Kopu Furniture - DNA Botch-Ups - SAS Snatch - TVNZ Grilling - SAS Training - Murdered Letter - Global E - Jobs Stay -
Super Fund Talks - Rugby Hero Dies - Airline Pilot Charged - Warrior Video - Casino In Hamilton - Editorial: Super
Changes
KOPU FURNITURE: Police are investigating the disappearance from Parliament of office furnishings allocated to one-term
MP Alamein Kopu. A complaint was made to Wellington police about three weeks ago by Members' Services, a division of
Parliamentary Services, relating to a list of furnishings missing from Mrs Kopu's former office on the third floor of
the Beehive.
DNA BOTCH-UPS:A string of criminal cases are likely to be appealed after two reports on DNA botch-ups released
yesterday. The two high-powered probes into DNA evidence have raised questions about facilities in forensic science
laboratories and the disclosure of information to defence lawyers.
SAS SNATCH: Hardened former SAS warriors who snatched a Chinese Indonesian business tycoon from years of captivity in a
Javanese village were shocked by the state in which they found him. Johnson Cornelius Lo, who claims to be heir to a
huge financial empire built on sugar and Tiger Balm, is recovering in a secret hideaway in Auckland after being found
wasting away in solitary confinement.
TVNZ GRILLING: Television New Zealand's senior executives will face a grilling by politicians over the Hawkesby affair
and digital television when they appear before the commerce select committee this month. It was made clear last night
that the head of TVOne, Shaun Brown, and the head of news and current affairs, Paul Cutler, would be required to front
up with new chairman Ross Armstrong and chief executive Rick Ellis.
SAS TRAINING: In a nondescript industrial building a stone's throw from Auckland's Lynnmall shopping centre, a band of
ex-SAS soldiers staged a dress rehearsal for a bold hostage rescue in Indonesia. Using a mock-up of a poky room where
Chinese-Indonesian tycoon Johnson Cornelius Lo was held in solitary confinement for five years, they spent a week
practising their moves.
MURDERED LETTER: New Lynn mother Jian Huang - murdered after being followed home by two police officers - had written to
her family in China just days before saying she feared for her life. The letter arrived in Shanghai after her death two
weeks ago - too late for her distraught family to do anything about it.
GLOBAL E: Global-e Investments, the United States-backed company trying to raise $US1 billion ($2.05 billion) from
skeptical investors, extended its high-level networking yesterday with meetings in the Beehive and the Reserve Bank.
Accompanied by a Trade New Zealand official, three key players in the e-commerce venture met the Minister of Finance,
Michael Cullen, and Associate Minister for Industry and Regional Development, Pete Hodgson.
JOBS STAY: Nearly 18 months of anguish over keeping her job turned into tearful delight for Lynne Kitt yesterday, after
the Prime Minister overturned National's closure of Wanganui's Health Benefits. Ms Kitt rushed forward to hug Helen
Clark and Labour's Wanganui MP, Jill Pettis, as her 130 or so workmates applauded the announcement.
SUPER FUND TALKS: National is calling for multi-party talks on the monster super fund outlined by Finance Minister
Michael Cullen this week, but wants other options on the table. The Greens want other options discussed too, and are
miffed that they were not consulted earlier by Labour.
RUGBY HERO DIES: Tales of Albie Pryor's exploits on and off the rugby field flew thick and fast at his tangi in Te Teko
yesterday, but his greatest legacy is still to come. Sporting greats young and old saluted the uncompromising Maori
rugby stalwart who touched thousands of lives in recent years as head of an indigenous sports trust.
AIRLINE PILOT CHARGED: An airline pilot involved in a high-speed fatal car crash continued on to work and co-piloted a
commercial flight out of New Plymouth last year. Hugh Ian Armstrong Scott, aged 32, was yesterday fined $1000 and
disqualified from driving for eight months after admitting a dangerous driving charge.
RODNEY COUNCIL: The troubled Rodney District Council may seek a law change to allow it to carry on with a minder in
place. After a council meeting yesterday, mayor Doug Armstrong said councillors seemed to agree to push for an
independent party to oversee day-to-day business while the council carried on until local body elections next year.
WARRIOR VIDEO: A videotape at the centre of the latest Rainbow Warrior legal battle has been found - if it was ever
missing - and is likely to remain locked up until 2045. Last week Auckland lawyer Colin Amery lost a High Court battle
to obtain footage of two French agents admitting they bombed the Greenpeace vessel, killing photographer Fernando
Pereira.
CASINO IN HAMILTON: Construction has begun on Hamilton's controversial Riverside Casino, despite next month's High Court
appeal from opponents. Heavy machinery was moved in yesterday to start digging foundations and a four-storey-deep car
park on a site behind the Victoria St Post Office.
EDITORIAL: SUPER CHANGES: Continual changes to this country's superannuation policy are doing untold damage not only to
individual plans but to the stability and growth of the economy. Anything a Government suggests to reduce the
uncertainty deserves serious consideration. This Government proposes to start building a fund for the future and the
Finance Minister favours "entrenching" it in law so that a bare majority of a future Parliament could not change it.