Saturday, July 26, 2014

Pressure on Coleman over Dotcom FBI investigation

Pressure on Coleman over Dotcom FBI investigation

Friday 25 Jul 2014 1:58p.m.
Defence Minister and former Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman (Simon Wong/ 3 News)
Defence Minister and former Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman (Simon Wong/ 3 News)
Labour and the Internet Party say cabinet minister Jonathan Coleman must "come clean" about when he knew the FBI was investigating Kim Dotcom.
Dr Coleman was Immigration Minister when Mr Dotcom was granted residence in 2010, and has said it was an "arms-length" decision in which he wasn't involved.
He has said ministers weren't aware at the time the FBI was investigating Mr Dotcom over the activities of his MegaUpload company.
The New Zealand Herald reported today there was evidence Dr Coleman knew about the FBI investigation.
Dr Coleman was briefed by Immigration NZ chief executive Nigel Bickle on October 28, the day before Dotcom was granted residency, the Herald reports.
"An Immigration NZ spokesman said 'the general information about the FBI was passed to Mr Bickle who then passed it to the minister'."
Labour's Grant Robertson is calling for "a truthful account" of what happened.
"It is increasingly apparent the whole story is yet to be told," he said.
Internet Party leader Laila Harré says it's now apparent Dr Coleman was fully briefed on the FBI investigation.
"Jonathan Coleman's fingerprints are all over this - are we still expected to believe he didn't discuss the investigation with any of his colleagues, before endorsing the decision to grant residency?"
A spokeswoman for Dr Coleman told NZ Newswire the minister had nothing to add to his previous comments.
"As the minister said earlier this week, the decision to grant residency was made by officials, at arms-length from the minister."
Mr Dotcom is claiming there was a conspiracy involving the FBI and the Government to grant him residence so he could be extradited.
US authorities want to extradite him to face internet piracy charges.
The hearing has been delayed several times and won't take place until next year.
NZN
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Ukrainians protest at Russian Embassy

A small contingent of Ukrainian protesters gathered outside the Russian Embassy in Wellington this afternoon to voice their concerns over the escalating situation in their country.
Around a dozen people sang their national anthem, held signs and the Ukrainian flag calling on the Kremlin to vacate Ukrainian territory.
Ukrainian expat Serge Vorobey says the Ukranian and Russian community in New Zealand "don't know what to make" of the situation in their respective homelands.
"Never in my life did I imagine there'd be any bloodshed. We've had such a brilliant record of peaceful protest to change the Government's view previously," he says.
The prospect of a country on the brink of war was something Mr Vorobey would have "laughed off" last week and would be the "least likely" person to protest.
"To see my country and my people to be divided and shared like pieces of a pie, I find it hard." 
US Secretary of State John Kerry has called Russia's incursion into Ukraine "an incredible act of aggression" – though the Russian takeover of the Black Sea peninsula was achieved without a shot being fired.
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully has called the developments in Ukraine "deeply worrying" and the country's sovereignty should be respected.
3 News
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What We Do In The Shadows

What We Do In The Shadows Wellington premiere

Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement and fellow Kiwi filmmaker Taika Waititi have premiered their film in Wellington. Read the article >

http://www.3news.co.nz/Photos-What-We-Do-In-The-Shadows-Wellington-premiere/tabid/1125/articleID/349247/Default.aspx
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Saturday, May 10, 2014

Govt signs travel agreement with 15 countries

A new air service agreement with Sri Lanka and 14 other countries will make it easier for New Zealanders to travel and open the door for international business, says Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee.
The agreements, approved by Cabinet, also include Finland, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Togo and Zambia.
It allows airlines to offer flights from New Zealand to those countries and then on to other destinations.
Mr Brownlee says the agreements give Kiwis better access to the world and signed today's deal with Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris.
The Ministry of Transport negotiated the 15 agreements over five days at the International Civil Aviation Negotiation Conference in Durban last year.
Mr Brownlee says the arrangement with Ethiopia, along with an amendment to the South Africa agreement, "helps pave the way for stronger links in Africa".
The amendment means a doubling of passenger services, as well as another seven freight services to South Africa a week. 
Changes have also been made with agreements with Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden.
Mr Brownlee says further announcements will include countries in South East Asia.

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Govt-signs-travel-agreement-with-15-countries/tabid/421/articleID/343310/Default.aspx#ixzz31IXHl3Jy
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Tennis coach's death a 'tragic accident' - Coroner Simon Wong 3 News Online Reporter By Simon Wong Online Reporter Friday 09 May 2014 1:55p.m

An Australian tennis coach whose body was found in the Waikato River after going missing last year was a "tragic accidental death", a coroner has ruled.
However, the man's parents have raised concerns about the lack of signage along the river where he died.
The mysterious disappearance of Paul Arber, 38, in December last year sparked a large-scale search in the region which lasted almost a week.
He was visiting the country with a large group of children for a tennis tournament and was seen alone by a woman in Hamilton East on Saturday, December 7. Images were taken of him at an ATM 15 minutes after the encounter and Mr Arber was last seen at the edge of the Waikato River around 4am Sunday wearing only a pair of shorts.
His body was found by a group of rowers from Hamilton Girls' High School.
Coroner Wallace Bain ruled the cause of death to be drowning and there is "nothing at all to suggest that this is anything but a tragic accident".
“There are no indications to suggest that Paul was at any stage thinking about taking his own life and he was otherwise a fit and healthy young man with no depression or other factors in this life which would lead him to even consider taking his own life."
During the hearing, Mr Arber's parents raised concerns about the safety of the river.
"Their concern was that overseas visitors would have no idea [of the dangers] because the river seems so peaceful and calm but in fact had a strong undertow," the ruling says.
The Waikato Regional Council noted the Harbour Master, who oversees the Waikato River believes that particular part of the river is "no more treacherous than many other stretches of the Waikato River".
The Hamilton City Council confirmed the area Mr Arber was found in – known as Ferry Bank Reserve – had no signs relating to the river and also had no lighting.
It also believes it is the individual's responsibility to make sure they can handle the conditions of the water they're swimming in.
The council says it will review its signage across its parks and open spaces in the next 12 months and would take access points to the Waikato River into consideration to make sure appropriate information is provided.
Mr Bain made no formal recommendations in relation to the death.
3 News
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The father of a New Zealand man who saved a baby humpback whale from a tangled cray pot line says his son wouldn't have thought twice about going to the rescue.
Charter boat skipper Joe Brogan, from Whitianga, was on boat off Geraldton, Western Australia last week when he came across the whale with ropes tangled around its tail.
Part of the event was filmed and posted on YouTube yesterday and shows people on board pulling the rope up onto the boat. The 42-year-old then jumps into the ocean, swims toward the whale and cuts the rope with a knife.
Mr Brogan's father, Paddy, says his son called him shortly after the incident told him of the encounter.
He believes the whale knew what was happening because it had calmed down as his son swam toward it.
His son wouldn't have thought twice about getting into the water, Mr Brogan says.
"If he'd thought about it, he wouldn’t have done it. The whale was in the shit, so he jumped in and did it," Mr Brogan says.
"[He said] it was a wonderful feeling having done that."
Mr Brogan has worked as a skipper for around six years and has a company based in Whitianga. However, he has been contracted to skipper larger boats for game fishing in Australia.
3 News

Man saves baby humpback from tangled ropes

Friday 09 May 2014 11:52a.m.
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Thursday, April 24, 2014

Wellington's Anzac Day commemorations



Friday 25 Apr 2014 1:05p.m.



See the photo gallery
Around 1000 people gathered outside Parliament this morning for the national commemorative service and wreath-laying ceremony.
Sixty wreaths were laid by Prime Minister John Key, Dame Sian Elias and other dignitaries under a grey Wellington sky. Strong winds made the ceremony a little difficult, at least twice blowing over the wreaths from their stands.
The ceremony was accompanied by music from the Royal New Zealand Air Force band and the Seraphim Choir of Chilton St James School.
Earlier this morning, several thousand people attended  a dawn service at the cenotaph near Parliament.
The event was one of a number around the capital, including the dawn-to-dusk vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and a ceremony to honour the fallen Turkish soldiers who died defending their country.
3 News
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