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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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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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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An Australian man raped his daughter almost daily for 30 years and fathered her four children, in a case that echoes Austria’s Fritzl incest horror, according to reports.

A News Limited newspaper reports the alleged rapes started in the 1970s when the victim was about 11 and continued until 2007.

It reports all four children were born with birth defects in major Melbourne hospitals.

The woman reportedly spoke to police at Morwell, in Gippsland, eastern Victoria, in 2005 after a neighbour intervened, but she declined to cooperate because she feared for her safety.

The man, in his 60s, has been charged with more than 80 offences and is due to appear in court in November. Police conducted DNA tests on the father and, in February, laid 83 charges of sex abuse against him.

However, she went to police again in June last year and gave a statement against her father, the Herald Sun reports. .

The newspaper says the accused man’s wife had denied knowing of any assaults or who fathered her daughter’s children.

The victim’s mother claims she was unaware of any abuse despite sharing a house with her daughter, husband and grandchildren until 2005.

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The Herald Sun newspaper quotes sources saying the case could be “every bit as bad” as that of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who imprisoned his daughter and fathered seven children with her

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New Zealand is ready to assist Indonesia after a large earthquake killed at least 46 people and injured hundreds more, the Prime Minister said.

Wednesday’s 7.

A newly married Rotorua couple who were rushing home after learning of a family death were caught up in the powerful earthquake.0 magnitude earthquake sent terrified residents rushing out onto the streets of the capital, Jakarta and in towns and villages closer to the epicentre in West Java.Mr Key said he was concerned to hear about the earthquake and saddened at the loss of life. Government agencies said the death toll was likely to rise, as some affected coastal areas remained out of contact.”To my knowledge New Zealand has not been asked for assistance by the Indonesian Government, but (we) stand ready to consider any requests that might be made.”The New Zealand post in Jakarta has been busy checking the wellbeing of all New Zealanders registered with the embassy, but at this stage there is no reason to believe any New Zealanders have been killed or injured,” Mr Key said.Forty-two people were listed as missing in landslides triggered by the quake. .0 quake struck the Indonesian capital on Wednesday afternoon (local time).

Mike Jonathan, 35, and his Indonesian wife, Cinzia Puspita Rini, were in Jakarta when the 7.

The couple had been on honeymoon in Bali but cut their trip short and travelled to Jakarta yesterday en route to New Zealand after learning that Mr Jonathan’s sister had passed away suddenly. At least 42 people have died and thousands have been forced to flee their homes.

The filmmaker said they were about to lie down for a rest when the house they were staying at began to shake and his wife told him to get out.

They arrived in Indonesia last Friday and had planned to stay for another two weeks but cancelled their trip to rush home for the tangi in Taumarunui today.

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He said the houses were all built of concrete so they couldn’t take shelter under the doorway as you are told to in New Zealand

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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

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The number of deaths involving swine flu has risen to seven, after a Taranaki man who died earlier this week was confirmed as having the illness.

The man had an underlying medical condition, but his family had asked that no details about him be released to the public, a Ministry of Health spokesperson told .

Swine flu has become New Zealand’s dominant flu strain, accounting for about 75 percent of confirmed flu cases in the week ending Sunday, the reported.

The number of confirmed cases of swine flu was unchanged at Friday’s total of 1555, because the system that collated the figures was down for scheduled maintenance, he said.

The illness was more serious than it had sometimes been portrayed, with the country’s death rate likely to be about the same or higher than the roughly 400 deaths from seasonal flu each year, Massey University mathematical biologist Professor Mick Roberts said.

Swine flu has rapidly replaced seasonal influenza, and was putting health services under particular pressure in Wellington, Taupo and Rotorua.

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US naval forces have rescued cargo ship captain Richard Phillips from captivity at the hands of Somali pirates in a dramatic shootout that ended a five-day standoff.

Phillips’ life was in danger when naval forces shot the pirates, freeing him unharmed and killing three of four pirates who had held him hostage on a lifeboat after trying to seize his vessel, the navy said. The fourth pirate was in custody.

The US Navy believed that Phillips, who tried to escape on Friday, faced imminent danger amid tense hostage talks with his captors and deteriorating sea conditions.

“I can tell you that he is free and that he is safe,” Navy Lieutenant Commander John Daniels said. William Gortney, head of the US Naval Central Command, said in a Pentagon briefing from Bahrain.

“They were pointing the AK-47s at the captain,” Vice Adm.

President Barack Obama had granted the Pentagon’s request for standing authority to use appropriate force to save the life of the captain, he said.19am NZT and the lifeboat had drifted to about 20 miles from lawless Somalia’s coast.

The US Navy 5th Fleet in Bahrain said the rescue took place at 4.

“We are all absolutely thrilled to learn that Richard is safe and will be reunited with his family,” Maersk Line chief executive John Reinhart said in a statement.

Phillips, captain of the US-flagged Maersk Alabama container ship, had contacted his family, received a routine medical evaluation, and was resting comfortably aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer.

Phillips’ crew let off flares, hoisted an American flag and jumped for joy at news of their captain’s rescue.

CNN showed a photo of a smiling Phillips after his rescue.

“We are very happy.

“We are very happy.

Three US warships had been watching the situation.

Phillips, 53, was the first American taken captive by Somali pirate gangs who have marauded in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes for years.

“To achieve that goal, we must continue to work with our partners to prevent future attacks, be prepared to interdict acts of piracy and ensure that those who commit acts of piracy are held accountable for their crimes,” he said in a statement.

PIRATES VOW REVENGE

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Obama, spared from having another thorny foreign policy crisis added to his troubles with the US economic meltdown and Afghanistan, welcomed the rescue, praised the US military and vowed to curb rampant piracy.

“The French and the Americans will regret starting this killing.

Somali pirates were quick to vow revenge over Sunday’s shooting, as well as a French military assault to rescue a yacht on Friday. We shall do something to anyone we see as French or American from now,” Hussein, a pirate, said by satellite phone. We do not kill, but take only ransom.

Phillips volunteered to go with the pirates in a Maersk Alabama lifeboat in exchange for the crew, said Vice Adm.

The Maersk Alabama, a container ship carrying food aid for Somalis, was attacked far out in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday, but its 20 American crew apparently fought off the pirates and regained control.

“The actions of Captain Phillips and the civilian mariners of Maersk-Alabama were heroic.

“The actions of Captain Phillips and the civilian mariners of Maersk-Alabama were heroic. They fought back to regain control of their ship, and Captain Phillips selflessly put his life in the hands of these armed criminals in order to protect his crew,” he said in a statement.

Joseph Murphy, whose son, Shane, was Phillips’s second in command and took over the Alabama after pirates left with Phillips, said in a statement read by CNN, “Our prayers have been answered on this Easter Sunday.”

“My son and our family will forever be indebted to Capt. Phillips for his bravery. If not for his incredible personal sacrifice, this kidnapping – an act of terror – could have turned out much worse,” said Murphy.

“The captain is a hero,” one crew member shouted from the 17,000-ton ship as it docked in Kenya’s Mombasa port under darkness on Saturday. “He saved our lives by giving himself up.”

LEGAL SYSTEM NEEDED

Experts had expected a quick end to the standoff, but the pirates held out for both a ransom and safe passage home. Friends said the gang wanted $2 million.

The saga has drawn world attention to the long-running piracy phenomenon off Somalia that has hiked shipping insurance costs and disrupted international trade.

Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of Mombasa-based East African Seafarers Assistance Program, said the rescue would change the stakes in future pirate attacks.

“This is a big wake-up to the pirates. It raises the stakes. Now they may be more violent, like the pirates of old,” he said.

Pirates have generally treated hostages well, sometimes roasting goat meat for them and even passing phones round so they can call loved ones. The worst violence reported has been the occasional beating and no hostages are known to have been killed by pirates.

The drama underscored a need for new international agreements to allow other countries to protect shipments in Somali waters and try pirates, US Coast Guard Commandant Adm. .”

The US Justice Department said in a statement it “will be reviewing the evidence and other issues to determine whether to seek prosecution in the United States.”