Fiji's deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry is claiming widespread vote rigging has cost him five seats in the country's first election since he lost power in a coup last year. The claims comes as Fiji's interim Prime Minister Lasenia Qarase announced he's ready to form a coalition, and has enough support from independents to do so without any help from coup leader George Speight's Conservative Alliance party. Mr Chaudhry says polling clerks planted at polling stations deliberately invalidated the votes of illiterate Labour Party supporters when they asked for help. DROP IN
Mr Chaudhry is calling on the United Nations and Commonwealth observers to withhold certifying the elections as free and fair until his claims are investigated. The observers are reluctant to comment but I got this statement from spokesperson Mwamba Wanendaya. PREREC
[illegible] reporter Barbara Dreaver is in Fiji following the elections - she joins me now. LIVE
Surgeons around the country are warning that women suffering breast cancer maybe forced to have their breast removed or get radiotherapy overseas rather than wait any longer for radiotherapy treatment here. The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons describes the situation as appalling and says it's unacceptable that women are being asked to wait five to six months for vital cancer therapy. Auckland breast surgeon - Richard Harman - says women who have a partial mastectomy or breast removal, have a 35 percent chance of the cancer re-occuring if they don't get radiation therapy within four to six weeks. PREREC
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Tranzrail is questioning if Picton really wants to continue hosting its inter-island ferries after the Marlbrough District Council suggested imposing speed limits on the ships. Speed limits are already in force for the fast ferries and Geoff Moffett reports that the move to slow down the other ferries [illegible] raised speculation that Clifford Bay could be again considered as an alternative inter-island port. PKGE
The evidence is mounting against the introduced magpie, with preliminary results from a major trial showing that native bird populations increase when the black and white Australian import is kept in check. The three year study is being carried out by Landcare Research inconjunction with five regional councils around the country. The first results show an increase particularly in Tui, and the native pigeon, Kereru. Andrew McRae reports. PKGE
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Opposition parties are rejecting parts of the government's controversial accident compensation legislation, saying it would return lump-sum payments to criminals while placing an unacceptable burden on the business sector. Parliament has moved into urgency to debate the Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Bill, the second major part of the government's ACC reform. Veronika Meduna listened to the debate. PKGE
The war on modern graffiti in Auckland has taken a new twist with the City Council employing a private investigator and using infra-red cameras to catch the paint spraying vandals. The Auckland City Council has dedicated 145 thousand dollars to the scheme to employ a person to catch the taggers in the act, as well as give anti-vandalising education in schools. Anna-louise Taylor takes a look. PKGE
Zimbabwe has agreed at a Commonwealth conference in Nigeria to end illegal occupations of white-owned farmland by landless blacks and to take action to stop political violence. A statement released after the meeting says that in return Zimbabwe will receive funding for its land redistribution programme. The statement says President Robert Mugabe's government has agreed to observe the rule of law when redistributing land from white farmers to landless black Zimbabweans. The farm occupations and violence have plunged Zimbabwe into a political and economic crisis. Joseph is a former white farmer in Zimbabwe who was forced to flee to New Zealand - he joins me now. LIVE
The Government has survived a claim for possibly millions of dollars in compensation in a case mounted by nine former members of the Employment Tribunal who lost their jobs when the Tribunal was abolished, The former Tribunal arbitators and mediators were all appointed on fixed term contracts under the repealed Employment Contracts Act.
Our Court Reporter Merle Nowland has been looking at the High Court judgement on the case - I asked her to explain. PREREC
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