A man who admitted sexual offending against children was taunted with the words “The dogs are waiting” as he was led away to prison. The man’s trial, scheduled for Napier next week, will now not go ahead after the defendant pleaded…
Category Archives: headline
Threat made against Marlborough Girls' College
A threat has been made to Marlborough Girls’ College in Blenheim, police have confirmed.Police were called to the school this afternoon. Police said they are working with the school and are speaking with one person in relation…
Covid-19 outbreak: 8730 new cases; 45 deaths as Dr Ashley Bloomfield gives his last update
There are 8730 new cases of Covid-19 today and 808 people are in hospital with the virus, including 25 in intensive care. The Ministry of Health has reported a further 45 Covid-related deaths.Of the 45 people whose deaths were reported…
Clean car discount: Vehicle Industry Association pulls support for Clean Car Discount
By Phil Pennington of RNZ The Vehicle Industry Association is pulling its support for the Clean Car Discount Scheme.The Government has been playing down for months problems with the data, especially for used cars, that determines…
Melissa Caddick's husband had just $1.95 in bank when she vanished
The husband of vanished fraudster Melissa Caddick told the corporate regulator ASIC he was penniless and without an income, an affidavit published online today has revealed.
The affidavit was submitted on December 8, 2020, about a month after Caddick vanished from her eastern Sydney home.
Anthony Koletti said he had been employed as a part-time hairdresser until the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic "in or about late March 2020".
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"At that time, (Caddick), who was the primary bread winner in our family, and I had a discussion and agreed that, in order to reduce the health risk to the family, I would cease working and remain at home and attend to household duties, child care, and facilitating after school appointments," Koletti said in the affidavit.
"As a result, I currently do not earn an income."
Koletti said Caddick had maintained the family and covered all living expenses, and asked ASIC to make arrangements to allow the family to continue to pay those expenses from Caddick's seized assets.
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"I am concerned that, if the immediate living expenses that would otherwise be paid by (Caddick) are not paid, (child's name redacted) will not be able to return to his current school to commence his year 10 studies, insurance and security will not be able to be maintained in relation to (Caddick's) assets, the basic utilities attached to the Dover Height property may not be paid and may be cut off, and basic health and food requirements will be jeopardised," he said.
Along with the affidavit, Koletti also submitted bank statements and a screenshot of his only bank account, showing a balance of just $1.95.
Caddick disappeared from the family's home in Dover Heights in November 2020, just hours after the property had been raided by ASIC investigators.
In February last year, her partial remains – a foot still inside an Asics shoe – were discovered in Bournda National Park near Tathra by teenagers on a camping trip about 400 kilometres from Sydney.
An inquest into her presumed death is due to begin later this year.
Last month, Koletti dropped a claim for $30 million of Caddick's proceeds of crime.
He was evicted from the Dover Heights home in May.
TVNZ's Head of News Paul Yurisich who hired ex-Breakfast host Kamahl Santamaria resigns
TVNZ’s Head of News and Current Affairs Paul Yurisich has resigned.His resignation comes as the summary of the findings and recommendations of the independent review into the company’s recruitment policies, processes and practices…
Woman claims stressful fight with landlord, hunt for new rental led to bald tyre
A woman’s claim she wore out a tyre driving around looking for somewhere else to live after a fight with her landlord, has been rejected by the Tenancy Tribunal. The woman lived downstairs from her landlord without incident for…
Robbery murder trial: Lawyers outline how meth deal near Remuera Golf Club turned deadly
As Clifford Umuhuri and his mates followed a methamphetamine dealer’s car into a quiet residential neighbourhood away from the well-lit car park where they initially intended to make a purchase, they started to suspect something might…
'Curtains of death': NSW shark nets catch more than 80 per cent non target species
Warning: This story contains images that some readers may find distressing.
More than 20 endangered turtles, a dolphin and a humpback whale were entangled in New South Wales shark nets last year.
Marine advocacy groups are calling for the "curtains of death" designed to protect swimmers from sharks to be removed after a new report on the 2021-2022 season found 325 of the 376 animals caught in them were non-targeted, critically endangered species.
"Here we have the NSW Government actively continuing their killing nets off our coasts, targeting all marine life whose path they cross with a cruel, painful and barbaric end," said Sea Shepherd Australia's Managing Director Jeff Hansen.
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"Australia has a global responsibility to protect vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered species."
The NSW shark net program currently consists of 51 nets from Newcastle to Wollongong that are used for eight months each year.
The nets are removed for four months of the annual migration of humpback whales in a bid to reduce harm.
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Here's a breakdown of the animals caught and killed this season, according to the NSW Department of Primary Industries.
Critically endangered:
- 28 White Sharks caught, 18 killed
- 14 Grey nurse sharks caught, 5 killed
- 2 Great hammerhead sharks caught and killed
Endangered:
- 16 Leatherback turtles caught, 5 killed
- 4 Loggerhead turtles, 2 killed
- 1 humpback killed
Vulnerable:
- 19 Green turtles caught, 14 killed
Protected:
- 1 common dolphin killed
The NSW DPI 2021/22 report revealed 62 per cent of animals died in the nets, with the rest released alive.
The nets caught 51 of the three targeted species – white, bull and tiger sharks.
Sea Shepherd Australia is calling on the government to permanently remove the shark nets in NSW and to finalise the state's commitment to modern, non-lethal technologies such as drone surveillance.
"It's time the NSW Government left 1930's solutions in the dark ages and scrapped these curtains of death now."
9News.com.au has contacted the NSW government for comment.
Swimmer protection
Great white sharks alone have been responsible for all fatal NSW shark attacks over the last two years.
Earlier this year, a famed Sydney ocean swim was cancelled after a swimmer was fatally mauled by a shark off Little Bay, in the city's eastern suburbs.
NSW recorded the highest number of unprovoked attacks in 2021, with eight in total according to Taronga Zoo's Australian Shark-Incident Database.
According to the Global Shark Attack File, NSW saw two fatalities in both 2021 and 2020.
In 2020 NSW saw a total of eight unprovoked attacks.
Putin using critical gas pipeline as 'weapon', sending Europe into panic
Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin are preparing to hit the West where it hurts, by turning off a vital gas pipeline to Europe so it provides a trickle of its capacity.
Reports indicate the flow of gas will be reduced from this afternoon (AEST), with serious implications for an anxious European Union.
Russia's state-owned gas company Gazprom said it will cut supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany in half, to just 20 per cent of its capacity.
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If this eventuates, the West will find itself in unchartered territory when it comes to whether Europe will have enough gas to get through the winter.
Since Russian troops invaded Ukraine, triggering a wave of US-led sanctions, Gazprom has already cut back the flow of gas through Nord Stream 1 to 40 per cent of capacity.
This has sent prices through the roof and hit energy-intensive industries hard.
Companies warn that they often can't switch overnight to other energy sources.
The disruptions in Russian energy trade with the EU already are stoking inflation to record levels in Europe and threatening to trigger a recession just as the bloc was recovering from a pandemic-induced slump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Putin of using the critical gas pipeline as a weapon, against of a broader energy war which has seen global prices spike up.
"All this is done by Russia deliberately to make it as difficult as possible for Europeans to prepare for winter," Zelenskyy said.
"This is an overt gas war that Russia is waging against a united Europe."
The Biden administration has been working furiously behind the scenes to keep European allies united against Russia, US officials say.
"This was our biggest fear," said the US official.
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The impact on Europe could boomerang back onto the US, spiking natural gas and electricity prices, the official said.
It will also be a major test of European resilience and unity against Russia, as the Kremlin shows no signs of retreating from Ukraine.
The US and Brussels have been pleading with EU members to save gas and store it for winter.
Energy ministers today agreed in principle to cut gas use by 15 per cent from August to March.
Although the EU has agreed to embargo oil and coal from Russia starting later this year, the bloc has refrained from sanctioning Russian natural gas because Germany, Italy and some other member states rely heavily on imported gas.
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– Reported with CNN, AP