Checkpoint. 2001-11-16

HEADLINES & NEWS
The United States is continuing its bombing of Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan, with defence officials in Washington warning that the war is not yet over, despite the fall of the capital, Kabul. And they are vowing to continue their hunt for the fugitive Osama bin Laden, accused of masterminding the terror attacks on New York and Washington which killed more than five thousand people.
Our Washington correspondent Vicki Ford reports. PKGE
The south of Afghanistan remains a Taleban stronghold, especially around the key city of Kandahar. But some Afghan tribal leaders are calling on the Taleban to surrender and avoid further bloodshed. One is Hamed Karzar who is now about [illegible] from Kandahar - he says he's spoken to the Taleban leadership and advised them not to fight anymore. CUT Meanwhile, Pakistan is concerned that Taleban fighters will flee from the Kandahar region across the border into Pakistan. Pakistan's secretary for the interior Taz-nim Nor-ani says additional forces are now being deployed along his country's border, on special alert for Taleban fighters. CUT Chris Janowski from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees is endorsing Pakistan's move to keep armed Taleban fighters out of Pakistan. CUT And following the fall of Kabul, British and French forces are now being deployed in AFghanistan.
Further treatment delays for some North Island cancer patients are looming following this afternoon's unanimous decision by radiation therapists to go on strike. Ninety therapists in Auckland, Waikato and Palmerston North have issued notice of a 48-hour strike, starting on the third of December. They want a pay rise of between 20 and 25 percent. A nationwide shortage of therapists means that cancer patients are already facing long waiting times for radiation treatment and some are now being sent to Australia. The secretary of the radiation therapists union is Dr Deborah Powell - she joins me now. LIVE
[illegible] health authorities are urgently preparing contingency plans for a two-day strike by more than three-thousand health workers next month. The threatened industrial action follows a breakdown in pay talks between the Nurses Organisation and the Canterbury District Health Board. While the board has already begun working on ways to cope with the strike, other organisations, families and individuals are also making plans. Fiona Wilde reports. PKGE
BUSINESS NEWS WITH JOHN DRAPER
There's been a significant reduction in the number of deaths from housefires. The Fire Service's annual report says there were 17 fatalities in the year to June, 56 percent down on the figure four years ago. However, the report also highlights the link between fire fatalities and socio-economically deprived areas, noting the deaths of four children and one adult in Northland housefires in consecutive months. The service's national fire safety co-ordinator, Jim Dance, says while there are a number of areas causing concern, the overall results is pleasing. PREREC
Traditional Māori tattooing is becoming increasingly popular. The tattoos - or ta moko - demonstrate a person's identity through the designs of their whakapapa or ancestry. A convention showcasing traditional Māori and pacific tattooing is being held in Auckland - our reporter Anna-Louise Taylor went along. PKGE
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
SPORT with ANDREW GREENWOOD
The Royal Society has launched what it describes as an agressive campaign to find out what is holding back this country as a high tech economy. The society called a conference in Hamilton today to talk about how New Zealand scientists and the business community can work together. Andrew McRae reports. PKGE
Returning to our lead story - and the United States is continuing to bomb Taliban forces, with defence officials in Washington warning that the war is not yet over, despite the fall of the capital, Kabul. While the Taleban are retreating to the south, they still retain control of one major city in the North - Konduz (Kun-dus). Thousands of Taleban troops backed by a large number [illegible] and Pakistani fighters are showing no signs of surrending. The BBC's Rupert Wingfield Hayes filed this report from the nearby town of Taloqan. PKGE
Plans are underway to design a state house that better suits the needs of Pacific Islanders and extended family living.
Research on 160 Tokelauan households in Wellington has found that one third of the five hundred occupants were living in crowded conditions, compared to only five percent in other ethnic groups. Overcrowding and poor housing has been linked to a high rate of infectious diseases such as meningichoccal meningitis. Associate Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman from the Wellington School of Medicine was involved in the research - I asked her why New Zealand houses don't suit many Pacific Islanders. PREREC
In Wellington, over forty two thousand fans are tonight getting ready for the city's first major rock concert in a decade as Robbie Wiiliams - the man known as "the Ego" - lands on stage at the WestpacTrust stadium. It will be Williams' biggest audience during his tour of New Zealand and Australia -our reporter Fiona Morris has been checking out what's in store for the fans. PKGE
The Auckland museum has been given more than 100 thousand dollars to find out more about its Egyptian mummy. The mummy was bought for five pounds in Cairo in 1880 - Sally Wenley filed this report. PKGE
MANA NEWS
CLOSE & THEME