Two a penny

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Labour weekend road toll has climbed to five following the death of a woman struck by a bus full of people north of Wellington earlier today.

The woman died at the scene after she was hit by the bus on Lyttleton Ave in Porirua, police said.

The death brought the holiday weekend road toll to five – one greater than Labour Day weekend last year, when four people were killed. .

The rider was travelling with a group of friends and speed may have been a contributing factor, police said.

A motorcyclist died close to Greymouth yesterday after crashing into a bridg e on State Highway 6 at Coal Creek.

Two women were killed in a head-on crash close to Taupo on Saturday.

Investigations were ongoing.

The car’s 79-year-old driver died at the scene while the 53-year-old passenger of the four-wheel-drive died shortly after she was taken to Taupo Hospital.

A car crossed the centre line on State Highway 1 at Five Mile Bay and collided with a four-wheel-drive vehicle shortly before 3pm.

Meanwhile, police have named the man who was killed when a four-wheel-drive rolled into a river off the Maungatapu Track in Nelson’s Maitai Valley yesterday, injuring two others.

The driver escaped with only minor injuries.

Emergency services were alerted to the crash at 5.

He was 16-year-old Tod Woodman of Richmond.

.40pm by one of the vehicle’s occupants, who ran from the scene to get help

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Air New Zealand says it’s cutting its cheapest domestic airfares by up to 23 percent and simplifying fare structures to two options from three.

Starting Monday, airfares will be cut by 10 percent on average to help boostdomestic travel, the government controlled airline said this afternoon.

Air New Zealand’s current three fare structures are being reduced to two – Smart Saver fares and Flexi Plus fares.

“New Flexi Plus fares will start at substantially lower levels than existing Fully Flexi levels, with reductions averaging 32 percent,” Air New Zealand said. .”

The new fare type will provide two free 25kg checked bags and the ability to change flights at the airport on the day of travel for free to any available seat.

“For example, the lead-in price for a Flexi Plus fare on Auckland – Wellington will be $199, 38 percent lower than the old price of $319.

The airline’s short haul group general manager, Bruce Parton, said greater flexibility would benefit business flyers.

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“Cheaper Smart Saver airfares, will stimulate travel, growing the market and adding more tourists into regional New Zealand with flow on benefits to accommodation and attractions as the market recovers from recessionary impacts,” Parton added

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One of the worst economic years in the New Zealand Government’s history will be confirmed tomorrow when the final government accounts for the June year are released.

At the beginning of the financial year Treasury was still predicting an operating surplus of $2.This was already down from the $7.56 billion for the fiscal year.In hindsight the signs of rot were starting to show last July with Treasury predicting that cash surpluses would be a thing of the past in the years ahead due to a slowing economy and cuts to income tax.39 billion predicted last December.Finance Minister Bill English said the Crown accounts would tell a story of deficits and losses on investments, “a picture we’re familiar with”.After that the world was hit first by a credit crisis which brought on a global recession, which came on top of the domestic recession already under way. .This would include a $10 billion to $12 billion reversal in the operating surplus to around a deficit of around $9 billion.While the Government’s main investment vehicles – the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, ACC and the Government Superannuation Fund – have all recorded improving fortunes recently, this is not expected to make much difference to the final books for 2008/2009 tomorrow.

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Facing questions about her gender, South African teenager Caster Semenya has easily won the 800-metre gold medal at the world championships.

Semenya’s dominating run came on the same day track and field’s ruling body said she was undergoing a gender test as a result of concerns she does not meet requirements to compete as a woman.45 seconds in a world-leading 1 minute, 55.

Semenya took the lead at the halfway mark and opened a commanding lead in the last 400m to win by a massive 2. Defending champion Janeth Jepkosgei was second and Jennifer Meadows of Britain was third in 1:57.45 seconds.

About three weeks ago, the international federation asked South African track and field authorities to conduct the verification test.93.72 at the African junior championships in Maruitius. Semenya had burst onto the scene by posting a world-leading time of 1:56. Before the race, IAAF spokesperson Nick Davies stressed this is a “medical issue, not an issue of cheating.

Her dramatic improvement in times, muscular build and deep voice sparked speculation about her gender.

The test requires a physical medical evaluation and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and gender expert.” He said the “extremely complex, difficult” test has begun but results were not expected for weeks.

“We entered Caster as a woman and we want to keep it that way,” Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said.

South Africa team manager Phiwe Mlangeni-Tsholetsane would not confirm or deny that Semenya was having such a test. We have no reservations at all about that. “Our conscience is clear in terms of Caster.

“But today there is no proof and the benefit of doubt must always be in favor of the athlete,” Weiss said. .

-AP

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Former New Zealand Olympic rower Rob Hamill has confronted his brother’s killer at the trial of former Khmer Rouge official Duch in Phnom Penh.

An emotional Hamill testified before the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Phnom Penh about the “incredible” impact the horrific death of his brother Kerry, 27, had on his family here – a “massive and unquantifiable impact”.

Hamill, former Olympic and long-distance rower, said he had waited a long time to confront his brother’s killer and to tell the story about the impact on his parents and siblings.

The New Zealander’s wife Rachel and their two-year-old son were in the packed public gallery as Hamill spoke for a full hour.

Hamill’s mother is now dead and his father is in a nursing home.

Duch, 66, has pleaded guilty to murder but the five judges – New Zealander Dame Silvia Cartwright, a French national and three Cambodians – will decide Duch’s innocence or guilt after hearing all the evidence.

Kaing Guek Eav, or Duch as he is known, the man responsible for Kerry Hamill’s death, was in court and listened impassively to Hamill’s testimony as it was translated.

Dame Silvia was in courtto hear Hamill, who was accepted as a civil party.

Crewman Stuart Glass, a Canadian was shot while Hamill and Briton John Dewhirst were interrogated and tortured for two months before being killed in Phnom Penh’s notorious Tuol Sleng Prison run by Duch.

Kerry Hamill was captured by the Khmer Rouge when the yacht on which he and friends were sailing strayed into Cambodian waters in August 1978.

Duch has pleaded the same defence as some of the Nazis at the Nuremberg trials after World War 2, maintaining he was simply carrying out orders and would have been shot had he not done so.

Thousands of Cambodians were killed at the prison.

He noted that Duch used the phrase “smash them”, words meaning prisoners were to be tortured and then killed.

Hamill said Duch had dehumanised himself “the way he did so many people”.

“I’ve wanted to smash Duch,” he said.

“I’ve wanted to smash Duch,” he said.

“We all live and die but the way my brother died it is just so abominable and simply [incomprehensible] and he led that, he created the system that inflicted this terrible, terrible crime on people. I mean what he did, he dehumanised himself… he dehumanised so many thousands of people and the way he did it,” he told told Radio New Zealand.

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An Auckland police officer has been suspended and may yet face criminal charges for allegedly leaking secret information from the national intelligence network to a criminal.

The constable has been stood down while an internal investigation takes place, the Weekend Herald reported.

The suspended constable is in a squad which targets “volume crime”, in particular burglaries, and had access to the police intelligence database.

The constable, who has been in the police for two years, was this week interviewed by staff from the force’s professional standards team, the newspaper reported.

He is alleged to have leaked sensitive information to help a known criminal to avoid arrest. But most have been non-sworn staff in call centres, not officers.

A small number of police staff have been charged with using the computer system to help friends and family to evade arrest. .

Police Minister Judith Collins has been briefed on the “serious allegations” but declined to comment as the inquiry was not finished.

“Police are investigating an allegation that information has been inappropriately disclosed by a police employee, and as the investigation is under way it would be inappropriate to comment further,” Mr Bush said.

The National Intelligence Application is a computer network that holds information on people’s criminal convictions and whether they are wanted by police or are a surveillance target.

Police Association president Greg O’Connor also declined to comment.

Police national headquarters figures show 33 police staff were caught making unauthorised checks of the National Intelligence Application since August 2007.

The system also gives police facts on criminals’ associates and their addresses. Nine of those later resigned. Nine of those later resigned

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

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

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

Climate change and aid were also on the agenda.

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

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

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

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

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