Two a penny

.Former rugby league full-back turned AFL convert Karmichael Hunt has agreed terms to play with a French rugby union side for six months.
The 22-year-old left Brisbane earlier today and will link up with club Biarritz Olympique Pays Basques (BOPB) to play in the French Top 14 competition.
He will return to start his AFL career with the fledging Gold Coast side, entering the competition in 2011, in May next year.
Hunt, who played six seasons with the Brisbane Broncos and represented Australia and Queensland, made headlines earlier this year when he defected from rugby league and signed a three-year deal with the new Gold Coast AFL team. The cultural side of things will be fantastic and the challenge of elite rugby is exciting,” Hunt said in a statement.
“I am really examining forward to the experience of playing and living overseas.
Hunt was given the opportunity to have a stint in French rugby as part of his contract with the new Gold Coast franchise. .
The short-term arrangement was reportedly close toly foiled after Hunt was ineligible to play as an emerging nation player from Cook Islands rather than an “import”.
His six-month contract with BOPB, based in the luxurious sea-side town of Biarritz close to the Spanish border, is reportedly worth $300,000.

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A former French spymaster denied Monday taking part in a plot to smear President Nicolas Sarkozy during his much-awaited testimony at the trial of ex-prime minister Dominique de Villepin.

Yves Bertrand, the former head of the RG police intelligence service, said he had never heard of the Clearstream dirty tricks scandal before the media began reporting on it in July 2004.

Villepin and four other defendants are on trial on charges of conspiring to slander Sarkozy in 2004 by implicating him in corruption at a time when the two men were jostling to succeed president Jacques Chirac. .

The case centres on a fake list of account holders from the Clearstream financial clearing house who were said to have received kickbacks from the sale of French frigates to Taiwan.

This is a completely fantastic tale, Bertrand told judges at the Paris criminal court.

Bertrand’s testimony was crucial after another defendant, Imad Lahoud, admitted in court to adding Sarkozy’s name to the list in the ex-spy chief’s office.

I never met Lahoud in my office nor anywhere else and I state that emphatically, said the ex-spy chief, who was at the helm of police intelligence for 12 years.

But Gergorin testified that he had never laid eyes on Bertrand before their face-to-face encounter in court.

Lahoud, a former employee with Franco-German aerospace giant EADS, said the meeting with Bertrand took place in March 2004 in the presence of another defendant, EADS vice president Jean-Louis Gergorin.

Three weeks of testimony have however failed to clear up questions about the bogus list and how Sarkozy’s name along with those of more than 100 prominent people ended up on it.

Dubbed the trial of the decade, the Clearstream case features a Who’s Who of big names in French politics, industry and intelligence circles, beginning with Sarkozy, who is a civil plaintiff in the case.

Judges were to wrap up testimony on Monday and begin hearing submissions from lawyers representing Sarkozy and some of the 38 other civil plaintiffs in the case.

Villepin took the stand last week to deny that he had leaked the fake list to investigators and ordered a special probe to focus on Sarkozy as one of the alleged Clearstream account holders.

The trial ends on October 23 after the defence and the prosecution make their final submissions, but a verdict is not expected before several months.

The trial ends on October 23 after the defence and the prosecution make their final submissions, but a verdict is not expected before several months.

Clearstream trial – Dominique de Villepin – France – Nicolas Sarkozy

.Somali pirates attempted to storm the French navy’s 18,000 tonne Indian Ocean fleet flagship after mistaking it for a cargo vessel, the military have said.
The crew of La Somme, a 160-metre command vessel and fuel tanker, easily saw off the brazen night-time assault by lightly armed fighters on two open-topped motorboats and captured five pirates, a spokesman said.
La Somme is the French command vessel in the Indian Ocean, overseeing French air, sea and land forces fighting Somali pirates and hunting terrorists under the banner of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom.
“The pirates, who as a result of the darkness took the French ship for a commercial vessel, were on board two vessels and opened fire with Kalashnikovs,” Admiral Christophe Prazuck said.
The pirates tried to flee when they realised their mistake but were pursued by French forces who, after an hour-long chase, caught one of the skiffs, Admiral Prazuck said.
Officers on the ship have directed commando operations to free French hostages in the hands of Somali pirates.
The world’s naval powers have deployed dozens of warships to the lawless waters off Somalia over the past year to curb attacks by pirates in one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes.
On it they found five men but no weapons, water or food as the pirates had apparently thrown all of the boat’s contents overboard, the spokesman said.
This was not the first time that Somali pirates have mistakenly attacked a French naval vessel.
La Somme was operating 460 kilometres off the Somali coast, on its way to resupply fuel to frigates patrolling shipping lanes as part of the European Union’s Operation Atalanta anti-piracy mission.
Somalia has had no proper government since it plunged into lawlessness after President Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. Several pirates were captured in May when they attempted to board a frigate in the area. .
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Annah Stretton is no stranger to controversy.

For her winter 2010 collection she transported the audience back to the 1950s in an ode to legendaryKiwi exotic dance star Freda Stark.

Her collection featured lingerie as outerwear, diaphanous tea dresses with a twist and figure hugging pencil skirts.

In the prelude to the show, ushers gave out icecreams to the audience before Stretton sent models with tousled hair and come-to-bed eyes down the catwalk. .

For the finale she sent models down the runway wearing little more than gold body paint,a trademark of Stark in her pomp.

Twenty-seven names took John Lennon and Yoko Ono as the inspiration for their range.

Hogan’s collection was ladylike and demure with a twist.

The Sable and Minx Winter 2010 collection earlier showed a very pretty feminine collection featuring a palette of lilacs, pale blues and sage green.

But the oversized shirts and fitted jackets the label is known for were also still a big part of the range.

Cybele Wiren sent elfin models down the catwalk in fluid, beautifully draped clothes, in a palette of inky blues and nudes.

The first show of New Zealand Fashion Week was always going to be a big draw.

Standout pieces from the collection included skirts and dresses which were panelled and fluted to resemble the petals of a lily.

For Winter 2010, Wiren said she found her inspiration from the formality of the Victorian era and the sculptural qualities of flowers and insects.

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The lily was also strongly evident in prints – a navy silk mini-dress is bound to be a bestseller for the designer

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The four men accused of brutally attacking two young couples during a violent rampage in Auckland’s North Shore have pleaded guilty this afternoon.

Harlem Haynui Kirton, 19, Piri Valli Kirton, 18, Ruamoko Taiapa, 21, and Jono Wilson this afternoon entered guilty pleas on all charges on the second day of their trial at the Auckland District Court.

The four had been accused of aggravated robbery, intent to cause grievous bodily harm, wounding with intent and assault with intent to rob, the NZ Herald reported.

The mother of one of the accused, Kiriana Taiapa, also entered a guilty plea today to being an accessory after the fact.

The charges were related to events that occurred on the North Shore on January 15 last year when two couples were violently attacked. .

She had been accused of trying to dispose of 3 metal bars which were used during the attack.

Ms Taiapa was released on bail.

Ms Mandeno said their first victims were a young Russian couple, Dennis Khotchenko and Valeriya Nesterova, who were parked in a red Mercedes on the roadside near Milford Beach enjoying a beer.

As the trial opened in Auckland District Court yesterday, Crown prosecutor Sarah Mandeno said Harlem Kirton took his girlfriend to see the film American Gangster then met up with his brother and friends and went “cruising the streets of the North Shore, examining for trouble”. He then asked Mr Khotchenko if he had “ever met a real gangster”.

She said Wilson walked up to them, struck up a conversation and asked for a beer. “From there the nightmare unfolded,” Ms Mandeno said. Wilson then hit Mr Khotchenko around the head with a metal bar. The frenzied attack left Mr Khotchenko “dizzy and bloodied”. The frenzied attack left Mr Khotchenko “dizzy and bloodied”. On reaching the shore, she sought help from a resident. She eventually managed to escape by running into the water and swimming across an inlet. This time they attacked Oskar Carroll and Ericka Rancourt as they walked home after a night out.

Ms Mandeno said that two hours later the four men struck again.

. Both were badly hurt and could remember little from the attack, Ms Mandeno said

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Murderers will no longer be able to claim they were provoked into committing their crime under a law change the government is planning.

Cabinet will consider the proposal in the next two to three weeks but Prime Minister John Key has given his approval, making it almost certain to go ahead.

Justice Minister Simon Power, in a speech to the Institute of Policy Studies in Wellington today, unveiled a raft of areas the government was looking at including updating the law around sexual crimes, better protection for children and the partial defence of provocation.

The jury yesterday found him guilty of murder.

The defence has sparked heated debate after Otago University tutor Clayton Weatherston argued he was provoked into stabbing girlfriend Sophie Elliott stabbed 216 times and was only guilty of manslaughter.

He told reporters: “I think (the defence has) had its time, I think there are other mechanisms on the statute book that deal with some circumstances that may arise”.

Mr Power said the defence “wrongly enables defendants to besmirch the character of victims, and effectively rewards a lack of self-control”.

Once Cabinet gave approval a bill would be drafted.

“It would be fair to say there would be lot of support around the Cabinet table for the move that Simon Power is leading,” he said.

Mr Key indicated Cabinet would be advancing it.

His defence argued that Mr Brown came on strongly to Ambach and might have attempted to rape him, leading Ambach to lose control and beat him with a banjo before ramming the stem down his throat.

Ferdinand Ambach this month favourably used the defence in his trial for killing Auckland man Ronald Brown, 69.

“It was on its own time track, I have been very careful to make no comment on the Weatherston trial or for that matter any other trial.

Mr Power denied today’s announcement was knee-jerk reaction to recent cases saying the work had been going on for some time.”

He would have delayed the speech had a verdict not been delivered.”

He would have delayed the speech had a verdict not been delivered.

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Isaac Ross didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when All Blacks team-mate Ali Williams went down with a recurrence of his Achilles tendon problems, handing a first test start on his home track to the impressive young Cantab.

Williams pulled up sore at the All Blacks’ training session at Rugby Park here today, and was immediately withdrawn from the starting lineup to face Italy on Saturday in the last of the Iveco series tests.

It’s yet another setback for the 61-test second-rower from Auckland who has struggled all year to shake off the injury. Bryn Evans comes on to the bench to cover the second row.

That prospect now looks a gloomy one, with Williams’ continuing problems putting a major cloud over his participation at Eden Park. There were high hopes he could come through this match and put himself squarely in the frame for the Tri-Nations which kicks off with a clash against the Wallabies on July 18 in Auckland. It’s yet another setback since he first picked up the strain in the Blues’ clash against the Hurricanes early in the Super 14.

Williams cut a desolate figure at the training session, watching on from the sidelines as his team-mates were put through their paces.”

But Ross was definitely examining on the bright side of things after the 24-year-old was called up to make the third start of his rookie campaign, but an all-important first one on AMI Stadium.

All Blacks doctor Deb Robinson confirmed the injury, saying: “It’s disappointing for Ali and over the next 48 hours we will determine the next best course of action as far as his injury management is concerned. “I felt sorry for him, but it was great for me.

“It was really mixed emotions,” said the athletic Cantab who has been calling the lineouts with a good degree of success. I felt gutted, but without them even saying, when I saw him go down I was like ‘that’s mine’.

“The first test on the home track – it’s going to be awesome. So I’m not complaining about it.”

Ross described the chance to start on Saturday night as a “bonus”, adding: “One man’s misfortune is another man’s pleasure. I was pretty fortunate to get to start the first two and this one is just icing on the cake.

“When I first made the team this was one of the games I was gunning for. His combination with the ageless Brad Thorn continues to impress and he says he feels ready to take another step forward on Saturday night against the combative Italian pack.”

Ross certainly feels a lot more settled now with those two tough tests against the French under the belt. “We know it wasn’t the perfect performance, so all we can do is go up from here. .

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Job losses are mounting as the Government advised that the country is staring down the barrel of a $50 billion recession.

Inland Revenue staff were told yesterday up to 250 jobs would be axed as government departments are told to tighten their belts and Finance Minister Bill English has issued a stark warning of trade-offs in the May Budget, which will outline a plan to tackle ballooning debt. .

The recession was expected to blow a $50b hole in the economy during the next three years, plunging the Government further into the red as costs climb and tax revenues fall. But tax cuts in 2010 and 2011 would only go ahead if they were affordable, Mr English said.

Labour leader Phil Goff said the Government was softening the public up for a broken promise on tax cuts.

“That’s $50 billion we will not recover as a nation, and $50 billion that cannot be taxed by the Government,” Mr English told a business audience in Auckland.

“I think [Mr English] is making the situation as black as he can in order to justify breaking a promise on tax cuts and slashing services to New Zealanders. The union said the cuts coincided with an increase in workload because of tax changes and KiwiSaver.”

Layoffs at Inland Revenue have alarmed the Public Service Association.

Inland Revenue commissioner Robert Russell said the redundancies among the department’s 6000 staff were voluntary at this stage.

“Our concern is that job cuts in the public service will push workloads to unmanageable levels that will threaten the provision of essential public services like those at Inland Revenue,” national secretary Richard Wagstaff said. Normally it would try to avoid redundancies by applying a sinking lid, but with the economy so uncertain, staff were staying put.

The department, like other businesses, was having to tighten its belt, he said.

“People who used to be very confident about being able to leave a job today and getting a new one tomorrow just don’t have that confidence.

“People who used to be very confident about being able to leave a job today and getting a new one tomorrow just don’t have that confidence.

Ports of Auckland said yesterday that it was cutting 30 jobs. Public service layoffs are expected to accelerate during the next few months as spending is scrutinised by a Cabinet razor gang.

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With no change in policy, debt would reach 70 per cent of gross domestic product by 2023 equivalent to $30,000 for every New Zealander.

Mr English warned that with the economy now in what was likely to be its sixth quarter of recession, and government gross debt set to double in the next three years, the Government had no choice but to bring debt under control or leave the country “especially vulnerable”.

“We will not let that happen.

If left to rise to those levels, it would eventually require “radical steps to bring it under control”.”

– TRACY WATKINS and VERNON SMALL,

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Trustees of real estate baroness Leona Helmsley’s estate say they’re giving US$136 million to charity – with just US$1 million going to the dogs.

Helmsley’s estate announced 53 charitable grants overnight, the bulk of which went to New York City hospitals and medical research.
Animal rights groups had rejoiced a year ago at public reports that Helmsley, sometimes called “The Queen of Mean” for the imperious way she treated her staff, had wanted her entire fortune to be donated to care for dogs.
But a subsequent judgment ruled Helmsley was unfilt when she executed her will.
The hotel queen’s will had named her dog, Trouble, as a US$12m beneficiary -but cut out two of her four grandchildren entirely, allegedly because they failed to name any of their children after her late husband.
The largest grant announced overnight, US$40 million, went to a digestive diseases centre at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Centre, while US$35 million went to start two research facilities in Helmsley’s name at Mount Sinai Medical Centre. Trouble’s trust fund was reduced to US$2m and the disinherited grandchildren were awarded US$4m.
The estate for Helmsley – who died in 2007 at age 87 – divided US$1 million equally to 10 animal rights charities, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and several groups that train guide dogs for the blind.
“Throughout their lives, the Helmsleys were committed to helping others through the innovations of medical research of responding to those in need during critical times and in other areas,” the trustees said in a statement.
A surrogate court judge ruled in February that trustees for the Leona M and Harry B Helmsley Charitable Trust had sole authority to decide which charities benefit from her estate.”
The grants include US$25 million to create a Helmsley Centre for Electrophysiology – the study of electrical properties of cells and tissues – at Mount Sinai, and US$10 million for the Helmsley Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre. “We now have the privilege of continuing their good works by providing support where it will make a difference.
The foundation gave several US$200,000 donations to New York City homeless and poverty programs such as Citymeals-on-Wheels and Bowery Mission.
More than US$15 million was donated to health care systems in South Dakota, including funding for advanced cancer treatment and pharmacies at hospitals.
Helmsley was famously quoted as saying “only the little people pay taxes” before going to jail for tax evasion.
Helmsley was famously quoted as saying “only the little people pay taxes” before going to jail for tax evasion.

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Plastic fantastic, but price tag a drag

By CHARLIE GATES – Thursday, 26 February 2009

KIRK HARGREAVES/
COMFORT STOP: the newly designed lounge for bus passengers at the Christchurch bus exchange.

A $1 million Christchurch bus exchange makeover, including a space-age waiting room, has delighted commuters but some are shocked at the price tag. .
The $1m budget includes the new waiting area, complete with colourful moulded plastic seats, as well as revamping the Colombo St bus stops removing bus shelters and installing new railings and bins.
"I reckon it is really awesome.
Commuter Reremoamarua Diaz, 14, praised the new waiting room, but was amazed at the cost. That is a lot of money though. It is really nice to have more space, because the bus exchange is really full.
Diaz also liked the workbench and stools, presumably installed to allow waiting students to make a start on homework. I reckon it is a bit too much to spend," she said.
"I think it is probably not worth it.
Bethana Hercock, 17, liked the new waiting room, but was surprised at the price. They should spend it on something more worthwhile as most people don't wait here too long," she said. $1 million is a lot of money.
"It seems a crazy thing to spend money on, especially during a recession," she said.
Tasha Bylenok, 18, said it was too much to spend in a time of economic uncertainty.
Real-time bus information is displayed on screens in the new lounge so commuters can wait in comfort rather than on the street.
The new lounge was built in an empty shop and was designed by council architect Crispin Schurr.
However, he said he preferred that to the "absorbent" seating in the old bus exchange.
John Irving, 24, said the glossy seats looked "a bit sterile and wipe down".