Young mum’s voice hits a chord with the nation

A young mum who believed she had no talent has unlocked her voice to capture the nation.

Wellington woman Sianne Dougherty gave an impromptu performance to TVNZ’s Te Karere showcasing what her raw talent was capable of.

She covered the Maori song Haumanu by artists Maisey Rika and Tama Waipara.

Since the video surfaced on Facebook on Tuesday it’s reached more than 10,000 likes and had been shared more than 3,500 times.

She said her teachers had recognised her talent and encouraged her to pursue singing.

“The teachers really pushed me to really show what I had inside me, to show my talent,” she told TVNZ’s Te Karere.

“I didn’t even know I had any talent but obviously they could see it and they nurtured it.”

Dougherty’s voice had already struck a cord with Kiwi reggae bands Katchafire and Sammy J who she had opened for during tours.

When Dougherty was 17 years old she gave birth to a baby girl. She said since then there had been plenty of ups and downs balancing life as a mum and as an aspiring singer.

“I find it really hard sometimes, lucky I have support around me like my mum and my partner’s family … It really really helps, I must say,” she told Te Karere.

Dougherty now aimed to win the Conkarah Aotearoa Quest for Kia Ora Girl competition which would secure her the opening act for Raggamuffin’s 10th anniversary, which will be it’s final concert.

“I want to share my music, that’s all I want to do really… share it freely and not have to worry about anything else but my music.”

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/88590746/young-mums-voice-hits-a-chord-with-the-nation

Auckland law firm warning Canterbury homeowners of shoddy steel

An Auckland litigation firm is warning thousands of Canterbury homeowners their properties may have been built with shoddy steel mesh.

Adina Thorn Lawyers delivered letters to property owners this week asking them to express interest in a proposed class action against steel manufacturers.

Its move comes after the Commerce Commission told three companies, including Steel & Tube, that it will prosecute them over allegedly sub-standard mesh.

The firm identified properties built since 2012 on concrete floors reinforced with steel mesh as being at risk, but says it does not know if homeowners it contacted are affected.

Adina Thorn is experienced in running class actions, last year filing a $250 million civil lawsuit, involving about 1000 people, against cladding maker James Hardie.

Adina Thorn herself said about 2000 letters were posted to Canterbury homeowners, resulting in about 70 calls to her firm in one day.

Thorn said addresses contacted were based on territorial authority records of building consents and Christchurch City Council consent issues.

“Not every person that gets the letter will in fact have defective steel, but some of them will,” Thorn said.

The letter stated a guilty verdict was unlikely to mean financial compensation for homeowners.

“We’re just saying register if you’ve got an interest in this and we would take it from there,” Thorn said.

“We would look into them and see whether they could have steel from one of the relevant companies the Commerce Commission’s looking into or not.”

The city council had fielded between 30 and 40 calls regarding the letter.

It did not accept there could be thousands of properties built using non-compliant steel mesh.

Consenting and compliance general manager Leonie Rae said the issues raised in the letter were “nationwide” and suggested homeowners contact the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Commerce Commission for advice on potential issues.

The council was confident its methods for checking the compliance of steel mesh were robust.

Thorn said her firm was seeing whether there was enough interest for a funder to pay for the action, which looked likely.

“Then we look at the viability owner by owner . . . We carry out a process to work out what the steel is and the merits of that claim.”

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/88572756/auckland-law-firm-warning-canterbury-homeowners-of-shoddy-steel

Former President George H.W. Bush and wife hospitalized

HOUSTON (AP) — Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, remain hospitalized in Houston, where he was in intensive care for pneumonia and she was being watched after complaining of fatigue and coughing.

The 92-year-old former president went into the ICU on Wednesday and underwent a procedure “to protect and clear his airway that required sedation,” family spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement.

Bush was stable and resting comfortably at Houston Methodist Hospital, McGrath said.

The 41st president was placed in the ICU to address “an acute respiratory problem stemming from pneumonia,” McGrath said. He later told The Associated Press that doctors were happy with how the procedure went. Bush was first admitted to the hospital Saturday for shortness of breath.

“I don’t think there’s a whole lot of money to be gained betting against George Bush,” McGrath said. “We’re just kind of in a wait-and-see mode.”

McGrath said Barbara Bush, who is 91, had not been feeling well for a couple of weeks and decided “to take it out of committee and have the experts check it out.” He described the move as precautionary.

Physicians initially believed the former president would be released later this week following several days of treatment, but his stay has been extended, McGrath said. There is no timetable for his release.

Doctors want to see how the former first lady responds to treatment before allowing her to return home, he said.

The Bushes, who were married Jan. 6, 1945, have had the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history. At the time of their wedding, he was a young naval aviator. She had been a student at Smith College.

After World War II, the pair moved to the Texas oil patch to seek their fortune and raise a family. It was there that George Bush began his political career, representing Houston for two terms in Congress in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Bush, who served as president from 1989 to 1993, has a form of Parkinson’s disease and uses a motorized scooter or a wheelchair for mobility. He was hospitalized in 2015 in Maine after falling at his summer home and breaking a bone in his neck. He was also hospitalized in Houston the previous December for about a week for shortness of breath. He spent Christmas 2012 in intensive care for a bronchitis-related cough and other issues.

Despite his loss of mobility, Bush celebrated his 90th birthday by making a tandem parachute jump in Kennebunkport, Maine. Last summer, Bush led a group of 40 wounded warriors on a fishing trip at the helm of his speedboat, three days after his 92nd birthday celebration.

Bush’s office announced earlier this month that the couple would not attend Donald Trump‘s inauguration because of the former president’s age and health.

“My doctor says if I sit outside in January, it likely will put me six feet under. Same for Barbara. So I guess we’re stuck in Texas,” Bush wrote in a letter to Trump.

His son George W. Bush, the 43rd president, still expects to attend the inauguration and does not plan to travel to Houston, spokesman Freddy Ford said.

George Herbert Walker Bush, born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, also served as a congressman, CIA director and Ronald Reagan‘s vice president.

George W. Bush was elected president in 2000 and served two terms. Another son, Jeb, served as Florida governor and made an unsuccessful bid for the GOP nomination in 2016. Only one other U.S. president, John Adams, had a son who also became president.

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/news/texas/article/Former-President-George-H-W-Bush-and-wife-10867664.php

School uniforms: Good for kids or just another expense?

As the back-to-school date approaches, parents are reaching into their pockets to fork out for new kits.

It doesn’t stop with a shirt and pants anymore – most schools have seasonal uniforms, sports uniforms, and uniforms for different year levels.

In a recent survey, 88 per cent of parents said they were experiencing financial stress from having to buy school uniforms.

Uniforms are said to engender a sense of equality and belonging among students – even blur socioeconomic differences – but does it really matter what children wear to school?

David Bunnell, chief executive of uniform manufacturer NZ Uniforms said uniforms were a “wonderful opportunity for schools to present their brand and image” within their community.

Uniforms encourage pride and belonging – “imagine the All Blacks in just a plain black shirt”.

Bunnell said there was always a lot of emphasis on uniform price in January, but not on quality or longevity.

The father-of-five said he understands that paying a big lump sum at the beginning of the year can be difficult, but said it should be about value.

“Parents have an expectation of strength and durability … you get what you pay for,” he said.

People would be “pleasantly surprised” to hear that compared with ten years ago, uniforms prices are the same, if not decreasing, he said.

Catherine Rivers, the principal of St Mark’s School Catholic Primary School, agreed that having a uniform instilled a sense of school pride and community spirit in students.

St Mark’s, in the east Auckland suburb of Pakuranga, has a summer, winter, and sport uniform.

Rivers said she knows that it can be difficult to pay the initial costs if a student is new to school, but said uniforms “absolutely” save parents money in the long run.

“It takes the pressure off parents to keep up with the latest trends, so it’s not an one-upmanship.”

Rivers said the argument that uniforms hinder creativity and self-expression doesn’t take into account the outlets for creativity that schools can provide.

“Look at music, design and the arts – there is a lot of scope for individual behaviour,” she said.

MUFTI

Grace Hemingway is about to start year 10 at Western Springs College in Auckland, where students do not have a formal uniform.

Wearing mufti was nothing new to her, having done so in primary school – it was wearing a uniform while at intermediate that was different, she said.

“It was weird to wear the same things as everybody else.”

If anything, going back to wearing mufti at high school was stressful, she said.

“The night before I pulled everything out of my closet going through what to wear and was stressing out about it.”

That wore off quickly, she said, and now she “doesn’t really care about it anymore”.

Grace said sometimes kids get pulled up on what they wear, but mufti shows individuality – which is a good thing in her books.

Rangitoto College, New Zealand’s largest secondary school, offers both formal uniform and mufti.

There is a uniform for those in years 9-10, a senior uniform for years 11-12, and mufti for year 13 students.

Principal David Hodge said mufti is something that students look forward to, and is there to help transition them from secondary school to work or university.

Year 13 students value the opportunity to dress as individuals, and are reaching an age where they have the maturity to be able to deal with not wearing a uniform, he said.

“The first weeks they worry about what they’re wearing, but then they settle into their own niche and they don’t really care.”

WHAT PARENTS THINK

Tessa Rose’s daughter has been in mufti for the past eight years. Rose said she loves the fact that there is no major stress if something gets lost.

Now that her daughter is starting high school, Rose said she is finding it difficult.

“The cost of the uniform is almost crippling. I’m hoping she never grows and keeps it in good condition, otherwise I will need to take out a small mortgage to replace it.”

Uniforms can be good, but are “way too expensive for people who struggle”, Amanda Lee Coker.

“Mufti is better, but you have to set it to a standard, you want something that will only cost $30 and last two to three years rather than $100-400.”

Theodora Despotaki said uniforms allow for “one less social pressure” on kids who are already feeling conscious about their appearance.

Angela Reid said she thinks uniforms are great – but hated wearing one when she was at school.

“I remember being sent home to wash off mascara and lipgloss.

“I understand the rules now as a parent, but slightly disagree from a personal expression perspective,” she said.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/88287494/school-uniforms-good-for-kids-or-just-another-expense

Meth now easier to get than cannabis in Northland, locals say

Methamphetamine has become easier to source in Northland than marijuana, according to locals.

Whangarei defence lawyer Kelly Ellis said according to her clients, P was soaring in availability over cannabis, which had long been considered the country’s preferred illegal drug.

“It makes sense, let’s get real about it,” she said.

“Meth is much more lucrative and much easier to do than having to carry smelly bags of cannabis around the place.”

Ellis deals with people at “the pointy end” of the drug trade, including meth users, dealers and manufacturers.

She said gang presence in the north had increased rapidly over the past five years, and what were once tinnie houses had converted to dealing the much harder drug.

The seizure of half a tonne of P from 90 Mile Beach in June was an indication of the size of New Zealand’s meth problem, she said.

“If you look at that as being a basic economic indicator of availability versus demand, it seems demand is not outstripping supply.”

Chris Fowlie, president of the New Zealand reform marijuana advocacy group NORML, said he too had heard meth was easier to come by than cannabis in Northland.

​”People can’t find cannabis but they know where to get meth from a tinnie house,” he said.

“Gangs really do run the show because of fear of people growing their own.”

Detective Inspector Kevin Burke said the take-down of 12 local labs last year, on top of the June bust, was another indication of the “significant problem” meth had become.

“It illustrates, in addition to the importation of methamphetamine, there’s still a demand clearly for homegrown methamphetamine,” he said.

“At the end of the day it’s profit-driven and people are prepared to run the risk.”

In October, then-Prime Minister John Key acknowledged meth had become “the drug of choice” for some Kiwis.

Police needed to do more to stop it entering the country through remote areas like Northland, he said.

Key said at the time that a $15 million boost for anti-drug initiatives was not an admission the Government was losing the war against P.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/88297305/meth-now-easier-to-get-than-cannabis-in-northland-locals-say

China says can resolve trade disputes with new U.S. government

China and the United States can resolve any trade disputes through talks, the government said on Thursday, as a Chinese newspaper warned U.S. business could be targets for retaliation in any trade war ushered in by President-elect Donald Trump.

Trump, who is sworn into office on Friday, has criticised China’s trade practices and threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports.

Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, Trump’s choice for commerce secretary, voiced sharp criticism of China’s trade practices on Wednesday, telling senators he would seek new ways of combating them.

Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Sun Jiwen said the government was willing to work with the new U.S. administration to promote the healthy development of commercial ties.

“I believe China and the United States can resolve any disputes through dialogue and negotiation and that the China-U.S. commercial relationship will not significantly stray from the path of mutual benefit,” Sun told reporters.

“Both sides benefit with cooperation, and both are hurt with conflict,” he added.

But an influential state-run newspaper took a harsher line.

In an editorial, the Global Times said that as the United States has the stronger economy, China may suffer more once a trade war starts, but China “will take the U.S. on to the end”.

“There are few cases in modern history where only one party surrendered in a trade war; rather, the two parties ended up compromising with each other. How could Trump’s team believe China would surrender without any countermeasures?” it said.

“The arrogant Trump team has underestimated China’s ability to retaliate. China is a major buyer of American cotton, wheat, beans and Boeing aircraft,” the paper added in the editorial carried in its Chinese and English-language editions, without elaborating.

Boeing Co’s China office declined to comment.

Boeing anticipates China will need 6,800 new jetliners worth $1 trillion over the next 20 years.

In October, Boeing and Chinese planemaker Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd signed an agreement to open a Boeing 737 completion facility in the Chinese coastal city of Zhoushan.

The widely-read Global Times, run by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, is known for its stridently nationalist tone, but its editorials cannot be viewed as representing government policies or official statements.

In recent weeks, the Global Times and other state-run Chinese news outlets have issued several warnings of possible retaliation if the Trump administration carries out threats of tariffs or undermines Beijing’s claims on self-ruled Taiwan.

In November, the Global Times warned that China could switch large orders from Boeing to Europe, Apple phones would “essentially be crowded out” and U.S. soybeans and corn banished from China if Trump creates problems for China on trade.

China is the world’s top producer and consumer of cotton and top buyer of grains such as soybeans to feed its vast livestock industry.

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/19/china-says-can-resolve-trade-disputes-with-new-us-government.html

West African Force Poised to Ensure Gambian Transfer of Power

West African troops are gathered at Senegal’s border with Gambia poised to intervene to ensure President-elect Adama Barrow’s inauguration goes ahead Thursday, as the leader of Mauritania spearheaded last-ditch efforts to negotiate a settlement to the crisis in the tiny country.

Nigeria and Ghana committed troops and aircraft to the buildup that’s centered in Senegal, which surrounds Gambia on three sides. Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz flew between the capitals of the two countries in the early morning hours, meeting in Dakar with Barrow and Senegalese President Macky Sall before leaving again.

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote later Thursday on a resolution that would urge the Economic Community of West African States to enforce the outcome of last month’s elections in which Barrow defeated Yahya Jammeh, who’s ruled Gambia since a coup in 1994 and refused to leave office.

“If Ecowas does not intervene, its ability to maintain political order among its member countries would lose credibility,” Adeline van Houtte, Africa analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, said by e-mail. “And if Mr. Jammeh manages to cling onto power, it would also damage the credibility of so-called democratic elections in the region.”

State of Emergency

The regional states decided to take the action after Jammeh, 51, declared a 90-day state of emergency late Tuesday. The African Union has said it will no longer recognize Jammeh as president as of Thursday.

“The regional body Ecowas has reiterated its determination to take all necessary measures to ensure the transfer of power to President-elect Barrow,” Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said in a statement. “The UN supports regional efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.”

The Nigerian Air Force said on its Facebook page that it’s deploying 200 men, fighter jets, transport aircraft and a helicopter to Senegal, which surrounds Gambia on three sides, for the operation. Ghana sent more than 200 troops to bolster the intervention force, presidential spokesman Eugene Arhin said in an e-mailed statement.

Jammeh has been criticized by human rights groups for jailing opponents and cracking down on journalists. Gambia, a nation of fewer than 2 million people, depends on tourism for the bulk of its revenue.

The U.S. Embassy closed all non-emergency services on Wednesday and will remain shut on Thursday.

Ecowas previously sent 600 troops to Guinea-Bissau following a coup in April 2012. The soldiers are due to be withdrawn this year.

The regional group also sent soldiers to Ivory Coast in 2002, when a failed coup split the country into a rebel north and a government-run south. The troops were deployed to patrol the dividing line between the warring parties and were later redeployed as UN troops.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-01-19/west-african-force-poised-to-ensure-gambian-transfer-of-power