WELLINGTON, June 14 (Xinhua) — The number of confirmed cases of influenza A/H1N1 in New Zealand rose to 71 on Sunday, up from 43 on Saturday, the Health Ministry said.

Included the confirmed cases were five children from a Christchurch preschool and a police recruit.

Also among those confirmed as infected was a Year 12 student from Auckland’s Westlake Girls High Student. Another 10 students at the school were suspected of having the flu.

All Year 12 students from Westlake Girls High School have the week off school

A group of 41 tourists in Hokitika had also been quarantined following concerns they had contracted the flu.

With the disease starting to spread beyond those who caught it through overseas contact, the Health Ministry said people must be prepared to recognize its symptoms and stay home if they are sick.

Health Minister Tony Ryall said on Sunday that there is no reason for alarm and that more cases are to be expected.

He said the health authorities have been planning for community transmission of the virus and will be able to cope with an expected rise in cases in the coming days.

He added that it’s the same pattern as in Australia.

“We are working to contain the spread as much as possible. This is a rapidly changing situation with cases increasing exponentially both here and in many states of Australia,” he said.

Deputy Director of Public Health Darren Hunt said that for most people, this flu is mild and they recover quickly at home without having to visit their doctor.

But those with previous medical conditions or whose symptoms are worsening should seek medical advice, he warned.

Hunt said that although community transmission had been expected and came as no surprise to authorities, it was the first indication of what is likely to be the much wider spread of the flu.

The danger of the flu was in its rapid spread, and the wider population had no immunity because it was a new strain.

Hunt noted that the number of cases in Australia skyrocketed from zero to more than 1,000 in as little as two weeks, a startling indication of its virulence.

Officials of the Health Ministry predict New Zealand may see more than 2 million infections over the next two years, but their estimates vary greatly from 20 percent to 60 percent infection rates.

On Saturday, the New Zealand health authorities were still focusing on containing the virus. But, as it spreads, the focus could move towards mitigating outbreaks in the community and treating serious cases, Hunt said.

“When we see wider community spread, and an increased number of cases, it won’t be possible to swab and test everyone. When that happens local health authorities will focus messages on the general public, not just recently returned travelers. People need to continue to think about how they can look after themselves at home if they get sick.”

That meant stocking up on food, water and supplies in case of several days’ quarantine, he added.

The latest World Health Organization figures on Saturday showed 74 countries had officially reported 29,669 cases of A/H1N1 flu, including 145 deaths.

Teenager Wayne Parnell continued South Africa’s surge towards the World Twenty20 semifinals with a four-wicket haul in their 20-run victory over West Indies at The Oval on Saturday.

Wayne Parnell celebrates one of his wickets as South Africa proved too strong for the West Indies.

Parnell, 19, took wickets at both ends of West Indies’ run chase to finish with figures of 4-0-13-4, after South Africa reached a challenging 183-7 in their innings.

It meant South Africa have one foot in the final four after two wins from two in Group E of the Super Eights stage.

Set a challenging 184-run target, the West Indians were set back by the loss of openers Chris Gayle and Andre Fletcher, the slayers of Australia on the same ground, in the opening four overs.

Parnell’s initial two-over burst of two for three was followed by the removal of Kieron Pollard and Jerome Taylor at the death.

By that time the result was never in question, only the margin of victory for tournament favorites South Africa, as the West Indies finished on 163-9.

West Indies, who threw Group E, which also includes England, wide open by beating holders India on Friday evening, opted to bowl first but failed to break South Africa’s experienced opening duo early on.

Graeme Smith’s dismissal for a speedy 31 was the only success in the first half of their innings. Herschelle Gibbs then smashed 55 from 35 balls — including eight fours and a six — while team-mate Jacques Kallis hit 45 in an impressive batting display.

Meanwhile, Umar Gul’s five-star display kept Pakistan in the competition as New Zealand were steamrollered in the second match.

The paceman became the first bowler to claim five wickets in a 20-over international with a stunning spell as the Black Caps were skittled out for just 99 in Group F.

Having been thrown the ball with New Zealand already wobbling on 72 for four, Gul removed Scott Styris and Peter McGlashan in his first over on his way to remarkable figures of five for six.

Shahzaib Hasan then hit 35 as Pakistan duly knocked off the runs to secure victory by six wickets and, with Ireland left to play in the Super Eights, give themselves an excellent chance of reaching the semifinals.

Substitute James Hook scored a late long-range penalty to preserve the British and Irish Lions’ winning run in South Africa with a 26-23 victory over Western Province in Cape Town.

Hook fires home the late penalty that made it five wins from five for the Lions in South Africa.

Wales back Hook struck from 50 meters with four minutes left to halt the home side’s fightback.

The Lions looked in control at 18-9 ahead after tries from man-of-the-match Tommy Bowe and his fellow-wing Ugo Monye.

But Western Province kept plugging away as full-back Joe Pietersen’s try set up a tense finish.

Pietersen had earlier dropped a goal, as did fly-half Willem de Waal, who also kicked four penalties, yet the Lions did just enough to make it five wins from five a week before the first Test against world champions South Africa.

Flanker Martyn Williams also added a try, while two Stephen Jones penalties and a conversion contributed towards the victory.

Meanwhile, France ended 15 years of heartache on New Zealand soil with a surprise 27-22 victory against the All Blacks in the first Test in Dunedin.

It was just their fourth win since their first visit in 1961 and comes 20 months after France bundled the same opponents out of the World Cup in Cardiff.

The French showed no mercy against an inexperienced New Zealand side shorn of many of their leading stars and will now be confident of securing a series win in the second Test in Wellington next weekend.

Elsewhere, a James O’Connor hat-trick inspired Australia to a comfortable 31-8 victory over Italy in freezing conditions in Canberra.

Teenage winger O’Connor crossed twice in the opening half-hour as the hosts built up a commanding 17-3 advantage before the break.

The Wallabies suffered an early setback when Kaine Robertson scored the visitors’ only try in the 43rd minute, but they reasserted their dominance when Stirling Mortlock barged over with half an hour to play.

And when their 18-year-old prodigy crossed for his third 10 minutes later, victory was assured for the hosts to the delight of the 22,468 supporters who braved the icy temperatures.

Venezuela has promised to give Nicaragua $50 million to replace money that the United States said this week it would withhold from the Central American country, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega Saavedra said Saturday.

Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega expressed disappointment in U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez promised the aid after Ortega learned that the United States was canceling $62 million of aid that was to have come from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S.-government-funded anti-poverty fund set up by former President George W. Bush.

Ortega expressed disappointment in President Barack Obama for the decision. “He expresses good will, but in practice, he has the same policies as President Reagan,” Ortega told a crowd of supporters in Managua’s Plaza of the Revolution.

In 1982, then-President Reagan supported funding the contras, the forces opposed to Ortega and his socialist Sandinista Party, which had come to power after overthrowing the U.S.-backed Anastasio Somoza in 1979.

Ortega called this week’s decision not to follow through on the payment “disrespectful.”

“The United States had given its word to the people of Nicaragua and in particular to the people of the cities involved in the program,” he said.

Wednesday’s decision to cut the funds altogether came after the United States announced last November that it was suspending aid to Managua in the wake of what it said were fraudulent municipal elections.

Ortega, whose party members won most of the mayoralties, disputed that.

And he warned his U.S. counterpart that the world has changed since the United States funded the contras. “He is the first to know that the United States of today is not the United States of 20, 30, 40 years ago,” Ortega said. “Today, the United States cannot do whatever it wants in the world. It doesn’t have the moral force, even though it may have the material force to do it. They have even lost the support of the U.S. people.”

Still chafing over his loss to Violeta Chamorro, who replaced him as president in 1990, Ortega said those were the elections that were fraudulent. He said President George H. W. Bush affected the outcome by telling the Nicaraguans, “If you vote for the [Sandinista] front, the war is going to continue; if you vote for the enemies of the front, go in peace.’ That was the promise that Bush made.”

He described that pact as “a big lie, since the peace was already coming. We, the Nicaraguans, were making peace.”

What Bush then wanted, Ortega said, was war throughout Central America. “He fed the war in Guatemala, he fed the war in El Salvador, he fed the war in Nicaragua,” Ortega said.

Ortega described the three U.S.-backed governments that ruled Nicaragua from 1990 until 2007 — when he reclaimed power — as anti-democratic. “They robbed the people of the right to health, the right to education, the right to decent housing,” he said.

“They privatized energy industry, the telecommunications industry, the businesses of the workers — those were nothing more than acts of corruption.”

And he said that the $62 million would have been used to build 12 highways, not to support his government.

But work that has begun on two of the roads will be completed, said Rodney Bent, deputy CEO for the Millennium Challenge Corporation in an interview Friday with CNN en Espanol.

He denied any suggestion that the money was being used for political ends rather than simply to alleviate poverty.

“That’s totally false,” Bent said, adding that his corporation’s funds are doled out regardless of a government’s leftist, centrist or conservative policies.

“We want a clean government,” he said, adding that because the elections were not clean, “we had to act.”

U.S. military commanders in the Middle East were sent a message reminding American forces to maintain discipline and prudence if they encounter any Iranian military forces during potential unrest surrounding Iran’s presidential election, CNN has learned.

An incident involving Iranian speed boats and U.S. warships raised maritime tensions in 2008.

This so far is the only acknowledged U.S. military reaction to the unfolding situation in Iran.

Two U.S. defense officials with direct knowledge of the highly classified message confirmed the details to CNN but said the issue is so sensitive that they could not divulge whose signature was on the message. It was distributed via secure communications in recent days. The officials talked with CNN on condition they not be identified.

Both underscored that the message is not an indication U.S. forces are at any higher state of alert. However, the U.S. military is extremely concerned, they said, that given unrest in Iran, any encounter between U.S. and Iranian units could inadvertently escalate.

The message is mainly directed at U.S. naval forces in the Persian Gulf that regularly encounter Iranian naval forces in those waters.

“We are watching, and ensuring disciplined restraint on the part of our naval forces,” one official told CNN. The U.S. military’s concern is that Iranian naval forces could engage in some activity in the Gulf waters that could be a “triggering event,” that U.S. forces might been compelled to react to.

The second official said there is also great concern that Iran not misunderstand this message calling for restraint, and think the United States is lowering its guard.

U.S. military concerns are taking into account “heightened Iranian sensitivity and maybe even fear for potential internal and external security threats,” one official said.

He said that U.S. forces “have been prudently reminded to view any Iranian actions during this time from that perspective and that we should remain diligent and disciplined in all circumstances.”

One reason for the concern is what the U.S. military views as undisciplined command and control of some Iranian naval units, especially those manned by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In January 2008, several U.S. Navy warships in the Persian Gulf were harassed by small Iranian speed boats, raising maritime tensions between the two countries. The U.S. Navy acknowledged in that incident it came within seconds of firing on the Iranians.

Israeli forces said they targeted two smuggling tunnels in Gaza on Sunday in response to rocket and mortar attacks in southern Israel.

The raid comes after a Qassam rocket attack Saturday that was fired into Israel from the town of Rafah, the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement. No damage or casualties were reported.

Qassam rockets are homemade projectiles that have been fired into communities in southern Israel for years. While crudely made, militants have made efforts to improve the weapon’s technology.

Israel routinely targets the tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, which it says are being used by Gaza’s Hamas leadership to smuggle weapons into the Palestinian territory.

Palestinians claim the tunnels are necessary to get basic food supplies that are not available in Gaza.

Israel warned Sunday that the apparent re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad represented “an intensification of the Iranian threat,” and called for redoubled international efforts to halt its nuclear program.

The presidential election results gave Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a resounding victory.

“After Ahmadinejad’s re-election, the international community must continue to act uncompromisingly to prevent the nuclearization of Iran, and to halt its activity in support of terror organizations and undermining stability in the Middle East,” Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said.

His deputy, Danny Ayalon, suggested that even if Ahmadinejad’s reformist rival, Mir Hossein Moussavi, had been declared the winner, Tehran would still pose a threat.

“Israel had no illusions regarding the elections, as on these two issues there was no substantial difference between the candidates,” he said.

Moussavi supporters are protesting the official results in Iran, which gave Ahmadinejad a resounding victory, to the surprise of many analysts who had predicted a Moussavi triumph.

Hamas, the militant Palestinian movement backed by Iran, welcomed the results.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum urged the world to respect Iranian democracy and accept the results of the elections.

Protests were planned Sunday in cities around the world, including London, Paris, New York, Sydney, Berlin, The Hague, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles and Toronto.

About 100 people protested in front of the Iranian Embassy in London on Saturday.

“It was completely unbelievable, especially with the turnout and everything,” said one British protester. “It was obvious from the beginning that it was all rigged.”

“Everyone was sure that … Moussavi was the winner,” said a woman at the demonstration. “People wanted change, people wanted — you know, not democracy in a sense of Western democracy, but the democracy that we were hopeful of.”

Canada’s foreign affairs minister said Saturday he was worried about reports of irregularities in Iran’s election, while the U.S. secretary of state said the United States hoped the outcome reflected the will of Iranians.

“Canada is deeply concerned by reports of voting irregularities in the Iranian election,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon told reporters in Niagara Falls, in Ontario, Canada, where he appeared at a briefing with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“We’re troubled by reports of intimidation of opposition candidates’ offices by security forces,” he said. “We’ve asked our embassy officials in Tehran to closely monitor the situation, and Canada is calling on Iranian authorities to conduct fair and transparent counting of all ballots.”

The White House also issued a statement Saturday, saying it was watching reports of election irregularities.

“We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran but we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide,” Clinton said.

“The United States has refrained from commenting on the election in Iran. We obviously hope that the outcome reflects the genuine will and desire of the Iranian people.”

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration was “impressed by the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians.”

In Washington, about 40 protesters gathered outside the Iranian Interests Section to bring attention to what they say is a stolen election.

“People have gathered here to express their distrust of the government in Iran, which has really turned a very genuine election into a sham, and has basically stolen people’s votes in order to maintain a regime that is seriously not wanted by the Iranian people,” said protester Robert Babeyi.

Babeyi said he moved from Iran to the United States more than 30 years ago, but stands behind those Iranians who he feels have been wronged.

“We are hoping the voices of Iranian-Americans here are heard throughout the world and can express our solidarity for the people of Iran, that we are with them and we understand that they are cheated,” Babeyi said

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday dismissed violent protests against his election victory by comparing voters’ anger to a “football match.”

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed the election as an “example” for the entire world of the people’s will.

“Some people are sentimental and become excited,” he added. “As I said, I compared it to a soccer match. Their team has not won in the match.”

“In the end, I don’t think we’ll have any serious challenges,” he said. “Sentiments are high and sometimes they do some stuff on the streets, but in the end we had 40 million people participating and what is happening on the streets is like a football match.”

In a news conference, Ahmadinejad portrayed his apparent win in Friday’s election as a victory over foreign powers.

“The era of a few countries making decisions for the rest of the world has come to an end,” he said. “Those who want to hamper the progress of the Iranian nation, the Iranian people will resist.” Watch Ahmadinejad say that Iran in ‘the most stable country in the world’ »

Ahmadinejad, the hardline incumbent, defeated reformist rival Mir Hossein Moussavi, a former prime minister, in Friday’s election, according to official results. Opposition supporters claimed ballot fraud.

Riot police fired tear gas and brandished batons to disperse about 100 stone-throwing protesters in central Tehran.

“There was this cat-and-mouse game between the rioters and the police,” said Samson Desta, a CNN producer, who was hit by a police baton. “For the time being, it seems like police have things under control. But we spoke to a lot of students and they’re saying, ‘This is not going to go away. They may stop us now but we will come back and make sure our voices will be heard.’ ”

It was the second day of protests in Tehran. On Saturday, thousands of demonstrators — shouting “Death to the dictatorship” and “We want freedom” — burned police motorcycles, tossed rocks through store windows, and set trash cans on fire.

There were conflicting reports on whether his rival, Moussavi, had been placed under house arrest.

Some reports indicated that he had been detained. Others said he was at home, conducting meetings, but was free to come and go as long as he informed authorities. Guards were stationed outside his house, but it was not immediately clear whether they worked for him or the government.

In other parts of Tehran, the streets were eerily calm with some residents worried that violence may escalate when Ahmadinejad supporters come out for the victory celebration.

“We are all worried about that,” said Yashar Khazdouzian, a student. “People against people is the worst kind of riots in Iran.” Eighty-five percent of the country’s 46 million eligible voters went to the polls Friday — an unprecedented turnout, Iran’s Interior Ministry said.

When the ballots were counted, the government declared Ahmadinejad the winner — with 62.63 percent of the vote. Moussavi, the man many analysts had expected to win, received 33.75 percent.

Moussavi disputed the results, blaming “untrustworthy monitors.” Independent election observers were banned from polling places.

“The results announced for the 10th presidential elections are astonishing,” he said in a statement. “People who stood in long lines and knew well who they voted for were utterly surprised by the magicians working at the television and radio broadcasting.”

Angered by the returns, Moussavi’s supporters took to the streets Saturday. With handkerchiefs and surgical masks shielding them from the pungency of tear gas, they clashed openly with police in a rare challenge to the regime.

Foreign reporters were blocked from covering the demonstration. And the government reportedly shut down access to networking sites, such as Twitter, making it difficult for information to seep out to the outside world.

Iranian authorities closed Al-Arabiya’s Tehran bureau for a week without offering a reason, the Arabic network announced on its Web site Sunday in Arabic and English. Two female reporters were attacked outside Moussavi’s headquarters on Friday, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Immediate reaction around the world was guarded, with the United States and Canada voicing concern over claims of vote irregularities.

“In light of Tehran’s ongoing policy, and even more so after Ahmadinejad’s re-election, the international community must continue to act uncompromisingly to prevent the nuclearization of Iran, and to halt its activity in support of terror organizations and undermining stability in the Middle East,” said Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Ahmadinejad hailed the vote, saying it was a “great ordeal” but one that pointed “the way to the future.”

“The people of Iran inspired hope for all nations and created a source of pride in the nation and disappointed all the ill wishers,” Ahmadinejad said in his television address. “This election was held at a juncture of history.”

Many analysts had expected Moussavi, a former prime minister regarded as a reformist, to defeat Ahmadinejad.

Moussavi is credited with successfully navigating the Iranian economy during a bloody eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s. He also enjoyed tremendous support among the nation’s youth. Iran’s population has a median age of 27.

But Ahmadinejad — despite being blamed for Iran’s economic turmoil over the past four years — maintains staunch support in rural areas.

No matter who won, the ultimate power in Iran still resides with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei lauded the results and urged Iranians to support the re-elected president.

The system was set up after Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979 when the ruling monarchy was overthrown and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was forced into exile.