HEADLINES & NEWS
Four of the country's major oil companies have cut the price of petrol and diesel, after the price of crude oil slumped on the world market. The price of crude dropped between 13 and 15 per cent overnight to 22-dollars a barrel - the biggest one-day fall since the Gulf War ten years ago. Shell, Mobil, Caltex and BP have all now cut the price of petrol by 6 cents a litre and diesel by 2 cents a litre. Joining us now is an oil analyst with stockbrokers UBS Warburg, Robin Clements. LIVE
The United States Government has moved to freeze the US assets of people and groups that support terrorism. The US State Department has now set a reward of 25 million US dollars for information leading to the capture of the terrorists [illegible] the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Saudi exile Osama bin Laden has been named as the prime suspect, and the US is soon expected to release details proving his involvement, though some of the information is said to be classified. Our Washington correspondent Steve Mort reports. PKGE
Back home now, the Air New Zealand board is still waiting for a final proposal before holding a crucial meeting this week to decide the airline's future. At the weekend the Air New Zealand acting chairman Jim Farmer said he expected the board to meet early this week after adjourning its meeting last Friday. So far, however, no meeting has been called. In the meantime, Air New Zealand shares bounced back after yesterday's all time low with A shares up 9 cents to 27 cents and the B shares up 9 cents to 25 cents. Our economics correspondent Brent Edwards joins us now. LIVE
BUSINESS NEWS WITH JOHN DRAPER
The Post Primary Teachers Association says a third of new teachers who [illegible] two years ago have already left the profession. The PPTA says those teachers left to go overseas or into other jobs and sometimes for health reasons. Our education correspondent, Gael Woods, says the PPTA president Jen McCutcheon painted a bleak picture of conditions in secondary schools at the opening of the association's conference in Wellington this morning. She joins me now. LIVE
Fishermen are being warned about the dangers of catching the potentially fatal disease, leptospirosis, after the death of a man in Auckland. Normally associated with farming, the disease is transmitted from animals to humans with symptoms including fever, chills, nausea, photophobia and jaundice. Rats are being blamed this latest death. Joining us now is John Forrest, the Service Manager for Occupational Health and Safety in Auckland. LIVE
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
SPORT with STEPHEN HEWSON
On the eve of the arrival of the Afghan refugees from Nauru - a refugee expert has described them as belonging to one of the most persecuted groups in the world and lashed out at the growing anti-Muslim sentiment across the Tasman. New Zealand has accepted 140 of the boat people denied entry into Australia, after being rescued from the waters of the Indian Ocean by the Norwegian freighter the Tampa. Dr William Maley (MAIL-EY) is the chairman of the Refugee Council of Australia. He says it's clear from the distinctive phsyical appearance of the refugees that they belong to an ethnic group known as the Hazara who have been viciously persecuted by the Taleban. PRE-REC
In about 24 hours time (6pm wed) some of the asylum seekers rescued from the Tampa will be touching down at Auckland airport amid tight security. About 70 Afghans are on that first chartered flight from Nauru and on Thursday the rest of them will arrive. Sally Wenley went to the Mangere Refugee Centre in south Auckland where they will be staying to see what final touches are beng put in place for their arrival. PKGE
The government says it will bring in legislation to register unions found by the Court of Appeal yesterday to be unregistered. In its judgement the court found that the registrar of Unions was not entitled to register unions in the days before October the third last year, when the Employment Relations Act came into force. The judgement affected 40 unions representing around 300-thousand workers. Andrew McRae reports. PKGE
A prosecution for dog-fighting has prompted a rash of calls from people in Northland who fear their dogs may have been stolen for fights. SPCA inspectors have seized 15 dogs in the region after busting two illegal rings in the past month and believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. But the head of the Bay of Islands' branch Gail Body fears the prosecution may simply drive dog fighting even further underground. I asked her how the dog-fights are organised. PRE-REC
New Zealand's gifted young child readers are being let down by schools unable to accommodate their special needs. That's according to former teacher Valerie Margrain, who's now researching a doctorate in young children's learning at Victoria University. She's told the New Zealand Reading Association conference in Nelson that while children at the lower and middle ends of the scale are [illegible] catered for, many gifted readers are missing out. Geoff Moffett has been at the conference. PKGE
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