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**** CKPT FOR FRI 1 AUG 2008
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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STORM-CRUISE: Passengers oboard a P&O cruise ship are reported to have lost fingers and broken bones after a rough night at sea. Seven metre swells and 50 knot winds battered the Pacific Sun causing it to roll sharply on Wednesday evening. Laura Davis was dockside for the ship's arrival in Auckland this afternoon. PKG
Joining us now is the Corporate Affairs Director for P and O, Sandy Olsen LIVE
CHURCH-ABUSE: A St John of God brother will begin an almost three year prison term tonight for sexually abusing boys with special needs. Rodger Moloney has been sentenced to two years and nine months in jail for assaulting boys at Christchurch's Marylands Special School in the 1970s.Shanna Crispin was at the sentencing in the High Court in ChristchurchPKG
STORM: In Auckland residents from ten properties in Torbay have been given the go ahead to return to their homes while a further five still have an anxious wait. The houses were deemed unsafe when a slip threatened them earlier this week. In the South Island, State Highway One south of Kaikoura remains closed while in the north, many Horowhenua residents are still waiting for power to be restored. Here's dairy farmer Bruce Pedley PREREC
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BUSINESS NEWS
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FINANCE: The country's largest fund manager AMP Capital has stopped almost 3 thousand investors withdrawing money from a $419-million property fund after a rush from jittery investors wanting their cash out. The firm says it will lift the suspension as soon as the situation improves. AMP Capital's managing director is Murray Gribben. PREREC
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17.30 HEADLINES
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STORM (2): The search will continue over the weekend for a man presumed drowned near Kawakawa in Northland. The body of his partner Lavona Cherrington was found on Wednesday a kilometre downstream from their home. Sergeant Allyson Ealem says it's believed the pair were both swept away trying to cross the creek. PREREC
BIOFUEL: The government is sticking to its tax break for ethanol despite a British biodiesal company saying that's why it's shelved plans for a hundred million dollars worth of investment here. Under the proposed Biofuels Bill there will be no excise duty to pay on ethanol and Argent Energy says that means oil companies will be much keener to use that fuel rather than unsubsidised biodiesel made from tallow. Its spokesman is Dickon Posnett CUT
The Energy Minister David Parker rejects Argent Energy's accusations. PREREC
FOXTON-FELTEX: It was the end of an era for Foxton today, with the closure of the Feltex plant. The Australian carpetmaker, Godfrey Hirst, bought Feltex after it went into receivership in 2006. Erina O'Donohue filed this report. PKG
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WAATEA NEWS
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TONGA-CORONATION: The Tongan Monarch King George Tupou the fifth was crowned this morning by the Archbishop of Polynesia. A 300 strong choir and brass band filled the Centenary Church in Nuku'alofa with sound as the King walked down the aisle to his new gold throne. Our Pacific Issues Correspondent Richard Pamatatau was there. PKG
MARS-WATER: Water has been identified in a Martian soil sample collected by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. Scientists will now study the water sample to see whether the red planet was ever or is habitable. The project has been led by scientists at the University of Arizona in Tucson.Here's the university's mission spokesperson, Sara Hammond PREREC
CHURCH-GAYS: The issue of homosexuality is high on the agenda for Anglican bishops from around the world, meeting in the English town of Canterbury. PKG
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