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Australian police foil ‘elaborate’ terrorist plot to detonate bomb on plane

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Christopher Knaus

Police have ramped up security at Australian airports after foiling what they described as a credible and “elaborate” plan to detonate a bomb on a plane.

Tougher security has now been implemented at Australian airports, including additional screening of bags, and police say the current counter-terrorism operation may last days.

The four men arrested in raids on five properties in the Sydney suburbs of Surry Hills, Lakemba, Wiley Park and Punchbowl on Saturday night have not yet been charged.

The Australian federal police commissioner, Andrew Colvin, said a tip-off from partner agencies led to the raids on Saturday night. He said the terrorist attack planned to use an “improvised device” to target an Australian plane.

He said the threat was credible, adding: “We believe it’s Islamic-inspired terrorism. Exactly what is behind this is something we need to investigate fully.”

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said the foiled operation was not a lone wolf-style attack. “We face a range of terrorist threats, some of them are lone actors, who activate very quickly, with very little warning,” Turnbull said on Sunday. “On other occasions, you get quite elaborate conspiracies. This appears to be in that category.”

The attack was to target the Australian aviation industry at a major airport, police said. Colvin said there was no evidence that security at Australian airports had been compromised. “Terrorists are becoming very ingenius about ways to defeat our security mechanisms,” he said.

“Australia has some of the best, if not the best airport security arrangements in the world and we’re confident those measures are effective, and would have been effective, in this circumstance.”

The searches in Sydney will continue in coming days. Police said a “number of items of great interest” have been seized.

The Seven Network reported a suspicious device was found in a Surry Hills terrace, which was raided by 40 riot squad officers on Saturday.

TV footage showed a man with a bandage on his head and draped in a blanket being led away by authorities.

A neighbour described the family who lived in the house in Cleveland Street as “perfectly nice and normal people”.

“We knew them to say hello to and they seemed nice,” the woman, who didn’t want to be identified, told AAP.

Colvin would not say whether the four men were on a terror watch list.

Turnbull said the additional security and screening measures at Australian airports may cause delays to travellers. “More bags will be checked, it’s really intensifying what we’re already doing,” he said. And that will be, some of that will be visible, some of it will not be visible.”

Virgin Australia issued a statement advising passengers to arrive at the airport two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international flight. Virgin also asked passengers to limit carry-on baggage where possible.

“The travelling public can expect to experience an increased level of security scrutiny at the airport but they should not be concerned about these precautionary measures,” the airline’s statement said.

“As the measures place an additional burden on the screening system, it may take a little longer than usual to get through the process.”

The prime minister said he was being briefed on the operation’s progress by security agencies.

Australia’s national terrorism threat advisory system lists the threat level as “probable”, and Turnbull said that would not change immediately.

NSW police commissioner, Mick Fuller, said police may have waited another week before raiding the homes, had it not been terror-related. “The reality with terrorism, you can’t wait till you put the whole puzzle together. If you get it wrong, the consequences are severe.

“We risk assess regularly, around the clock, and you need to make a decision at some stage when it the right time to go. Both Australian Federal Police and New South Wales police agreed last night was the right time to go.”

Justice minister, Michael Keenan, said the foiled plot was the 13th significant counter-terrorism disruption in Australia.

Tongan tourist hospitalised in New Zealand after brutal assault

By
Kalino Latu
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A 42-year-old Tongan man was in a critical condition at the Auckland hospital after he was assaulted on Kitchener Street in the Auckland CBD at 3.40am on Saturday 29  July.

The victim, who has received serious head injuries, was on holiday from Tonga and was due to leave in two weeks’ time.

His wife is flying over next week to be with him, Auckland Police said.

Police are appealing for witnesses to this assault.

The victim was seen walking down the middle of Kitchener Street impeding traffic when a vehicle stopped near the victim and words were exchanged between the victim and the occupants of this car.

A short time afterwards, the car has driven off at speed and the victim was left lying on the ground.

Police need to know how the victim received his injuries and the people in the car on Kitchener Street, can help paint this picture.

“We would like the  occupants of the car, that was seen on Kitchener Street, to come forward to help Police understand what has occurred”.

Several members of the public have already come forward to Police with information, it said.

Police would also like to hear from anyone else who may be able to assist with the investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Auckland City Police on 09 302 6400, or they can phone CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Car crashes into fence outside Tongan church in South Auckland

By
Kalino Latu
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Members of the Tuingapapai church at Favona Road, Mangere were surprised this morning after they arrived at the church and found a car had crashed into the church’s fence.

Some church members of the Free Wesleyan church were examining the crash when Kaniva News took photos at the scene.

It was not immediately clear if there were any injuries and when did the crash happen.

New Zealand Police have yet to release any information regarding the crash.

The latest release Police published on its website this afternoon at 12.35pm was about a fatal car crash in Levin in which a driver and two passengers had died this morning.

“Police were called to attend the crash at 12.20am between the car and a stationary truck and trailer unit, where the car was engulfed in flames”, it said.

Last Sunday a motorcyclist was killed after crashing on Buckland Road, in Mangere near the intersection of Royton Ave, after failing to stop.

That incident happened at a scene about 5 kilometres away from the crash at Tuingapapai this morning.

US considers ‘military response’ after North Korea tests missile and boasts all of America is now within range

By
Kaniva Staff
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The United States was considering “military response options” on Friday night after North Korea carried out its second test of an intercontinental ballistic missile in a month, with Pyongyang claiming the whole of the US was within range.

The Pentagon confirmed that the missile, which flew for 45 minutes, travelled an estimated 600 miles and landed west of Japan’s Hokkaido island, was an ICBM. It flew for six minutes longer than the previous one, on July 4.

“The test-fire reconfirmed the reliability of the ICBM system, demonstrated the capability of making a surprise launch of the ICBM in any region and place any time, and clearly proved that the whole U.S. mainland is in the firing range of the DPRK (North Korea) ,” KCNA, Pyongyang’s official news agency, said.

Washington,  which has branded North Korea the “most urgent and dangerous threat to peace,” condemned the launch as reckless.

“By threatening the world, these weapons and tests further isolate North Korea, weaken its economy, and deprive its people,”  Donald Trump said in a statement.

“The United States will take all necessary steps to ensure the security of the American homeland and protect our allies in the region.”

As Pyongyang confirmed the launch, South Korea said it was ready to take its own steps to deal with the threat.

Song Young-moo, South Korea’s defence minister, said Seoul would prepare independent measures..

“Along with joint efforts to deter proliferation (of North Korea’s nuclear threat) we will prepare independent measure to curb it as soon as possible,” Song told a press conference in Seoul, just minutes after Pyongyang said its second missile test was meant as a “stern warning” for the United States.

The launch was also condemned by the Chinese foreign ministry.

“China opposes North Korea’s violations of UN Security Council resolutions … At the same time, (China) hopes that all parties concerned will exercise caution and avoid intensifying tensions” on the Korean peninsula, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Experts said the North’s ICBM launched on Friday was capable of striking Los Angeles and other U.S. cities – a similar assertion was made by KCNA, the official North Korean news agency.

The United States and South Korea responded to the missile test by staging a joint missile exercise.

Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, has called a meeting of the national security council to assess the launch.

“I have received the first report that North Korea again launched a missile and it possibly landed inside the exclusive economic zone,” said Mr Abe.

He called the launch “a serious and real threat”, while Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s government spokesman, said: “North Korea’s repeated provocative acts absolutely cannot be accepted.”

US and South Korean military officials were discussing military options last night.

Marine General Joseph Dunford was joined by the Admiral Harry Harris, Commander of US Pacific Command, when they called General Lee Sun-jin, chairman of the South Korean Joint Chief of Staff.

“During the call Dunford and Harris expressed the ironclad commitment to the US-Republic of Korea alliance. The three leaders also discussed military response options,” said Captain Greg Hicks, a spokesman for Gen Dunford.

While the Pentagon has long planned for the possibility of conflict with North Korea, the blunt language in the statement marked a departure from previous public reactions to missile tests.

The Pentagon, which earlier this week warned that North Korea could have a nuclear-enabled ICBM as early as next year, said it detected the launch almost immediately.

Donald Trump’s administration has said that the period of ‘strategic patience’ towards North Korea is over,

US officials have also expressed growing frustration with Beijing for not doing more to pressure its neighbour to rein in its military ambitions.

Britain and Australia this week joined the US in calling for China to exert more pressure on Pyongyang.

However, China says it has little leverage over leaders in Pyongyang, and regularly calls on the US and South Korea to halt military drills in the region as a means of diffusing tensions.

Reports this week suggest that Beijing is preparing for a potential crisis along its shared border with North Korea by building bunkers for civilians and realigning forces in the region.

The US and China earlier this week said they are making progress on a new UN resolution that would impose additional sanctions against North Korea in response to the ICBM launch.

The rogue state is already under tough UN sanctions which have been enforced since it carried out its first of five nuclear tests in 2006.

-Telegraph.co.uk

Police conduct terror raids across Sydney

By
Kaniva Staff
-

A major counter terror operation is underway with a series of raids being conducted across Sydney.

The NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team has raided properties at Surry Hills, Lakemba, Wiley Park and Punchbowl late on Saturday.

‘This activity relates to an ongoing investigation. The safety of the community and police members are the primary consideration during this activity,’ a police spokesman said.

The raid in Sydney’s Surry Hills resulted in Cleveland Street being blocked in both directoins.

More to come…

With AAP.

Queen’s dance group will perform lakalaka at festival in Hawaiʻi

By
Kaniva Staff
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A Tongan dance group organised by Her Majesty Queen Nanasipau’u will perform next week at the  Pacific Dance Festival in Hawai’i.

The group comes from King Tupou VI’s home, Kanokupolu, and dancers will be in Hawaii on 1 August with the Queen.

The group will perform lakalaka, a dance with sung speeches and choreographed movements.

Lakalaka has been designated part of the heritage of humanity by UNESCO.

Performances are being held at the University of Hawai’i’s Manoa campus.

The costumes for the group were designed by Paia Siale, whoe husband Kotoni is a punake, a teacher of Tongan dance.

Tongan academic Adrienne Kaeppler, who is curator of Oceanic Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution, said dance in Tonga was a highly respected tradition practiced by everybody, including those of highest rank.

She told Hawai’ian Public Radio that Tongan dance was first recorded by Westerners during the second and third voyages of Captain James Cook.

Kaeppler said Christian missionaries tried unsuccessfully to abolish dancing.  Though Christianity was adopted widely, dancing remained a part of village life.

The main points

  • A Tongan dance group organised by Her Majesty Queen Nanasipau’u will perform next week at the Pacific Dance Festival in Hawai’i.
  • The group comes from King Tupou VI’s home, Kanokupolu.
  • The group will perform lakalaka, a dance with sung speeches and choreographed movements.

For more information 

The Queen of Tonga’s Dancers Take Honolulu

Exhibits in drug trial have been lost; accused convicted of illegal possession and bribery

By
Kalino Latu
-

The trial of a man convicted of possession of illegal drug and bribery has heard that exhibits in the case had been lost.

Nausaimone Kitekei’aho, 52, of Popua had been convicted of possession of illicit drugs contrary to section 4 (a) (b ) (ii) of the Illicit Drugs Control Act 2003.

He was also convicted for bribery of a member of the Tongan police contrary to section 165(1) of the Tongan Police Act 2010.

As Kaniva News reported, Police Sergeant Sāteki Tu’utafaiva and other Police officers were executing a search warrant in Popua on 24 November 2014.

They seized an amount of cannabis “about half an onion sack” and took photographs of it. They were then taken and stored at the Police station as exhibits.

But the court was told the material had been lost during the refurbishment of the Police station when exhibits were removed to the Longolongo Police station.

Kitekei’aho’s lawyer argued that although the evidence indicated that photographs  had been taken of the cannabis and the cannabis had been seized and weighed, neither photographs nor drugs had been produced in evidence.

However Justice Charles Cato said he was “satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the· Crown has proven the essential elements of the offending involving the accused being in possession of cannabis, the weight of which in the indictment I accept was 3,800  grams  or  134 ounces, which is a large amount of cannabis in Tonga.”

Mr. Cato said he was also satisfied beyond any reasonable doubt that the material was taken into custody weighed and sampled and identified by expert evidence as cannabis or marijuana, an illicit drug.

“I am satisfied that at all material times beyond a reasonable doubt that  the accused  had  custody and control  of the drug, that is possession of it, and that he identified  it  as cannabis”, Mr Cato said.

The court was told that during the search Kitekei’aho had asked Sergeant Tu’utafaiva if they could have a moment to talk.

He offered Tuʻutafaiva $2000.00 and asked him not to search the house.

“Tu’utafaiva asked the accused what he meant and he said the thing is in the room”.

Tu’utafaiva told the court that a door to the room was open and there was a black plastic  bag under the bed.

“The accused told Tu’utafaiva that there was marijuana under the bed”.

Tu’utafaiva declined the offer and told Kitekei’aho that “he would be charged with possession of illicit drugs”.

Kitekeiʻaho denied he attempted to bribe Tuʻutafaiva saying he admitted it when he was interviewed to satisfy his mother because she was sick but Mr Cato did not buy it.

“Accordingly, I convict the accused on one count of possession of illicit drugs contrary to section 4 (a) (b ) (ii) of the Illicit Drugs Control Act 2003, and the second, bribery of a member of the Tongan police contrary to section 165(1) of the Tongan Police Act 2010”, Mr Cato said.

Criminal cops face investigation as Commissioner, Minister, take tough stand

By
Philip Cass
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 Tongan Police Commissioner Stephen Caldwell said this week he would not have the reputation of good police officers sullied by the actions of a few.

The Tonga Police Professional Standards Unit is conducting 16 criminal investigations against Police officers and 38 disciplinary investigations are underway.

As Kaniva News reported earlier this week, nine police officers have been suspended from the police force, eight of them in the month of June.

“I have set standards and expect them to be met,” Commissioner Caldwell said.

“The public rightly expect the highest levels of professionalism and ethical behaviour from their Police.

“There is absolutely zero tolerance for unlawful and ill-disciplined behavior. Every police officer is accountable to the law, not above it.”

And the Commissioner was backed up by the Minister of Police, Māteni Tapueluelu, who told a recent Police Recruit graduation ceremony told the Recruits: “Your integrity is not for sale.”

Of the nine officers suspended, one is a senior officer, six are senior constables and two are probationary constables.

In the past five years 12 officers have been sacked for serious misconduct or loss of confidence in their performance.

In the same period five police officers were convicted in the Supreme Court of serious criminal offences.

The Professional Standards Unit staff was recently increased to 13 with the addition of four new officers.

North Korea pledges to wage WAR against the United States TODAY

By
Kaniva Staff
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By SOFIA PETKAR

The anniversary has led to increased concerns the regime is planning another test to fire another intercontinental ballistic missile, believed to be capable of reaching the US mainland.

With tensions escalating, it is feared North Korea could turn on neighbouring South Korea, following warnings from Kim Jong-un’s regime that it is ready to strike “without warning or prior notice”.

North Korea is notorious for marking key events in its history with missile launches or similar acts of aggression.

The most recent warning was issued by one of Kim Jong-un’s key generals, who called on the North Korean military to “wage dynamic struggle to bring final victory” on July 27.

Pak Yong-sik, the minister of North Korea’s armed forces, carried on the threats and called for a nuclear strike on the United States – even if Washington does not attack first.

He said: “If enemies misunderstand our strategic status and stick to options of staging a pre-emptive nuclear attack against us, we will launch a nuclear attack on America’s heart as the most relentless punishment without warning or prior notice.”

The Korean War, in which the US fought alongside South Korea and China with the North, ended in a truce that has yet to be replaced by a peace agreement and has left the two sides technically at war.In recent days transporter vehicles carrying equipment used for firing ballistic missiles have been seen arriving in Kusong province.

Kusong has been the site of North Korean missile tests in the past, including one held in May.

That test saw a KN-17 intermediate range missile travel almost 500 miles before splashing down in the Sea of Japan/East Sea, hitting the water about 60 miles from Vladivostok in eastern Russia, according to US officials.

Pyongyang, in its last major missile test, launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4 – American Independence Day.The alert comes after officers from North Korea’s armed forces all participated in an oath ceremony on Tuesday, pledging to fight the US.

Last week CIA director Mike Pompeo said the Trump administration needed to find a way to separate Kim Jong-un from his growing nuclear stockpile.

Mr Pompeo said: “As for the regime, I am hopeful we will find a way to separate that regime from this system.

“The North Korean people I’m sure are lovely people and would love to see him go.”

North Korean state media Korean Central News Agency hit back, with a spokesman from the North Korean Foreign Ministry, saying: “The DPRK legally stipulates that if the supreme dignity of the DPRK is threatened, it must preemptively annihilate those countries and entities that are directly or indirectly involved in it, by mobilising all kinds of strike means including the nuclear ones.

“Should the US dare to show even the slightest sign of attempt to remove our supreme leadership, we will strike a merciless blow at the heart of the US with our powerful nuclear hammer, honed and hardened over time.”

-express

Two men shot in Vavaʻu, one remains in hospital in stable condition

By
Kalino Latu
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One of the two men who were injured in a shooting in Vavaʻu Saturday 22 remained in hospital, a Ministry of Health spokesperson has confirmed.

The man is now in a stable condition at Vaiola hospital after he and a co-worker were shot in the legs in Neiafu.

Two Tonga Power employees were allegedly shot by a person staying overseas, the spokesperson said.

The victims were from Tongatapu but they went to Vavaʻu to work on a project.

Police could not be reached for comments.

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