Jaw fractured in homophobic attack in New Zealand

David Playle could hear the bones cracking as his boyfriend was attacked by a group of men early on Sunday morning. Photo / supplied

A young gay man was beaten so badly in a homophobic attack in central Wellington that his jaw fractured.

David Playle, 32, could hear the bones cracking as his boyfriend Dannii, 28, was set upon by a group of men early on Sunday morning.

The couple had been walking home from a party with a friend when someone yelled out “faggot” near the corner of Courtenay Place and Cambridge Terrace about 1.30am.

“We heard it and we were a bit shocked because you don’t hear that kind of thing very often,” Mr Playle said.

“We turned back and we were just like, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ – not in an abusive way or anything – and they were like, ‘We’re all good, sorry, we’re just out having a good night.”‘

The couple and their friend continued walking, thinking the incident was over.

But moments later, a group of several men came running up behind them and pulled their friend aside, punching him in the face.

Mr Playle said his boyfriend tried to intervene but he was “tossed around” by the group, who punched him in the face until he fell to the ground.

“I could hear the punches, and I heard the cracks when his jaw fractured,” Mr Playle said.

“It happened so fast that I was in shock. I was just really, really upset.”

Mr Playle chased the attackers to Waitangi Park, where a police patrol was parked. Two men were later arrested and charged.

Mr Playle described his partner as a peaceful person.

“He’s just a lovely guy and he would never get into a confrontation. Knowing him, he would have just been trying to say to them, ‘Stop, please just stop’.”

Dannii, who wanted to be known by his first name only, said he had no doubt it was a homophobic attack.

He had not encountered such behaviour since he was a teenager in a farming town.

“It’s the year 2013. It’s a bit ridiculous,” he said.

“It’s a horrible thing to happen – gay, straight or whatever. I try not to get angry about it, because anger is what started it.”

Dannii was treated at hospital for a fractured jaw and facial injuries. He was recovering at home but was still in pain.

A Wellington police spokesman said two 20-year-old men were arrested about 2am on Sunday.

They will appear in Wellington District Court on Friday charged with fighting in a public place.

Officers had spoken to two witnesses but were yet to interview Dannii, who they were hoping to speak to on Friday.

Police would also review camera footage of the incident.

“At this stage it’s probably too early to say whether this was a malicious attack,” the spokesman said.

Further charges could follow after police had spoken to Dannii and reviewed the footage.

– APNZ

Nicki Minaj Shares Behind-The-Scenes Video Of Her ‘HighSchool’ Shoot; Shows Lil Wayne Days Before His Seizures

Nicki Minaj just dropped an intimate behind-the-scence video shoot from her single ‘High School’. The minutes-long video features a happier and healthier Lil Wayne. It was supposedly shot days before Wayne was entered at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for his seizures. He appeared quite functional and had minimal signs of heavy drug usage (well, compared to his gloomy documentary, “The Carter”). Besides Wayne, Nicki is the center of attention, flaunting her curvaceous body and new set of boobs ( and hard nipples) in the jacuzzi. Check it all here:

How Desperate Do You Have To Be To Rob A Nun For $6.00?

Straight pathetic of a robber to go this far. Sister Alice Kenneally from Boston, Massachusetts was paying for a Lenten fish dinner in the rectory of Mission Church. After placing $6 on the counter and proceeded to reach into her pocket for one more dollar when a man grabbed the cash. “I said, ‘That’s mine! Give it back to me,’” recounts Sister Alice. The suspect, described to be in his 50’s, denied taking anything and ran out of the church. The  giving nun, who has been working in the local community since the 1970’s, was not physically injured, just stunned. Boston police were called and are investigating the case but Kenneally says she does not wish to press charges. She said, “It’s better to take it from me than someone who was really in pain and needed it.”

Teens flock to hidden website for drugs

 

Silk Road is the Amazon of the drug trade.

Teenagers as young as 16 are using the underground drug sales website Silk Road, the Fairfax Media Global Drug Survey reveals.

The survey, which was the first to interview Australian users of Silk Road, found their ages varied from 16 to 89 and most were using it to buy more “traditional” drugs such as ecstasy and cannabis.

About 6.5 per cent of users were age 16 and 17, which was the youngest age allowed to participate in the survey, said Monica Barratt, a research fellow at the Australian National Drug Research Institute who analysed the results.

Dr Barratt said she was surprised that the majority of people were avoiding the proliferation of new and untested drugs available.

The most common drug people said they had bought was MDMA (ecstasy), followed by cannabis (pictured), LSD and cocaine.

“We are not seeing a lot of people who are choosing really weird drugs,” Dr Barratt said.

“They are choosing the drugs they know.”

She said the survey raised the question of whether people were choosing to buy so-called “legal highs” – newly invented drug compounds that are often sold in adult stores and tobacconists – because other drugs were illegal.

“Maybe we can see the Silk Road as a kind of microcosm of what might happen if we lived in a world where all drugs were regulated,” she said.

Of the more than 2500 people who said they usually bought their own drugs, more than half had heard of Silk Road, the majority learning about it from media reports. However, even though many had looked at the site, only 184 had bought drugs.

Dr Barratt said Silk Road, which operates through the so-called “dark internet” and uses an alternative currency, may not be that easy for people to use.

More than 6600 Australians responded to the Global Drug Survey, making it the largest, most up-to-date survey of current drug users conducted in Australia. Its results are not representative of the broader population, as participants were more likely to be male, older and well off.

Nearly two-thirds of people who had heard of Silk Road but chose not to buy drugs there said they already had adequate access to illicit drugs and about half said that they were worried about police or customs.

Dr Barratt said dealers tended to promise the drugs would not be detectable because they are vacuum packed and sealed in “stealth packaging” but, anecdotally, it appears Australians have more trouble importing drugs than people in Britain and Europe, where borders are more porous.

About a quarter said they were concerned about being ripped off.

The Australasian Drug and Alcohol Strategy conference at Luna Park begins on Wednesday and will be attended by police commissioners from every state and territory and New Zealand.

 

Playboy pays US$5.25m to shareholders

A judge has approved the settlement of a class-action lawsuit over Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner’s successful bid to take the company private.
 
In the settlement approved on Tuesday, shareholders of Playboy Enterprises Inc agreed to accept US$5.25 million ($6.38 million) in cash in return for dropping the lawsuit. After attorney fees and expenses, they’ll receive about US$4m, or 17 cents per share.
 
Hefner proposed the buyout in 2010, offering US$5.50 a share for the roughly 30 per cent of Playboy’s outstanding voting shares he didn’t own.
 
Shareholders sued, saying the price was too low and that they weren’t given enough information about the deal.
 
Hefner, backed by private investment firm Rizvi Traverse, later increased the bid to US$6.15 a share, an 18 per cent premium over the previous day’s closing price.

Defiant teen gets life over Ohio killings

Wearing a T-shirt with “killer” scrawled across it, a teenager has cursed and gestured obscenely when given three life sentences for shooting to death three students in an Ohio high school cafeteria.

T.J. Lane, 18, had pleaded guilty last month to shooting at students in February 2012 at Chardon High School, east of Cleveland. Investigators have said he admitted to the shooting but said he didn’t know why he did it.

Before the case went to adult court last year, a juvenile court judge ruled that Lane was mentally competent to stand trial despite evidence he suffers from hallucinations, psychosis and fantasies.

Lane was defiant during the sentencing, smiling and smirking throughout, including while four relatives of victims spoke.

After he came in, he calmly unbuttoned his blue dress shirt to reveal the T-shirt reading “killer,” which the prosecutor noted was similar to one he wore during the shooting.

At one point, he swivelled around in his chair toward the gallery where his own family members and those of the slain teenagers were sitting and spoke suddenly, surprising even his lawyer.

“The hand that pulls the trigger that killed your sons now masturbates to the memory,” he said, then cursed at and raised his middle finger toward the victims’ relatives.

A student who was wounded in the rampage dismissed the outburst.

“He said it like a scared little boy and couldn’t talk slow enough that anyone could understand him,” said Nate Mueller, who was nicked in the ear in the shooting.

Dina Parmertor, mother of victim Daniel, called Lane “a pathetic excuse for a human being” and wished upon him “an extremely, slow torturous death.” She said she has nightmares and her family has been physically sick over the crimes.

“From now on, he will only be a killer,” she said, as Lane’s smile widened. “I want him to feel my anger toward him.”

Prosecutors say Lane took a .22-calibre pistol and a knife to the school and fired 10 shots at a group of students in the cafeteria. Daniel Parmertor and Demetrius Hewlin, both 16, and Russell King Jr, 17, were killed.

Lane was at Chardon waiting for a bus to the alternative school he attended, for students who haven’t done well in traditional settings.

Lane had pleaded guilty last month to three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault.

Life imprisonment without parole was the maximum sentence Lane faced. He wasn’t eligible for the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the shootings. Relatives of the slain students indicated earlier they wanted Lane to get the maximum sentence.

Source: stuff.co.nz

 

Cop accused of sex at work faces court

Sergeant Mark Garner in 2004 / Pic: Brad Wagner Source: The Daily Telegraph

A SENIOR policeman charged with allegedly having sex with a woman at a police station will face court in May.

Lawyers for former Kingscliff area supervisor Sergeant Mark Garner appeared in Lismore Local Court yesterday on his behalf to secure an adjournment until May 7.

Garner, 48,  is charged with police misconduct and weapons charges over allegations he had “sexual intercourse with a female at a police station whilst on duty, involving the misuse of a prohibited pistol” – his police-issue Glock.

It is alleged the offences took place at the Kingscliff station on September 16, 2011.

It will be alleged the woman, a prostitute and mental health patient, was being interviewed by police at the station between 2am and 4am that day.

The case centres on alleged photo evidence of the incident, taken by the woman on her mobile phone.

Source: goldcoast.com.au

TopShop, Zara seeking Queen Street Mall stores

Spanish-owned clothing chain Zara is looking to open a store in the Queen Street Mall. Photo: Reuters

It’s been confirmed fashion giant Zara is scoping out several locations in the Queen Street Mall for its first Brisbane store.

But Brisbane Marketing says it’s not the only popular retailer looking at opening in the precinct in the next 18 months, with fast fashion chains TopShop and Uniqlo and luxury brands Burberry and Dior also in the hunt.

“There are a number of redevelopments in the mall, and that has opened up a lot of opportunities for these retailers to come in now, because they’ve all been looking,” said CBD director Megan Barron.

She said the mall’s low vacancy rate meant international brands were happy to wait for the right location to open up.

The design included a “major retail flagship”, sparking speculation Spanish fashion giant Zara could be a tenant.

It has six stores in New South Wales and Victoria, but is yet to open one in Queensland.

Popular British chain TopShop has four stores in the southern states.

Ms Barron said the Queen Street Mall was the most successful pedestrian mall in Australia, with 26 million visitors each year, and more major retailers would create a bigger shopping destination.

“We’ve had $120 million spent on redevelopment from private funds last year, and this year there’s another $100 million that we know of with more to come,” Ms Barron said.

“When you have offshore and onshore investors both throwing money into a precinct, it’s a real testament to the value of that precinct.”

Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au

Students ‘reliant’ on web to learn

QUEENSLAND’S high school students may not cope without the internet, a parliamentary committee has heard.

Brisbane-based science teacher David Madden says there is no point having students waste hours completing tedious experiments or learning mountains of facts in the digital age.

Mr Madden says a typical physics experiment that measures how fast a cart rolls down a slope used to take hours to measure, record and analyse.

But he demonstrated to a Queensland parliamentary committee today the same experiment could be done by sliding a smart phone down a book, with a downloaded application creating a detailed graph instantly.

Mr Madden said the push to become more reliant on technology means more time has been freed up in the classroom to teach.

“Do I use it to fill kids heads up with more information about science they could look up on the internet anyway?” he asked the Education and Innovation Committee inquiry.

“Or do I take the opportunity instead to teach them to be a real scientist?”

Committee chair Rosemary Menkins raised concerns about whether the practice would create a generation of students that don’t know the the process behind what they were learning and would be completely reliant on the internet.

Mr Madden said it was a trade-off teachers were making to educate “21st century” students.

“I wonder how this generation will survive if the internet does not exist,” he told the committee.

“But I guess I’ve got to look at the balance of probabilities and say: ‘well, it’s likely these students will have the internet’.

“So, I can teach them to live without it or I could teach them to take advantage of it and maximise their potential using the resources they’ve got.”

The committee is looking into whether assessment methods are holding high school students back from studying senior maths chemistry and physics amid fears of dwindling enrolment nu

Lil Wayne leaves hospital

Lil Wayne has been released from hospital.

The ‘No Worries’ hitmaker has been discharged from California’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s intensive care unit (ICU), where he was treated for six days after suffering a seizure.

Insiders told website TMZ that the rapper – whose real name is Dwayne Carter – was feeling “weak” but a lot better and is planning to “lay low” until he is fully recovered.

Wayne’s close friend, Young Money president Mack Maine, later confirmed the news on twitter.

He wrote: “Thanks to Cedar Sinai for everything!!! @LilTunechi has been officially been released and is headed home….God is great (sic)”.

And Cash Money CEO Birdman added: “God Bless.my son just release frm hospital.thanks 4 all tha luv.YMCMB.Richgang (sic)”

News of Wayne’s release from hospital came hours after Birdman told Hot 97’s ‘Angie Martinez Show’ that reports his pal had suffered “multiple” seizures and had briefly left hospital last week were untrue.

He also dismissed reports Wayne’s illness wasn’t due to drug abuse, believing it to be a result of working too hard.

He said: “To me, it’s just his work ethic. It’s just how he put in and what he believe in and how hard he work, how much dedication he gives to music and his fans and what he tryin’ to accomplish in life. It had nothing to do with drugs.

“He just needs to get some rest, relax, take it one day at a time.”

BANG Showbiz

Mr Gangnam-Style has been forced to change the title of his up-coming song

Mr “Gangnum Style” himself PSY has been forced to tweak the title of his upcoming single over concerns that it will affect the Arab listening community — it was going to be called “Assarabia,” – it’s actually slang term used by South Korean to describe thrills, but they’re worried that might not be clear to all.

Yahoo in talks to buy Dailymotion stake

The transaction for Dailymotion would represent Yahoo!’s largest deal since Marissa Mayer, a former Google executive, took charge last year Photo: Bloomberg News

Yahoo is in talks to acquire a controlling stake in Dailymotion, one of the world’s most popular online video websites, in what would be Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s largest deal since taking the reins in July, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Yahoo could purchase as much as 75 per cent of Dailymotion, which is owned by French telecommunications firm France Telecom-Orange, according to the newspaper report, which cited anonymous sources.

Dailymotion could be valued at roughly US$300 million (NZ$363 million), according to the report, which noted that the deal isn’t imminent and could still fall apart.

Yahoo, Dailymotion and France-Telecom Orange declined to comment.

Dailymotion is the No. 12 ranked online video web property in the world, according to industry research firm comScore, with 116 million unique monthly visitors and more than 2 billion videos viewed.

Google, which owns YouTube, is the world’s No. 1 Web video property while Yahoo’s various websites ranked 10th on the list.

The transaction for Dailymotion would represent Yahoo’s largest deal since Mayer, a former Google executive, took charge last year. Yahoo has acquired several small mobile and web start-up companies since Mayer became chief executive last year.

– Reuters

Beneficiaries having babies ‘reason’ for reform

BABY BOOM: Minister of Social Development Paula Bennett.

As the second round of welfare reforms come back before Parliament, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says the 650 children born to women already claiming a benefit in January are reason enough for her tough reforms.

The Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill will have its second reading in Parliament this afternoon.

The Government has been slammed for cracking down on youth and sole-parent beneficiaries when the unemployment rate is soaring because there aren’t enough jobs.

Opponents argue that rather than picking on the vulnerable, the Government should focus on boosting the economy.

But Bennett is unapologetic about the welfare reforms, which are midway through implementation.

And she said the focus on sole mothers and young people was deliberate.

There were 659 subsequent children born to parents already claiming a benefit this January, she said.

Under changes introduced last October, those mothers will have to return to work when that child is 12 months old, if their older children are aged over five.

Bennett said Work and Income staff used discretion to excuse 22 of those parents from the work requirement, largely because of timing around the announcement and implementation of the policy.

Meanwhile, in 2010 more than 7.5 per cent of live births – 4800 of 63,900 – were babies born to solo parents on the Domestic Purposes Benefit (DPB) and Emergency Maintenance Allowance.

And between 1993 and 2011, 29 per cent of solo mothers on the DPB had another child.

“It does tell us that those that are already on benefits with children are still having subsequent children,” Bennett said.

“The effects of them potentially being longer on [a] benefit are what have led us to make this sort of policy change.”

The minister has long-highlighted research which shows children in low income households, like those relying on a benefit, have poorer health, education and social outcomes.

Bennett admits work-testing for sole parents was among the “tougher” reforms.

But in 10 months of last year there were fewer people going on to the DPB than coming off, a feat which has only been achieved twice in the last 16 years – once when Working for Families was introduced.

“That, in these sorts of times, is remarkable really,” Bennett said.

“That’s when we really start talking to mums in particular – 90 per cent of them are mums – about what they’re going to do, that their child’s going to be turning five soon.”

Critics say the reforms are too punitive – cutting benefit payments when parents don’t meet certain criteria – but Bennett says the real impact is coming not from the requirements to get a job, but from the work preparation being done with beneficiaries.

“People will hide behind keyboards and bag you on a blog,” she said.

“I also hope, and think, that people who need state support and are on welfare, they’re seeing that it’s not near as punitive and not near as nasty as my opponents were making it out to be.”

Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei said sole parents and their children were being demonised by the reforms.

“Welfare reforms that punish these women for having children are a complete distraction from Government’s failure to provide jobs,” she said.

Labour’s social development spokesman Jacinda Ardern said she got many letters from sole parents who were struggling to find work.

“This set of reforms will do absolutely nothing to improve their job prospects through either training or education, or by addressing the underlying issues of the inavailability of work, particularly work that suits their childcare needs.”

The reforms did little more than respond to rhetoric, she said.

– © Fairfax NZ News

Samsung smart watch to rival Apple’s

CLOCKSTOPPERS: Samsung is developing a new ‘smart’ wristwatch as it races against Apple to create a new industry.

Samsung is developing a wristwatch as it races against Apple to create a new industry of smart wearable devices.

“We’ve been preparing the watch product for so long,” said Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile business. “We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.”

Lee had no comment on what features the watch may have, how much it would cost and when it would go on sale. Asia’s biggest technology company already plans to release three high-end smartphones this year – including the Galaxy S4 unveiled last week and one using the Tizen operating system – as it competes with Apple for customers in a slowing global market.

Samsung’s disclosure comes after people familiar with Apple’s plans said last month the US company has about 100 product designers working on a wristwatch-like device that may perform similar functions to the iPhone and iPad. The global watch industry will generate more than US$60 billion in sales this year, said Citigroup analyst Oliver Chen. The first companies to sell devices that multitask could lock customers into their platform, boosting sales of phones, tablets and televisions.

“The race is on to redesign the mobile phone into something that you wear,” said Marshal Cohen, an analyst at NPD Group. “We’re going to see formidable competition coming from many different directions – from device makers, accessory makers, even fashion designers.”

SMARTPHONE SATURATION

Samsung and Apple are looking for new product lines as the US$358 billion global market for handsets approaches saturation. Growth is projected to slow to 9.8 per cent in 2017 from 27 per cent this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Apple’s sales growth last quarter was the slowest in more than two years, and Samsung in January warned of slowing demand.

“The issue here is who will first commercialise it so consumers can use it meaningfully,” Lee said.

Samsung became the world’s largest smartphone maker last year, overtaking Apple. Samsung had 29 per cent of global smartphone unit shipments in the fourth quarter, compared with 21 per cent for Apple, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

PRICE ADVANTAGE

Apple seeks to introduce its wristwatch device as soon as this year, said one of the people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public.

The features under consideration by the Cupertino, California-based company include letting users make calls, see the identity of incoming callers and check map coordinates, one of the sources said. It would also house a pedometer for counting steps and sensors for monitoring health-related data, such as heart rates, the source said.

Samsung may be able to undercut Apple on price because the Korean company makes its own displays and chips, said Will Stofega, program director at International Data. Samsung is also the world’s largest maker of TVs and memory chips.

Pricing wristwatch-like devices under US$200 will be one of the keys for developers, said Laurence Balter, chief investment strategist at Oracle Investment Research. He estimated one-quarter of existing users of Samsung smartphones and tablets would be interested in using a watch-like device.

“This is a new category that Apple is trailblazing that will see competition from Samsung,” he said. “If I were Apple, I’d strategically price the watch as low as possible to bring as many as possible into the ecosystem. Samsung is going to be there for many years to come and try to cut them off.”

–Bloomberg

San Diego beach-goers kick, punch seals

IDYLLIC LOCATION: Swimmers gather with their friends after swimming in the ocean at La Jolla beach.

 

San Diego’s mayor has ordered a two-month night time shutdown of a beach after cameras set up to monitor a seal colony captured people kicking, punching and sitting on top of mother seals and their pups. 

Mayor Bob Filner said in a statement Tuesday that the La Jolla beach known as Children’s Pool will be closed between sunset and sunrise until May 15. 

The 24-hour ”seal-cam” was introduced in January and equipped with night vision so researchers and the public could watch the seals give birth during pupping season. 

But the camera captured people abusing and harassing the seals and driving them from their resting places. 

The beach has been the centre of a long legal fight over human access versus seal protection.

Eight Marines killed in training explosion

BLAST: US Marine Corps blowing a hole in a fence during an earlier training day at the Hawthorne Army Depot, Nevada.

 

LOCATION: Hawthorne Army Depot in western Nevada, where the accident happened, is seen in this August 30, 2010 satellite image courtesy of Google Earth.

An eighth US Marine has died after a training exercise ended with an exploding mortar shell causing the Pentagon to immediately halt the use of the weapon worldwide until an investigation can determine its safety.

It happened at Nevada’s Hawthorne Army Depot, a facility used by troops heading overseas, during an exercise involving the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune.

Several Marines from the unit were injured in the blast, authorities said.

It was not immediately clear whether the 60mm mortar shell exploded prematurely inside its firing tube or whether more than a single round exploded, the official said.

Eight men under the age of 30 were taken to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno.

One of them died, four were in serious condition, two were in fair condition and another was discharged, said spokesman Mark Earnest.

John Stroud, national junior vice commander in chief for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, began a memorial event in Hawthorne later by saying “one of the critical has passed,” bringing the death toll to eight.

Mourners then laid eight floral arrangements at a park where a flag flew at half-staff within sight of the Hawthorne depot’s boundary.

Stroud said he spoke with Marine officers from Camp Lejune who gave him the news before the ceremony.

The identities of those killed won’t be released until 24 hours after their families are notified.

“We send our prayers and condolences to the families of Marines involved in this tragic incident,” said the force’s commander, Major General Raymond Fox.

“We mourn their loss, and it is with heavy hearts we remember their courage and sacrifice.”

The rescue was complicated by the remoteness of the site, which is favoured because the harsh geography simulates conditions in Afghanistan.

The 60mm mortar is a weapon that traditionally requires three to four Marines to operate, but it’s common during training for others to observe nearby.

The firing tube is supported in a tripod-like design and fires roughly a 1.3kg shell, about 35cm in length and a bit larger than 5cm in diameter.

The mortar has changed little since World War II and remains one of the simplest weapons to operate, which is why it is found at the lowest level of infantry units, said Joseph Trevithick, a mortar expert with Global Security.org.

“Basically, it’s still a pipe and it’s got a firing pin at the bottom,” Trevithick said.

Still, a number of things could go wrong from a fuse malfunctioning, a problem with the barrel’s assembly to a round prematurely detonating inside the tube, he said.

The Marine Corps official said an explosion at the point of firing in a training exercise could kill or maim anyone inside or nearby the protective mortar pit and could concussively detonate any mortars stored nearby in a phenomenon known as “sympathetic detonation.”

The official said a worldwide moratorium after such an accident is not unusual and would persist until the investigation determines that the weapon did not malfunction in ways that would hurt other Marines or that mortars manufactured at the same time as the one involved in the accident were safe.

The official said it would be normal to warn other US military branches that use 60mm mortars, such as the Army, about the Marines warning.

The moratorium could last for weeks or months.

The investigation will focus on whether the Marines followed procedures to properly fire the weapon, whether there was a malfunction in the firing device or in the explosive mortar itself, the official said.

The Hawthorne Army Depot stores and disposes of ammunition.

The facility is made up of hundreds of buildings spread over more than 595 square km, and bunkers dot the sagebrush-covered hills visible from the highway. Hawthorne is in the shadow of Mt Baker, which reaches an elevation of 11,239 feet.

Retired Nevada state archivist Guy Rocha said the facility opened in 1930, four years after a lightning-sparked explosion virtually destroyed the Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition depot in northern New Jersey.

The blast and fires that raged for days heavily damaged the adjacent Picatinny Army Arsenal and surrounding communities, killing 21 people, and seriously injuring more than 50 others.

– AP

Copper mine collapses trapping workers

DISASTER ZONE: The Rudna copper mine in Polkowice where an earthquake caused a cave-in.

Nineteen miners have been pulled alive and well from a copper mine in southern Poland after a small earthquake trapped them 600 metres below the surface late the previous night.

It took seven hours to tunnel through collapsed rock to reach the miners who were working at the Rudna copper mine in southern Poland when a small tremor trapped them there at 10.09pm on Tuesday (10.09am on Wednesday NZT).

Two were treated for minor injuries, while the others, shaken up and covered with grime after a gruelling night, were on their way home.

Families of the miners, who gathered near the mine, cheered when the mine’s operator, KGHM, announced that all 19 were found alive and were slowly being taken out through a hole dug by the rescuers.

“This was the biggest accident in KGHM history,” Chief Executive Herbert Wirth told Reuters. “Never in our history has it happened that 19 miners were trapped with no contact.”

The Rudna mine is about 400km southwest of the Polish capital. Officials with KGHM had previously said there were 18 miners trapped in the pit.

After the quake on Tuesday, workers on the surface lost contact for several hours with the trapped miners because communication lines into the shafts had been severed.

The mine is in the Silesia region, near Poland’s borders with Germany and the Czech Republic. It has been in operation since 1974. State-controlled KGHM is Europe’s second-biggest copper producer.

Poland has large numbers of mines, mostly in the heavily industrialised Silesia region. In 2006, a gas explosion at a coal mine in the region killed 23 miners.

 

Police name drive-by shooting victim in New Zealand

The Tram Road cordon remains in place.

Police have released the name of the man killed in at a roadworks traffic checkpoint near Atiamuri. He was George Charles Taiaroa, aged 67 of Hamilton.

Taiaroa was working at the traffic control point yesterday directing traffic when he was shot dead.

“This has been an unexpected and shocking event for everyone concerned,” the Taiaroa whanau said in a statement issued in English and Maori through police this afternoon.

The family said it would like to acknowledge the overwhelming support it had received as it dealt with the loss of a loving husband, father and grandfather.

Detective Inspector Mark Loper said it appeared from police investigations that a logging truck had moved off from the control point, which is in a isolated rural forestry area.

Shortly after a four wheel drive vehicle drove off and witnesses saw a man fall to the ground, he said.

A motorist attempted to help Taiaroa, but he died at the scene, Loper said.

The body was removed from the scene this morning and taken to Auckland for a post-mortem.

“The community holds the key to the enquiry and has significant role to play going forward”, he said.

“Every small piece of information could be vital not matter how small or irrelevant that it seemed.”

Police are keen to hear from people in the area near Tram Road yesterday between 2.30pm and 4pm, and who may have seen a speeding vehicle or driving erratically in the area.

Detective Inspector Tim Anderson said police were working with Taiaroa’s family, and have sent them their condolences.

He said it was a tragedy for the family and nearby communities. It is important to understand it was early days in the investigation and information was limited to the public.

There had been a good response already and the investigation was progressing through a number of avenues of enquiries.

Loper could not confirm if a blue vehicle was found behind the Whakamaru service station today.

“I can confirm we are following up on a number of vehicles and are getting good responses from the public,” he said.

“We are looking for a 4×4 type vehicle which may include a Jeep Cherokee or something similar.”

It was too early to speculate around motives for the killing, he said.

A logging truck and another vehicle had pulled up before the suspect vehicle drove off, and police had spoken to witnesses in both vehicles.

“We believe a blue Jeep Cherokee was involved but we are not going to close that avenue,” he said.

Police are interested in anyone who saw a speeding vehicle in the area at the time .

The witness in one of the vehicles saw the victim drop as they drove up to the scene, he said.

A post mortem will confirm how Taiaroa died and what sort of firearm was used, he said.

Police would not confirm if there was a connection between the victim and the shooter.

Anderson said it was too early to speculate if anything from Taiaroa’s past could be connected to the shooting.

“There are clearly a number of unknowns and we are specialising in gathering facts and finding a resolution,” he said.

“We have a good success rate and good team on board in this investigation.”

More than 30 experienced police staff from Tauranga, Rotorua and nearby districts were helping with the investigation.

“The key focus is hearing from anyone who may have seen the four wheel drive in the area late afternoon yesterday,” Anderson said.

“Part of the investigation is to narrow down the facts as to why this has taken place.

“Police believe it is a “clearly an isolated incident.”

Part of the inquiry would be to find if it was a targeted attack, he said, adding Armed Offenders Squad would remain on standby and the Eagle helicopter from Auckland had joined the operation.

‘CHEEKY CHAP’

Taiaroa was a “cheeky chap” who was beloved by his colleagues, his land lady said.

Pukeko and Bull Tavern manager Lisa Campbell said “Georgie” had been living there while working on the job – with the pub little more than a 1km from where he was killed.

Campbell said he was a cheeky guy that was well loved by his colleagues and staff.

“We are absolutely devastated by what has happened,” she said.

“Georgie was a funny guy – a joker. The last time I saw him he wanted a steak meal and I didn’t want to cook, but he came into the kitchen and gave me cheek to hurry me up.”

She said his fellow workers had been filtering through the Tavern since yesterday’s shooting and were “absolutely shattered” by this death.

About 30 of them gathered at the site of the shooting this morning for a sombre meeting.

SHOCK AND ANGER

Taiaroa was believed to be an HEB Construction employee who had been in the area for the past 18 months.

He had been working on the new $24 million Atiamuri bridge replacement project over the Waikato River.

A resident said the construction project was coming to an end and the replacement bridge was officially opened last Saturday with MPs, contract bosses and members of the public walking across it. It was also blessed.

But the entrance to Ongaroto Rd had been closed, forcing motorists travelling down State Highway 30 to detour along Tirohanga Rd, across the one-way Tram Rd bridge which linked back to SH30 – the main road through to Te Kuiti and Mangakino.

The dead man was one of two stationed at either end of the one-way bridge to manage traffic flow.

“This gentleman who was shot, I don’t think he was just a stop-go man,” the resident said.

“He’d been working for the bridge building company.

“He was probably a jack of all trades down there.”

The news of the shooting came as a shock, she said.

“It was in our neighbourhood and goddamn if it was a local that shot him – a man’s here doing a job and he gets shot.”

She said the whole incident seemed “strange” and appeared to be “random”. She said the man’s colleague took comfort in the fact police had a description of the vehicle involved.

Loper said the motive for the fatal shooting was not clear.

“Speculation before we know the facts will not be helpful,” he said.

Anyone with information about the shooting was asked to contact Taupo police on 07 378 6060. Alternatively information could be provided anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

– © Fairfax NZ News