HEADLINES & NEWS
Police have launched a homicide inquiry after the discovery of a body behind a West Auckland factory today. Police in Auckland have been searching for 23 year old Marie Jamieson who has not been seen for nine days, but cannot say whether the discovery of the body is related to her disappearance. Police say the body was found behind a factory building in Ranui and it appears to have been there for more than a week. Joining us now is Detective Senior Sergeant John Sutton. live
Resident doctors and medical students are calling for urgent action to resolve the dispute which has seen 19 part time teaching staff resigning from the Otago University Wellington School of Medicine. The five GPs and 14 hospital specialists, are all from the department that teaches adult medicine .. which includes cardiac, renal and acute specialities. The head of the Department of Medicine, asthma researcher Richard Beasley, recently lost his position, and those who've resigned say the circumstances surrounding his departure reflect a management style that has got to change. Karlum Lattimore has details. pkge
Joining us now is our health correspondent Rae Lamb. live
BUSINESS NEWS WITH CLAIRE SILVESTER
Mediation talks between the meat veterinarians negotiating team and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry may start again tomorrow. Most North Island meat plants were closed today as the vets strike over wages and conditions of work entered its fourth day.
Auckland based AFFCO's Chief Executive Ross Townshend says the vets strike in meat works will have major financial implications for the company. Mr Townshend says all but one of the company's plants are shut and AFFCO will lose valuable Easter lamb contracts in the United Kingdom if vets don't end their industrial [illegible] Heugh Chappell reports. pkge
The government says it's reserving judgment on the US and UK airstrikes against Iraq, although it's reprimanded Alliance MP and disarmament minister Matt Robson for his comments condemning the strikes. Today's Cabinet meeting discussed the military action, and New Zealand diplomats in London and Washington have been directed to ask the Blair and Bush administrations for more information about their actions. Matt Robson has already described the strikes as an arrogant use of power and says it is a setback for world peace initiatives. At the post-cabinet media briefing Helen Clark was asked if Mr Robson had been told off. cut Joining me now is our political editor Al Morrison. LIVE WITH DROP INS
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SPORT with STEPHEN HEWSON
In Fiji, the capital Suva is under heavy security today with the start of a Court of Appeal hearing on the legitimacy of Fiji's interim government. The government is asking the court to overturn last year's High Court ruling that the interim administration is unlawful and that the country's 1997 constitution is still intact. Joining us now from Fiji's 96 FM is Virisila Buadromo (vira -sila bua-droomo). LIVE
UNESCO told the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification today that gene technology can only become a useful tool if all ethical implications are taken into account. The Commission is continuing to hear evidence in Wellington this week, with a focus on the ethical implications of genetic modification. The New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO told the inquiry that better ethical standards are needed to restore the public's confidence in gene technology research.
Veronika Meduna was at the hearings. PKGE
The government agency with overall responsibility for the education of children with special needs is to be disbanded. The Special Education Service, which employs more than two-and-a-half thousand staff, was set up in 1989 as part of the Tomorrow's Schools education reforms. A short time ago, the government announced the SES will now be transferred to the Ministry of Education. Our [illegible] correspondent, Gael Woods, was at the announcement and joins me now. LIVE WITH DROP IN
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie celebrates his fifth anniversary as state Labour leader today following his stunning election victory on Saturday. The landslide win which saw Labour sweep through traditionally redneck rural areas gives the party a majority of more than 40 seats in the new Parliament, leaving National with less than half the seats it had before the election. The Liberals suffered the worse crash - stripped of seven seats and clinging precariously to two. Our Australian correspondent Kerry Anne Walsh says that leaves the Queensland Liberal Party on the verge of extinction.
The former United States President Bill Clinton may be asked to defend his pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich to the US Senate. Mr Clinton has already attempted to defend the pardon in the court of public opinion, publishing a column explaining his reasoning on the opinion pages of the New York Times. Our Washington correspondent Priscilla Huff has more.
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