NZ Economy – Hospital Funding – Air Force Morale – Lake Omapere – Monteith’s Relocation – Sex Charges – Child Abuse
Guidelines – Mir Splashdown - Internet Scam – Kosovo Warned – US/Russian Diplomacy – Foot And Mouth
- NZ ECONOMY: NZ may be slipping economically on the ground it made in the last three months of last year. Official
figures show the Current Account was in deficit by $1.9 billion for the quarter.
- HOSPITAL FUNDING: National Health Spokesperson Roger Sowry predicts that a half per cent funding increase for hospital
will mean cuts in services.
- AIR FORCE MORALE: There are fresh concerns about morale among air force staff after it was revealed that 11
engineering officers have resigned in the past few months.
- LAKE OMAPERE: Maori anger at the Conservation Department erupted in Kaikohe this morning over the state of Lake
Omapere, where the lake is being choked to death by oxygen weed and DOC is refusing to introduce grass carp to eat the
weed.
- MONTEITH’S RELOCATION: Greens Co-leader Rod Donald said DB’s decision to close the Greymouth Monteith’s Brewery, by DB
say the brewery is as victim of its own success, with sales increasing by 250 per cent over the past two years. DB says
Monteith’s will be brewed in Auckland.
- SEX CHARGES: Police have laid further sex charges against Derek Leslie Humphreys, a former teacher, for alleged
offences against former students.
- CHILD ABUSE GUIDELINES: Training for GPs on detecting child abuse is to get underway after the publication of
Government.
- MIR SPLASHDOWN: Russian space station MIR has about six hours to go before making its fiery descent into the pacific.
- INTERNET SCAM: The Consumers Institute has issued a warning about a new variant on an Internet scam circulating on
email. It’s a twist on the Nigerian letter writer’s scam, where thousands were fleeced of cash by responding.
- KOSOVO WARNED: The European Union has warned Kosovo that the Macedonian/Albanian rebel border conflict will wreck any
efforts to rebuild the Kosovo economy.
- US/RUSSIAN DIPLOMACY: The Bush administration is expressing hope that a tit for tat expulsion of diplomats in
Washington and Moscow will not damage relations between the two counties.
- FOOT AND MOUTH: The Irish Republic is moving to contain any further outbreaks of foot and mouth as the first case of
the disease has been confirmed.