Two a penny

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Three Chinese tourists who were robbed at knife point are “stunned and shocked” after being duped into thinking they were doing a good deed.

The trio were robbed at knifepoint by two men whom they had stopped to help on the side of the road in the Far North around 3.

Detective Sergeant Trevor Beatson of the Kaitaia Tactical Response Group said the tourists had been hailed by two Maori men in a maroon coloured station wagon, who claimed they were lost.30pm yesterday.

The incident occurred on a stretch of gravel road which runs through Te Paki Reserves and farm land leading to Te Paki Stream and 90 Mile Beach, from State Highway 1F.

When they stopped to help, the tourists were set upon by the men who assaulted them, produced knives and then demanded money and property.

“They had come to New Zealand fully believing it was a safe place to holiday and now their holiday and impressions of our country have been shattered. .

They were driving a maroon or dark red coloured station wagon similar to a Subaru Legacy.”

The two men were Maori, believed to be in their 20′s and described as tall with strong physical builds.

Anyone with information should call 027 223 2628.

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The New Zealand navy team trying to find the wreckage of the sunken Princess Ashika faces a “challenging environment” with depths of up to 800m, commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Andrew McMillan says.

A 15-strong team, comprising 12 drivers and a three-member remote search team, spent a second day today searching for the Tongan inter-island ferry, which sank on Wednesday with 149 people on board.Police say the final number of missing could be higher, and they were continuing to analyse information about unrecorded people on board the vessel, whose official manifest showed only 79 passengers and crew.Two bodies and 54 survivors have been found, while 93 people remain unaccounted for.However, nothing was found.

Mr McMillan said the team today focused on a 50-110m deep site where an oil slick and debris had been seen, and where the Tongan Defence Service’s echo sounder had appeared to detect an object. It ranges from 35m down to 110m down to 800m,” he said.”The topography of the seafloor is a very challenging environment here.”The New Zealand equipment had a limitation of 100m -”or, if we’re very lucky, 115m”.”You don’t have to travel very far and the depth can change very quickly.”But we’ll certainly do our best.”So with the topography, with the uncertainty of where the vessel has gone down, we have to face the realisation that we might not even be able to find it.Those members who remained in the capital Nuku’alofa tonight attended a multi-denominational remembrance service which attracted about 1000 people.”The team would spend tonight aboard Tongan patrol boat and resume their search tomorrow.Earlier he said a complete manifest was held by a crew member on the ferry when it sailed but that had been lost in the sinking.Tongan police commander Chris Kelley gave those there an update on the situation.Survivors have described how they saw the ferry hit by a 1m wave which swept the cargo to one side, resulting in the vessel to overturn.”What we are faced (with) is that people are telling us is they put people on the boat and they weren’t on the manifest that was supplied here,” he said.Mr Kelley said police and government support teams were visiting families throughout the kingdom “to try to confirm the exact number and identity of people on board”.”The ferry sank so quickly that no one was able to do anything, and I think the passengers inside just couldn’t make it out in time because the ferry just overturned and sank so quickly, in a minute,” survivor Viliami Latu Mohenoa said. .Efforts were also under way to identify foreign nationals among the passengers.

.”The two bodies recovered were of a British national who had been living in New Zealand and a Tongan woman

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Henry Louis Gates Jr, the pre-eminent African-American scholar, is accusing police of racism after he was arrested while trying to force open the locked front door of his home near Harvard University.

Cambridge police were called to the home on Thursday afternoon (local time) after a woman reported seeing a man “wedging his shoulder into the front door as to pry the door open,” according to a police report.

An officer ordered the man to identify himself, and Gates refused, according to the report.”

Officers said they tried to calm down the 58-year-old academic, who responded, “You don’t know who you’re messing with,” according to the police report. Gates began calling the officer a racist and said repeatedly, “This is what happens to black men in America. He joined the Harvard faculty in 1991 and holds one of 20 prestigious “university professors” positions at the school.

Gates is the director of Harvard University’s WEB Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research and served for 15 years as chairman of what is now the Department of African and African American Research.

He also was host of African American Lives, a PBS show about the family histories of prominent US blacks.

Gates was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after police said he “exhibited loud and tumultuous behaviour”. Time magazine named him one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1997.

Gates referred comment to his lawyer, fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, who was not immediately available. . The woman who reported Gates did not return a message on Monday. Cambridge police declined to comment, and the Middlesex district attorney’s office said it could not do so until after Gates’ arraignment.

Many of Gates’ African-American colleagues believe his arrest is part of a pattern of racial profiling in Cambridge, said Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years.

Many of Gates’ African-American colleagues believe his arrest is part of a pattern of racial profiling in Cambridge, said Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years.

“We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if professor Gates was white,” Counter said. They threatened to arrest him when he could not produce identification.”

Counter said he spoke to Gates, who told him police continued to question him after he showed them his licence and Harvard identification. “It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened.

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How to keep the same sports team fresh and fizzing for eight years?

That’s perhaps the greatest challenge facing All Blacks’ rugby coach Graham Henry, now that he is clear to plot a path to the 2011 rugby World Cup.

The Henry way has been a winning one since taking over in 2004, with one notable exception.

Henry is adamant he retains the ability to morph with the rugby times. .

“And the people you’re coaching are changing, they’re different individuals to what they were four years ago,” Henry said.

He fully expects test rugby in 2011 to be a different animal to what is being played this year, or what worked best two years ago in France.

“I coached the Blues in 1996 and that’s quite a different group of people to the All Blacks right now as far as personalities are concerned and what pushes their buttons.

“They reflect the society they come from and the system they’re educated in so you have to change with the times as well.”

It was Sir Clive Woodward’s seventh year in charge when England won the 2003 World Cup.

“We’re all trying to get better at what we do.

No stone was unturned nor cost cut as Woodward steamrolled any English officials who tried to muzzle his decision-making. His methods changed over time, becoming notably more autocratic.

On hand every time will also be assistant coaches Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith along with manager Darren Shand – all part of the furniture since 2004.

For the next 26 months the All Blacks players will listen to Henry’s words at trainings, tactical meetings and in the changing rooms before tests and at halftime.

“We’ve talked about it as senior players and you just can’t afford to get (robotic).

Captain Richie McCaw doesn’t anticipate any Groundhog Day issues, as long as the message remains fresh and players are still allowed to have a say.

“As senior players, we need to start examining for that edge. If you start standing still, then everyone else is going to move past.

“That comes from the leadership of those guys (coaches) and from the senior players in the team,” he said.”

McCaw pointed to the All Blacks’ ability in recent seasons to win tight tests as evidence that emphasis Henry places on team character is still working.

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“As long as we keep that attitude, then I don’t see it being a problem at all

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New Zealand’s Canadian High Commissioner has blamed Kiwis’ “rednecky element” for comments suggesting a tourist should go home after complaining about Eskimo lollies.

NZ High Commissioner Kate Lackey said New Zealand residents were as loyal to Eskimos lollies as Canadians were to Tim Hortons coffee, the Canadian Press reported.
But rude radio comments and online calls for the 21-year-old tourist to head back to Canada were not acceptable, she told Canadian media yesterday.
“I’ll probably get into trouble in New Zealand for saying such a thing, but often there’s a sort of ‘rednecky’ element .
“I would hope New Zealanders would be a bit more courteous and understanding,” Lackey said… The people who get on talk-back (radio) and Stuff haven’t had time to think through a bit more deeply how the other person might feel.
In the blogosphere, on talkback and around watercoolers, New Zealanders have been debating whether Eskimo lollies are offensive to Inuit afterMs Parson’s, 21, said the term was offensive to her people.”
The Eskimo lolly controversy, which erupted this week, has gone international since Canadian tourist Seeka Lee Veevee Parsons told the the sweets were insensitive to her culture and bought back painful memories of racism in Canada as a child.
Confectionary company Pascalls, which produces the sweet, has refused to stop making the “iconic New Zealand lolly”. . Hundreds more comments were rejected on grounds of offensiveness.
Hundreds of readers commented on the story, with a strong thread arguing the call was another case of political correctness gone mad.
Ms Lackey defended Pascalls’ business decision, which she said was “a wee bit hard-hearted”.
Ms Lackey defended Pascalls’ business decision, which she said was “a wee bit hard-hearted”.”
She said she has the highest admiration for the Inuit and has travelled across Canada’s North. I think New Zealanders would have had absolutely no idea that it might cause offence to another people.

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Antonie Dixon was master manipulator

‘Unfettered’ access to drugs and sex with ‘psychologist’ in prison

– Sunday, 08 February 2009

AntonieDixon lived the high life even behind bars – he had "unfettered" access to sex, drugs and other illegal contraband.
And, according to one of the killer's former cellmates, he and Dixon once partied on the drug P for six days straight while they were locked up together at Auckland Central Remand Prison.
has also obtained an until-now-secret police report which details Dixon's prison sex romps with a woman who duped authorities by posing as a registered psychologist.
The close personal friend claimed he and the samurai swordsman consumed more than 15 grams of the class A drug during the binge, smuggled into the prison last November.
Defence lawyers argued Dixon was insane caused by years of horrific abuse as a child.
Dixon was convicted of murder and causing grievous bodily harm in 2005 after he went on a P-fuelled rampage, slashing Simonne Butler and Renee Gunbie with a samurai sword before gunning down James Te Aute.
But he was again found guilty after a seven-week retrial at Auckland High Court last year.
Dixon was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years until his lawyers successfully appealed the decision.
The confidential 2004 police report revealed Corrections allowed Dixon and the "psychologist" to have one-on-one sessions and how prison authorities were not aware of the locked-up lovefest until guards began hearing "strange noises" coming from the room the pair were using during the 2003 incident. On Thursday Dixon died of suspected suicide on the day he was due to be re-sentenced.
"Staff believed that the relationship between the two is more than strictly professional.
"When the (guards) looked they saw Dixon standing behind and over (the fake psychologist)," the detective who prepared the report wrote.
Police concluded Corrections were oblivious to Dixon's ability to manipulate contraband regulations."
The police probe found the phoney psychologist was in fact a long-time friend of Dixon's and was not only servicing his sexual desires but smuggling drugs and cellphones into his jail.
"(Corrections) were obviously not aware how easy it has been for Dixon to have things brought in or taken out of prison on his behalf although (Corrections) did observe that Dixon could easily obtain items from prisoners in transport who walk past his cell and slip things into him.
The situation was branded a "debacle" and police came to the view Dixon had "unfettered access to cellphones, meth and any visitors he wanted".
Wayne said while Dixon was locked up he devoted a lot of energy to a number of females who would regularly write to and visit him."
Dixon's former cellmate, who has agreed to refer to only as Wayne, said his mate found it easy to give Corrections the run-around.
"They were infatuated by him and that bad-boy image.
He said the crime groupies were so captivated by Dixon's infamy, one had his initials tattooed on her neck.
He said the sexual abuse Dixon suffered as a child no doubt fuelled the almost 170 convictions he amassed before his death."
Wayne said his mate was a victim as much as he was a criminal."
Wayne claims Dixon had issues long before he started puffing P.
"He was a victim of his upbringing and environment and I have no doubt that it was the physical and sexual abuse rather than the P that triggered his paranoia.
It was an opinion shared by a senior corrections officer, who according to the 2004 police report believed Dixon was "not psychotic, just manipulative".
It was an opinion shared by a senior corrections officer, who according to the 2004 police report believed Dixon was "not psychotic, just manipulative".
Wayne said suicide wasn't Dixon's style and he believed if Dixon wanted to end it all, he'd go out "all guns blazing". .
"He certainly wouldn't have been fazed by the fact he was about to be sentenced.
"He had absolutely no remorse for his crimes. They did not bother him."
Wayne said Dixon thrived on his public notoriety and would have been excited at the prospect of a huge media contingent at his High Court sentencing this week.
"He was an attention-seeker. He loved the infamy."
Wayne claimed Corrections officials had washed their hands of Dixon and put him in the "too-hard basket".
Dixon would play mind games with fellow inmates often concocting stories to embarrass them or put them at risk of harm.
The former cellmate said it was a way for Dixon to ease the boredom and occupy his mind.
"(Corrections) didn't want him to go to classes because they would have to double up on the number of guards because of the security risk. They offered him nothing at all."
But despite that, Dixon knew his life hadn't turned out how it could.
Wayne said during his final conversation with his best mate about a week-and-a-half ago, the murderer specifically requested his help with his 15-year-old son to ensure he didn't follow in his father's footsteps.
"That was important to him."
A Corrections spokeswoman last night said, because the department had launched an inquiry into Dixon's death, no comment on the new allegations would be made.

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Economic crisis keeps Kiwis close to home

By KATHERINE NEWTON Thursday, 05 February 2009

Kiwis who might once have headed overseas in search of work or play are hunkering down to weather the economic storm at home instead.
Overseas visitors have no such qualms yet, with 322,200 short-term visitors arriving last December a record for any month.
The number of Kiwis and long-term visitors who left for any period of time in that month dropped to 165,700 from 176,100 in December 2007, a decrease of 5.
That included a 16 per cent fall in the number of New Zealanders heading to Britain permanently or long term.9 per cent. Overall, the number of New Zealanders heading overseas last year was steady compared with 2007, dropping only 0.
There were fewer trips to all top 10 destinations for New Zealand residents, including Fiji, down 18 per cent, the United States, down 13 per cent, and Britain, down 8 per cent.3 per cent.
"One of the economies that's been hardest hit is the UK and you're now getting mass job layoffs in that sector," he said.
However, ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said December's fall in departures was likely to continue this year as moving overseas, especially to Britain and the United States, became less attractive. . "People are now becoming more aware that their prospects of going over to the UK and getting a job are diminishing.
Departures to Australia steadily rose last year, but now appeared to be levelling off, it said.5 per cent from December 2007. "The Australian labour market has recently become more difficult and . "The Australian labour market has recently become more difficult and . net outflows across the Tasman may start to ease..
Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said that month had been unexpectedly strong, but he expected the number of visitors to start to fall in the next few months."
Despite record visitor numbers to New Zealand in December, tourism officials are bracing themselves for a tough year."
Tourism New Zealand was predicting long-haul visitor numbers to fall by up to 15 per cent between January and March, he said, but an expected small rise in Australian numbers could help to offset that.
"We're going to get through the summer a little bit better than some people imagined [but] there will be a reduction over the next year.

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Toastman talks about living with cancer

Monday, 02 February 2009

/The
BURNING PASSION: Wellington businessman and toast artist Maurice Bennett faces a daily battle with leukaemia but Instead of taking it easy he runs two businesses, does his toast art and is rarely home before 8pm.

Wellington businessman and toast artist Maurice Bennett faces a daily battle with leukaemia but has refused to let the disease ruin his life.
When it was diagnosed about 2000, he was given five years to live, but he is still at the helm of Island Bay's New World supermarket and Bennetts Beer, and is working on his biggest toast work. But not anymore," Mr Bennett says.
"I used to keep quiet about it and just tell people I had a cold.
"But the last thing I want is sympathy, someone coming up to me in the pub to say how sorry they are. "We're all going to die at least I know what I'm going to die of."
After being diagnosed, there were sleepless nights wondering why and "screams at God". Despite this he's up at 6am every day to head to the supermarket, then he turns to his toast art in the bakery by late afternoon, and he's rarely home before 8pm. The thought of taking it easy regularly crosses his mind.
Even though he was "crook as a dog" when the All Blacks were turfed out of the last Rugby World Cup quarterfinal, he still made it to Paris and walked down the Champs-Elysees in the black jersey.
With an immune system weakened by the disease, even catching the flu could prove fatal. "The doctors are monitoring my health with regular CT scans and blood tests.
Mr Bennett sees himself as the lucky one. Modern medicine is brilliant. Modern medicine is brilliant. Males in this country need to step up [and get regular checks]. They wake up and find they've got the big C or drop dead at 35. Though the toast art started about the same time as the leukaemia diagnosis, he says that is coincidental."
The New World, which he has run for 15 years with his wife, provides a ready supply of bread and commercial ovens facilitating his toast portraits of Jonah Lomu and the Mona Lisa and helping him set a world record for his 2724-slice mosaic of former Wellington mayor Mark Blumsky. I was artistic before that.
"It's just fallen into place. It's not like I've gone through a blue period because of the leukaemia. I used to do oil painting and sculpture work."If anything, being confronted with his mortality has just clarified beliefs he has always held, and he expects to lead a "normal, healthy life for quite a while". It's not like: `Buy some of Maurice's art because he's about to drop dead'. Life revolves around friendship. Life revolves around friendship. It's not about seeing every place in the world, it's about enjoying what you've got.

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Young seal found with tape noose put out of misery

Wednesday, 21 January 2009

Ayoung seal with a noose of plastic packing tape cutting into its neck probably suffered for several months before it was put down, Wairarapa Conservation Department staff say.
Responding to a call last week, DOC staff found the seriously distressed young seal close to Glenburn on Wairarapa's east coast.
DOC ranger Joe Hansen said there was no way to remove the tape, which was "growing into the skin". It had badly infected wounds around its neck, caused by what appeared to be tape from a fishing bait box.
"There were vast amounts of flies and deep tissue wounds were obvious.
The only practical solution was to put the animal down immediately. We couldn't get close enough to remove the tape, so it had to be quickly and humanely dealt with.
"We didn't want the seal to return to the sea and consequently endure further suffering. On that occasion, rangers were unable to find it."
DOC staff suspected it was the same distressed seal reported in the same area three or four months ago.
"Many items discarded into rivers, lakes and the sea can be harmful to animals, particularly inquisitive ones such as seals and dolphins.
Mr Hansen said the incident was a grim reminder of the need to dispose of rubbish responsibly."
DOC national marine mammal coordinator Steve Smith said the department did not collect data on marine animals tangled in rubbish, but most regions probably dealt with "a couple of cases a year".
"Cut your plastic tape or string, especially if it's not biodegradable, and avoid indiscriminate disposal so that it doesn't result in this type of damage and suffering to animals. We have a large coastline, uninhabited for the most part, and then some animals would die at sea. ."

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Wellington ‘superpub’ closes after six months

Thursday, 08 January 2009

Receivers have closed the doors at The Temperance bar less than six months after the first pint was pulled in what was billed as Wellington's "superpub".
Black plastic bags cover the windows at the pub, official home of the Hurricanes and Wellington Lions rugby teams and supporters.
The Temperance opened to fanfare in July when it was championed as New Zealand's largest pub.
While it is turning a profit, head leaseholder DB Breweries was concerned about the way the $4 million complex was being managed.
It has three bars and a micro brewery which straddle the block between Blair St and Cambridge Tce.
A report from the receiver is expected to be with DB today, and the bar is expected to reopen under the brewery's guidance ready for the weekend.
"DB has stepped in to protect our investment and the outlet by putting in place a receiver and removing the owner," DB spokesman Andrew Campbell said.
The Temperance was partly bankrolled by the brewery, which subleased the property to bar owner Andrew Gibson. "It's not a massive figure but when coupled with the way the outlet was being managed .
Mr Campbell said DB was still owed money. . ."
Mr Gibson admits rent and loan repayments are owing but said management had been solid. it has got to the point where some action had to be taken.
"It would be fair to say it has been a financial strain on us as a group but to say it has been mismanaged, I don't think that is correct or fair.
"It would be fair to say it has been a financial strain on us as a group but to say it has been mismanaged, I don't think that is correct or fair."
He said financial stress started when construction of the bar went over budget by $1.
"I think the reality is that DB has jumped the gun a little bit.
"It is hard to get out of that.9 million. Part of the proceeds went to pay construction costs at The Temperance. .
Mr Gibson still owns Jays Bar and Cafe in Johnsonville and The Loaded Hog on the waterfront. He is also selling another bar, The Big Kumara, in a deal to be sealed tomorrow. "We have an excellent relationship with DB Breweries, which is a longstanding partner of Wellington Rugby and the Hurricanes.
DB believes The Temperance's future is rosy, a view backed by Wellington Rugby chief executive Greg Peters."

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