Two a penny

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BREAKING NEWS:
Two former escort agency owners have been found guilty of raping a teenager who went on to become an underage prostitute in their stable.

A jury in the High Court at Wellington today found Gary John Duffin and Sharyn Lee Hills guilty of rape, but acquitted them on two charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection which alleged oral sex with Hills. .

Duffin, 54, is the biological father of Karla Cardno, a 13-year-old Lower Hutt girl, abducted, raped and murdered in 1989.

Both were remanded in custody for sentencing on November 13, when they will also be sentenced on 10 charges of supplying cannabis to three people under the age of 18, to which they pleaded guilty partway through their trial this week.

As well as the guilty verdict on the rape charge Duffin was found guilty of two indecent assaults on thegirl aged 14 or 15.30pm.

The jury considered itsverdicts for five and a half hours, delivering them at 5.

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The big switch from driving on the right-hand side of the road to the left in Samoa appears to have gotten off to a smooth start today.

Yesterday, the island’s wooden beach fales sat empty and battened down. It was silent, except for drumming rain.The streets were deserted, save for a few mangy cats and dogs.

Sleepy Samoa switched from driving on the right to driving on the left earlier today, something not attempted in any country for decades.

It almost appeared that a category 5 cyclone was on the way.

Samoa’s colourful Cuban open-side (left-hand drive) buses have been taken off the road for a month, their drivers protesting that they’re not paid enough to risk the switch. In Samoa, the Switch has been the only topic of conversation, and it has brought life on the two islands to a halt. They’re not the only ones complaining.

They’re also unhappy their doors will now be on the wrong side of the road.

Lobby group PASS (People Against Switching Sides) even took a court case against the government to try to stop the move. There’s been a national outcry.

Resort owners are clearing out their rooms, urging holidaymakers to head to the ferry or risk being stranded and missing their flights home.

Angry villagers on Savaii are planning to block the main road leading to the ferry terminal for the next two days, stranding tourists and stopping the flow of supplies around the island.

In quieter Savaii they’ll hunker down until the worst is over.

Some residents have fled Apia, fearing carnage on the roads today. Four have urgent business in China in coming days.

Escape seems to have been on the minds of several government ministers, too.

From today, liquor outlets are not allowed to sell alcohol for a week.

An example of how seriously Samoans are taking the Switch is the booze ban.

Nightclubs have also been closed, and the next two days have been designated public holidays.

Presumably, to help drivers focus. At 4am today, all radio and television stations were tobegin broadcasting reminders.

An official notice in the newspaper explains what would happen earlier today.30am, the Reverend Oka Fauolo, chairman of the National Council of Churches, would offer a prayer.30am, the Reverend Oka Fauolo, chairman of the National Council of Churches, would offer a prayer.

At 5.50am, all vehicles were to stop and remain idle for 10 minutes.

At 6am, everyonewas to driveto the other side of the road, and wait for a further 10 minutes. At 6.10am, everyone was to drive off. . No-one believes this is going to go smoothly.

“There are going to be crashes, no question,” a taxi driver says, shaking his head. “People are going to die.”

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The opera world is about to lose one of its brightest stars, New Zealand’s Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. .”(Cologne) will be my last,” the 65-year-old told Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper on Wednesday.She plans to perform her operatic swansongs in New York in February and the German city of Cologne in April.”I think certainly our voices change; opera is mainly for young people.”It’s not as if I want to do it on a regular basis now, because it’s exhausting.In New York, she will take on the role of the Duchess of Krakenthorpa in Donizettis La Fille du Regiment at the Metropolitan Opera.”For her final performance in Cologne, Dame Kiri will play the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss.She said while many people had believed she had retired, this was not the case.Dame Kiri, who performed at Prince Charles’ wedding to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, has not sung opera since she sang in Samuel Barbers’ Vanessa at the Los Angeles Opera in 2004.”I have not been singing opera very much but I still sing a lot of concerts.”The press retired me,” she said.”I’m extremely busy with all sorts of things,” she said.”Dame Kiri said she had no plans to give up singing and would continue to tour, with shows planned in Sydney, Beijing, Spain and the United States later this year. – AAP

.Dame Kiri plans to bring three of her students from the Solti Academy and Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation to London to perform alongside her at the Tower of London in September

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More people want to buy houses but fewer are selling, even as property values show signs of picking up.

Latest figures from Quotable Value show houses around New Zealand grew in value by an average of 0.4 per cent during the last quarter – compared with a 2.

The average sale price rose to $378,535 in June, about $7000 higher than the May average but was still down 7.1 per cent fall in the previous quarter. That was an improvement on April’s 9.1 per cent on the same time last year.2 per cent year- on-year fall.

“The market is more stable.

QV Valuations spokeswoman Glenda Whitehead said sales volumes were approaching more normal levels.”

She said a general deficit of properties on the market was noticeable as lower interest rates had let homeowners re-fix mortgages. Decreases in property values over the past 18 months, combined with historically low mortgage interest rates, have led to improved optimism and encouraged more buyers back into the market. .

“This has either eased financial pressures so they no longer need to sell . . .5 per cent for the year to June – an improvement on the 7.”

Wellington

Property values in the Wellington region declined by 6.

QV Valuations spokesperson Pieter Geill said the stable prices reflected a similar “undersupply”.4 per cent decline reported in May. At times this is resulting in much healthier prices compared to late last year and early this year.

“There appears to be a surplus of buyers over vendors, which is attracting multiple offers on some properties.”

A QV online survey also showed mixed sentiment about the future of the housing market. It is very hard to generalise this across the whole market however, as competition amongst buyers is inconsistent. .

While the number of people who believed the worst of the decline was over and now was a good time to buy, a smaller group still thought more plunges were on the horizon.

Auckland

Auckland’s annual change improved to a 5.

Auckland

Auckland’s annual change improved to a 5.9 per cent year-on- year drop and Dunedin’s decline was only 4.5 per cent.

Tauranga was the only main centre to keep declining over the period.

In the provinces, Whangarei, Rotorua, Gisborne, New Plymouth and Palmerston North all improved but values kept falling in Wanganui.

Christchurch

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From running an art gallery to a champagne-soaked bus tour of Wellington’s finest restaurants, New Zealanders have extravagant dreams if they win tonight’s $35 million Big Wednesday draw.

However, hit the streets of Wellington today and found that many people wouldn’t throw caution to the wind with their windfall.Wellington cafe owner David Fenwick said that, while the chances of winning were slim, he still had his fingers crossed. Instead, they’d prefer to keep their jobs, pay off debts and help out family members hit hard by the recession.. “We all saw Charlie and the Chocolate factory . it’s one of those things where you can let your imagination go..”I’d allocate a certain amount for when I’m old and dottering so no matter what happens to KiwiSaver, I’ll be alright.”He would celebrate with an extravagant restraurant-hopping night with friends and whanau, but would not get too carried away. .”Waikanae administrator Tania Murphy said today that, because the economy was weak, she would use the winnings to pay off debts, donate to charity and help out family.But Mel Upjohn, a Wellington-based assistant manager, said she did not have to queue for long when she bought her ticket last night, and was baffled why anyone would.”With a $5 million prize increase making this the biggest-ever Big Wednesday draw, queues have swollen around the country as thousands scramble for tickets.”It annoys me that it sucks me in.”Why don’t they buy online?”She would hire a financial advisor straight away if she won, but was another punter not getting her hopes up.”Like many Kiwis, she said she would not be watching the draw. The likelihood of winning is very slim, and I know they’re making millions and millions of dollars off us suckers.”I’ve never actually bought a Lotto ticket, but for some reason I felt like getting one for Big Wednesday. But New Zealanders are still excited by the prospect of tonight’s big win, with some like student Josh Evans buying tickets for the first time.”

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Fraudsters are offering passports in the name of the Maori Party, party co-leader Pita Sharples said tonight.

The Maori Affairs Minister said he had been told that meetings have been called, targeting Pacific Island communities, “by crooks claiming to represent the Maori Party”.

“We know of meetings at Manurewa marae and in Hamilton, where over a thousand people turned up, and there may be others.

“The group calls itself Hapu Tino Rangatiratanga Atawhai Whangai,” he said.

“This is a scam.

“My electorate representatives have succeeded in closing down one meeting, but we have been told that some people have already paid $500 each for a fake passport or a visa for overstayers,” Dr Sharples said.”

Dr Sharples warned people not to pay money to anyone for a passport, except the Internal Affairs Department’s passports division. I have alerted the police, and if anyone else hears of any such meetings, they should call the police straight away.

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Liquor ad restriction bill fails

– National Homepage –

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New Zealand is about to be shamed by a high-profile international human rights group that says we are not doing enough to turn around our horrific record on domestic violence.

The report from New York’s prestigious Leitner Centre for International Law and Justice will be presented to the government on Tuesday.

The authors, all international human rights experts, have made 27 recommendations, focusing on:

* improving the way we monitor domestic violence

* providing greater support for victims and offenders after violence happens, and

* doing more to protect Maori women in particular. But the Sunday Star-Times can reveal it identifies numerous weaknesses in our domestic violence laws and policies.

The Leitner Centre group picks one human rights issue to scrutinise every year.

“More can and ought to be done,” says lead researcher Jorge Contesse.

Last week Contesse pointed the finger at the New Zealand government, telling the Star-Times: “Under international law the government must do all it can to prevent domestic violence and punish such acts and if they don’t do everything possible to prevent such violence occurring they are in effect responsible. .

However: “Maori women are much more at risk of being assaulted or threatened by a partner.”

Contesse says Maori women should be triply protected by the Treaty of Waitangi, international codes for indigenous peoples’ rights, and more generic international human rights conventions…”

Offending remained “surprisingly high”, despite significant efforts to reduce it in recent years. meaning, the NZ government is particularly failing Maori women in respect to domestic violence. They say family violence affects a third of all women during their lifetime and that 45% of murders in New Zealand are family violence-related.

Police statistics show a 15% increase in the number of family violence incidents and offences in 2007-08, with more than 86,000 reports made. The report, by a newly-formed local group called the Roundtable of Violence Against Women, says certain types of violence and victims are being overlooked.

Meanwhile, a second report calling for an overhaul of systems to keep women and girls safe is being presented alongside the New York findings.

It also highlights the “serial abuse” of many immigrant women, saying both Women’s Refuge and the Shakti Community Council have evidence that men are using women’s residency status to exploit them and keep them in abusive relationships. This includes prostitutes who come from countries known for trafficking, such as Korea, Thailand, Eastern Europe and the Philippines. She hopes the Leitner report and her group’s demands will “flush the government out to make a stand on what they’re going to do about it.

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Domestic violence researcher and spokesperson for the Roundtable, Ruth Herbert, says we need to do much more than run a few television campaigns to keep women safe… This is not something we can keep hidden the world is watching. This is not something we can keep hidden the world is watching.”

A spokesperson for Justice Minister Simon Power said he wouldn’t comment until after he had seen the report but added that the issue of domestic violence was a priority for the new government and one of the first bills the government sent to select committee was legislation to enable police to issue on-the-spot protection orders.

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Loving Lucy: her family’s fears and faith

By SUSAN PEPPERELL – Sunday, 04 January 2009

When LucyLaws' hair started growing back it came out curly and copper-coloured.
Before she was sick it was blonde and straight, but the curls have delighted her father Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws who was similarly adorned at one stage.
Lucy, however, just wants her curls to grow quicker. One day she was fine, the next she was running a fever so high she had to be flown from Wanganui to Auckland's Starship by Lifeflight, an emergency medical plane.
It is 10 months since four-year-old Lucy first got sick.
Her odds of survival were put at 10%; one doctor told her parents divine intervention was the only thing they could count on.
Then came the devastating diagnosis: not only did Lucy have leukemia, she had also contracted a rare fungal infection in her lungs and had acute pneumonia.
Lucy lived.
"I remember her sitting bolt upright in her hospital bed when she was so sick and saying `I'm not going to die Daddy'. Her dad says there were three things that saved her: prayer, the skill of Starship's clinicians and Lucy herself. It was a remarkable occurrence. Then she lay down again and went straight back to sleep.
He was born three months ago; the latest addition to a busy household which includes Laws, his partner Leonie Brookhammer, Ella, 16, Noah, 11, Lucy and Zoe, two."
Lucy turned four the week before Christmas her dad had promised her a trip to New York to see the musical The Little Mermaid but a baby named Theo put paid to that.
Laws says it was fair to say another child was "not something we joyously contemplated" and that last year the couple decided they would simply "batten down the hatches and get to the end".
Laws says it was fair to say another child was "not something we joyously contemplated" and that last year the couple decided they would simply "batten down the hatches and get to the end".
He and Lucy were the same age and even looked alike with the same big eyes and facial features, says Laws. Oliver, a child Lucy had become friendly with during her initial stay at Starship's oncology ward, died.
It was Oliver's death that brought Laws to tears for the first time since Lucy was first diagnosed. Lucy now talks of him as "being with the angels". That's the thing about these kiddies, there's nothing you can do about it.
"It's just so unfair. You are seeing the person you most love in the world in such pain and it makes you feel so helpless. You are simply there as an observer. "I don't expect to understand how it works but we are lucky."
Laws says the experience has enabled him to rediscover his faith. Her drug regime is substantial. Her drug regime is substantial. Every day she takes three chemotherapy drugs administered orally by syringe. The medication is so potent her parents must use rubber gloves and discard the syringe after use. One of the doses must be given about 1am.
Once a month she goes to Wanganui Hospital for an injection into a small port implanted under her skin at the bottom of her rib cage. The port has already been shifted once when it became infected. This is the most painful procedure for Lucy. On top of that, every six weeks she returns to Starship for a lumbar puncture, carried out under general anaesthetic.
This will continue for two years. It means her immunity is compromised so her temperature must be monitored constantly. Too high and she must go to hospital. That happened on Christmas Eve. And just last week younger sister Zoe was diagnosed with glandular fever so the watchful eye is now that bit more intense.
Ask Brookhammer how she feels about the future and she admits to simply being very tired.
"I was hoping to wake up on January 1 reinvigorated but to be honest I'm just tired.
"I'm hopeful things are going to be OK. Despite everything last year being so bad we did come through, Lucy did get better. It wasn't as bad as I imagined it could be."
She reserves a special thanks for the people who sent cards and gifts for Lucy, most of whom they have never met.
"I'll never forget it. ."

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Plane considered one of the safest

By ROELAND van den BERGH Saturday, 29 November 2008

/The
TOUGH TIME TO BE BOSS: The Airbus A320 is considered one of the safest aircraft and is the favoured workhorse for airlines around the world. Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe says maintenance records for the the three-year-old Air New Zealand-owned plane that crashed yesterday show just 7000 hours on the clock over 2800 flights.
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe says maintenance records for the the three-year-old Air New Zealand-owned plane that crashed yesterday show just 7000 hours on the clock over 2800 flights. .
The aircraft had been leased to German charter airline XL Aviation for the last two years and was being prepared for return to Air New Zealand when it crashed into the Mediterranean near the city of Perpignan in France during a routine test flight.
"At this stage we have no detail as to the likely cause of the accident," he told a news conference in Auckland.
A series of onboard computers constantly monitor the way the plane is being flown and will override the pilot's commands if they are unsafe.
The A320 became the first passenger jet to be equipped with a state-of-the-art "fly-by-wire" control system when it entered service in 1988.
Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Sommer said the A320 was "one of the most reliable and safest" aircraft in the world.
This safety feature makes it is almost impossible for the twin-engined aircraft to be flown beyond its limits, while at the same time, allowing the pilot to fly the aircraft to its maximum capability in an emergency.
"If you look at the figures, the broad Oceania area is rated as the safest place for large jet aircraft, and it has for many years. "We have a very good safety record for airline operations here in New Zealand.
During its 20-year history there have been eight fatal Airbus A320 crashes, killing 646 people, including an Air France demonstration flight in Habsheim, France in 1988 that killed the three crew."
A total of 1960 A320s were flying with 155 airlines around the world, typically on short- or medium-distance routes.
Airbus developed the single-aisle A320 in 1984 as a competitor to the hugely successful Boeing 737.
The worst accident was last year when all 186 passengers and crew and 12 people on the ground died when a Tam Airlines jet ran off the runway at Sao Paulo-Congonhas Airport in Brazil. A visibly shaken Mr Fyfe fronted up to three press conferences through the day, as well as talking to the victims' families and dealing with staff and officials in New Zealand and in France.
News of a downed aircraft is the call that every airline chief executive dreads.
But the rest of the airline must continue to run as normal, with no obvious effects on passengers.
A former senior Air New Zealand manager said that in an emergency a crisis centre is activated at the airline's Auckland headquarters, with key management assigned roles for which they have received specialist training.
Air New Zealand uses a fleet of 12 A320s mainly on its trans-Tasman and Pacific Island routes. "Everyone has got to stay absolutely focused on the job," the former manager said.
The crashed plane was number 2500 to roll off the Toulouse production line in France in July 2005. The aircraft seat 152 passengers including eight in business class.
The aircraft had just come out of maintenance and had taken off from Perpignan about 90 minutes earlier on its check flight.
The aircraft had just come out of maintenance and had taken off from Perpignan about 90 minutes earlier on its check flight.
Two XL Aviation pilots were at the controls. An Air New Zealand captain from Auckland, two airline engineers from Christchurch and an engineer from Auckland, and a Civil Aviation Authority inspector were on board as observers.
It had already been repainted in Air New Zealand livery, and was to fly to Frankfurt to pick up additional staff before heading home.
The most noticeable difference between the Airbus cockpit and a more-conventional layout is that the large control column in front of each pilot has been replaced with a side stick, similar to a computer joystick.
This gives an unobstructed view of the video screens that display information.
Airbus also replaced the two large throttle levers with smaller controls which operate almost like the automatic transmission on a car.

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Boy, 14, arrested over Kerikeri murder

and KERI MOLLOY – Friday, 07 November 2008

The Bay Chronicle
INSPECTOR CHRIS SCAHILL: ‘This has been a tragic case and it will have a major impact on all those involved.’

TOWN GRIEVES: Kerikeri is shocked by the death of Libby Templeman.
Police are still refusing to reveal how the 15-year-old died but say although the youth charged knew Liberty, he was not her boyfriend. .
Liberty's body was discovered off Cobham Road in Kerikeri on Sunday evening.
He has appeared in the Kaikohe Youth Court.
They are relieved a person has been apprehended and they are now focusing on the funeral tomorrow and time with their family.
Police say they have told Liberty's family of the arrest.
"I would like to thank the people of Kerikeri who assisted Police with their inquiries and I acknowledge the support they have given Police during what has been a difficult case to work on," he said.
More than 40 Police staff spent many hours working on the case and Far North Area Commander Inspector Chris Scahill said he was grateful to the more than 40 police staff who worked on the case."
Police revealed they had searched a house close to where Libby’s body was found on Sunday just 24 hours after she was reported missing when she did not turn up to meet a friend.
"This has been a tragic case and it will have a major impact on all those involved. He will reappear in the Kaikohe Youth Court on Monday November 17.
The 14-year-oldboy has been remanded in custody, under the care of Child, Youth and Family.
– with The Bay Chronicle