the Wairarapa to visit Parehua, a recent addition on Martinborough's outskirts, which hosts executive retreats but also keeps itself welcoming enough to be a luxurious private getaway for couples wanting to escape city life.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/7/story.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10437977
Touche, your majesty ...
WASHINGTON - The Queen flashed a bit of royal wit at President George W. Bush yesterday, getting back at him for a faux pas a day earlier that nearly placed her in the 18th century.
With a playful grin, the Queen opened a dinner toast to the President saying: "I wondered whether I should start this toast by saying, 'When I was here in 1776 ... "'
The 104 guests invited to the black-tie gathering at the home of British Ambassador David Manning erupted in laughter. Bush laughed along and the Queen smiled broadly before continuing with her text.
"Your Majesty, I can't top that one," Bush reciprocated at the beginning of his toast.
The President just barely stopped himself on Tuesday before dating the Queen to 1776.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438800
Microchipping on cards for seniors
Legislation setting up a "Super Gold Card" for superannuitants will let the cards carry a microchip for easy scanning of personal information.
MPs worried about the possible misuse of the card and identity theft will make a determined attempt in Parliament today to remove the microchipping clause from the legislation, but the Government is expected to have enough support to pass it.
The Super Gold Card was a New Zealand First initiative, accepted by Labour, to provide senior citizens with access to discounts and benefits at various businesses or government services.
The contentious clause in the Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill would also permit microchips in other social services cards.
Act MP Heather Roy will introduce an amendment seeking to remove the microchipping clause when the bill comes up in Parliament, expected today.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10438855
Quakes rock Bay of Plenty
New 8:45AM Thursday May 10, 2007
Bay of Plenty residents were rocked by two earthquakes within two hours early today.
GNS Science recorded a quake measuring 3.3 in magnitude at 2.11am, followed by a tremor measuring 3.6 in strength at 4.03am.
The first earthquake was centred 10km north-east of Matata and was 2km deep.
It would probably have been felt in the Bay of Plenty, GNS said.
The second quake was centred within five kilometres of Matata and was five kilometres deep.
It would have been felt near Matata, and in surrounding areas, GNS said.
- NZPA
Warehouse balloons raise wrath of wildlife supporters
Environmentalists have accused The Warehouse of endangering wildlife by releasing 13,000 red helium balloons to celebrate the store's 25th birthday.
The balloons were released at Dairy Flat on Tuesday, a move that prompted an angry response from as far away as Australia where balloons are considered dangerous to wildlife.
Lance Ferris, of Australian Seabird Rescue, contacted the Herald to say such releases invoked the ire of hundreds of researchers, scientists, and marine wildlife rehabilitators around the world.
"As opposed to some beliefs, latex balloons can take up to 12 months or more to break down in a marine environment. Meanwhile, along with other plastic pollutants, each balloon, or piece thereof, has the potential to contribute to the deaths of hundreds of marine creatures."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10438845
Widow of London suicide bomber arrested
LONDON - British police arrested the widow of one of the London suicide bombers of July 7, 2005, along with three other suspects yesterday, a source familiar with the operation said.
Police said a 29-year-old woman and three men were detained in early morning operations in the northern region of West Yorkshire and in Birmingham, central England.
The source identified the woman as Hasina Patel, whose husband Mohammad Sidique Khan was one of four young British Muslims who blew themselves up in the 7/7 attacks, killing 52 people on three London underground trains and a bus.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438869
UK's Blair set to announce when resigning
LONDON - Tony Blair is expected to set a date for his resignation as British prime minister when he makes an announcement about his future tomorrow.
Blair, who notched up 10 years in power last week, is expected to stay as prime minister and Labour Party leader until a successor can take over at the end of June or early July.
Finance minister Gordon Brown, with whom Blair has had a close but uneasy relationship, appears certain to win a seven-week Labour Party leadership contest.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438876
Irish court rules in favour of abortion for teenage girl
An Irish court yesterday ruled in favour of a teenage girl who had sought legal permission to travel to England to abort her terminally ill foetus.
The 17-year-old, who is four months pregnant, opted for an abortion after discovering that the foetus suffers from a brain condition which meant it could live for at most three days after birth.
But because she is in care the health authorities moved to prevent her travelling to England.
Abortion is strictly curtailed in the Republic, though every year thousands of Irish women go to England for that purpose.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438886
Has anyone seen Madeline?
Madeleine's parents still hope for her safe return
The parents of Madeleine McCann said last night that they still hold out hopes for her safe return, with Portuguese police apparently no closer to finding the three-year-old - a week on from her abduction.
Gerry and Kate McCann were unable to face the cameras yesterday but in a statement said they continued to remain positive.
"We are grateful to all of those currently taking part in the search for our daughter Madeleine," they said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438887
Portugal police look into paedophile kidnap clues
LISBON - Police are investigating whether a paedophile ring ordered the kidnap of a three-year-old British girl who vanished from her bed five days ago in southern Portugal, daily Correio da Manha reported on Tuesday.
Madeleine McCann is believed to have been abducted from her apartment on May 3 in Praia da Luz, a popular resort in the Algarve, just yards away from where her parents were dining.
Her parents immediately insisted it was an abduction because there was evidence of a forced entry in the bedroom where she was sleeping with her two-year-old twin brother and sister.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438714
Palestinians shelve Islamic 'Mickey Mouse' TV show
GAZA - The Palestinian government ordered today the shelving of a children's show on a Hamas television station in which a Mickey Mouse lookalike calls for Israel to be vanquished and Islam to "lead the world".
Tomorrow's Pioneers, which attracted complaints from Israeli groups, features a host, Farfur, dressed in a full body-suit to resemble Walt Disney's famous cartoon character.
He and a young female co-host instruct their young viewers on Hamas' militant brand of Muslim piety.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438890
East Timor presidential run-off voting ends
6:15AM Thursday May 10, 2007
Voting in East Timor's presidential run-off officially ended yesterday, as poll officials reported only minor glitches in the contest between Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta and former guerrilla fighter Francisco Guterres.
Former foes share power of minor miracle
It is the closest thing to a miracle that Belfast has seen: the sight of the two veterans, Protestant patriarch and iconic republican, standing shoulder-to-shoulder to vow that they will leave the past behind.
It flew in the face of all history, all experience and all intuition to think of Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness promising to run Northern Ireland together for the benefit of all its people.
But that's what they did at yesterday's historic ceremony at Stormont as Paisley and McGuinness took office.
Until recently they seemed to occupy different political planets. But the two warriors of the Troubles, whose natural habitat seemed to be conflict, stood side-by-side and affirmed to the world that the war is over and that a new era is at hand.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438811
Tsunami work earns NZ man honour
A special medal is to be presented to a Manawatu man for his work following the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. Shane Bayley is to receive the New Zealand Special Service Medal - Tsunami, tomorrow.
Mr Bayley, who at the time was the Taranaki Regional Council's emergency management officer, was deployed on December 29, 2004, to Banda Aceh as part of the multi-national United Nations Disaster Assessment and Co-ordination team. He said the team's role had been to support the Indonesian government by co-ordinating incoming international aid and making assessments so information could be compared.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=68&objectid=10438410
Court still chasing the elusive Mr Marshall
Peter Marshall, who is facing a number of fraud charges relating to the collapse of Access Brokerage in late 2004, again failed to front up in court today, to the growing impatience of the prosecution and judge.
Marshall, Access' former managing director, had been ordered to appear in Wellington District Court but his lawyer Sandy Baigent instead presented a medical certificate.
It asked that he be excused and the matters which were to be dealt with today, be heard at yet another hearing on Friday next week.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10438896
Group claims BBC man's kidnapping
5:00AM Thursday May 10, 2007
Alan Johnston
GAZA - A little-known Islamist group claimed responsibility in an audio recording last night for abducting the BBC's Gaza correspondent, issuing demands immediately rebuffed by the Palestinian Government.
As evidence that it is holding Alan Johnston, the group posted on the Internet a photo of his BBC identification card.
The posting appeared to be the first tangible evidence that Johnston, who disappeared on March 12 while driving his car in the Gaza Strip, had been kidnapped.
"We demand that Britain free our prisoners, particularly the honourable Sheikh Abu Qatada al Filistini," said a speaker on the audio recording, posted on the Internet by a group that calls itself the "Jaysh al Islam", or Army of Islam.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438798
Video: Taiwan MPs brawl in parliament
Rival legislators in Taiwan pushed and shoved one another as chaos broke out in parliament over differences regarding an electoral reform bill.
The legislators threw newspapers, water and books at each other.
More than 50 legislators of the two rival parties, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Nationalist Kuomintang Party (KMT) who voiced differences regarding the make-up of the Central Election Commission took part in the brawl.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438719
Unmanned Australian plane crashed into Dili home
New 10:15AM Thursday May 10, 2007
Defence chiefs in East Timor have confirmed that an unmanned Australian surveillance plane crashed into a house in suburban Dili.
The plane, operated by remote control, crashed soon after takeoff last Thursday, ploughing into a house near the city.
The occupants were not home at the time, and no one was injured.
Australian Army engineers have agreed to rebuild the house to the same or better standard and investigations so far have found a technical error was to blame.
- RADIO AUSTRALIA
No power to the Zimbabwean people
Zimbabwe, already hit by the declining capacity of its aging power plants, yesterday announced 20-hour daily electricity cuts for households across the country as supplies are shifted to irrigate the crucial winter wheat crop amid persistent food shortages.
Irfan Yusuf: Australians shrug off inflammatory racism
…In the lead-up to the December 2005 race riots in the southern Sydney suburb of Cronulla, Jones and his colleagues on Sydney talkback radio station 2GB made a series of broadcasts which contributed to the worst race riots experienced in Sydney.
The Cronulla riots were brought about by rumours that Middle East youths from outside the area had assaulted two lifeguards.
In the days leading up to the riots, Jones and his colleagues read out inflammatory and racist e-mails and fielded racist phone calls.
Jones didn't use his delay switch to stop the broadcast of racist slurs and threats of violence. He seemed oblivious to the racism inherent in the emails he read out, sometimes even endorsing their contents.
In one broadcast, Jones endorsed the view that "biker gangs be present at Cronulla railway station when these Lebanese thugs arrive ... it would be worth the price of admission to watch these cowards scurry back on to the train for the return trip to their lairs", and that "we don't have Anglo-Saxon kids out there raping women in western Sydney".
One letter Jones read on air said: "These Middle Eastern people must be treated with a big stick. It's the only thing they fear. They don't fear fines and they laugh at the courts." One of Jones' colleagues described Lebanese as being "inbred" and having low IQs.
Unlike Imus, Jones' remarks have been commented on by an official law enforcement report and an independent commercial radio watchdog. The Australian Communications and Media Authority found that Alan Jones, on the eve of the Cronulla riots, made comments "likely to encourage violence or brutality" or "vilify" people of Middle East background.
Imus was apologetic about his on-air slurs, but Jones chose to pass judgment on the authority. He made a series of deeply offensive personal on-air attacks on authority chairman Chris Chapman, saying he "had more jobs than I've had feeds". It takes a high level of hubris to do this before the authority had even issued its punishment.
But then why should Jones feel threatened? Unlike their American counterparts' responses to Imus, Australian politicians are rushing to Jones' defence….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438754
Piecing together biblical tyrant's past
Under a brain-numbing sun, the mountain gradually gave up its secrets to the archaeologists' trowels. A flight of stairs - part of the route of the elaborate funeral procession planned by the tyrannical ruler - leads to the very place where the notorious king of Judea was buried.
This week, on the powdery grey flank of an artificial mountain overlooking the Arab villages and Jewish settlements scattered across the Judean wilderness, Israeli scholars presented their answer to one of the great mysteries of biblical archaeology: the tomb of Herod the Great, a Roman client king who ruled the Jews with the ruthless paranoia of a Stalin or Saddam Hussein from 37BC until his death in 4BC….
…Herod was also responsible for the rebuilding and expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and the desert fortress of Masada, as well as building up the port city of Caesarea and other major projects.
Herod's tomb is no 21st-century Tutankhamen treasury. There are no bones, let alone a mummified body. What Netzer unearthed on the West Bank three weeks ago were dozens of fragments of finely dressed pale-pink limestone, elegantly carved with rosettes, decorated stone urns and the remains of a 10sq m stone podium on which the mausoleum is believed to have stood.
All that is left of Herod is his notoriety - which in the view of many people was well-earned.
To Christians, he was the king who ordered the massacre of the innocents, described in St Matthew's Gospel. St Matthew tells how, soon after the birth of Jesus, three wise men from the east asked Herod where they could find "the one having been born the king of the Jews". Herod, who feared the rise of a a rival for his kingdom, ordered the slaughter of all boys up to the age of 2 in Bethlehem. Joseph, who had been warned in a dream that Herod intended to kill Jesus, fled with his family to Egypt, where they stayed until after Herod's death.
To his Jewish subjects Herod was at once a benefactor and a scourge. Kenneth Spiro, a modern American rabbi, defined him as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis", but acknowledged that he was "also the greatest builder in Jewish history"….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438796
Scientists tap into ancient knowledge for signs the Big Dry will break
As the worst drought for more than a century grinds on, ancient Aboriginal knowledge is being tapped in an attempt to better understand Australia's capricious climate.
Where meteorologists base their prognostications on satellites and synoptic charts, generations of Aborigines observed the flight of birds and the flowering of wattle bushes.
Aboriginal understanding of the continent's climate is being harnessed by the Bureau of Meteorology's Indigenous Weather Knowledge project, as Australians pray for rain.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438809
It may not be easy but it's wise being green
5:00AM Thursday
May 10, 2007
By Greg Ansley
CANBERRA - This is the year that Prime Minister John Howard really discovered the environment.
While there have been significant moves by his conservative coalition Government over recent years, Howard was a late convert to climate change and a reluctant advocate of any emission limits or renewable energy sources that might impact on Australia's resources-dependent economy, and coalmining in particular.
If nothing else, opinion polls showing the degree of concern among voters at the implications of climate change, and at the poor management of crucial water supplies highlighted by one of the worst droughts in recorded history, have helped to turn Howard green.
Tuesday night's Budget showed clearly that - with tax cuts, education, childcare and other sweeteners - the Government has recognised the political significance of good environmental management.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438816
Five dead in US Navy helicopter crash in Nevada
RENO, Nevada - All five crew members on a helicopter flying out of Nevada's Fallon Naval Air Station died in a crash about 16 km west of Austin, Nevada, base officials said on Tuesday.
Spokesman Zip Upham said the helicopter apparently struck a high-voltage power line while on a search and rescue training mission at 9:30pm (local time) on Monday night. The remote area is about 265 km east of Reno.
Navy investigators were in the northern Nevada desert early on Tuesday to recover the bodies of the five sailors.
"While the investigation is just beginning, I am hopeful that it will be swift so that the victims' loved ones will have a better understanding of how this tragedy occurred," US Senator Harry Reid of Nevada said.
The SH-60F helicopter was part of a helicopter anti-submarine squadron in Jacksonville, Florida.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438689
Palestinians shelve Islamic 'Mickey Mouse' TV show
GAZA - The Palestinian government ordered today the shelving of a children's show on a Hamas television station in which a Mickey Mouse lookalike calls for Israel to be vanquished and Islam to "lead the world".
Tomorrow's Pioneers, which attracted complaints from Israeli groups, features a host, Farfur, dressed in a full body-suit to resemble Walt Disney's famous cartoon character.
He and a young female co-host instruct their young viewers on Hamas' militant brand of Muslim piety.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=340&objectid=10438890
West Bank fragmented by Israeli restrictions - World Bank
JERUSALEM - Israeli restrictions have divided the occupied West Bank into 10 economically isolated enclaves, severing financial links and denying Palestinians access to some 50 per cent of the land, according to the World Bank.
The Washington-based international lending agency, in a report released on Wednesday in Jerusalem, said Israeli security concerns were "undeniable and must be addressed".
But the World Bank said Israel's West Bank barrier and system of road and zoning restrictions were aimed at "protecting and enhancing the free movement of settlers and the physical and economic expansion of the settlements at the expense of the Palestinian population".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=340&objectid=10438673
PNG police in gun battle with human sacrifice cult
PORT MORESBY - Riot police have been sent to a remote mountainous village in Papua New Guinea after a gun battle between police and members of a cult involved in human sacrifices, local media reported on Wednesday.
The National newspaper said several people were killed and many injured in the fighting last week in the Finschhafen area of Morobe province, 350 km north of the capital, Port Moresby.
Black magic is widespread in Papua New Guinea, a jungle-clad, mountainous South Pacific island nation where some villages only encountered Western civilisation in the 1930s. Women suspected of being witches are often hanged or burnt to death.
Police who flew to the area on Sunday said they believed they were dealing with a cult movement involved in murders and human sacrifices to their gods, the newspaper said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10438735
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