“Hopefully, it can inspire other contractors to realise that they can demand better.”
Tag Archives: oceania
Wine Country Motel sold to become Hukarere Girls’ College dorms
Te Aute Trust Board have purchased the Wine Country Motel in Havelock North for dorms.
Masterton dad chokes on sewing needle in ice cream tub, investigation launched
The man said he had to take multiple days off work to be checked by his doctor.
Kaikohe homicide: Police say Linda Woods’ attack ‘sexually motivated’ as death investigation continues
Linda Woods was killed during a home invasion.
Climate crisis: James Renwick ‘optimistic and pessimistic’ about future
James Renwick’s new book delivers “future forecast” for NZ, but there’s time to change it.
Act conference: David Seymour promises to create new ‘Ministry for Regulation’ if elected
Act leader David Seymour arrived on stage driving a bright yellow Suzuki Swift.
Man charged after woman suffers burns during car explosion
A man has been charged after a woman was rushed to hospital with severe burns when her car exploded into flames in Perth's outer-east.
The mother-of-three is fighting for her life and suffered burns to nearly 40 per cent of her body when her blue Commodore caught alight in Mount Helena, about 6.30pm last night.
READ MORE: Man breaks into family home, watches daughter sleep
A man has since been charged with one count of Aggravated Grievous Bodily Harm.
No one else was injured.
The car has been seized by police.
The 42-year-old man is due to appear in Perth Magistrates Court today.
Two humpback whales found dead off US coast suffered 'blunt force trauma'
Two humpback whales have been found dead off the coasts of New York and New Jersey, according to local officials.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the presence of the two whales in a Wednesday Facebook post. One whale was off Wainscott, New York, and the other in Raritan Bay, New Jersey, the agency said.
The Atlantic Marine Conservation Society and Marine Mammal Stranding Center performed necropsies on both whales, according to a Friday update from NOAA.
READ MORE: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss trade with key leaders in Vietnam
The first whale, which drifted into Shinnecock Inlet and was brought to shore in Southampton, was a 47-foot-long male, the agency reported. The cause of death was "suspected blunt force trauma."
"While this carcass was heavily decomposed, scientists observed bruising in the blubber and muscle on both sides of the head," the post said.
Samples were collected for further analysis and the whale was buried on the beach.
The second whale was a 28-foot-long female, the post said.
The US Army Corps of Engineers and New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Service towed the whale from Raritan Bay to Gateway National Recreation Area in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, where the necropsy was performed.
This whale seemed to have been struck by a vessel, according to the post. It had "bruises, lacerations & fractures in several places across its body, including fractures on its skull & left pectoral fin, which had been severed."
The cause of death was identified as "suspect blunt and sharp force trauma consistent with vessel strike," the post said. Samples were collected and the whale was buried on the beach.
The two strandings were not related, according to the agency.
Humpback whale deaths on the East Coast have been on the rise since January 2016, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records.
The agency declared a "Humpback Whale Unusual Mortality Event Along the Atlantic Coast" in April 2017.
A total of 23 humpback whales have been stranded so far in 2023, including five in New York and seven in New Jersey, the agency reported.
READ MORE: More than 280 killed, 900 injured in India's deadliest train crash in decades
The agency said while more research is needed to fully understand the cause of the deaths, 40 percent of whales that underwent necropsies showed "evidence of human interaction, either ship strike or entanglement."
The massive sea creatures live in all the world's oceans, according to the agency. Humpback whales can weigh up to 40 tonnes, be as long as 60 feet, and live up to 90 years old.
The whales' population was seriously depleted by whaling up until the practice was banned in 1985, the agency noted.
The species is still protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in the US, but vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear continue to pose serious threats.
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NSW residents on high alert for meningococcal symptoms after death
People living in New South Wales have been told to be on alert for symptoms of meningococcal after three cases and one death.
NSW Health confirmed a Sydney woman in her fifties died after contracting the disease, while two others, a teen living in Sydney and a person in their sixties from the Central Coast, were diagnosed with the illness.
The two cases are now recovering, and authorities do not believe they are linked.
READ MORE: 'It's a year of pain': Warning for Sydney commuters using public transport
NSW Health is urging the community to be on alert for symptoms of meningococcal disease after 19 cases were reported in the state this year – the majority the meningococcal B strain of the infection.
While the disease is uncommon, it can be fatal among high-risk age groups, including babies, toddlers, adolescents and young adults, NSW Health Director Dr Christine Selvey said.
"If symptoms rapidly worsen call Triple Zero (000) or go straight to your nearest emergency department, do not delay," Dr Selvey said if the illness that can turn deadly within hours if left untreated.
"Meningococcal disease can be very serious, but early treatment is life-saving so it is important that symptoms are recognised early," she said.
"We are urging the NSW community to be vigilant for symptoms, even if they have been vaccinated, and to seek medical assistance early if they are concerned."
Indicators of serious illness include fever, a fast heart rate, cold hands and feet or a mottled look to the skin, difficulty waking or increased lethargy or confusion.
Symptoms of the disease include:
- Severe, unexplained limb pain
- Difficulty waking up
- High-pitched crying in babies
- Severe headache
- Upset by bright lights
- Stiff neck
- Red-purple rash which doesn't disappear when pressed with a glass
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PM Anthony Albanese to discuss trade with key leaders in Vietnam
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet with key leaders in Vietnam today to discuss trade and expand economic ties.
Albanese arrived in Hanoi on Saturday, where he was met by media and locals while tucking in to local classics at a banh mi restaurant.
He will meet with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh today, along with Communist Party general secretary, the president and the chairman of the national assembly.
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The trip marks a decades-long milestone of diplomatic relations between Australia and Vietnam.
"I'm very pleased to be here on my first official visit to Vietnam as Australia's Prime Minister, to mark the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relationship," Albanese said.
"We are strategic partners and we've been enduring friends over that 50 years."
The prime minister is also expected to discuss defence and security, with the leaders of Vietnam, which shares a border with China.
"(Australia) and Vietnam share a view on the South China Sea, and that the Convention on the Law of the Sea needs to be upheld and maintained," he told media in Hanoi.
Albanese is expected to arrive back in Australia tomorrow morning.
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