Two a penny

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A rugby referee has been king-hit by a spectator holding a baby, after a controversial end to a game in Auckland.

The attack happened during a Samoan United Rugby Shield game between the Auckland Eagles and Laulii Liona at Williams Park in Mangere at the weekend.

Tournament organiser Moe Mata’afa said the event happened after the Eagles scored the winning try in injury time before one of the Laulii players made a late tackle.

Auckland rugby referees manager Mike Elliott confirmed the incident and said it was being investigated by the disciplinary committee.

Mr Mata’afa said that, soon after, as the referee stood in the officials’ tent talking to some of the players, the man - understood to be a spectator - entered the tent and punched the referee from behind.

As the referee spoke with the Laulii captain after he awarded the Eagles a penalty, he was allegedly abused by one of the Laulii team’s support staff and ended the game. . The man then fled…”

“But it wasn’t a real [bad punch] because he had a baby in one hand. they were talking to him in the tent and someone just from nowhere punched the referee.

Mr Mata’afa said they had called police but the unidentified man had already fled.”

He believed the incident was sparked by the referee’s decision to end the game won by the Eagles 14-12, early.

The tournament is played following the regular rugby season and consists of teams made up by players from the same villages in Samoa.

He said the incident was the first of its kind in the tournament’s six-year history.

Mr Elliott said the referee had not suffered any serious injuries and would referee again this weekend.

It was made up of Auckland and Counties Manukau club and secondary school rugby players.”

Otahuhu Senior Sergeant Laurie Culpan confirmed the assault but said they had not located the offender.

“We would like to find the culprit but a member of the public is pretty hard to find when they disappear into the woodwork.

Mr Culpan said since it was not a serious assault, the enquiries were being left to the Auckland Rugby Union, with police to act on any information provided by them.

“Police were called but obviously by the time we got there the spectator had disappeared, which is fairly common for these sort of things,” he said.”

He said the rugby union had measures they could take such as bans on individuals or standing clubs down in order to get the person to come forward.

“As you can imagine from our perspective, everybody’s gone, there are that many lines of inquiry for a minor assault, it would chew an inordinate amount of police time.

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Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele has attacked news media for claiming tsunami aid to his country was being misused.

He challenged media to go to the scene and see for themselves.

But as he made the claim Porirua College’s head of Pacific Studies has questioned what happened to aid they gave to tsunami damaged villages.

“The only stories you are sending overseas are bad, unfounded stories.

According to the Samoa Observer, Tuilaepa said there were many “under-educated journalists” in Samoa.

He denied aid relief rorts were taking place and challenged the media to go and see. I urge your journalist association to form a special council to rule the reports by these boys and girls who write these make up stories,” the prime minister said.

“Stop relying on statements from the government.

He blamed the rain for delays in aid reaching the damaged southern coast. You go see,” he said.

“Some houses are up.

“The rainy season is here, the people fixing roads should look at fixing roads because of the dirt,” he said. . But others should begin this week.

The principals of both colleges cancelled planned trips and went shopping to spend funds on buying kitchenware necessities, such as knives, forks, plates, bowls, bush knives, pots, saucepans, and food.

The principals of both colleges cancelled planned trips and went shopping to spend funds on buying kitchenware necessities, such as knives, forks, plates, bowls, bush knives, pots, saucepans, and food.

“We were about to distribute the materials, to about 10 or 12 families when a senior government official arrived and asked us to take our donation to their village council committee who were allocating gifts to the village,” Aliimuamua wrote.

They travelled to Lalomanu to give it to the worst affected village.”

Their gift was not distributed however.

“We told him we would like to give our cash money to the Red Cross for distribution, but he was very convincing that the best way to go about distribution of our meaalofa (gift) is through the village committee, which we didn’t mind in the end.

“He hesitated as if not sure of anything and said, ‘Some materials have been given to the victims, but not the money, we are waiting until all donations had been received before we dish it out to the victims and then thanked everyone in the newspaper and let us know’.

“When I left on 12th October, I met the government official at the airport, I asked him if they had distributed our meaalofa, so far we haven’t heard of what happened or had seen any report in the paper about it.

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Aliimuamua said they “hope that our gifts have been distributed already to all the Lalomanu families of tsunami victims as we wanted to help them

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A Masterton man who achieved a degree of fame through a near-death experience last year was today convicted of assaulting his former partner.

John Edmonds’ heart stopped beating for 25 minutes after a collapse in November.

After his recovery he fielded requests to share his story from a United States radio show, an author and the New York Times.

He was now a illness beneficiary, and the only way he could make money was by capitalising on the interest generated by his survival, she said.

At sentencing in Wellington District Court today, lawyer Louise Elder pressed for Edmonds to be discharged without conviction.

But Judge Stephen Harrop said Edmonds had three previous convictions dating back to 1986, including one for assault.

A conviction could prevent him travelling to interviews or speaking engagements overseas. .

He was also convicted of intentional damage to his former partner’s paintings and fined $1200 reparation.

He convicted Edmonds and sentenced him to six months supervision for assault with intent to injure and fined him $500 in emotional harm reparation.

The pair were getting along until Edmonds received text messages from one of his former partners, Judge Harrop said.

On August 5 this year, Edmonds had visited the home of his on-again off-again partner Sarah Alexander, 33, an amateur artist.

She snapped the phone – which Edmonds had borrowed – and this made him snap as well, Judge Harrop said.

Ms Alexander asked to look at his phone and was annoyed to see who the messages were from.

“You got very angry and you punched one of her paintings two or three times.

“You got very angry and you punched one of her paintings two or three times.”

Ms Alexander told police Edmonds had kicked her about four times in the legs as she collapsed under his blows.

“You then punched her a number of times in the head and face.

She said Edmonds was a high profile member of the community and other cases like his were heard every day and went “entirely under the radar”.

Edmonds’ lawyer, Ms Elder did not hide her contempt for “the press”, telling the court a Wairarapa Times-Age interview with Ms Alexander following the attack, which ran on the front page, had been “a huge punishment in itself”.

Since his heart attack, Edmonds could no longer work in the fitness industry and was now a illness beneficiary, she said.

It had a huge impact on Edmonds, and his teenaged children had received a barrage of text messages “which destroyed them”, Ms Elder said.

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Judge Harrop noted a discharge without conviction was opposed by police and by Ms Alexander who, in her victim impact statement, said she felt “gutted” by Edmonds’ continued denial of what happened and the lack of an apology

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Militants have launched a string of attacks on police in Lahore in the Pakistani heartland and in the troubled northwest, killing 29 people after a week of violence in which more than 100 people died.

The attacks on police in Lahore, capital of Punjab province, and a car bomb in Kohat in the northwest, come ahead of an expected military offensive against the Taliban in their South Waziristan stronghold on the Afghan border. The cause was not immediately known.Later, a blast went off in a neighbourhood where government workers live in the northwestern city of Peshawar killing a child and wounding nine people, a rescue worker and media said.”First the (North West) Frontier province was on the front line, now they are playing their games in Punjab,” Interior Minister Rehman Malik told Geo television.The violence, just days after a daring raid on the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, underscored the risk posed by militants to Punjab, Pakistan’s most economically important province and the country’s traditional seat of power.Nuclear-armed Pakistan is under US pressure to crack down on Islamic militancy as President Barack Obama considers a boost in troop numbers fighting in neighboring Afghanistan.The government says most attacks in the country are plotted in South Waziristan and carried out by Taliban, often with the help of allies from militant groups based in Punjab province.Seven people, including one gunman, were killed at a regional headquarters of the police’s Federal Investigation Agency.Ten gunmen, some of them teenagers, were killed in the attacks on three police centers in Lahore.A suicide car-bomber attacked the same building in March last year killing 21 people. One gunman escaped and one was captured, security officials said.Eleven police, six of them recruits, and four gunmen were killed at the Manawa training center, police said.Gunmen also attacked two police training centers, one a training school attacked this year and the other an elite police academy set in fields in the city outskirts.A policeman, a civilian and five gunmen were killed at the academy and media had reported hostages taken. Three of the black-clad attackers blew themselves up.Several hours after the attacks began, police said all three centers had been cleared and no hostages had been taken. Three gunmen blew themselves up and two, including one who was about 16, were shot by snipers, police said.Pakistan’s stock market slipped as the violence escalated at the start of the week, but the main index has since recouped the losses and rose 0.The attacks in Lahore spread fear and sirens from police and other emergency vehicles wailed over the city as hundreds of police and soldiers sealed off the three sites.”The market is sort of used to terror attacks,” said Mohammed Sohail, chief executive at brokers Topline Securities.4 percent on Thursday despite the latest bloodshed.” DRONE KILLS FOUR Shortly before the attacks in Lahore, a suicide car bomber set off his explosives outside a police station in Kohat killing 10 people, police and military officials said.”These high-profile targets are a concern, but investors are optimistic that eventually the Waziristan operation will take place and the terrorists will be attacked.There was no immediate claim for Thursday’s violence.There was no immediate claim for Thursday’s violence.The Taliban said it carried out the brazen assault on the army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi and some other attacks and vowed more in revenge for the killing of their leader, Baitullah Mehsud, in a US missile strike in August.The government in June ordered the army to launch an offensive in South Waziristan. Since then the military has been conducting air and artillery strikes to soften up militant defenses.Aircraft flew several bombing sorties to attack the Makeen militant base in South Waziristan on Thursday, security officials said. .The government says the assault is imminent but it will be up to the army to decide when to send in ground troops.”Such barbaric, inhuman and un-Islamic terrorist acts only strengthen our resolve to fight terrorism with more vitality,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in a statement.Separately, a US drone aircraft fired two missiles at a house in the North Waziristan region, killing four Afghan Taliban militants linked to a faction led by veteran militant commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, Pakistani officials said.The United States, struggling with an intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan and frustrated with Pakistan’s failure to eliminate Taliban sanctuaries on its side of the border, stepped up attacks by its drones in September last year.Hundreds of people, most of them militants but including some civilians, have been killed.

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Three New Zealanders have been confirmed as killed in the Pacific tsunami, with another presumed dead and grave concerns held for two others.

The only New Zealander so far identified isMary Ann White, 54, of Raglan, whose family was trying last night to get her body home.

The injured are being accompanied by six family members, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. .

Acting Prime Minister Bill English said earlier today that three Britons and two Germans who were also injured would also be evacuated.

They are expected to arrive at Auckland’s Whenuapai Airport early tomorrow morning and will then be transported by a fleet of ambulances to local hospitals for treatment.

There were initially reports that a two-year-old Auckland boy had been officially identified as one of those killed.

The confirmed death toll from Wednesday’s tsunamis, caused by an 8 magnitude undersea quake, stood at 149 in Samoa, 31 on American Samoa and nine on neighbouring Tonga.

The toddler was swept out to sea as he was playing on the beach with his parents at Lalomanu when the 6m wave came ashore on Wednesday. This is incorrect, and it is understood he remains missing, presumed dead.

MFAT earlierconfirmed it was providing support to the toddler’s parents. His parents swam to safety.

The husband and wife, originally from Britain, now live in Auckland.

They were taken to hospital yesterday with minor injuries and later discharged and are staying at the New Zealand High Commission in Samoa. Tsunami warnings were given and they were trying to escape to higher ground when the waves struck. The family was holidaying at a resort close to the village of Lalomanu.

GRAVE CONCERNS

MFATsays grave fears are held for two New Zealanders who had been staying at the Taufua Resort, Lalomanu.

Plans are underway to medi-vacinjured New Zealanders on a RNZAF plane to New Zealand as soon as possible.

However, the Martin family of Wardville, outside Matamata, was this morning preparing to fly out to Samoa in search of their two daughters who flew to Samoa on Monday for a holiday. The ministry has not released details of the pair.

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The sisters, Petria, 22 and Rebecca, 24, were holidaying with their cousin, a Hamilton travel agent and her friend, and had been due back tomorrow

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MPs found guilty of serious criminal offences will lose their travel perks, a decision sparked by Taito Phillip Field’s recent conviction for corruption.

The former Mangere MP was last month found guilty of bribery and obstruction of justice after being found to have accepted work on properties in return for immigration assistance.Under the Electoral Act, an MP convicted of serious criminal offences must vacate their seat.An amendment to the rules would require MPs convicted of serious criminal offences to give up their travel privileges, Speaker Lockwood Smith announced today.However, they are not required to give up travel entitlements available to former MPs .”I have followed a process that included consultation in arriving at my final decision.”I felt it was appropriate that the travel privileges of former members be stopped where someone was convicted of an offence that would require them to vacate their seat in Parliament,” Dr Smith said. .The decision would apply to travel entitlements available to former MPs who entered Parliament before 1999.The amendment was expected to take effect by the end of next month, Dr Smith said.He could also have claimed a 90 percent discount on international travel, as long as it did not exceed the cost of a return business-class flight to London on Air New Zealand - about $10,000.Having entered Parliament in 1993, Field could have claimed up to 12 free domestic return air fares a year.

.Former MPs have come under fire for the ir travel expenses after they were revealed last month

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The recession ended in the June quarter, with the economy growing by the barest of margins, up just 0.1 per cent, according to official figures.

Most economists and the Reserve Bank expected a slight fall in the June quarter, but that growth would return in the September quarter.

Economist said yesterday that a better than expected result for the economy could see the kiwi dollar continue to rise against the US dollar. The recession began at the start of 2008.06c, its highest level since August 4, 2008 after the release of the GDP data.

The New Zealand dollar rose as high as US73.

Economic activity, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was up less than 0.

This growth in economic activity follows five quarters of contraction in the New Zealand economy.1 per cent in the June 2009 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said.5 per cent in the June 2009 quarter, mainly driven by forestry and logging (up 8.

Activity in the primary industries was up 1.

The increase in forestry and logging production was related to an increase in exports of logs to the People’s Republic of China.0 per cent).

Activity in the goods-producing industries contracted 0.

Activity in the goods-producing industries contracted 0.3 per cent) and construction (down 1.

The manufacturing (down 1. A 5.9 per cent) industries both declined.

Activity in the services industries was flat this quarter.9 per cent increase in electricity, gas and water partly offset these declines.5 per cent) and communications (up 1. Service industries that increased were real estate and business services (up 1.

Offsetting these increases were declines in wholesale trade (down 2.7 per cent).3 per cent), and government administration and defence (down 0.3 per cent), and government administration and defence (down 0.4 per cent).

The expenditure measure of GDP, released concurrently with the production measure, was up 0.4 percent in the June 2009 quarter.

Household consumption expenditure, which measures the volume of spending by New Zealand households, was up 0.4 per cent.

This increase in household spending was driven by non-durables (mainly motor fuel) and services. Household spending on durable items fell.

Export volumes were up 4.7 per cent in the June 2009 quarter, with exports of dairy and wood products the main contributors.

Import volumes decreased 3.8 percent in the same period, with the largest declines in intermediate goods, and machinery and plant equipment.

The combination of higher exports, lower imports, and a decline in manufacturing led to a large, $1. .

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Police have launched an investigation into allegations of sabotage and assault at a Waikato cheese factory where a pay and contracts dispute between workers and management is turning increasingly dirty.

Open Country factory union members have been barred from returning to the Waharoa plant by management while an inquiry into alleged sabotage of factory equipment by a worker is investigated.The Dairy Workers Union members have been trying to return to work this week at the end of an eight-day strike but the company is refusing allow them on the premises. .It was too risky to allow the striking employees back to work until a police investigation had sorted out who was guilty for the alleged sabotage, he said.Factory chairman Laurie Margrain claimed that just before the industrial action started, somebody had loosened fittings, turned off valves and altered pressure gauges.”They’re presenting themselves for work and we’re paying them,” he said.But workers who did turn up for their shift were being sent home on full pay, he said.Mr Margrain said a disgruntled employee was behind the dumping.Police are also investigating an allegation of sludge dumping from the factory into close toby the Waitoa River.But Dairy Workers Union national secretary James Ritchie said untrained workers hired by the company during the strike had released the sludge into the Waitoa river, causing environmental damage.

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Emergency authorities are urging people living in the Wellington area to not be complacent despite new findings that show a decrease in the chances of a big earthquake devastating the region.

New research found the Wellington fault, which runs through the centre of the capital, is about 50 percent less likely to rupture in the next 100 years than previously thought.

The findings were the result of a $3. .5 million multi-agency study of Wellington’s earthquake risk - the most comprehensive to date.

“While most people know it runs through the city and along the Hutt Road, it’s not actually the Wellington fault that’s caused the big quakes in the region over the past 150 years.

However, Wellington City Council’s emergency preparedness manager, Fred Mecoy, said people should remember the Wellington fault was only one of many faultlines in the region.

“It’s actually the Wairarapa fault - over the other side of the Orongorongo Range - that’s caused the damage.”

The magnitude 5.

“It’s a reminder that a big earthquake will cause damage over a very wide area, possibly in most parts of the country.

These could still be devastating to a city like Wellington as many of them were capable of producing a damaging earthquake.2 jolt that woke Wellingtonians on August 28 was centred underwater in Cook Strait, which showed the area was prone to often earthquakes from the 50 active faults in the Wellington region, Mr Mecoy said.

“Awareness and preparation are vital for coping with unexpected emergencies.

“Don’t forget that, like many cities, Wellington also faces other hazards such as storms and flooding, tsunami, landslips and man-made hazards.”

The easiest way to be prepared is to have a household emergency plan in place and emergency survival items, he said.”

The easiest way to be prepared is to have a household emergency plan in place and emergency survival items, he said.

“You should also have a supply of essential items like medicines, and other necessities of life,” he said. Stock up on cans of food and water, at least three litres per person per day for a minimum of three days.

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A Queenstown river boarding company has entered two guilty pleas in the Queenstown District Court to charges arising from a fatal river boarding incident last year, after earlier denying fault. .

Parent company Black Sheep Adventures Ltd and director Brad McLeod had each denied three Health and Safety in Employment Act charges.

She was on a river boarding excursion with Queenstown company Mad Dog River Boarding.

He entered guilty pleas on behalf of the company to one charge of being an employer, failing to take all practicable steps to protect employees; and one charge of being a person in control of a place of work failing to take all practicable steps to ensure no hazard harms customers.

Today, after five days of proceedings last week, defence lawyer Michael Parker told Judge Brian Callaghan his client wished to change pleas on two charges.

Sentencing will take place this afternoon.

In reply, prosecution lawyer Brent Stanaway told the court he was withdrawing one other charge against Black Sheep Adventures Ltd and all three charges against McLeod.

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Each charge carries a fine of up to $250,000