2. School bars gang dad from camp
Skip Taitapanui and his son hope to go to a school camp together. Photo / Katee Shanks
A Whakatane gang member is upset he has been told by his son's school he can no longer be a parent helper at his son's school camp.
Skip Taitapanui said he was told by James Street School he could no longer go to the camp because he was an active gang member.
James Street School principal Norah Schreiber said Mr Taitapanui could complain through the school's processes if he was unhappy, but she would not comment any further about the school's decision.
3. Internet Party candidates announced
The candidates list for Kim Dotcom's Internet Party has been announced this morning. The fledgling party says it showcases "a strong and diverse group of Kiwis committed to leading positive change" for New Zealand in the digital age.
A list of 15 candidates, headed by Internet Party leader Laila Harre, will contest the 2014 General Election, with a focus on Internet MANA's drive for the all-important party vote.
"The candidates were selected following a tough nationwide selection process designed to find the best and brightest people able to champion the Internet Party's core policies and principles," a statement says.
Ranging in age from 23-48, the Internet Party's candidates reflect an impressive depth and breadth of expertise and experience, Ms Harre said.
The candidates:
1. Laila Harré (Leader), TBA
2. Chris Yong, Te Atatu
3. Miriam Pierard, Auckland Central
4. David Currin, Whangarei
5. Beverley Ballantine, Ilam
6. Gil Ho, Northcote
7. Pani Farvid, Palmerston North
8. Patrick Salmon, East Coast
9. Roshni Sami, Kelston
10. Callum Valentine, Wellington Central
11. Grant Keinzley, Taranaki-King Country
12. Lois McClintock, Wigram
13. Robert Stewart, Dunedin North
14. Raymond Calver, Hamilton East
15. Andrew LePine, Dunedin South
4. Cunliffe questions Key's role in Liu letter scandal
Labour leader David Cunliffe (C). Photo / Mark Mitchell
Labour leader David Cunliffe has questioned how the Prime Minister knew about a letter Mr Cunliffe wrote for Donghua Liu two weeks ago while Mr Cunliffe himself wasn't told of it until half an hour before it was released.
Mr Cunliffe cancelled plans to spend today away from Parliament to deal with the fall out from the revelation that he had written to immigration on behalf of Liu in 2003 after he criticised National MPs for their links to Liu.
He has tried to turn the tables on National by insinuating it was mounting a smear campaign against him.
"I think you should ask the Government how come the Prime Minister had a copy of that letter two weeks earlier when the media put in an OIA on Monday."
He said Immigration had not told him about the letter or that it was going to release it until half an hour before it was released on Wednesday.
5. Kiwi taken, bashed, left for dead
Aucklander Gordon Johnson.
Police have detained two men they believe bashed, robbed and dumped an unconscious Kiwi hiker in Poland.
Aucklander Gordon Johnson, 60, was lured into a car he believed was a private taxi while waiting for a bus in rural southern Poland. Its occupants bashed, robbed and left him two hours' drive away across the border of Slovakia on Sunday.
Today, police chased two men suspected of stealing fuel from a gas station, local newspaper, Weekly Podhalanski reported. Local police say the men, a 25-year-old from Myslowice and 36-year-old from Sosnowiec, are suspects in the assault and kidnapping of Mr Johnson.
- nzherald.co.nz, NZ Herald, APNZ, Rotorua Daily Post
