HEADLINES & NEWS
In Fiji - the military has detained three staff of the national radio service Radio Fiji after it ran a story suggesting the military may oust the interim government over the controversial vice-president. Ratu Jope Seniloli, a strong Speight supporter, will become acting president and in charge of the military when the President goes to Australia for medical treatment later this month. A military source has told Radio Fiji the defence force won't take orders from Ratu Jope. Our reporter at Radio Fiji Shalen Shandil says after the story was broadcast five armed officers arrived at the station and took away the news director, the acting chief executive and a reporter. PREREC
[illegible] sex marriages are over-whelmingly opposed by public submissions to a Justice Ministry discussion paper.
The ministry received more than three and a half thousand submissions from individuals and organisations, including more than a hundred and forty church groups. The Christian Heritage Party says the opposition is a victory for traditional family values - here's our political reporter Mark Torley. PKGE
In the Middle East, the 2-day-old ceasefire accord between Israel and the Palestinians is under intense pressure with both sides blaming the other for starting a 5 hour gunbattle near the West Bank town of Nablus. One Israeli and one Palestinian were killed, and several people wounded.
Palestinian and Israeli leaders have now accused each other of failing to respect the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Clinton at Sharm el-Sheik earlier this week. The deaths come with less than 24 hours to go before the Israeli deadline for an end to Palestinian violence expires, and the possiblity Israel will abandon the deal to end recent clashes which have clamed more than 100 lives - most of them Arab. BBC's Jerusalem correspondent John Leyne has the latest. PREREC
BUSINESS NEWS with CATHERINE WALBRIDGE
Just as people prepare for the holiday weekend, the next round of fuel prices has hit, pushing petrol up four cents a litre, while diesel is going up seven cents. Mobil and Caltex today followed BP's lead, raising their prices to a-dollar eighteen a litre, while diesel is now 92-point-nine cents.
Shell is holding off any increase until tomorrow - all are blaming the Middle East turmoil and the plummeting New Zealand dollar for the rise - the 22nd since July last year.
Veronika Meduna reports the increases are starting to have wider long-term consequences. PKGE
A man convicted of one of the biggest armed robberies ever seen in New Zealand has been jailed for ten years by the High Court. 39 year old concrete contractor and father of four Kevin Joseph Polwart was found guilty of robbing more than six-hundred-thousand dollars from an Armourgard van at Paraparaumu in May last year. Our Court Reporter Merle Nowland was at the sentencing and joins me now. LIVE
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SPORT with RICHARD CROWLEY
More violent offenders could be offered day jobs in the community while serving their prison sentences after what the Corrections Minister, Matt Robson, describes as a trouble-free experiment. That experiment has seen a convicted rapist allowed to work at a day job for four years while still in prison. The prisoner has spent 13 years in prison for raping and assaulting a 56 year old woman.
Nicci Coffey reports that he's been allowed into the community despite the Parole Board refusing him parole for the last six years saying he's too dangerous to be released. PKGE
In Washington, an inquiry has begun into the bomb attack on the American warship USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden. 17 sailors died in the attack - US Navy divers have just retrieved the last four bodies from the destroyer's wrecked interior. At the inquiry, the general who arranged for warships to [illegible] in Yemen has defended his decision - our Washington correspondent Jill Buldaris filed this report. PKGE
Traffic is building up on the main roads out of Auckland and Wellington as motorists head out of town for the holiday weekend. Our reporter Elizabeth Brown is by the Auckland motorway and she joins us now. LIVE
And for an update on the traffic situation in the capital, our reporter Eric Frykberg joins us from near the Wellington motorway. LIVE
The National Road Safety Committee believes the road toll can be halved in ten years but it wants the public to decide how it will be done. The Committee held a public meeting in Auckland today - one of a national series seeking advice on a road safety strategy for the next decade. The road toll has been steadily reducing - from 795 deaths in 1987 to 510 last year - but the National Road Safety Committee says the level of trauma is still unacceptable. Our reporter Barbara Dreaver went along to today's meeting. PKGE
A new tourism study shows the despite the stereotype of being extremely [illegible], German tourists are in fact highly satisfied with their experience in New Zealand. Germans are this country's fifth biggest tourist market with 44-thousand coming here in the year to June. They are also the third highest spenders after the Japanese and Americans, leaving behind 140 million dollars. The study's co-author Dr Juergen Gnoth from Otago University says there was not one totally dissatisfied German in the survey of eleven hundred. He says it dispells the notion that many coming to New Zealand expecting to see pristine countryside are deeply disillusioned to find locals as polluting as Germans, just not as numerous. PREREC
Women's amateur boxing continues to grow in popularity, with females providing a significant number of entries for this weekend's national championships in Christchurch.
There has been resitance to the sport, with many people opposed to the idea of women donning gloves and slugging it out. Richard Crowley reports the competitors have fought some personal and professional battles on their way to the ring. PKGE
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