Monday, September 26, 2022

NEWS TODAY MONDAY 26 SEP

Stafford Drive may be Closed Forever but investigations continue



Stafford Drive Ruby Bay below this house


Stafford Drive investigations continue


Tasman District Council hopes to receive expert advice on a large landslip at Ruby Bay shortly.

Stafford Drive will remain closed until further notice due to the massive land subsidence above McKee Domain. 

The house at the top of the slip looks to be in a very precarious position.

Tasman District Council Transportation Manager Jamie McPherson expects to receive the final geotechnical report this week. 

He says this will help inform the decision-making process about the future of the road, but at this stage there is no certainty about when or if Stafford Drive might be cleared and reopened. 

McPherson says a key issue is ongoing land stability, and potential risks and impacts on road users and adjacent landowners need to be taken into consideration. 

"Costs and future liabilities are important factors that will need to be weighed up. In the meantime, the road will remain closed, and the recommended detour is via Te Mamaku Drive, State Highway 60.” 


One of the slips on Stafford Road Ruby Bay

McPherson says some residents have raised concerns about increased traffic volumes and speed on Pomona Road and Marriages Road, risking the safety of cyclists and pedestrians on this narrower winding route. 

He says the situation is being closely monitored. 

“But all road users should heed basic road rules, like passing other road users, for example cyclists, at places with adequate clear road space ahead to do so safely, and to drive to the conditions with an ability to stop within the visible road in front of them.”

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Gunman opens fire at Russian draft office amid backlash to Putin's mobilisation

Russian police officers detain a man in Moscow following protests against the mobilisation




Incident in the town of Ust-Ilimsk comes just days after the Russian president announced the mobilisation of 300,000 men


A man opened fire and wounded a recruitment officer at an enlistment centre in Siberia on Monday, the local governor said, as tensions mount over Russia's military mobilisation.

The incident occurred in the town of Ust-Ilimsk in Irkutsk, a vast and thinly populated region of south-eastern Siberia.

In a video published on social media, the gunman is seen identifying himself to police officers as Ruslan Zinin, 25, and firing at least one shot inside the draft office.

Igor Kobzev, the governor of the Irkutsk region, wrote on a messaging app that the head of the draft office was in hospital in a critical condition, and that the gunman "will absolutely be punished".

"I am ashamed that this is happening at a time when, on the contrary, we should be united. We must not fight with each but against real threats," Mr Kobzev said.

"I have given instructions to strengthen security measures. I ask everyone to remain calm," he said.

A number of draft offices have been attacked since Vladimir Putin declared a mobilisation last Wednesday.

Protests against the draft took place over the weekend in Dagestan and Yakutia, both of which have supplied disproportionate numbers of soldiers for the war in Ukraine.

Elsewhere, border crossing points out of Russia became clogged up by men of fighting age attempting to flee the country. There was reportedly a 24-mile queue into neighbouring Georgia as thousands attempted to escape across the frontier. 

Flights to other countries had already sold out within hours of Putin’s mobilisation announcement.

It comes as Britain's Ministry of Defence said that the initial tranches of men called up as part of the mobilisation have started arriving at military bases.

"Many tens of thousands of call-up papers have already been issued. Russia will now face an administrative and logistical challenge to provide training for the troops," the MoD said in Londan. 

It added that many of the drafted troops will not have had any military experience for some years, and that many will be deployed to the front line with "minimal relevant preparation".


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US will take ‘catastrophic’ action if Vladimir Putin uses nuclear weapons

A Russian soldier sits with members of an electoral commission in Mariupol as they wait for voters. In occupied Melitopol, only 20 per cent of residents cast ballots in the sham referendums


Severe consequences loom if Russia follows through on attack threat, says White House, as Kremlin’s sham referendums in Ukraine continue



Russia will face “catastrophic consequences” if it deploys nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the US has warned Kremlin officials. 

Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, said on Monday that the US had communicated directly, privately to the Russians at very high levels how it would respond if Vladimir Putin carried out the nuclear strike threat he made during an address last week.  

“If Russia crosses this line, there will be catastrophic consequences for Russia. The United States will respond decisively.” Mr Sullivan told NBC’s Meet the Press programme. 

Mr Sullivan did not describe the nature of the planned response but said the US had privately  “spelled out in greater detail exactly what that would mean” to Moscow. 

It came as Putin’s foreign minister said on Sunday that annexed areas of Ukraine would be protected like Russian territory. Referendums in those areas are continuing, with Ukrainians under pressure from armed Moscow forces to cast their ballots.  

Some of Putin’s allies, including the speaker of the State Duma, publicly broke ranks on Sunday to criticise the way in which conscripts are being recruited, amid reports of elderly and ill men being drafted after the Russian president announced a partial mobilisation order.

Putin made the nuclear threat in an address when he said Russia had “various weapons of destruction” at its disposal and would use “all the means available”, before adding that he was not bluffing. 

Nato’s nuclear powers have started ramping up vigilance and deterrence.  

In a separate interview on Monday, Mr Sullivan said Putin’s nuclear threats were a “matter that we have to take deadly seriously”. 

Military analysts believe Putin could use Russia’s military doctrine, which allows it to use nuclear weapons to defend its territory, to reframe the conflict in Ukraine as defensive.  

Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s veteran foreign minister, said on Monday that the Kremlin could  use nuclear weapons to defend occupied Ukrainian territories if annexed following referendums. 

Russian forces have only been able to coerce one in five residents of occupied Melitopol to vote in a sham annexation referendum despite the threat of violence, its exiled mayor has said. 

Since voting began on Friday, Russian officials have been going door-to-door in occupied regions flanked by gunmen to give out ballot papers and identify voters. 

Ukrainians living under occupation have been warned their families would be massacred if they refuse to take part. 

Despite the threats, Ivan Fedorov, Ukraine’s elected mayor of Melitopol, said: “Our citizens haven’t taken part in this fake referendum … after three days Russia has only been able to find just 20 per cent of people to vote. Nobody wants to vote, nobody wants to say yes to the Russian referendum.  

Of those forced to cast a vote, he said “90 per cent” had voted against Russia’s occupation becoming permanent. 

In the occupied regions of Ukraine, Moscow has introduced the rouble and issued Russian passports. Ballots are being held, and are expected to continue until Tuesday, in Russian-controlled parts of the Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions. 

Melitopol, in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, had a pre-war population of about 150,000 and is one of the largest cities to fall under Russian control since the start of the war. 

In the build-up to the vote, pro-Moscow officials blocked evacuation routes to Ukrainian-held territory, only allowing women and children to flee to occupied Crimea, Mr Fedorov said. 

Mr Fedorov said men of fighting age had been blocked from leaving altogether, raising the prospect of them being forcibly drafted into Russian-backed armed forces. 

More than 60,000 people still reside in the city, without the support of Ukraine’s government. 

Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, confirmed on Sunday that Kyiv had received high-powered air-defence systems for the first time from the US. The National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) was promised by Washington last month.  

Mr Zelensky told CBS the shipment had been received but added: “Believe me, it’s not even nearly enough to cover the civilian infrastructure, schools, hospitals, universities, homes of Ukrainians.” 

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Thousands of Russians have fled to Finland to escape mobilisation



Thousands of Russians crossed the Finnish border over the weekend.



Almost 17,000 Russians crossed the border into Finland during the weekend, an 80 per cent rise from a week earlier, Finnish authorities have said.

Captain Taneli Repo at Finland's southeastern border authority said: "The queues continue to be a bit longer than they've usually been since the pandemic.”

Young Russian men who spoke to Reuters after crossing into Finland via the Vaalimaa border station last week, some three hours by car from Russia's second-largest city St Petersburg, said they left out of fear of being drafted for the war.

The Finnish government, wary of becoming a major transit nation, on Friday said it will stop all Russians from entering on tourist visas within the coming days, although exceptions may still apply on humanitarian grounds.


Pigeon Post News

26 Sep 2022












Thursday, September 22, 2022

Strong magnitude 5.8 quake struck at 9.07.06pm 22 September

5.8 quake felt across all of NZ


Magnitude 5.8 earthquake was felt across New Zealand




A strong magnitude 5.8 earthquake was felt across the entire country on Thursday evening.

It struck at 9.07pm, and was centred 30km north-east of French Pass at a depth of 51km, GNS Science said.

They said it was located at latitude  -40.81 (± 4.1 km) and longitude 174.20 (± 3.4 km) in the French Pass. 

Some 44548 people reported feeling the quake – residents from across the country, including the far north, Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Tauranga, Wellington, Nelson, Richmond, Motueka, Golden Bay, Wairarapa, Christchurch, Dunedin and further south.

One Richmond resident felt a very sharp jolt to the whole house.


Pigeon Post News


Wednesday, September 21, 2022

The young pallbearers of the Queen's Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards are illustrating the best of British and Commonwealth values


Pall bearers from the Grenadier Guards lead the coffin away at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey



Even when the cameras are switched off, their duty will not be over


 By Lord Dannatt

After days and nights of rehearsal and years of planning, members of the Armed Forces who took part in the ceremonies in London and Windsor on Monday can allow themselves a moment of congratulation on a job well done. 

None of it is easy. Every action in every part of the pageant requires concentration, determination, physical effort and total commitment. 

What fuels the mind and body is adrenaline, underpinned by pride. The core of that pride is the Oath of Allegiance that every member of the Armed Forces swore on their first day in uniform. 

Pall bearers from the Grenadier Guards load the coffin onto the gun carriage at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey



It is invidious to single out any individual or unit for particular praise as the cast list is so varied, but spare a thought for one group of young men — the pall bearers from the Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards. Recalled at short notice from the Middle East to fulfil their long-planned and traditional duty, they literally had the full weight of responsibility on their shoulders. 

A lead-lined coffin is very heavy and manoeuvring their precious load up and down steps, on and off gun carriages and catafalques, in and out of vehicles — all under the constant gaze of billions on television, not to mention the concerned scrutiny of His Majesty The King, the Royal family and senior members of the Household Division — is no easy task. 

These young guardsmen deserve particular praise. 

Even when the cameras are switched off at the end of the day and the final private service of committal was being held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, their duty will not be over. 

Deep in the Royal Vault under the chapel, the pallbearers had one final unseen duty — to move the late Queen’s body to its final resting place close to her husband, The Duke of Edinburgh, and to her father, King George VI. 

Once all is complete, then these young men too can relax and reflect on their very difficult job, extremely well done. 

Whether a participant in any of the ceremonies of the last ten days or merely a spectator, everyone will take away their own memories and recollections. 

Walking on is what we all must do now. We have a new King. There are many challenges ahead. However, of one thing I am sure: the detailed planning for the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III is well under way when, once again, we will see the pride and professionalism of the British Armed Forces on display. We mourn our late Sovereign’s death; quite properly we grieve; we give thanks; we pause a while and then equally properly we celebrate our new Sovereign’s coronation. 

The bands will march again down the Mall, the harnesses of the Household Cavalry will jangle, the Monarch will enter the Abbey and St Edward’s crown will be placed on his head. God save the King. 


Lord Dannatt is a former Chief of the General Staff


Pigeon Post News

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Royal family says final goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II in ceremony behind closed doors

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

1926 — 2022



HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

1926 — 2022



The late monarch was reunited with her beloved husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, in a private interment on Monday night



For 10 long days, the Royal family had shared their grief with the world.

But on Monday night, after the public spectacle of a full state funeral, the Royal family was finally able to bury a much-loved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother in private.

Behind closed doors, the King was joined by a small group of the Queen’s closest family for an interment ceremony in the tiny King George VI Memorial Chapel, an annex of the main chapel at Windsor Castle.

There, the Queen was reunited with her beloved husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, who had been waiting for her in the royal vault since his death last April.

The couple were buried together, reunited in death with the late Queen’s father George VI, and the Queen Mother, along with the ashes of her sister, Princess Margaret.

Such was the intimate nature of the ceremony that no details were released.

In contrast with the public grief in which they had willingly shared since the Queen died on September 8, this was the moment they could finally let go. Even palace aides were kept in the dark on the basis that the public moment was over.

The service, conducted by the Dean of Windsor, began at 7.30pm Monday London time.

The Queen’s body was interred with the Grenadier Guards’ Queen’s Company Camp Colour – a smaller version of the Royal Standard of the Regiment – which the King placed on her coffin at the end of the committal service.

Only one Royal Standard of the Regiment is presented during a monarch’s reign, and it served as the Queen’s Company Colour throughout her time as monarch.

While the private ceremony took place away from the public gaze, small groups continued to pay their personal respects outside Windsor Castle.

The Royal family have been with her every step of the way – and so too has the public as the world witnessed a state funeral like no other.


Pigeon Post News


Monday, September 19, 2022

George and Charlotte to join Westminster Abbey mourners

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

1926 — 2022

The Queen's coffin will be brought in procession from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey



Queen's funeral in Westminster Abbey



Prince George and Princess Charlotte will join more than 2,000 guests at the Queen's funeral in Westminster Abbey.


Nine-year-old George and his sister, seven, will form part of a procession with the Royal Family, following the coffin as it enters the church.


Before the service a bell will toll every minute for 96 minutes, marking the length of the Queen's life.


Towards the end of the service, the Last Post will be played before the nation observes a two-minute silence.


With world leaders and dignitaries gathered in the 13th Century church for the service at 11:00 BST, the King and Queen Consort will lead the procession behind the Queen's coffin.


The Prince and Princess of Wales will walk ahead of George and seven-year-old Charlotte, who called the Queen "Gan Gan", followed by their uncle and aunt, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and other members of the Royal Family.


George and Charlotte's younger brother Louis, four, is not expected to attend.


The Order of Service shows a service filled with traditional church music and readings from the Bible, with a sermon from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

"I am the resurrection and the life," will be the reading as the royal procession arrives in the abbey, in a service which the Queen helped to plan.


Prime Minister Liz Truss will read a lesson, with prayers from religious leaders including Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster.


The funeral will hear praise for the Queen's long reign, with the Dean of Westminster, David Hoyle, commending her "long life of selfless service”.


The abbey says this will be the first funeral of a monarch held here since the 18th Century, although there have been more recent funerals for the spouses of monarchs.


The music at this historic service will be in keeping with the Queen's faith and tastes. There will be pieces by Ralph Vaughan Williams, JS Bach and Edward Elgar.


New pieces have been composed by Judith Weir and Sir James MacMillan, a leading Scottish composer, whose music featured prominently in the service of thanksgiving at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh.


Baroness Scotland, secretary general of the Commonwealth, will deliver one of the readings, which are interspersed with hymns including The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.


The Lord's My Shepherd will be sung, as it was when the Queen married Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey in 1947.


As the state funeral comes to an end, the Last Post will be played, followed by a two-minute silence and a lament from the Queen's piper.


After the funeral ends at midday in Westminster, a committal service will follow at 16:00 at St George's Chapel in Windsor.


This more intimate setting will include personal touches and private connections. The service includes the Russian Kontakion of the Departed, a hymn Prince Philip had chosen for his own funeral last year.


One of the Bible readings - "I saw a new heaven and a new earth" - was also read at the funeral of the Queen's father and grandparents.


There is music composed by Sir William Henry Harris, an organist who taught the Queen to play the piano.


Another poignant lament will be played by a piper and the committal service will end with the lowering of the Queen's coffin into the royal vault, accompanied by the words: "Go forth upon thy journey from this world, O Christian soul.”


The bells of Westminster Abbey will later be rung - but muffled - as is tradition following the funeral of a sovereign.


Pigeon Post News

Saturday, September 17, 2022

UK news briefing Friday evening London time: Hundreds taken ill in queue to see late Queen's coffin

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

1926 — 2022






24-hour wait to see the late Queen lying-in-state 

The queue to see the late Queen lying-in-state has just reopened after being closed for more than seven hours as it became full. 

However, mourners have been warned they face a 24-hour wait to get to the front.

Ambulances have attended to hundreds of people fainting and collapsing in queues to see the late Queen lying in state, the NHS has said. 

The ambulance service said it and partner agencies had cared for 435 patients who fell ill along the route and surrounding areas by the end of Thursday. 

The London Ambulance Service has drawn up plans to deploy an extra 300 staff on the day of the state funeral, with pressures expected to mount. 

Earlier, hundreds of mourners defied an order to stay away and continued to enter the line at Southwark Park, with more creating a queue for the queue. 

It came as China has suggested the UK is guilty of failing to show "proper manners to guests" amid reports that a Chinese government delegation will not be allowed to attend Queen Elizabeth's lying in state in Parliament.

David Beckham caused a commotion in the queue to see the late Queen as he joined the public in line.

Images shared on social media showed fellow members of the queue holding their phones in the air to capture a picture of the 47-year-old former footballer as he waited to pay his respects. 

Many other celebrities also joined the line through London. 

The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth will see the biggest policing operation ever staged in the UK, the Metropolitan Police has said. 

There will be 22 miles of barriers deployed across London amid the biggest VIP protection operation ever undertaken in Britain. 

Officers from almost every force in the country will be in the capital to help ensure the safety of the public, the Royal family and visiting heads of state, who will include Joe Biden and the leaders of the G7 countries. 

They will have been hosted by the King at Buckingham Palace on the eve of the funeral at an official state reception on a scale unprecedented in living memory. 

Some, such as Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister, will have travelled for more than 24 hours to be at the “reception of the century”.


Pigeon Post News

Thousands upon thousands queue to see the Queen lying in state

HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II

1926 — 2022






Queen lying in state: Queue a 'complete shambles' as thousands enter after line was 'shut'

Saturday 1am NZ time

The queue to see the Queen lying in state has been branded a "complete shambles" after thousands of people were allowed to enter the line after the Government said it was shut. 

At 9.52am Friday London time, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced on Twitter that entry had been paused for "at least six hours". 

But the message seemingly never made it to the attendants at the gate, and people were able to file through in their thousands.

It wasn't until almost two hours later at 11.36am that the gate was actually closed. A couple who travelled from Manchester at 7.30am said the whole thing was a "complete shambles". 

A crowd has now formed around the entrance in Southwark Park as people beg to be let in. There is also now a queue for the queue.

Downing Street said the queue system to view the Queen's lying in state is going to plan.

The public queue is being paused for at least six hours after reaching capacity this morning.

A Number 10 spokeswoman directed questions to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, but it was "the case that what DCMS have done is they've temporarily paused the queue for at least six hours after it reached maximum capacity.

"That has always been part of our planning and that is to make sure as many people as possible in the queue can enter the Palace of Westminster.”

Confusion around the closure of the queue to see the Queen lying in state continues at Southwark Park.

Thousands of mourners are still filing through the gate, despite instructions from the Government that the queue has been paused until 4pm.

A press officer from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport could be seen making his way to speak to queue officials.

Asked if the queue has been paused yet, he replied: "I'm not sure, I need to go and find out."





Funeral operation biggest in history for London Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy told reporters the "hugely complex" policing operation is the biggest in the force's history, surpassing the London 2012 Olympics which saw up to 10,000 police officers on duty per day.

Mr Cundy said: "This will be the largest single policing event that the Met Police has ever undertaken.

"As a single event this is larger than the 2012 Olympics, it is larger than the Platinum Jubilee weekend.

"The range of officers, police staff and all those supporting the operation is truly immense."

It will also be the largest global protection operation the force has dealt with, as hundreds of world leaders, dignitaries and other VIPs are expected to attend the state funeral on Monday.

In the wake of the Queen's death, in mutual aid alone - officers who are drafted in from outside forces to help - there will be 20,000 officer shifts throughout the week and 2,000 officers in a single day at the peak, Mr Cundy said.


Pigeon Post News


Looming changes forecast for Tasman District Council's 10 Year Plan

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