TV1 News

S11 Protests – Brain Drainm – Oil Prices – Avalanche – SI Storms – Waite Within Whisker Of Tiger

- S11 PROTESTS: Protesters clashed with police in Melbourne at the World Economic Summit – the protests brought Melbourne to a standstill. A policeman was injured in the skirmishes. The forum eventually got underway, although many delegates never made it through the protester’s blockades. National Finance Spokesman Bill English was amongst the delegates locked out, while Finance Minister Michael Cullen is due at the forum tomorrow. Green MPs Sue Bradford anD Nandor Tanczos were amongst the protesters.

New Zealanders also protested in Auckland in solidarity with the Melbourne protesters.

- BRAIN DRAIN: New figures show New Zealanders who move overseas cost the country cost dearly. 10,000 professionals have made up the brain drain in the period since the election. ACT gathered the statistics, which were released by Statistics NZ. ACT estimates the loss to the county at $1b.

- OIL PRICES: There will be little for NZ motorists, despite Opec’s decision to increase oil output. Oil companies in New Zealand say that will only delay the next round of price increases. Meanwhile, skyrocketing petrol prices have caused protests in many European countries.

- AVALANCHE: An emergency callout for police and alpine rescue came after an avalanche caused concern that cross country skiers may have been caught in the fall. Alpine rescue now think no one has been caught by the avalanche.

- SI STORMS: Storms in the South Island have brought a wet start to spring, killing lambs in rural areas. The Met service is expecting more rain.

- WAITE WITHIN WHISKER OF TIGER: Kiwi golfer Grant Waite nearly beat Tiger Woods in the Canadian open, eyeing a seven figure pay cheque for the win. He was runner up, soon after coming second in the Air Canada championship. He has made $NZ1.5m in the last 2 weeks.

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