New Zealand Maori king refuses to meet Prince William

New Zealand Maori king refuses to meet Prince William
Australia to get hotter and bushfire season longer
Many programmes in store for New Zealand Week 2014
Android tops as tablets go mainstream
Oscar telecast ratings ‘hit 10-year-high’
Royal Family Graces CNY Celebration at ICC

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 07:15 PM PST

New Zealand's Maori king has refused to meet Prince William during a royal tour next month, Prime Minister John Key said Tuesday, expressing disappointment at the snub.

Key said Kensington Palace had hoped Prince William would visit King Tuheitia at the Turangawaewae marae, or meeting place, during his April 7-16 trip to New Zealand with wife Catherine and baby son Prince George.

But he said King Tuheitia's office rejected the offer, arguing the 90 minutes allotted for the visit to the Maori leader's base in the North Island was not long enough for proper protocols to be observed.

Key said 90 minutes was a "quite generous" amount of time, given the royals' busy schedule, and it was a shame the visit would not go ahead.

"It's rather disappointing because I think Prince William would have enjoyed going to Turangawaewae," he told TV3.

"But it was King Tuheitia's people who said 90 minutes is not long enough. If you look at (the royals') programme, there are very few places where they're there for an hour, let alone 90 minutes.

"Of course he has to travel, he has to fit different things in. So in the end King Tuheitia's people said 'If you can't make it longer than 90 minutes then don't come' — so they're not coming."

King Tuheitia is descended from the first Maori King Potatau Te Wherowhero, who was appointed in 1858 by various North Island tribes which wanted a single figure to represent them in the way that Queen Victoria was felt to represent New Zealand's white settlers.

The position does not have any constitutional status or legal powers in New Zealand but carries great symbolic importance for some Maori.

The current king worked as a truck driver before his coronation in 2006.

The British royal couple will base themselves in Wellington and tour extensively through New Zealand, before visiting Australia April 16-25. -AFP

Australia to get hotter and bushfire season longer

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 06:25 PM PST

Australia will suffer more days of extreme heat and a longer bushfire season as greenhouse gases force temperatures to continue rising, a new report warned Tuesday.

The joint study by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the Bureau of Meteorology said temperatures across Australia were, on average, almost 1.0 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than a century ago.

Seven of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1998 while over the past 15 years the frequency of very hot months has increased five-fold, it said.

The scenario was starkly illustrated in 2013, which was Australia's hottest year since records began in 1910 and included a prolonged national heatwave.

Megan Clark, chief executive of the CSIRO, Australia's peak science body, said the country has warmed in every state and territory and in every season.

"Australia has one of the most variable climates in the world. Against this backdrop, across the decades, we're continuing to see increasing temperatures, warmer oceans, changes to when and where rain falls and higher sea levels," Clark said.

"The sea-surface temperatures have warmed by 0.9 C since 1900 and greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise."

Australia is routinely hit by bushfires during its December-February summer months, with hot windy conditions again fanning hundreds of blazes this season with dozens of homes destroyed.

The report said it would only get worse.

"A further increase in the number of extreme fire-weather days is expected in southern and eastern Australia, with a longer fire season in these regions," it said of areas devastated by fires this year.

It also forecast less rainfall in southern Australia and more severe droughts in a grim warning for farmers.

The report, released every two years, added that tropical cyclones were projected to decrease in number but increase in intensity, while rising seas levels would cause more problems for coastal dwellers.

The report said Australian temperatures could rise by 1.0 to 2.5 C by 2070, compared to 1980 to 1999, depending on the level of greenhouse gas emissions.

While cutting global emissions would be crucial to preventing the worst global warming has in store, that alone would not be enough, the agencies warned.

"Adaptation is required because some warming and associated changes are unavoidable," it said. -AFP

Many programmes in store for New Zealand Week 2014

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 06:20 PM PST

KUCHING: An array of activities have been planned for the coming New Zealand (NZ) Week 2014, The Star reported.

The event, a collaboration between New Zealand High Commission in Kuala Lumpur and local New Zealand committee members, will highlight the special relationaship between the Pacific nation and Sarawak.

The "Kiwi Invasion" will begin with the arrival of a group from Maori Arts and Crafts Institute next Tuesday, which comprises 13 students and instruction who will be staying here 12 days.

First on their agenda will be to set up an exhibition of Maori arts and craft at Sarawak Museum Art Gallery, with the official unveilling scheduled on March 17.

The delegates will also be working on a carving on a 16 foot long belian (local iron-wood) as commissioned by pre-eminent New Zealand alumnus, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, a graduate of Lincoln University.

The project will be conducted at Galleria in Rubber Road West under the supervision of local carvers Melton Kais and Henry Muda.

The New Zealand will also be performing at The Spring Shopping Mall as sidelines to New Zealand Food and Beverage Expo, beginning March 20.

Also going on the week will be a touch rugby tournemenet, the "Mad Hat Waterfront Walk" and "Kiwi Dreams" dinner, featuring Kiwi dance sensations "J Geeks".

The main delegation, led by Maori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples, will arrive on March 21. Comprising leading businessmen, they will engage in business matching sessions with local players. For more information of NZ Week 2014, call Brangka Munan at 0111-605 3617 or email nzweek2014@gmail.com.

Android tops as tablets go mainstream

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 05:10 PM PST

Tablet computer sales soared last year with Android-powered devices dethroning iPads atop a booming global market, according to figures released Monday by Gartner.

Sales of tablet computers surged to 195.4 million last year in a 68 percent jump from what was seen in 2012, the industry tracker reported.

The raw number of iPads sold climbed more than nine million to a total of 70.4 million.

Meanwhile, the portion of sales grabbed by tablets running on Google-back Android rose to 61.9 percent last year from 45.8 percent in 2012, according to Gartner.

"In 2013, tablets became a mainstream phenomenon, with a vast choice of Android-based tablets being within the budget of mainstream consumers while still offering adequate specifications," Gartner research director Roberta Cozza said in a release.

Apple continues to rule the high-end of the market with iPads, but low-cost Android tablets appeal to buyers with slim budgets in emerging markets, according to Gartner.

California-based Apple's compelling "ecosystem" of music, games, films, and other digital content and services for mobile devices has rivals under pressure to provide similar experiences on tablets, Cozza said.

Apple remained the top tablet seller, but sales of Android devices by second-place Samsung more than quadrupled last year to 37.4 million, according to Gartner.

Microsoft sold slightly more than four million Windows-powered tablets in a jump from the prior year, but remained far behind the market leaders. -AFP

Oscar telecast ratings ‘hit 10-year-high’

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 05:09 PM PST

Oscars telecast ratings hit a 10-year high, preliminary data showed Monday, as Ellen DeGeneres won plaudits for her slick hosting of Hollywood's biggest night — and broke a Twitter record.

The 86th Academy Awards were seen by 43 million Americans Sunday, drawing the biggest audience of any entertainment program since the finale of hit sitcom "Friends" in May 2004, according to estimates by ratings service Nielsen.

The three-and-a-half-hour show averaged a 12.9 rating for adults aged 18-48, according to the preliminary figures cited by ABC, the Oscars broadcaster.

DeGeneres, hosting the Oscars for the second time — seven years after her first turn — ordered pizza, took a star-studded selfie and poked fun at her audience at Hollywood's biggest night of the year.

Following in the footsteps of celebrated Oscars hosts such as Billy Crystal and Bob Hope, the 56-year-old mixed wry, deadpan humor and cracked jokes at the expense of her A-list audience.

Her celebrity selfie with stars including Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence had nearly 100,000 retweets within five minutes, and over 2.8 million by Monday morning.

The show's ratings were up some six percent from last year's show, hosted by comic Seth MacFarlane, who was accused of bad taste in some of his jokes.

- 'Better host, better show' -

While reviews overall were mixed, many critics lavished praise on DeGeneres, in particular for the way she spent much of the evening among the audience, rather than on stage.

"The show was trim, fleet, elegant, and organic, with few unnecessary bells and whistles; almost everything in it seemed to have a purpose," said Entertainment Weekly.

"Her real achievement, though, was to make the prospect of an Oscar host roaming through — and interacting with — the celebrity audience feel, for the first time, like a relaxed, fun, and totally natural thing to do."

USA Today contrasted her performance with MacFarlane last year, saying producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan had learned a lesson.

"Choose a better host, you get a better show. Choose a really good host, as DeGeneres proved to be Sunday, and you get the best Oscar broadcast since, well, the last time she hosted," the newspaper wrote.

But not everyone was convinced.

"This year's Oscars was more like an endurance test — turgid, badly directed, poorly produced and featuring an endless string of tired or wince-inducing moments from host Ellen DeGeneres," said the Hollywood Reporter.

The show's ratings increased for the third year in a row, while its share of 18-34 year-old viewers was a seven-year high, and of teenagers (12-17) was a three-year high.

The most-watched Oscars show ever was in 1998, when 55.3 million people watched "Titanic" win 11 Academy Awards including best picture as Crystal hosted, according to the Los Angeles Times.

This year's Oscars blasted Hollywood's other main awards shows: the Golden Globes in January were watched by 22.1 million people and the Grammys by 14.5 million, according to the Nielsen figures cited by ABC.

Harrowing historical drama "12 Years a Slave" won best picture at the Oscars, while 3D space thriller "Gravity" took seven prizes including best director for Mexico's Alfonso Cuaron.

Matthew McConaughey took best actor for true-life AIDS activist drama "Dallas Buyers Club," while Cate Blanchett won best actress for her turn in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine." -AFP

Royal Family Graces CNY Celebration at ICC

Posted: 03 Mar 2014 05:05 PM PST

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: His Majesty the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and the Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, Her Majesty Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha and members of the royal family yesterday celebrated the belated 2014 Chinese New Year with members of Chinese community at International Convention Center (ICC) in Berakas, ©BRUDIRECT.COM reported.

Also present were His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office and Her Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pengiran Anak Isteri Pengiran Anak Sarah, His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah and Yang Amat Mulia Pengiran Bini Anak Faizah Dato Hj Nasir, His Royal Highness Prince 'Abdul Malik, Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Amal Umi Kalthum Al-Islam and other members of the royal family.

Wushu performance and various other traditional Chinese cultural elements were showcased at the prestigious celebration. The Chinese Drum Dance was performed by students of Chung Hwa Middle School (CHMS), Bandar Seri Begawan.

The night also saw a special appearance by Faustina Woo Wai Sii and Lee Ying Shi, both of whom won the gold medals in the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar 2013. They were led by their master Lee Hui.

The festivity concluded with mass singing of two songs including one which was dedicated to the Chinese New Year.

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