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NZ link to plane seized with North Korea weapons Liam Baldwin | Tuesday December 15 2009 - 03:42pm A New Zealand company has been linked to a cargo plane seized in Thailand suspected of smuggling North Korea arms this week, possibly to the Middle East. Agence France Presse (AFP) quoted Georgian officials linking New Zealand registered company SP Trading to renting the plane – an Ilyushin-76 aircraft – to deliver its cargo. The plane was seized at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport late last week during a refuelling stop. It was discovered that it contained 30 tonnes of weapons from North...

An HIV-positive man has infected his sleeping wife with the virus, which can cause AIDS, by pricking her with a sewing needle dipped in his own blood. It's believed he wanted to give her the disease so she would start having sex with him again, the Sunday Star Times reported. It's the first case of its kind in New Zealand. Other cases have seen HIV-positive people infect others through unprotected sex. The man, 35, admitted infecting his wife, 33, and has been remanded in prison awaiting sentence for wilfully infecting another with a disease, an offence that carries a maximum...

An HIV-positive husband injected his wife with his contaminated blood while she slept, infecting her with the virus so that they would be 'equals' and she would start having sex with him again. The 35-year-old man wanted to give her the disease because she had refused to have sex with him, fearing she would be infected. But he took things into his own hands and pricked her twice with a sewing needle laced with his infected blood while she slept. On one occasion she caught him handling a syringe full of his blood. The horrifying story has emerged in New...

The CRU scandal has already ensnared Britain's leading climate "scientist" Phil Jones (whom one principled leftie says has only "a few days left in which to make an honourable exit") and his American counterpart Michael Mann (as in "Mann-made global warming"). Given that these two men and their respective institutions are the leading warm-mongers on the planet, and the guys who dominate the IPCC, Copenhagen et al, it would be most unlikely if the widespread data-raping were confined only to the United Kingdom and the United States. Here's an interesting snippet from my colleagues at Investigate magazine in New Zealand...

The New Zealand Government’s chief climate advisory unit NIWA is under fire for allegedly massaging raw climate data to show a global warming trend that wasn’t there. The scandal breaks as fears grow worldwide that corruption of climate science is not confined to just Britain’s CRU climate research centre. In New Zealand’s case, the figures published on NIWA’s [the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research] website suggest a strong warming trend in New Zealand over the past century:

The latest story exciting the denialosphere is being put about by Anthony Watts and is based on a "news alert" from the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition. (Note: New Zealand Climate Science Coalition contains no actual climate scientists.) The New Zealand Government's chief climate advisory unit NIWA is under fire for allegedly massaging raw climate data to show a global warming trend that wasn't there. The scandal breaks as fears grow worldwide that corruption of climate science is not confined to just Britain's CRU climate research centre. ... Gareth Renowden explains how the NZCSC concocted their result -- they made...

Oops! If the mainstream media was hoping that the Climategate scandal would be limited to the University of East Anglia's Climate Reasearch Unit (CRU) in Norwich, England, they are out of luck. This scandal has now reared its ugly head on the other side of the globe at New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research (NIWA) which is that nation's chief climate advisory unit. Watts Up With That? reposting from New Zealand's TBR.cc Investigate magazine's breaking news forum explains this latest development in the widening Climategate scandal: The scandal breaks as fears grow worldwide that corruption of climate...

UPDATE 15:49 NZDT - NIWA's news release in response to this story appears to have been delayed, and according to a radio news report a few minutes ago Rodney Hide, leader of the minority Act Party and a minister in the National Government, is now calling on his Cabinet colleague, Climate Change Minister Nick Smith, to "please explain" [normal transmission now resumes] The New Zealand Government's chief climate advisory unit NIWA is under fire for allegedly massaging raw climate data to show a global warming trend that wasn't there. The scandal breaks as fears grow worldwide that corruption of climate...

SYDNEY (AFP) – More than 100, and possibly hundreds, of Antarctic icebergs are floating towards New Zealand in a rare event which has prompted a shipping warning, officials said on Monday. An Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist said the ice chunks, spotted by satellite photography, had passed the Auckland Islands and were heading towards the main South Island, about 450 kilometres (280 miles) northeast. Scientist Neal Young said more than 100 icebergs -- some measuring more than 200 metres (650 feet) across -- were seen in just one cluster, indicating there could be hundreds more. He said they were the remains...

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - New Zealand was on Wednesday named the world's least corrupt nation out of a list of 180 countries, unseating Denmark after a year in which the global recession and ongoing conflicts proved challenging. The annual index by Transparency International ranked 180 countries on a scale of zero to 10 according to 13 independent surveys, with zero being perceived as highly corrupt and 10 as having low levels of corruption. New Zealand topped the table with a score of 9.4 after coming second last year. In second place was last year's leader, Denmark with 9.3 followed by...

New Zealand PM will not meet Dalai Lama IANS 18 November 2009, 01:17pm WELLINGTON: New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said on Wednesday that he would not meet the Dalai Lama when he visits the country next month. "The reason simply is I've decided that I wouldn't get a lot out of that particular meeting," he told reporters. "I don't see every religious leader that comes to town. I've seen him in the past, I may see him in the future." Key, who said before he was elected a year ago that he would meet the Dalai Lama on future...

A salute to our Kiwi cousins. Be proud of your heritage. I know this is tough these days. Have a good weekend, gents.

The SPCA is calling out for any information that could help them find the person responsible for a shocking attack on a domestic cat in Christchurch. The cat was found by the side of the road with over a dozen large nails lodged in its head. “Definitely since I’ve started this has probably been the worst case that I’ve been involved in. I know there's other cases that have been as horrific but this one has definitely hit home,” says SPCA inspector Christoff Heyns. This could be one of the worst cases of animal cruelty New Zealand has ever seen....

A 10-year-old New Zealand girl has been honoured for recognising the approach of Samoa's deadly tsunami and running up and down a beach to warn people. Wellington schoolgirl Abby Wutzler has been presented with a certificate of commendation for her actions in warning of the approach of the tsunami on September 29. The honour was bestowed by New Zealand's Ministry of Civil Defence. The tsunami, triggered by a 8.0 magnitude earthquake, killed at least 143 people in Samoa, as well as 32 in American Samoa and nine in neighbouring Tonga. Abby was on the beach at the village of Lalomanu...

RUSH: Okay. New Zealand is looking better and better and better.

A comprehensive study has revealed, for the first time, the impact of swine flu on the health of the general public in Australia and New Zealand. The lessons learned in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) across the two countries on the impact of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus are being shared with countries in the Northern Hemisphere to help them prepare for their upcoming flu season. The three-month study, conducted at the height of the pandemic between June and August, reveals that 722 patients were admitted to ICUs and that at the peak of the epidemic up to 20 per cent...

AN obscure, desolate plateau on the southwestern shores of Greenland could transform the future of consumer technology and shift the balance of power in the global supply of rare earth metals. ...beneath the rocks and ice of the Ilimaussaq Intrusion represents the world's largest known reserve of rare earth metals, the "technology" group of lanthanide elements used in products from mobile phones and low-energy light bulbs to hybrid cars and missile guidance systems. ...potential ...to severely dent China's global monopoly over rare earth production, a 95 per cent dominance of total worldwide output that Beijing has strategically nurtured for 15...

For the third time is less than 6 days, a video showing ACORN workers giving advice to a pimp and a prostitute was released by the good folks over at BigGovernment.com. This video features New York City ACORN workers giving advice on how to hide prostitution profits in a tin can buried in the back yard, how to lie when applying for a housing loan and ways to shelter the money for tax purposes. The number of hits on Google search at 4pm this afternoon? 58. Some of the news sites that covered the story? * Fox News * The...

For the third time is less than 6 days, a video showing ACORN workers giving advice to a pimp and a prostitute was released by the good folks over at BigGovernment.com. This video features New York City ACORN workers giving advice on how to hide prostitution profits in a tin can buried in the back yard, how to lie when applying for a housing loan and ways to shelter the money for tax purposes. The New Zealand Herald actually put out a story on the third video before CNN did. (The last article on CNN.com about ACORN was four days...

Tributes will be held around New Zealand on Friday, in memory of those who lost their lives in the September 11 terror attacks in New York, eight years ago. A memorial will be held at Christchurch's Firefighters Reserve, while in Auckland, 60 fire fighters will climb the floors of the BNZ Tower. Nearly 3,000 people died in what was the world's worst terrorist attack after the hijacking of four passenger jets in the US. Two planes brought down New York's iconic Twin Towers. Another plane flew into the Pentagon and United flight 93 crashed into a field after passengers tried...