Two a penny

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LATEST:
Andre Agassi’s upcoming autobiography contains an admission that he used crystal meth in 1997, the year he dropped to No. 141 in the rankings.

In a story posted on People magazine’s Web site Tuesday, Agassi says: “I can’t speak to addiction, but a lot of people would say that if you’re using anything as an escape, you have a problem. A writer from SI first revealed the crystal meth reference on a Twitter posting Tuesday.”

Excerpts from the book are being printed this week by People and Sports Illustrated.

In the posting on People’s Web site, Agassi says he “was worried for a moment, but not for long,” about how fans would react if they found out he used drugs.

“The tweet from SI that posted earlier today which tipped to one of the revelations in the book – Agassi’s use of crystal meth in 1997 – was accurate,” Knopf spokesman Paul Bogaards told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday.

“I wore my heart on my sleeve and my emotions were always written on my face.

Among the most successful – and, without a doubt, one of the most popular – tennis players in history, Agassi won eight Grand Slam singles titles before retiring in 2006. I was actually excited about telling the world the whole story,” Agassi says.

Agassi’s first major championship came at Wimbledon in 1992, and he won a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He drew attention not just for his play, but also for his outfits, his hairstyles and his relationships with women.

He resuscitated his career in 1998, making the biggest one-year jump into the top 10 in the history of the ATP rankings. . The next season, he won the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam, then added a second career US Open title en route to finishing 1999 at No. The next season, he won the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam, then added a second career US Open title en route to finishing 1999 at No.

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Knopf is publishing the book November 9

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Mangere residents are raising doubts about whether police have the right man in custody following a string of sex attacks in the South Auckland suburb in the last two months.

A teenage boy is due to appear in court today after being arrested in connection with a sex attack on a woman in South Auckland yesterday.

The 14-year-old is due to appear in Manukau Youth Court earlier today facing one count of indecent assault against a 29-year-old woman.The woman was knocked to the ground and sexually assaulted before her screams attracted the attention of residents.

In the incident yesterday, the woman was attacked in an alleyway running behind Nga Iwi Primary School as she on her way to pick up a child from school. .

Police have been investigating a string of four sex attacks on females since early last month, the youngest victim being an eight-year-old girl who was raped in an alleyway last week.

However, the description of the arrested man did not match that given by victims of a string of recent sex attacks, Mangere Maori Wardens chairman Thomas Henry told Radio New Zealand.Police have not yet said whether the man taken into custody was arrested in connection with four sex attacks in the alleyway since September 8, or whether charges have been laid.The assault yesterday may have been a copycat attack, Mr Henry said, although he did not understand why anyone would commit such an act.The daylight assaults have been described as “brazen” by police.Police were following up a strong lead from a resident who said they knew who the attacker was and further details would be released earlier today. She punched him and he fled.In an attack last Thursday, a man grabbed a 28-year-old woman pushing her son in a pram in the alleyway.The man was described as Polynesian, aged between 18 and 20, and 165cm tall.The man was described as Polynesian, aged between 18 and 20, and 165cm tall.The man was described as Polynesian and wore a black baseball cap, a white hooded sweatshirt with a black or dark collar.On Monday last week, an eight-year-old girl was raped by a Maori or Polynesian man while walking home from school with her six-year-old sister, who screamed for help. He grabbed her from behind and she was indecently assaulted.On September 8, a 12-year-old girl was attacked by a man in the alleyway.

.Police had received recent reports of an unidentified male approaching young females and asking to touch them in a sexual way

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The New Zealand dollar climbed above US75c for the first time in 15 months, rocketing up more than 1c to close to US75.50c in the two hours to 5am.

By 8am the kiwi was buying US75.37c at 5pm yesterday.37c from US74. .

The NZ dollar also reached a 15-month high of 0.5043 euro from 0.

Against the Japanese currency the kiwi peaked at a one-year high 68.4997 at 5pm.35 yen by the local open from 67.48 yen, easing to 68.

The ANZ bank said risk appetites appeared unquenched as markets expected interest rates in the United States to remain lower into 2010.54 yesterday evening.

After taking a breather at the end of last week, US equities pushed higher to start the week, with analysts’ expectations of earnings continuing to be exceeded, giving investors confidence to push equities higher.

After taking a breather at the end of last week, US equities pushed higher to start the week, with analysts’ expectations of earnings continuing to be exceeded, giving investors confidence to push equities higher.

The NZ dollar managed to outperform the aussie, largely due to a function of less liquidity on the NZ dollar side, ANZ said.

The correlation with equities looked to be back, as gains in the Dow Jones industrial average translated into gains in the antipodean currencies.”

That was especially so as the Reserve Bank of Australia had already started hiking interest rates and there was increasing talk that the next move would be 50 basis points.

“This continues to be a source of much frustration as the NZD side should be underperforming based on relative fundamentals.22c by 8am from A80.

The kiwi was up to A81.34 from 66.96c at 5pm, while the trade weighted index lifted to 67.

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New figures showing Kiwi teens racked up $40 million in unpaid traffic fines in the past year alone have revived calls for tougher demerit penalties and a move away from issuing fines for traffic violations.

The teen tearaways include a 16-year-old Dunedin boy who received 158 fines in the year to June, making him one of the country’s worst teen traffic offenders.

The second biggest outstanding amount is is owed by an 18-year-old, also in Dunedin, who received 119 infringements and owed $38,811, followed by a Christchurch 15-year-old who owed $24,990 on 88 fines. According to Ministry of Justice figures released to the Sunday Star-Times, by the end of the previous month the teenager owed $49,123 in fines, which he has been paying off weekly.

Their fines are among 51,594 issued to drivers aged 14-19 during the same period, and totalling $55. Their offences include dangerous driving, driver licence offences, defective vehicles or no warrant of fitness, parking violations, not wearing a seatbelt and speeding. Of that, 56 percent was being paid by arrangement and 27 percent had been “resolved” either by payment, alternative sentences or being written-off.8m.

AA Driver Education Foundation chairman Mike Noon says the examples show “the current system is failing”.

Experts say the massive totals owed would be nearly impossible to pay off for teenagers, who “may be working at McDonald’s”, and that the only effective penalty for young traffic violators is the threat of forcing them off the road.

The Vehicle Confiscations and Seizures Bill (or “anti-cruising” measures) and Courts and Criminal Matters Bill look set to be passed into law by the end of the year and will give authorities greater powers to suspend driver licences and confiscate cars. . I think it’s likely that there will be more provisions for vehicle confiscations and possibly even crushing the vehicles of repeat dangerous offenders,” Noon says.

“There definitely is an interest in increasing demerit points; that is the way forward.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce says the bill would see fines for such breaches reduced from $400 to $100 and demerit points increased from 25 to 35.

And the Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill, which aims to rebalance penalties for breaches of the driver-licensing system, reaches its second reading in parliament next month. This reflects evidence that young drivers often ignore fines or get their parents to pay them,” Joyce says.

“We believe loss of license and loss of vehicle are much more powerful deterrents than fines particularly for young people and those involved with illegal street racing.

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Prime Minister John Key has flagged moves to set a new business investment threshold with Australia as part of moves to a single economic market.

Mr Key arrived in Brisbane today before travelling to the Pacific Islands Forum in Cairns, which runs till Friday. But he expected to announce an increase for Australia and New Zealand during talks with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd during a state visit in the third week of August.Speakingto business leaders in Brisbane today, he said the current investment threshold was $100 million for all countries. He said the move would help boost investment flow between the two countries from the current $122 billion.He refused to speculate on a final figure, but it is understood it may be increased to $200 million.He said Australia and New Zealand would release tomorrow a joint report into the economic crisis and its impact in the Pacific.He also expected to announce progress on simplified border arrangements that would streamline access for travellers between the two countries, though they would still need a passport.

“There’s quite a clutter now of donor nations and bodies examining to distribute aid into the Pacific,” he said.

Climate change and aid were also on the agenda.

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A Marton man has admitted robbing two Manawatu banks while dressed as a woman, complete with high heels.

Unemployed man James Shevan Cassidy, 34, appeared in Palmerston North District Court yesterday, determined to plead guilty without seeking legal advice.

“I would like the matter dealt with in your court .

But it was only after Judge Les Atkins ordered Cassidy to see the court’s duty solicitor that his pleas to the indictable charges were entered… “I am aware of my actions . I plead guilty,” he told Judge Atkins…”

Cassidy admitted robbing $4300 from Feilding’s Kiwibank, inside the Take Note bookshop, on June 29. I am holding myself accountable and I would like this matter dealt with. .

He also admitted robbing $835 from the Kiwibank inside the Terrace End Post Office on July 9.

“When you do see them, they stick out.

A woman employee from a neighbouring shop, who did not want to be named, told the she saw the man moments before the robbery while she was on a break.

A Robert Harris employee said she saw the high-heeled robber run past the cafe, next to Take Note, after the robbery. I’ve never seen him around before,” she said.

Cassidy was remanded in custody until sentencing on September 9.

It was quite odd, a “woman” running so fast, she said.

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LATEST:
The wife of a New Zealander murdered in Jamaican capital Kingston frantically searched for him after hearing gunshots, a fellow guest says.

Tiki Stardust Steel Hunia, a 27-year-old Hong Kong-based IT consultant and English teacher, was shot during a robbery attempt on Tuesday night. He was with his wife, Nickie-Jean.

The pair were sitting in the outdoor area of their guest house in the suburb of St Andrew, in Kingston. .

One then put the gun to her partner’s stomach and demanded money, while the other snatched Mrs Hunia’s cellphone and hit her when she protested, the woman told the New Zealand Herald.

An American woman who was also outside when the incident happened said two gun-wielding men entered the property, yelling and asking for “Angelo”.

“He (Mr Hunia) got upset because he wanted to protect her so he jumped on the person and they just fell into the bushes in the garden and started to fight,” she said. So I ran.

“At that point I just said, ‘Okay, I have to get out of here’.

“We were hiding in the room for a few minutes and then we walked out and his wife was frantically running around and looking for her husband. While I was running I heard shooting so I told the receptionist to call the police and then I went to hide myself.

She and three others helped carry him to a police car and he was taken to hospital but later died.”

They found Mr Hunia lying on gravel, wounded but breathing, behind a cottage, she told the newspaper.

Gloria said Mr Hunia’s wife thought he was ok – the gunshot had gone in through his arm – but it had actually gone into the side of his chest and had pierced his lung.

Gloria said Mr Hunia’s wife thought he was ok – the gunshot had gone in through his arm – but it had actually gone into the side of his chest and had pierced his lung.

Gloria said that when she answered he had asked to speak with his grandmother who began wailing after the news was delivered but couldn’t tell Gloria what it was.

Gloria told Radio New Zealand that another of her sons had rang her mother’s house where she was staying to pass on the bad news.

Ms Hunia’s mother then told her what had happened: “It’s Tiki – he’s dead.

“I decided to grab the phone and ring my son back to see what the hell he told his grandmother,” she told the radio station.”

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Wellington is seeing more people hospitalised with swine flu than Australia’s swine flu capital Victoria, with around 30 people currently admitted to its hospitals.

Victoria, with a population of about five million had 18 patients in hospital last Friday, compared with Wellington’s present number of almost 30 from a population of around 400,000.”It’s obviously been a brutal winter and the numbers here are going up very quickly but that’s probably not surprising,” he said. However, Wellington microbiologist Dr Tim Blackmore said the timing of the spike in infections, with New Zealand successfully containing the virus for almost two months, could be making the figures appear worse than they were. What the long term picture might be we don’t know yet but certainly at the moment there’s a lot of new cases emerging in the community and proportionally we’re seeing quite a few in the hospital.”If it was starting to slow down in Victoria then our numbers of patients on a particular day, compared to Victoria may be out of step.

However, accurate records of confirmed cases are no longer kept and the total number is likely to be much higher.”While instances of swine flu in New Zealand continue to increase, statistics show more that there have been 4,300 cases and nine deaths reported in Australia compared to 825 cases and no deaths here.”

“The hospital services are starting to struggle.Mr Blackmore told AAP that this was the “tip of the iceberg and it’s looking moderately severe to us.”

Sixty-nine people have been hospitalised in the Wellington region. We’ve never seen admission rates like this before and unfortunately it’s only going to get worse.He added that the majority of people were only in hospital for a day or two and asthma was playing a significant role in hospitalisations. Mr Blackmore said they were now only testing those who were believed to be in a more serious position..”There’s a proportion of people who are coming in with primary influenza pneumonia – viral pneumonia – but most have asthma or something like that underneath it . to make doctors more concerned about their health to have them in hospital..While it was difficult to know exactly how many people had been admitted in total, “it’s obviously something that we’re going to look at more carefully.”He said the average age of people being admitted was early-20s and there were “quite a few” children. A woman in her early twenties is still in a critical condition in Hawke’s Bay Hospital though it is not known whether she had any pre-existing medical conditions.”The condition of the 30-year-old woman in intensive care in Wellington Hospital was today down-graded from life-threatening to serious.”Once the virus established in Australia and as a result of the links New Zealand has with Australia .National Influenza Centre head Dr Sue Huang said that New Zealand’s links with Australia, which sent more than one million visitors here last year, had made containing the virus more difficult… it became really difficult to contain.”Meanwhile, swine flu is taking over from seasonal flu as the most commonly diagnosed influenza in the more serious cases this year.Mr Blackmore said of the 294 positive influenza tests carried out in Wellington since June 23, only 25 were seasonal influenza and the rest were the new strain.Since then, the lowest number of swine flu cases diagnosed in Wellington daily was ten and the highest was 37.However, he said the ratio was about even in Auckland, with Christchurch “somewhere in the middle”"The interesting thing about influenza is it does different patterns in different communities. .Mr Blackmore said he believed the number of infections could peak in a “few weeks” before easing, though the level of preparedness on behalf of health authorities meant they were well placed to cope.”I think overall for New Zealand it’s going to go on for a long time,” he warned.Ms Huang said they processed more than 1000 samples from suspected cases last week, which confirmed that swine flu was becoming more prevalent than other influenzas.She said all tests for Tamiflu resistance and virus mutations had so far come back negative.

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The body of Michael Jackson has been released to his family, a Los Angeles County coroner’s spokesman said after an autopsy failed to immediately determine what killed the troubled pop star.

Members of Jackson’s family were said to be gathering at his parents home in suburban Los Angeles to make final arrangements for the “King of Pop,” whose sudden death on Thursday dominated worldwide headlines and touched off two days of tributes from fans.

No funeral or public memorial plans have been disclosed and ABC News reported that the family might seek a second, independent autopsy on the remains.

Speculation has centred on Jackson’s use of prescription drugs and reports that he was injected with the narcotic painkiller Demerol shortly before collapsing at his rented mansion in a Holmby Hills neighbourhood of Los Angeles.

Coroner’s officials have said that with no outward signs of trauma to Jackson’s body or evidence of foul play, they would have to wait for the results of toxicology tests and other studies to establish a cause of death. Conrad Murray, trying desperately to revive him.

The 50-year-old entertainer was in full cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived, with his personal physician, identified as Dr.

Police towed Murray’s silver Mercedes from the driveway of the home where Jackson died, saying they wanted to search it for evidence and medication, and have sought to further interview the 51-year-old, Houston-based cardiologist.

The Rev. .

“When did the doctor come? What did he do? Did he inject him? If so, with what?” he said in an interview with the network. Jesse Jackson, who has been acting as a spokesman for the singer’s family, told ABC News that they also had questions for Murray. Was he injected once? Was he injected twice?”

The celebrity website TMZ.

“Was he on the scene twice? Before and then reaction to? Did he use Demerol? It’s a very powerful drug.com reported that police were also interested in speaking with another Jackson adviser, Tohme Tohme, about the superstar’s use of prescription medication.com reported that police were also interested in speaking with another Jackson adviser, Tohme Tohme, about the superstar’s use of prescription medication.

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A teenager found dead in his bed yesterday morning died from a head injury, police say.

Family members found Waylin Te Rau Aroha Ngarangione, 19, dead at his family home in Manutuke, 13km southwest of Gisborne, about 9am yesterday, Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Scott of Gisborne CIB said. .

“The scene is currently being examined by both the police and the forensic scientists and inquiries are continuing as to how the fatal injury occurred,” Mr Scott said.

A homicide inquiry had been launched as a result.

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Earlier today, Mr Scott said Mr Ngarangione’s family was “obviously very upset, as you would be when anyone loses a loved one or a family member”