HEADLINES & NEWS
The Japanese government is under seige after the finance minister warned that the country's finances are close to collapse, sparking speculation that the prime minister is about to resign. The Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is being blamed for Japan's dire economic situation - his popularity ratings are very low after a year of gaffes and scandals and he's under pressure to quit from his own party and the opposition. Mr Mori is refusing to comment about the possibility of him resigning - I asked the BBC's Tokyo correspondent Charles Scanlan why. PREREC
[illegible] New Zealander kidnapped and held to ransom in the Amazon jungle has spoken out today about his months in captivity. Dennis Corrin was working for an American aviation company in an Ecuadorean oil field when he and nine others were captured by armed guerrillas. Two frenchmen escaped and an American, Ron Sander, was shot by the guerillas. Mr Corrin and six others were released a week ago, after their employer paid a 28-million dollar ransom. Today at a packed media conference in Nelson, he described the morning last October when a band of armed guerillas raided his camp. CUT The captives were constantly on the move through the jungle - Mr Corrin says much of their food was what the guerillas could shoot in the jungle. CUT Dennis Corrin says he has little time for his captors after they shot the American hostage Ron Sander.
In Fiji - confusion reigns over the country's future direction, with the Great Council of Chiefs deciding to adjourn a critical meeting on what kind of government they are prepared to support. This follows last week's Appeal Court ruling which declared the current military-backed regime illegal, and backed the 1997 multi-racial consititution thrown out after last year's coup. Earlier this week, the interim President said the government can continue until the Council of Chiefs decides whether to reconvene parliament, or dissolve it and [illegible] the dates for fresh elections. Joining us now is our Fiji correspondent Shalen Shandil. LIVE
BUSINESS NEWS WITH PATRICK O'MEARA
The ring-leader of the Wellington gang which committed the country's largest security van robbery, just before Christmas, has been jailed for eleven years. Peter Tyson, a 26 year old unemployed Upper Hutt father of two, has been jailed for 10 years for aggravated robbery, conversion and setting fire to the security van and the building in which it was hidden. He received an extra year after admitting an earlier unconnected robbery of ninety-four-thousand-dollars from a security company vault. Reporter Merle Nowland has been in court during the robbers' sentencing, and joins me now. LIVE
Cases of the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhoea are on the increase again. Latest figures show there were 71 cases in January the second highest number of cases since 1997, and almost 40 percent up on January last year.
Dr Rick Franklin who is clinical director of the Auckland Sexual Health Service and who is also on a national committee developing a sexual health strategy, says tackling STD's in this country still isn't getting the attention it deserves. PREREC
The government says greater fluoridation of the water supply will be part of a strategy to address the growing number of young children with serious tooth decay. Calls have been made by dentists and kindergarten teachers for the government to urgently step up its programme tackling the decline in tooth care in poorer areas. Andrew Greenwood has more. PKGE
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
SPORT with RICHARD CROWLEY
The Parole Board is now considering whether to grant the convicted murderer Gay Oakes early release. Oakes was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1994 after being found guilty of murdering her de-facto husband Doug Stuart Gardner and [illegible] him in the garden of their Christchurch home. Katy Gosset has more. [illegible]
Film censors are warning that the sequel to Silence of the Lambs contains sadistic and gratuitous violence. The classification office has given Hannibal an R-18 rating. Joining us now is chief censor Bill Hastings. LIVE
New Zealand's Asian community is calling on the government to develop a comprehensive health policy with a strong focus on Asians. A survey of five thousand Asians in Auckland found language barriers can have a major impact on Asian healthcare. Brad Markham reports. PKGE
An appeal court in Chile has reduced the charges against former dictator Augusto Pinochet from allegedly planning killings and kidnappings during his regime to covering up the crimes. But, the three-judge panel ruled that Pinochet can be tried for human rights abuses that occurred shortly after his 1973 coup. I asked the BBC's correspondent in Chile James Reynolds about the reaction to the latest ruling. PREREC
[illegible] of Arctic wading birds summering in New Zealand will soon leave on their annual 12 thousand kilometre flight to the Northern Hemisphere. Each year, Eastern Bar-Tailed Siberian Godwits fly the length of the Pacific to live in places like Auckland's Manakau Harbour, Farewell Spit at the top of the South Island and Christchurch's Southshore Spit. Our reporter Nathan Mills went to see the Christchurch colony before it leaves on a marathon, six week flight to their northern breeding grounds. PKGE
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