Wellington battered as storm heads north

WINDS gusting up to 140km/h were battering downtown Wellington, lifting roofs from homes and cutting power to about 30,000 customers.

The southerly winds were part of a storm which has already brought snow and heavy rain to much of the South Island on Thursday, and was expected to cause problems through the North Island moving into Friday.

More than 200 people have called Wellington City Council's call centre, reporting houses losing roofs, breaking windows and other structural damage due to the winds.

The winds have also brought down trees and caused slips, and Middleton Rd between Johnsonville and Churton Park was closed after a tree blew onto a car.

Acting civil defence controller Neville Brown says it's essential people stay indoors if possible.

"There is a lot of material being turned into missiles - it is a potentially lethal situation out there."

Mr Brown said the winds were so severe it was too treacherous in many cases to carry out repairs and clearance work, and he warned there were likely to be numerous obstructions for commuters on Friday.

Wellington Electricity said trees and debris falling onto lines caused about 30,000 power outages through the region, particularly in the Hutt Valley and Porirua regions as well as the Miramar area.

A spokesman said crews were doing what they can to repair the lines but the volume of outages and the danger caused by the winds might slow repair times.

Wellingtonians were urged to stay clear of fallen power lines and anything touching them as they could be live and dangerous.

MetService duty forecaster Heath Gullery said winds were averaging 85-90km/h in urban areas, gusting up to 140km/h.

One resident told NZ Newswire she was having trouble driving her car home and it was the worst wind she could remember.

Ferries, trains and flights in Wellington were all cancelled.

Strong winds were also forecast in Nelson, Marlborough, the West Coast, Fiordland, Wairarapa, Whanganui, Taranaki, Auckland, the Coromandel and Northland, and were set to continue into Friday.

The winds came as part of a storm which dumped snow through Otago and Canterbury on Thursday, and more snow was expected above 300m in north Canterbury and southern Marlborough.

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Two dead in seperate NSW car crashes

TWO people have died in separate car crashes in NSW.

On Wednesday evening, a 74-year-old man who smashed a ute into a tree in the state's north was found dead by emergency services.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash at Evans Head.

Meanwhile, a 68-year-old woman has been found dead after her car ran off the road and crashed near Orange on Thursday afternoon.

A report is being prepared for the coroner.

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Gay marriage debate reignites in parly

LNP Senator Sue Boyce expresses her support for a bill to recognise overseas same-sex marriages in Australia.

A LIBERAL senator who crossed the floor to vote in favour of recognising same-sex couples who wed overseas has been praised for acting "with her heart and her mind", even though the bill was overwhelmingly defeated.

Senator Sue Boyce's support wasn't enough to carry the bill to amend the Marriage Act, so that same-sex marriages in foreign countries including New Zealand were recognised under Australian law.

The private member's bill, moved by the Australian Greens, was shot down in the Senate on Thursday by 44 votes to 28.

DLP senator John Madigan again called for a federal referendum on same sex marriage after the vote.

"We're often told that a majority wants same-sex marriage, well I'm saying put it to the people," Senator Madigan said.

He vowed to push for a referendum to define the definition of marriage as just between a man and a woman.

Senator Boyce said such a referendum would fail because it was a "disgusting and immoral idea".

She said she didn't favour the "backdoor" approach the Greens were taking to build groundswell support for same-sex marriage.

But she supported gay marriage, and as this bill would bring that closer to reality, she defied the party line to support it.

"There is no reason not to allow same-sex mariage in Australia," she said.

"I believe that this bill will assist us in moving towards that, and if we are to vote on this bill I will be supporting it."

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said he didn't counsel Senator Boyce against voting for the bill, and defended her right to cross the floor even though the coalition does not support changes to the Marriage Act.

"People on our side of the political fence have always had the right if they feel strongly enough about something to make their own decision," Mr Abbott said.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Senator Boyce's decision to cross the floor was an important step, and congratulated her for voting with "her heart and her mind".

Finance Minister Penny Wong said Mr Abbott had ensured the legislation would fail by refusing to allow opposition MPs a conscience vote.

Senator Wong, who is in a same-sex relationship, also hit out at the "hurtful and divisive" debate on gay marriage but said she respected that some people held different views.

"What I do disagree with however is their right to impose that opinion on me and upon others in my situation," she told the upper house.

"It (marriage) is special, it is unique ... and that is why those of us who are in same-sex relationships also want to be able to demonstrate our love and commitment through marriage."

Senator Wong's home state of South Australia introduced a bill in state parliament on Thursday to allow same-sex marriage.

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I'm a lecher, not a crook: China official

CALL me a lecher but don't call me a crook, an ex-city official at the heart of a Chinese sex tape scandal has said in his unusually spirited courtroom defence against corruption charges.

The case of Lei Zhengfu, former party chief of a district in the southern city of Chongqing, has riveted the Chinese public since video clips went viral of the portly 55-year-old having sex with a woman hired by property developers allegedly in an elaborate extortion scheme.

In a country where corruption trials of high-level officials typically look like the scripted outcome of backdoor bargaining, Lei's case has offered a rare look at what happens when a lower-level official is caught in a high-profile crackdown - with few political cards to play.

Lei is accused of accepting more than 3 million yuan ($A541,560) in bribes from a developer to pay off a businessman who was allegedly using the tape to blackmail him. Lei rejects the charge of bribery, saying the money was a loan.

"Although I'm quite lecherous, I'm not greedy for money," he said in a Chongqing court Wednesday, reading out a personal statement.

Public anger and disgust over official corruption found an easy target in the images of his jowly, pop-eyed face in the throes of passion. Lei was soon fired from his post, and in ensuing weeks, more tapes were found, felling 11 other Chongqing officials.

The scandal has exposed in lurid detail the shady intertwining of sex, business and politics in Chinese society at a time when a newly installed generation of Communist Party leadership has vowed to crack down on widespread graft. It also tapped into public outrage over what is seen as the moral degradation of the country's leaders.

"The people's hatred of official corruption is not only because of their illegal behaviour but because of resentment that they enjoy a special status that is higher than others and lets them enjoy more social resources," said Liu Shanying, a politics researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. "They hope to see them punished by the law, which would help them vent that anger."

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Bob Hewitt to face South African court

Australian tennis great Bob Hewitt has been summonsed to appear in a South African court. Source: AAP

FORMER tennis doubles champion Bob Hewitt has been summonsed to appear in a South African court following allegations he sexually abused young girls he coached decades ago.

South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority told The Associated Press on Thursday that the summons had been served on the 73-year-old Australian on Saturday.

Hewitt was ordered to appear at Boksburg Magistrate's Court near Johannesburg on August 16, when he will learn what criminal charges he faces.

The NPA would not say what the charges are against Hewitt.

NPA spokesperson Phindi Louw said Hewitt, who is believed to live in the town of Addo on South Africa's south coast, would be informed of the charges when he appears in court.

Hewitt has been at the centre of a long investigation into accusations he abused and raped girls as far back as the 1970s and through to the 1990s.

Recognised as one of the greatest doubles players of all time and a winner of 15 Grand slam doubles titles, Hewitt was indefinitely suspended from the International Tennis Hall of Fame last year due to the allegations.

When contacted by the AP on Wednesday, a man who identified himself on the telephone as Hewitt said he had no knowledge of any charges.

"I think it is best you call me in a month or so," he said, before declining further comment.

Two of Hewitt's alleged victims, Suellen Sheehan and Twiggy Tolken, accuse him of abusing them when he was their coach in South Africa.

Sheehan asked South African police to open an investigation in 2011, and accuses Hewitt of raping her when she was 12.

Tolken, who now lives in New Zealand, said Hewitt also began abusing her when she was 12.

A third woman, Heather Conner, of West Newbury, Massachusetts, also accuses Hewitt of abuse in the United States.

Conner said she was sexually abused from the age of 15, being forced to have sex with him near a high school in Massachusetts.

All three women agreed to be named by the AP.

Sheehan said she felt "numb" at the news that he was to appear in court and face charges.

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Twenty-two dead in Nepal monsoon floods

AT least 22 people have been killed in landslides and floods triggered by heavy monsoon rain in remote parts of Nepal, a government spokesman says.

"So far, 22 people from across the country have been killed by landslides and floods. Eighteen more are missing," Shankar Koirala, a spokesman in the Ministry of Home Affairs told AFP on Wednesday.

More than 100 homes have also been damaged by the floods in mainly western Nepal, the spokesman said, as the government held an emergency meeting and agreed to step up relief efforts.

"Every victim's family will be provided with a relief package of 40,000 rupees ($A450)). We have also dispatched a helicopter carrying blankets and medicines to the disaster hit region," Koirala said.

Hundreds of people die every year from flooding and landslides during the monsoon season in Nepal.

The annual monsoon has also struck early over the border in India, with flash floods washing away homes and roads, leaving at least 120 people dead.

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Elderly woman killed in French floods

FLASH floods in southwestern France have killed an elderly woman as the inundated grotto at the Roman Catholic pilgrimage site of Lourdes remains closed for a second day.

The woman in her 70s was washed away overnight by the floodwaters after getting out of her submerged car at Saint Beat near Lourdes, the local prefecture said in a statement.

Her husband was rescued by firefighters.

About 2000 people in the region were evacuated, some of them by helicopter. A bridge at Saint-Laurent-de-Neste was washed away by a tributary of the Garonne river.

The shrine at Lourdes, where the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared to a peasant girl in 1858 and whose water many believe has curative powers, remained closed on Wednesday.

Tourists in the town were relocated from hotels bordering the Gave de Pau to an area on higher ground.

On Tuesday afternoon, there was already 1.40 metres of water in the Lourdes cave and the Gave de Pau river nearby was 3.50 metres above its normal level.

The French interior and ecology ministers were due to visit Lourdes later on Wednesday to assess the damage in the area, home to 22 shrines.

In 2012, the Lourdes shrines were closed after flash floods that caused hundreds of thousands of euros in damage.

But rivers in the region were now gradually returning to their normal levels.

"The waters are abating. We have seen a steady decrease through the night," an official from the Haute-Pyrenees region told AFP.

AFP je

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Gillard hand-knitted scarf gets $4050 bid

AN unknown punter has forked out $4050 to be able to wrap a scarf hand-knitted by Prime Minister Julia Gillard around their neck.

But dinner with senior Liberals Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull proved the top ticket in the annual federal press gallery Midwinter Ball charity auction.

Someone paid $13,000 for the privilege, just pipping a $12,600 bid for a dinner for with Ms Gillard.

The chance for two people to join Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on his daily bike ride followed by breakfast was won with a $7100 bid.

Proceeds from the auction will be divided among a range of charities.

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Rio Olympic rights to be package deal

TV rights for the next two Summer Olympic Games are likely be sold as a bundle, Nine's boss says. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIAN television rights for the next two Summer Olympic Games are likely be sold as a bundle after all three major TV networks failed to bid for the upcoming Rio Games, Nine Network boss Jeff Browne says.

And in the wake of the Socceroos booking a place in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Mr Browne said Nine would be a serious bidder in future for the broadcast rights for the A-League.

Mr Browne, who is managing director of the Nine Network, said it had been difficult for Nine to finance a bid for the package of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

That was because of a recent restructure of its ownership to resolve the company's debt problems.

"We needed to sort out our rugby league and cricket commitments before we could go there," Mr Browne told a Sydney FC business lunch on Wednesday.

Mr Browne said the International Olympic Committee would announce the location of the next Summer and Winter games in September - with the Summer games to be held in Istanbul, Tokyo or Madrid.

He said he expected the local rights for Rio would be sold with the next two Games events.

"They will sell the next two Summers plus the Winter in between them as a package," he said.

Mr Browne said Tokyo would be a more attractive proposition because of time zone being closer to Australia's.

The TV boss also said Nine would be interested in the broadcast rights for A-League soccer.

"I've been watching football - it wasn't quite right for us this time around because we had to recommit to cricket," he told the Sydney FC audience.

"You've certainly got our attention and next time around I would be knocking on the door and we would have a good look at it.

"If we don't buy it we'll push the others up for you."

SBS secured the free-to-air rights for A-League matches for four years from 2013/14 in a $160 million deal signed in 2012.

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Armed gang kills 48 in Nigerian raid

AN armed gang has raided a northern Nigerian village and killed 48 people in an apparent reprisal attack targeting a local vigilante group, a state official says.

"There was an attack by armed bandits early Tuesday on Kizara village where 48 residents were killed in apparent targeted killings by cattle rustlers that have been terrorising the state for some time now," said Ibrahim Birnin-Magaji, commissioner for information in Zamfara state, where the village is located.

Dozens of gunmen arrived in the village before dawn on motorbikes, he told AFP.

"Some of them climbed up the hill overlooking the village and opened fire indiscriminately," he said.

"They later moved house to house, telling residents that they were looking for members of local vigilante whom they said had been disturbing them."

He said those killed included the local chief, the chief imam and the head of the vigilante group in the village.

Many villages in Nigeria form local vigilante groups to defend themselves against violent cattle rustlers or other criminal gangs, sometimes leading to a cycle of clashes and reprisal attacks.

Zamfara state, located in Nigeria's northwest, has seen a number of such incidents.

There was so far no sign of any link to Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, which has been waging a deadly insurgency mainly in Nigeria's northeast.

Nigeria's military is currently engaged in an offensive seeking to end Boko Haram's four-year insurgency.

However, the raid is the latest sign of insecurity in Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer, where authorities have been largely unable to stop such violence.

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Bollywood star faces baby gender inquiry

INDIAN officials say they are probing reports Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan knows he and his wife are expecting a baby boy, in a country where prenatal sex tests are banned.

Local media have in recent days reported that 47-year-old Khan and his wife Gauri, who have a teenage son and daughter, are expecting another son by surrogacy.

The couple, who live in the entertainment hub of Mumbai, are yet to confirm they are expecting.

On seeing the reports, the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA) wrote to the health ministry in western Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, demanding an investigation.

"We want to know the truth, and if it is true how (the gender) came out and who told it," Dr Jignesh Thakkar at the IRIA said.

"Whoever is responsible must be punished," he added.

The state's health ministry has told the city's municipal corporation, the BMC, to look into the matter, a senior official confirmed to AFP.

India bans sex tests because of a preference for sons in the country, where aborting female foetuses or sex selection has led to an imbalance in the gender of newborns.

Traditionally, married women in India have faced huge pressure to produce male heirs who are seen as breadwinners, family leaders and carers when parents age.

The 1996 law, designed to prevent the use of ultrasound for prenatal sex tests, is thought to be widely flouted.

Media reports said officials from Mumbai's municipal corporation visited the actor's mansion on Monday but he was not at home.

Khan's secretary was unavailable to talk to AFP.

"The state health directorate has asked the BMC's health department to inquire into the media reports and initiate appropriate action if needed. The report is expected in three to four days," state public health minister Suresh Shetty told the Hindustan Times newspaper.

Khan, star of "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" ("The Braveheart will get the Bride") and "My Name Is Khan", topped the first Forbes India Celebrity 100 list earlier this year with annual estimated earnings of $37.7 million.

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Ex-Aust diplomat in custody in Indonesia

AUTHORITIES in Indonesia have refused to release an Australian businessman and former diplomat despite a court ruling that his detention is illegal.

Patrick Alexander, a senior diplomat in Indonesia in the 1970s, has been in custody at police headquarters in Jakarta for the past three months in the wake of the fallout over a failed mining deal.

Despite lawyers for the venture capitalist on Monday winning an order in the South Jakarta District Court for his release, Mr Alexander was on Tuesday still in custody after police refused to release him.

Mr Alexander, 60, was arrested in March as police launched an investigation into a commercial dispute over a coal exploration operation in Sumatra after receiving a complaint.

He has been receiving Australian consular assistance.

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Genting increases stake in Echo

Genting Hong Kong has increased its stake in Australian casino owner Echo Entertainment. Source: AAP

GAMING and leisure group Genting Hong Kong has increased its stake in Australian casino owner Echo Entertainment.

Genting HK bought almost 11.4 million Echo shares last week to increase its stake in Echo from 5.2 per cent to 6.6 per cent, Echo said in a market statement late on Tuesday.

Genting Hong Kong is part of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Group, which has interests in gambling, power generation, oil palm plantations, property development, and oil and gas around southeast Asia.

Genting Group took a 9.9 per cent stake in Echo through several of its subsidiaries in June 2012, but that stake dropped when Genting Singapore sold its Echo shares in September 2012.

Genting HK's move to increase its stake in Echo comes after James Packer's Crown sold its 10 per cent stake in Echo in May.

Echo owns The Star in Sydney, the Treasury casino in Brisbane, Jupiters Townsville and Jupiters Gold Coast.

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Yahoo! tells users of US agency requests

INTERNET giant Yahoo! says in a letter to users that it has received up to 13,000 requests for information from US law enforcement agencies in a six-month period ending on May 31.

The letter titled "Our Commitment to Our Users' Privacy" was posted on the company's Tumbler page late on Monday, and was signed by Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer and the company's top lawyer, Ron Bell.

Yahoo!, along with Facebook, Microsoft and Apple, have come under heightened scrutiny since word leaked of a vast, covert Internet surveillance program by the US government, which it insists targets only foreign terror suspects and has helped thwart attacks.

Between December 1, 2012 and May 31, 2013 "we received between 12,000 and 13,000 requests, inclusive of criminal, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and other requests."

According to the letter, the most common requests "concerned fraud, homicides, kidnappings, and other criminal investigations."

"Like all companies, Yahoo! cannot lawfully break out FISA [US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] request numbers at this time because those numbers are classified; however, we strongly urge the federal government to reconsider its stance on this issue."

Major Internet firms have faced a public backlash since government contractor Edward Snowden leaked details of PRISM, a vast program that saw nine high-tech companies turn over user data to the US National Security Agency.

The companies have denied claims the NSA could directly access their servers. US authorities have said the program was legal and limited.

Yahoo! said that it will issue in the next months "our first global law enforcement transparency report, which will cover the first half of the year. We will refresh this report with current statistics twice a year."

Snowden's leaks have reignited debate over the trade-offs between privacy and security more than a decade after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States.

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Lego to expand Czech production

Danish toymaker Lego will expand a factory in the Czech Republic, creating around 800 new jobs. Source: AAP

DANISH toymaker Lego says it will expand a factory in the Czech Republic and create some 800 jobs to meet growing regional demand for its popular building blocks.

Carsten Rasmussen of Lego's European packing division did not reveal the size of the investment except to say it was "a large two-digit million euro figure".

Rasmussen said on Tuesday that the privately owned company's strategy of having factories close to core markets in Europe and North America had proved successful.

The expansion, of some 30 per cent, is expected to be completed by 2015.

Last year, Lego saw sales climb 25 per cent in part due to a new series of building blocks designed for girls that sold better than expected with production units unable to meet demand.

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