New Zealand police prepared for an all-night siege yesterday as a 57-year-old Slovak man threatening to blow himself up because his student visa was canceled refused to surrender after an 11-hour stand-off.
The center of the North Island port city of Tauranga remained cordoned off as the man, who claims to have a bomb, remained holed up in a luxury hotel and continuing to demand to speak to Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Police brought in reinforcements to relieve officers who had been manning a cordon since shortly after 11am, when the man entered the Devonport Towers Hotel with a backpack and two large suitcases, Radio New Zealand reported.
Desperate to stay
A hotel worker told reporters the man was upset that Clark and officials had not replied to his letters about the loss of his visa.
A former roommate said that he was desperate to stay in New Zealand.
Shops and offices in the center of the city were evacuated as police negotiated with the man, who the TV3 channel said had been studying at a South Island cult college run by a Chinese woman psychic that had its official accreditation taken away.
Clark, who was busy campaigning in Auckland ahead of tomorrow's general election, was briefed on the situation.
Sit out the drama
Police, who admitted they did not know if the man did have a bomb but said they were taking the situation seriously, were prepared to sit out the drama all night in the hope he would give himself up without anyone being hurt, Radio New Zealand reported.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS