Student Troubles – Northern Ireland – ACC – Nato and Russia – GE Moratorium
STUDENT TROUBLES: The Minister of Social Services is worried that the CEO of Winz has not come forward to explain why
her department has had problems with the student loans. Steve Maharey says Christine Rankin needs to explain what is
going
NORTHERN IRELAND: Northern Ireland’s political parties have finished a crisis meeting with Tony Blair without making any
progress. David Trimble is blaming the republicans. Jerry Adams is blaming the British Government.
ACC: A union with 60,000 workers says its workers have experienced no improvement in work safety as a result of
privatisation in ACC. The Engineers Union says that rather emloyers have introduced incentive schemes to report work
accidents as non-work accidents.
NATO: NATO has thawed its relationship with Russia following a visit by NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson to Moscow.
We have moved from from “permafrost to slightly softer ground”, he says,though they still have disagreements over
Chechnya.
GE MORATORIUM: The head of a proposed experiment in genetic engineering says years of genetic research is at risk if New
Zealand imposes a moratorium on field trials. AgResearch says it wants to make a “meatier” sheep without a gene which
inhibits muscle growth.