Two a penny

.

At least 15 people were killed and 50 injured overnight in Italy when a freight train hauling liquefied petroleum gas derailed and exploded as it passed their homes, officials said on Tuesday.

About 1000 people were evacuated following the blast just before midnight on Monday, which shook people from their beds in the Tuscan seaside town of Viareggio, about 350km north of Rome.It was Italy’s most deadly rail accident since 17 people were killed in January 2005, when a passenger train collided with a freight train near the northern city of Bologna.Thirty-seven people were injured, seriously or very seriously, rescue workers said, including a 2-year-old who was badly burned and was being transferred to a hospital in Florence.GATX Rail Europe, a unit of the US-based GATX Corp, which owns the rail cars – each one made of a gas tank attached to a wagon – told it did not know the cause of the explosion and was gathering information from news reports.Firefighters battled overnight to contain blazes started by the explosion and, as a precaution, were emptying liquefied petroleum gas from other, unexploded tanks in the wrecked train.Television showed the fire spreading down city streets, setting cars and nearby buildings alight.Chief Financial Officer Werner Mitteregger said the tanks being transported on the Italian railways were new.At least two children were among the dead, officials said. Rescue workers set up along the roadside to provide first aid to burn victims.Rescue workers pulled bodies from the rubble of damaged buildings.”Let me see him! Let me see him!,” screamed one man trying to see his grandson, who was among the dead, ANSA news agency reported.State railways said the accident occurred when one carriage derailed, pulling another four with it. ANSA said two nearby buildings collapsed. . Liquefied petroleum gas escaped from a tank on one of the carriages and caught fire

.

Rachel Hunter has been dumped by her toyboy lover less than two months before they were due to wed, British tabloid The Sun reports.

Ice hockey star Jarret Stoll stunned the New Zealand model by walking out without even saying the reason, the newspaper said.

It reported that Stoll told guests by email that the star-studded ceremony on August 14 was cancelled. Everything was in place for their wedding – she had the venue, the designer dress, the guest list.

A source close to Hunter, who was formerly married to rock star Rod Stewart, told the paper: “She is absolutely devastated. It sounds like it could be a classic case of cold feet.

“She has absolutely no idea why Jarret has done this. He is a fair bit younger than her.

Hunter and Stoll met two years ago through Hunter’s son Liam, 13, a talented ice hockey player coached by Stoll. .

-

.
Outdoor workers’ health at risk from sun, study finds

By MARK HOTTON – Thursday, 26 February 2009

Outdoor workers are at risk of eye disease and skin cancer because of overexposure and under-protection in the sun, a University of Otago study has found.
The problem of high UV-radiation exposure was made worse with less than a third of the 77 workers in the study applying sunscreen and only 5 per cent wearing a wide-brim hat.
Unless adequately protected, all of them would have received more UV radiation than the recommended level of 1.
The workers in the study, conducted by postgraduate student Vanessa Hammond, included construction, horticultural and road workers employed at 14 Central Otago workplaces.
An exposure of about 1.08 SED (standard erythemal dose).0 SED could cause sunburn to someone with unprotected fair skin.5 to 3.3 SED between 11am and 4pm. The average daily summer exposure of the workers was 5.
Study co-author Dr Tony Reeder, director of the university's Cancer Society social and behavioural research unit, said employers had an important role in protecting their workers from the sun.
Hammond said any opportunity to work in the shade could make a real difference in reducing the risk of a worker developing skin cancer. .
Outdoor work between 11am and 4pm needed to be undertaken in either natural or constructed shade in summer, he said.
"It all sounds very nice but there'd be a big cost with it.
However, Amalgamated Builders health and safety manager David Baker, of Dunedin, said movable shade structures were impractical given the scale of building sites.
"You can provide but it's up to the guys to use the stuff," Baker said."
The company supplied personal protective equipment such as wide-brim clip-on hat options and sunscreen, but it was up to each employee whether they used it.
"I've just put a lid on [the tractor] for that reason.
Gore farmer Hamish Smith said he had taken steps to address his exposure to the sun. But it can just get too hot. There was always sunscreen in the tractor and that was used too.
Builder Barnaby Lamb, who was wearing a sleeveless top on a Queenstown building site yesterday, said sunscreen was supplied on site and he regularly applied it."
Work was started early to avoid the day's heat and a hat was essential.

.
Court martial finds officer guilty on one charge

The Wednesday, 25 February 2009

A senior army officer has been found guilty of indecent assault and not guilty on a charge of behaving in a disgraceful and indecent manner.
A court martial panel of five senior officers delivered its verdict at the end of a three-day military trial at Trentham Army Base today.
The charges date back to March 23, 2007, when the officer went to the room of a female officer who was attending a course on which he was a senior instructor.
The senior officer said she had come on to him and invited him to her room for sex and that they kissed before she turned away and said no.
Both had been drinking in the officers' mess that night and the female officer said he came to her room uninvited and that after she fended him off he exposed himself and committed an indecency. .
He denied exposing himself to the officer, who was engaged to one of his closest friends

.
All-you-can-tan offers have critics seeing red

By KEITH LYNCH and KIM THOMAS – Monday, 16 February 2009

Salons offering all-you-can-tan sunbed promotions have been branded as irresponsible by doctors, who say such promotions highlight the need for stricter controls over solarium operators.
Dr Judith Galtry, a skin cancer adviser with the Cancer Society, said offering people the opportunity to tan many times in a month was potentially unsafe. Those who used the beds at any age were 15 per cent more likely to develop skin cancer.
"Research from an international agency on cancer found people who used sunbeds before they were aged 18 were 75 per cent more likely to develop melanoma.
Manager Kerry Middleton said the salon strictly monitored its all-you-can-tan customers."
Christchurch salon Skin Deep Solariums is offering an all-you-can-tan promotion for $60 a month.
"In the vertical [tanning bed], it's a max of nine minutes; in the lay-down [tanning beds], it's a maximum of 25 minutes.
"All-you-can-tan is a one-month offer that is strictly within the health boundaries."
Some customers did flout the guidelines, and tanned every day, but the all-you-can-tan system was closely monitored, Middleton said. And we recommend people tan at most every second day, as the skin needs time to recover. We are looking after their skin.
"Our customers are in a controlled environment where we can check exactly how much time they go in for."
Parental consent was required for customers under the age of 18, but sunbeds were off limits to people under 16, Middleton said. .
Galtry said the Cancer Society would carry out "stings" on sunbed operators this year to gauge how many were flouting the guidelines.
This year, Standards NZ and Australia published new guidelines for the tanning industry, including advising against the use of tanning machines by people under 18.
"Good salons should offer people the benefits of tanning without the risk of burning," she said.
Gabrielle Brown, of the Indoor Tanning Association, advised people to tan moderately.
"We've tried to get together with a couple of our critics to talk to them about educating people on how to moderate their tanning behaviour and how to avoid sunburn.
"But our critics' position is they see no benefit to tanning and would like to see the industry completely disappear."

. But they've said, `we can't work with you'

.
All-you-can-tan offers have critics seeing red

By KEITH LYNCH and KIM THOMAS – Monday, 16 February 2009

Salons offering all-you-can-tan sunbed promotions have been branded as irresponsible by doctors, who say such promotions highlight the need for stricter controls over solarium operators.
Dr Judith Galtry, a skin cancer adviser with the Cancer Society, said offering people the opportunity to tan many times in a month was potentially unsafe. Those who used the beds at any age were 15 per cent more likely to develop skin cancer.
"Research from an international agency on cancer found people who used sunbeds before they were aged 18 were 75 per cent more likely to develop melanoma.
Manager Kerry Middleton said the salon strictly monitored its all-you-can-tan customers."
Christchurch salon Skin Deep Solariums is offering an all-you-can-tan promotion for $60 a month.
"In the vertical [tanning bed], it's a max of nine minutes; in the lay-down [tanning beds], it's a maximum of 25 minutes.
"All-you-can-tan is a one-month offer that is strictly within the health boundaries."
Some customers did flout the guidelines, and tanned every day, but the all-you-can-tan system was closely monitored, Middleton said. And we recommend people tan at most every second day, as the skin needs time to recover. We are looking after their skin.
"Our customers are in a controlled environment where we can check exactly how much time they go in for."
Parental consent was required for customers under the age of 18, but sunbeds were off limits to people under 16, Middleton said. .
Galtry said the Cancer Society would carry out "stings" on sunbed operators this year to gauge how many were flouting the guidelines.
This year, Standards NZ and Australia published new guidelines for the tanning industry, including advising against the use of tanning machines by people under 18.
"Good salons should offer people the benefits of tanning without the risk of burning," she said.
Gabrielle Brown, of the Indoor Tanning Association, advised people to tan moderately.
"We've tried to get together with a couple of our critics to talk to them about educating people on how to moderate their tanning behaviour and how to avoid sunburn.
"But our critics' position is they see no benefit to tanning and would like to see the industry completely disappear."

. But they've said, `we can't work with you'

.
Helen Clark’s UN job interview

By ANTHONY HUBBARD – Sunday, 08 February 2009

Former Primeminister Helen Clark is in the running for a top United Nations job, and the National government is supporting her bid.
Clark is a candidate for the post of administrator of the UN Development Programme, third behind UN secretary-general and deputy secretary-general.
It was too early yet to predict whether she would be successful, Key told the Sunday Star-Times.
Prime Minister John Key confirmed yesterday that Clark was a candidate, "and she has all the support of the New Zealand government".
If Clark was successful her appointment would be comparable with former Labour leader Mike Moore's job as director-general of the World Trade Organisation or former National foreign affairs minister Don McKinnon's post as secretary-general of the Commonwealth.
Auckland University foreign policy expert Steve Hoadley said the UNDP post was one of "major international importance".
The present administrator, former Turkish economic affairs minister Kemal Dervis, is due to retire at the end of his four-year term in August this year.
The UNDP had the largest budget of any UN agency, Hoadley said, and was a major presence throughout the world. A government source said she would be "a very strong candidate".
It has long been expected that Clark, a foreign affairs specialist all her adult life and with a wide international network, would try for an international post. It's a very senior position and will be hotly contested by a number of candidates.
Clark said: "This position came up at short notice. Hoadley said the government would have to lobby General Assembly members for the job. .
The UNDC is the UN's global development network, overseeing a budget of $US5 billion. It would be interesting to see how much it was prepared to spend in supporting the Clark candidacy in a time of financial stringency.
The Clark-led government in its final term increased its aid budget to $400 million, about 0. Its head office is in New York, and it has 140 offices around the world.

.3 percentof gross national income

.
Emotional funeral for teen shot by police

Pregnant mother to be taken to hospital after burial

Friday, 30 January 2009

/
TRAGIC LOSS: Halatau’s little sister Lupe Teputepu at the casket before the funeral.

/
FAREWELL: A local South Auckland police officer bends over the casket of 17-year-old Halatau Naitoko as thousands of mourners, police representatives and local dignataries amongst them, paid their respects to the slain teenager at his home in Mangere.

/
GRIEVING: Halatau’s sister Sekola Naitoko with her daughter Jurnee Brown, aged five months.

/
A MOTHER’S TEARS: Ivoni Naitoko, centre, sitting, with family members ahead of the funeral service for her son.

/
SAYING GOODBYE: Mourners pay their respects to Halatau Naitoko at the start of his funeral.
"A week ago the blood of an innocent boy was shed," one of five ministers officiating at the service told mourners.

Photo 5 of 5

Funeral for shot teenager

Halatau Naitoko, the teenager accidentally shot dead by police last week, was farewelled by more than 1000 mourners at his funeral today.
"He's dead but he is still speaking to us today."
The words were met by applause at the makeshift chapel where the service was held at the back of the family home in the suburb of Mangere East.
"Let that be a message to the government officials, and dignitaries, minister of police and police officers, even to the beloved policeman who fired that fatal shot.
The 17-year-old courier driver died last Friday when he was caught in police crossfire during the motorway chase by police of an armed man.
Mourners were told Halatau worked hard to help feed his brothers and sisters.
At the traditional Tonga funeral more than 1000 mourners, including police minister Judith Collins, police commissioner Howard Broad and numerous politicians, were told he was a hard-working, loyal, faithful, truthful, respectful and a loving child.
He was a loving and devoted father to his two-year-old daughter, mourners heard.
He was killed in the line of duty as his life was just starting to unfold, an aunt said.
He was killed in the line of duty as his life was just starting to unfold, an aunt said.
The traditional Tonga funeral in Tongan and in English began several hours after the first mourners arrived and after an early morning prayer session over his open casket. He had a loving heart and much compassion and hope for the future, she said.
Shewas to be taken to hospital to give birth immediately after her son's burial today.
It was a day of almost unbearable emotion as Mr Naitoko's mother Ivonifarewelled him, just hours before she was due to give birth to his baby brother.
The high emotion of her decision to name her new baby – her 10th child – Halatau after his dead brother, was not lost on mourners.
Family spokesperson Peter Sykes said the visit was a check-up but it Mrs Naitoko believed she would give birth.
Hundreds gathered around the silver hearse as the large, white casket topped with white flowers departed for Halatau's final resting place.
She cried out as she walked down the family's driveway as 13 pallbearers, including one member of New Zealand Police, carried her son'scoffinto the hearse.
For Paea Fangu Fangu, the 16-year-old brother of Halatau, it was a day of sadness.
The hundreds of floral wreaths left by mourners were packed into Kiwi Express courier van, the compnay both Halatau and his parents worked for. I just want to speak to the person that killed my brother and asked him why he took my brother away from us," he said as traditional hymns of farewell were sung at the family home. I just want to speak to the person that killed my brother and asked him why he took my brother away from us," he said as traditional hymns of farewell were sung at the family home.
Mr Naitoko's body, dressed in white, has been at the family home since Sunday night, accompanied around the clock by family members, relatives and friends.
Many mourners wore traditional ta'ovala, a woven Tongan flax dress, and black T-shirts. . May he rest in peace."
On the back was a picture of him with the words: "May he rest in Paradise, 1991-2009."
West Auckland man Stephen McDonald, 50, was arrested after the shootout. He faces 29 charges relating to events leading up to Mr Naitoko's shooting.
His alleged accomplice, Margaret Mann, 19, faces three charges. They will both reappear in court next week.
– and

.
NZ storms harbingers of climate change

By CHARLIE GATES – Wednesday, 14 January 2009

The storms, droughts and floods that hit New Zealand last year could be a harbinger of climate change, weather scientists say.
New Zealand's weather extremes in 2008, from droughts in January to storms in July and August, are comprehensive in asummary published yesterday by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa).
The July and August storms that wreaked havoc across New Zealand caused $68 million damage and killed five people, Niwa said.
Niwa principal scientist James Renwick said the extremes could be a preview of how global climate change would affect New Zealand weather.
The drought in the west of the North Island early last year cost $1 billion, it said.
"The idea of a sunny year, but with some pretty violent storms, is consistent with climate change.
"I am not saying 2008 was a result of climate change, but we should expect to see more years like that," he said.
"We should expect to see more of those rainfall extremes.
"It is really quite a challenge for agriculture."
Renwick said the extreme weather expected to be sparked by global climate change would affect New Zealand agriculture.
"There will have to be some thought about where the different activities take place. The good conditions you need to grow certain crops and raise stock will move around the country," he said.
"They will probably be quite viable in the South Island in the close to future. For example, kiwifruit were first grown in the Bay of Plenty, then Hawke's Bay."
The South Island had some of the most dramatic weather of 2008."
The South Island had some of the most dramatic weather of 2008.
Canterbury recorded the highest temperature of the year with 34.
Christchurch was also the driest of the five centres, with just 704 millimetres of rain compared with the 1662mm that made Wellington the wettest.
The sunshine and arid conditions were occasionally broken by violent rainstorms in the South Island.8 degrees celsius at Timaru Airport on January 12 and March 19. . Marlborough, Canterbury and eastern Otago had more than three times the normal rainfall in July.5C at Mount Cook on August 20.
Weather extremes:
Coldest temperature minus 9.8C at Timaru Airport on January 12.
Highest temperature 34.
Highest rainfall catchment Cropp River, in the Hokitika River catchment, had 10,940mm of rainfall for the year.
Highest rainfall catchment Cropp River, in the Hokitika River catchment, had 10,940mm of rainfall for the year.
Heaviest snowfall Arthur's Pass closed three days after 1 metre fell, August 15-17.

.
Fiji heads for the hills, again

Tuesday, 13 January 2009

GREG FOWLER/Supplied
Locals survey the flooded streets in Fiji.

GREG FOWLER/Supplied
A photo sent in by Stuff reader Greg Fowler shows a flooded bridge outside Nadi.
The warning comes as authorities say the death toll from the storm earlier this week has reached seven.

Fiji floods strand Kiwis

Fiji declares state of disaster

NZ helps Fiji despite shaky relations

Fijians are being told to urgently head to higher ground as another severe storm begins to hit the island nation.
He is also warning of strong winds.
But Fiji Meteorological Service head Rajendra Prasad says severe flooding will take place throughout the whole country.
Meanwhile Nadi Airport was nearly empty this afternoon as flights got away to Australia and New Zealand.
Many of the areas already badly affected are expected to be hit again.
However Air Pacific is warning future flights today and tomorrow could be delayed or cancelled as severe thunderstorms prevented refuelling of aircraft.
An official at the airport said two more flights, including one to Samoa, were expected to leave this afternoon.
The latest confirmed deaths are of a 19-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy who drowned in separate incidents near Lautoka.
Earlier the Fiji National Emergency Operation Centre three people died in landslides while four from drowning in the earlier storm.
The officepredicts heavy rain and strong winds across Fiji from tonight.
The Nadi Weather Office says although water levels have receded in many areas, strong wind warnings and flood warnings remain in force for much of the main island of Viti Levu.
New Zealand, which yesterday gave $100,000, is giving its aid through the independent Fiji Red Cross.
Meanwhile as economic losses mount, military coup leader and self appointed prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama launched an international appeal for money to be paid into a bank account he controls.
"Commodore Bainimarama said any amount could be deposited and all contributions would be acknowledged," the government statement said.
Commodore Bainimarama yesterday appealed for funds worldwide and cited his "National Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation" account as the place to deposit it."
New Zealand and most regional governments refuse to recognise the Bainimarama regime which seized power in a military coup in December 2006.
"The funds collected will supplement Government's contribution under the National Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation Programme.
Hundreds of New Zealand tourists remain stuck in tourist resorts.
Fiji's sugar crop, the third major export income earner behind tourism and international mercenary and security work, is believed to have suffered severely with the storm as much of the crop was waterlogged.
Since the floods started last week at least eight people have been killed and 9000 forced from their homes.
Keen golfers Stu Pedley and Murray Kuzman from Wanganui said their evacuation from Fiji's flood-struck Denarau Island at the weekend was like a "mini Dunkirk".
"There was no way anyone could get through on the road, even in a four-wheel-drive truck.
"There was no way anyone could get through on the road, even in a four-wheel-drive truck."
The island resort, mostly built on reclaimed land, was under two metres of water.
"It was a huge brown sea of water. .
Overnight on Wednesday, the rain started, and it fell solidly without a stop for two and a-half days.
The heavy rain flooded the roads and there was no way local staff could get to work in the hotels and resorts.
The men said Nadi Airport was chaotic, with thousands of tourists trying to arrange flights out of Fiji.
Only when in the air did they both fully realise the enormity of the devastation.
But despite everything the Fijian people kept smiling, Mr Pedley said.
"They just smiled through it all. They said the rain will stop," he said.
The Fiji government has declared a state of emergency in the western districts that were the hardest hit and are also home to most of the country's international resorts.
Tourists still at resorts were advised by the National Disaster Office to hunker down in preparation for more rough weather.
"There's another depression heading toward Fiji within the next two days and that will bring an additional threat," Aisea Qumihajelo, the acting chief of disaster management, told Associated Press.
– with