The week that was: October 27-31

Stuff.co.nz

Stuff.co.nz takes a look at some of the stories that made the news this week.

Click to jump to National News, World News, Sport, Business News, Entertainment News, Stuff's Picks of the Week.

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NATIONAL NEWS

Brawl, deaths stretch police to the limit
Police investigating three deaths in Porirua within two hours were stretched to the limit after disorderly concertgoers converged on the city centre.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4740173a11.html

Second child death in church carpark
A boy run over at the Samoan Assembly of God in Stokes Valley at the weekend is the second child to be killed in the church carpark.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4740970a11.html

Bill to quit mortgage appealed
A Christchurch family is appealing against a $15,000 bank charge for ending a five-year fixed-rate mortgage after eight months.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4741009a11.html

Bank robbed while police busy with bomb hoax
A Whangarei bank was robbed shortly after a bomb threat at a local high school, but police say it is not known whether the incidents are linked.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4742051a11.html

Glenn: 'Nothing nefarious' about consul bid
Winston Peters has again denied lobbying the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry to appoint Owen Glenn honorary consul in Monaco, saying he only put pressure on the ministry's "tardy" decision-making.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/vote08/4742234a28435.html

UK to let Kiwis work longer
Work restrictions on young Kiwis in Britain have been loosened.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4742170a11.html

Mother, grandfather admit boy's abduction
A father and daughter at the centre of a high profile abduction trial have admitted the charges.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4743136a12855.html

Killer stepfather jailed
A man who repeatedly hit his seven-year-old stepson with a cricket wicket and threw him against a wall of their Nelson home because he left his jumper at school has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the boy's "callous" murder.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4743025a12855.html

Destiny denies plans for 'walled city'
Destiny Church is calling on members to help build a big complex in South Auckland but denies it plans to create a self-sufficient "walled city".
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4743471a11.html

Bain to ask Privy Council to acquit him
Multiple murder accused David Bain wants to go back to the Privy Council in England to have the murder charges against him dismissed.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4744082a11.html

Labour unveils $50m redundancy package
Labour has unveiled a 13-week cash benefit to be paid to workers who lose their jobs in tough economic times.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/vote08/4744306a28435.html

Reid guilty of rape and murder
Liam James Reid found guilty of the rape and murder of Christchurch woman Emma Agnew, and the brutal rape of another woman.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4745474a11.html

Crown plans new Urewera charges
The Crown is preparing to lay fresh charges against five of the 17 people arrested after anti- terrorism raids in the Bay of Plenty.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4745291a11.html

 

* Click here to take this week's national news quiz.

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WORLD NEWS

Syria condemns US raid as 'outrageous'
Syria accused the United States of committing an "outrageous crime" in killing eight civilians during a helicopter attack on a Syrian farm near the border with Iraq.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4740900a12.html

Two killed in US campus shooting
Two people were shot and killed and a third wounded on an Arkansas university campus, according to university and hospital officials.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4740870a12.html

Skinheads held over Obama assassination plot
Two white supremacist skinheads were arrested in Tennessee last week over plans to go on a killing spree and eventually shoot Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4741829a12.html

Japan PM puts off election - report
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has decided to put off calling a snap election in order to deal with the global financial crisis and Japan's economic woes, the Kyodo news agency has reported.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4741957a12.html

Cocaine use takes a hit in financial crisis
The global financial crisis may have ravaged the world economy but the UN's top anti-crime official said one benefit could be to make cocaine less affordable for many wealthy European drug users.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4742804a12.html

North Korean leader 'in hospital'
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is probably in hospital but is unlikely to be completely unable to make decisions, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said, citing intelligence sources in various countries.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4742299a12.html

Sydney man charged with murder, sex assault
A man charged with the murder of a teenage girl who plunged from the balcony of a Sydney apartment while fleeing the knife-wielding intruder has refused to appear in court today.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4743542a12.html

Fritzl locked up his mother until she died
Josef Fritzl admitted locking up his mother until her death in the same house where he later imprisoned his daughter and the seven children he fathered with her, London's Telegraph reports.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4744506a12.html

Aussie residents flee as bushfire spreads
Residents of a tiny town in Victoria's Mallee region, in the state's far north-west, have fled ahead of a large bushfire which has burned property.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4744756a12.html

Al Qaeda wants Republicans, Bush 'humiliated'
An al Qaeda leader has called for President George W Bush and the Republicans to be "humiliated" without endorsing a party in the upcoming US presidential election, according to an internet video.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4745518a12.html

* Click here to take this week's world news quiz.

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SPORT

Wellington female umpire sacked in first game
Wellington club cricket umpire Elle Abel has been dismissed after calling a wide for a delivery cut to point.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4743481a1823.html

Cairns suspended and replaced as ICL team captain
Former New Zealand international cricketer Chris Cairns has been suspended by his Indian Cricket League (ICL) Twenty20 team.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4741703a1823.html

ABs bring in seven new players
Scott Waldrom has won the race to be Richie McCaw's backup on the tour of Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4740014a1823.html

We want our All Black jersey back!
Have you heard about the latest All Blacks promotional campaign? Richie McCaw's chest hair is being harvested and woven into a special limited edition of All Black caps, and Daniel Carter's sweat (test matches only) is being bottled. Both available free when you buy the latest All Blacks replica jersey.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4741741a1823.html

Stunned Kiwis look for answers
Wayne Bennett's silent stare said it all. The Kiwis' unlikely assistant coach sat in the losing dressing room and if looks could kill.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4740244a1823.html

Former AB Neil Purvis dies
Former All Blacks wing Neil Purvis is understood to have died on his Otago farm.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4740839a1823.html

New All Blacks dad to miss two tests
New father Mils Muliaina will only join the All Blacks after next week's test against Scotland in Edinburgh, meaning he will miss the first two internationals of the tour.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4744458a1823.html

Back to the pool for Olympic party girl
Stephanie Rice knows exactly how much fun it was while it lasted. She also realises it's now time for the party girl to vanish, and to replace her with a "boring" swimmer focused on winning medals.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4740826a1823.html

John Daly arrested outside Hooters restaurant
Bad boy golfer John Daly was taken into police custody last weekend after being found "extremely intoxicated" outside a Hooters restaurant in North Carolina.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4744385a1823.html

Waite to quit working for Campbell
Michael Campbell's regular caddie for the last decade is quitting the 2005 US Open golf champion's bag at the end of this year.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4740243a1823.html

V8 legend announces retirement
Five-time Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Skaife has announced his retirement from fulltime V8 Supercar racing.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4743249a1823.html

* Click here to take the weekly sport quiz.

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BUSINESS NEWS

Air NZ moves to speed up check-in
Air New Zealand has spelled the end of check-in queues and counters by investing $30 million in a self-service system which it says will cut passenger processing times.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4742203a13.html

New firm tapping into prepay phone niche
A new cell phone company is after customers who want savings over prepay call charges but don't want to sign up to two-year phone contracts.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4742199a13.html

Kiwijet may return to fly again
Kiwijet is looking to take to the air, thanks to falls in oil prices making the budget airline economically viable.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4742258a13.html

Shop deal music to manager's ears
The Christchurch Real Groovy music store is back in business after its local manager bought it from receivers.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4743513a13.html

Iceland hikes rate 6 points
Crisis-hit Iceland's central bank upped interest rates by a massive 6 percentage points to 18 percent, just two weeks after it had eased policy to soften the impact of the country's financial meltdown.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4742789a6026.html

Blaming banks like anti-Semitism
A leading German economist has compared the criticism of bankers over the global financial crisis to anti-Semitism in 1930s Germany.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4740748a6026.html

Slight recession tipped for Australia
Australia will tip into a shallow recession in early 2009 as a slowing global economy reduces demand for mineral exports, a leading investment bank says.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4743181a6026.html

Kiwis say 'crisis, what crisis?'
Kiwis' "she'll be right" attitude has extended to our outlook on the global economic crisis, with only a quarter worried about their financial future, according to a recent international survey.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4744289a13.html 

 

SkyCity Q1 revenue up 3pc
Casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group says its first quarter group revenue, excluding its VIP and cinemas business, rose 3 percent from the same period of last year but said its outlook remained cautious.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4745465a13.html

Vector, Powerco gas price cuts ordered
The Commerce Commission has ordered Vector and Powerco to further reduce their gas distribution charges.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4745438a13.html

* Click here to take the weekly business quiz.

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ENTERTAINMENT

Teen dances for joy after talent win
Lower Hutt teen Chaz Cummings takes out first place on talent quest New Zealand's Got Talent.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4743044a1869.html

Ready for a Melrose Place remake?
Mid-90s drama show Melrose Place is set to be remade after a new version of Beverly Hills 90210 was mildly successful.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4744343a1869.html

Paris strips for fake election bid
Paris Hilton strips to a silver bikini for her mock election campaign.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4741893a5620.html

The Who announce NZ show
The legendary rock act are scheduled to perform at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland in March.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4744396a1860.html

Is this the worst duet ever?
Gwyneth Paltrow’s collaboration with Huey Lewis for the song Cruisin’ on the Duets soundtrack is voted the worst duet of all time.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4744529a4500.html

American Idol star grieves over triple murder
Jennifer Hudson loses her mother, brother and nephew in a triple fatality being investigated by police.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4742891a4500.html

BBC apologises for 'offensive' Fawlty Towers skit
Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand are in hot water over a series of messages left on the phone of Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4741970a1860.html

GIG REVIEWS

Stevie Wonder in Auckland: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4745309a1860.html
Rihanna, Chris Brown in Auckland: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4741617a4500.html
Snoop Dogg in Wellington: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4741880a4500.html

* Click here to take the weekly entertainment quiz.

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STUFF'S PICKS OF THE WEEK 

Qantas 'piggybacks' Air NZ plane
A Qantas jet "piggybacked" an Air New Zealand flight across the Pacific Ocean, after its weather radar stopped working.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4743381a34.html

Unfaithful women beware - men are on to you
Women watch out. New research shows men are better at detecting a cheating partner than females, and they're more likely to suspect infidelities that don't exist.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4744162a19716.html

Annoyed wife drove through fences, house
A Napier woman driving her husband home became so angry with him that she deliberately drove her car off the road, through two fences and into a house - an excursion that is likely to cost her $30,000.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4743468a12855.html

Landed in the poo ... stink
A pilot got himself in the poo after his plane overshot the runway at Thames airfield and landed in the town's sewage pond system.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4741954a11.html

Tourism 'national prostitution' - Prince
Prince Philip has labelled promoting tourism akin to "national prostitution" in his latest embarrassing gaffe, according to British media reports.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4742876a34.html

Reluctant groom sets hotel on fire
A Japanese man set fire to the hotel where he was due to get married at the weekend, rather than go through with the ceremony later the same day.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4741698a4560.html

Hide those legs, teams told
The girls from a Palmerston North masters marching team are feeling hemmed in after being told to ditch their skirts and don more "age appropriate" trousers.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4740168a11.html

Police push to register prepaid cellphones
The number could be up for criminals who hide behind the anonymity of prepaid cellphones.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4740997a11.html

Man charged with assault with mobility scooter
A Whangarei man has been charged with assaulting two teenage girls with his mobility scooter.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4741960a12855.html

School streakers learn boredom barely pays
Hundreds of Christchurch school students were left stunned after being visited by a group of serial streakers.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4742944a4560.html

 

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