NEW ZEALAND – Rare paintings are missing, feared stolen, from a Maori trust board in Waikato.

It’s understood several paintings were taken from the Te Kuiti boardroom of the Ngati Maniapoto Trust in the daytime when staff were present, Radio New Zealand has reported.

The boardroom is home to prized paintings of rangatira, including portraits of one of the country’s most admired weavers, Dame Rangimarie Hetet, and the former Ngati Maniapoto leader Pei Te Hurinui Jones.

Trust chairman Keith Ikin said they were trying to make sense of who might have taken the artworks and why.

It’s not yet known exactly which paintings have been taken, but the board wanted to contact the whanau of the rangatira as soon as possible to tell them of the theft.

Ikin said everyone was devastated their tupuna had gone missing and they were trying to establish whether the artworks were bought or gifted. - RNZI

Fiji honours its Rio sevens heroes

FIJI – Fiji came to a standstill on Monday as Fijians celebrated a national holiday to mark the return of the victorious rugby sevens squad from Rio.

Thousands of fans packed the ANZ Stadium in Suva where the players, wearing their gold medals round their necks, were introduced to the ecstatic crowd as “the greatest rugby sevens team in the world”.

Fiji’s 43-7 trouncing of Great Britain in the sevens final at Rio delivered the South Pacific island nation its first ever Olympic medal.

“We won not because the boys were carrying the hopes of Fiji on their shoulders, but because the boys were on the shoulders of every Fijian,” coach Ben Ryan declared.

Captain Osea Kolinisau said he found the outpouring of emotion overwhelming, telling journalists: “We knew it was going to be crazy but not this crazy”.

Coach Ryan told how he recieved a text message from US astronaut Buzz Aldrin after the final to say how great Fiji had played.

He said the players were relaxed, laughing and singing before the biggest match in the history of rugby sevens and when that happened he knew they would be relaxed and ruthless on the field.

“And that moment when I watched them run out, I realised why we were going to win that final – because it wasn’t seven players running out. The pressure wasn’t on their shoulders, the boys were on the shoulders of every Fijian in this island.

‘This is the nation’s team, this is the reason why they’ve won gold. It’s got nothing to do with anybody with ginger hair from England – it’s got everything to do with the boys in Fiji.”

The electric atmosphere at the ANZ Stadium coupled with entertainment such as meke, hula and singing by the members of the Fiji Corrections band kept the crowd on its feet.

In pouring rain Fiji’s President Jioji Konrote officially welcomed the team into the stadium saying their homecoming was a blessing to the nation.

“We have been showered with gold as our rugby sevens team brings home the first medals that Fiji has ever won at a summer Olympics. To Coach Ben, Team Captain Osea, the rest of the players and all those who have been part of this magnificent effort, I want to say this to you on the nation’s behalf.”

The president then awarded medals of honour to the players and their coach, Ben Ryan, who was awarded the highest category in Fiji’s system of honours – the Companion of the Order of Fiji.

They were also given $30,000 each.

The Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama said the Olympic win encouraged every Fijian to work together to fulfil Fiji’s destiny.

“This gold medal win in Rio has given us all the incentive to try even harder to build the new Fiji. It has fired the imagination of every Fijian about what is possible with teamwork. That’s what Osea and the boys did on that brilliant Friday – inspired us to be a better nation.”

He said the country should act as a beacon for the rest of the Pacific and thanked Ryan and the players for confirming that it was possible for a small nation to achieve greatness.

- PNC sources