The Bull Ring

New Zealand Canterbury 11:22 am today Drunk prisoners swim in skip, attack guard 11:22 am today Share this Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via email Share on Reddit Share on Linked In The Department of Corrections says five prisoners got drunk on home-brew and used a skip filled with water as a swimming pool, before one of them attacked a prison guard. Prisoners have lost their jobs in a workshop, after a recent incident involving getting drunk and assaulting a prison guard. Photo: Supplied The staff member was uninjured but one of the prisoners was so intoxicated he needed medical treatment. The inmates were meant to be working in the engineering workshop at Christchurch Men's Prison, where their tasks included filling skips with water to check for holes. Chief custodial officer Neil Beales said they were found climbing in and out of a skip on 29 Oct...

Brazil's Bolsonaro says Leonardo DiCaprio gave cash 'to set Amazon on fire' 6:34 am today Share this Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via email Share on Reddit Share on Linked In Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has accused Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio of "giving money to set the Amazon on fire". Leonardo DiCaprio Photo: AFP The president gave no evidence but in the past has accused NGOs critical of his policies of starting fires that ravaged the rainforest this year. Several arrests have been made amid controversial and unproven allegations fires were started to obtain funding. DiCaprio, who has pledged $5m for the Amazon, denied Mr Bolsonaro's claim. The latest comments appear to arise from the arrest of four volunteer firefighters from northern Pará state on allegations they started fires to generate NGO donations. Rights groups, NGOs and critics c...

Opposition hypocrisy-80% of National Party donations were channelled through party headquarters An analysis of electoral finance declarations shows more than 80 per cent of donations to National Party candidates were channelled through party headquarters in a loophole described as akin to legal "laundering". National's heavy reliance on funding candidates with donations from the party - shown in a  Herald  study to account for more than $1m out of $1.2m raised by their candidates for the 2014 general election - was a "striking use of electoral law that appears to be laundering the money", said Otago University political science lecturer Bryce Edwards. Electoral law requires candidates to reveal the identity of donors who contribute $1,500 or more, but political parties can keep donors secret even if they give up to $15,000. Dr Edwards said the channelling of candidate donations through parties had "become a way around" having to disclose ...

National MP Jo Hayes deletes Twitter account after sending late-night abusive tweet An MP who launched a bizarre unprompted attack on a member of the public has deleted one of her Twitter accounts. Jo Hayes, a National list MP, had two accounts on the social media site. She logged into one of them on Friday night and  told a member of the public he was a "nasty person" , Newshub revealed on Saturday. "OMG Youre such a nasty  person and i hope that people checking you out for future work will visit your twitter page and see how ugly you really are [sic]," Hayes told Twitter user Jeremy Greenbrook-Held. RELATED: National MP Jo Hayes shows her true vile hatred It's not clear why she did it. Greenbrook-Held - who years ago was a candidate for Labour -  told RNZ  he's never interacted with Hayes, and was now considering deleting his account. "I'm not sure what she thought she was responding to but it's interesting that a Nati...

Trump contradicts testimony -- and himself -- by claiming he never directed Giuliani on Ukraine (CNN) President Donald Trump has now denied  that he directed his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to go to Ukraine and seek out investigations on his behalf, contradicting his own words to the Ukrainian President in the  White House-released transcript of the July 25 call .  Trump also contradicted sworn testimony from members of his administration and claims from his own White House acting chief of staff.  Ahead of a Tuesday night rally in Florida , Trump was asked by conservative radio host Bill O'Reilly if the President directed Giuliani's involvement in Ukraine.  "No," the President said, before launching into a tangent of flattering Giuliani's credentials, calling him "a great corruption fighter" and "the greatest mayor" of New York City.  O'Reilly asked once again: "Giuliani's your personal lawyer. So you didn't ...

'Whaea' Jacinda and 'Māui' Jones let the light in - Kelvin Davis 39 minutes ago Share this Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via email Share on Reddit Share on Linked In Yvette McCullough , Political Reporter in Whanganui @YvetteMcC yvette.mccullough@rnz.co.nz A story that is still being written has been the theme of speakers on the second day of the Labour Party's annual conference in Whanganui. Kelvin Davis says the government has done "heaps" since coming to power three years ago. Photo: RNZ / Yvette McCullough Deputy leader Kelvin Davis entertained the crowd with a light-hearted Māori legend-styled speech on the coalition's two years in government. He took a swipe at National, describing them as a "terrible blue darkness" and "taniwhas". "Different groups tried every three years to bring light to the world but alon...

Interesting  Ardern begs public to not think her party is full of sexual deviants. Labour party sexual deviants name suppression runs out soon "Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has opened the annual Labour conference by addressing the problems the party has had with serious allegations in the last two years. Ardern said the party had not been a perfect organisation and had serious work to do to put its members ahead of any political problems. "We are not a perfect organisation. This year we have all been on a journey and we have learnt some incredibly important lessons," Ardern said at the event in Whanganui. "We may be a political organisation but that should not be the lens we use to treat our members. People first - politics second."

Government announces 'significant boost' in infrastructure spending The Government will bring forward major investments in New Zealand's infrastructure after Cabinet agreed to a "significant boost". Pointing to the Government's low debt and record-low interest rates, Minister of Finance Grant Robertson said now was the time to make investments. "We have this once-in-a-generation opportunity because of the Government's good management of the books and resulting low debt," he said in a statement on Saturday. "I have directed the Treasury to help bring together a package of projects that can be brought into the Government's short and medium-term plan of investments." The full list of projects is still being finalised, however Robertson says these will be spread across the country and will support a number of different sectors. "The package will provide certainty to the construction industry about upcoming infrastru...

Worry rises in military over Trump's decision-making "He says 'my generals' and 'my military,' he sees the military as belonging to him as opposed to belonging to the nation," Washington (CNN) Tensions that have been mounting for months between some of the nation's most senior military officers and President Donald Trump are boiling over after his  decision to intervene  in the cases of three service members accused of war crimes. A long-serving military officer put it bluntly, telling CNN "there is a morale problem," and senior Pentagon officials have privately said they are disturbed by the President's behavior. Dismay in the Pentagon has been building over Trump's sporadic, impulsive and contradictory decision-making on a range of issues, including his sudden pullback of troops in Syria. But now there are new and significant worries, as multiple military officials and retired officers say Trump's intervention ...

National MP Jo Hayes shows her true vile hatred National Party MP Jo Hayes has apologised for sending a "vile" tweet to a member of the public. A late Friday night tweet that appeared on an account belonging to Hayes, a list MP based in Christchurch, attacked another user of the site who'd posted a picture from his graduation. "OMG Youre such a nasty  person and i hope that people checking you out for future work will visit your twitter page and see how ugly you really are [sic]," Hayes wrote, seemingly unprompted, just before 11pm. The target of the vitriol had tweeted about completing his studies after seven years, which he began after struggling to find a new job. There was initially confusion as to whether the account the tweet was sent from was real, with other Twitter users finding a second account that also appeared to belong to Hayes. But she's confirmed to Newshub it was real. "I should not have sent this tweet," the ...

Melania Trump booed at youth opioid summit in Baltimore (CNN) First lady  Melania Trump took her "Be Best" initiative to the Baltimore area  on Tuesday, where she was met with a chorus of boos from attendees at a youth summit aimed at raising awareness about the nation's opioid crisis. The heckling lasted for about one minute, according to CNN's Kate Bennett, who was in the room. But the audience remained raucous, audibly speaking over her remarks throughout her brief speech to the B'More Youth Summit. Undeterred, the first lady pressed on.  "Thank you to all of the students who are here. I am so proud of you for the bravery it takes to share that you have been strongly affected by the opioid epidemic in some way," she said above loud, persistent talking in the audience in an auditorium at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The first lady later responded to the booing in a statement to CNN: "We live in a democracy and every...