1700 to 1707 NEWS
The former chair of the board of trustees at Cambridge High School has apologised for any wrong-doing at the troubled school. Diana Grantham was commenting after the release today of the final version of a damning Education Review Office report on Cambridge High. We'll be talking to Ms Grantham shortly. But first Andrew Mcrae compiled this report on what should be the final chapter of the Cambridge High saga. PKG
Diana Grantham is the former Chairperson of the board which was sacked by the Education Minister. The Ero report says the board did not provide a safe working environment for staff, and that it did not act on allegations staff were being harrassed by senior management. It also says the trustees had little confidence in Ms Grantham's leadership. But she says the report is unfair. PRE-REC
Meanwhile the Education Review Office says there's no excuse for the board not being aware of the problems at the school. Here's Karen Sewell. PRE-REC
A New Zealand naval officer and his wife have been injured in the series of explosions in Egypt. Lieutenant Commander Hugh Aitken and his wife Geraldine suffered minor injuries and are being taken by helicopter to a hospital in Algorah in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, egypt's Interior Ministry says 12 people were killed and 135 wounded in the blasts at three resorts in the peninsula, near the Israeli border. A suspected truck bomb that tore apart the Taba Hilton was followed shortly by explosions at two other resort towns which are popular with Israeli tourists.
Israeli media says 10 floors of the Taba hotel collapsed, trapping people in the rubble. British tourist Charlie Meade was in the hotel restaurant when the blast went off. CUT
Rescue teams rushed across the border from the Israeli resort city of Eilat to search for victims and treat the wounded. Professor Jacob Heart deputy director of the Yoseftal hospital in Eilat says they were initially overwhelmed with [illegible] victims. CUT
A previously unknown pro-al Qaeda Islamist group called Islamic Tawhid Brigades claimed it carried out the blast on a website.
The claim, along with one by another unknown group calling itself the World Islamist Group, could not be verified.
Defence Press Officer, Commander Sandy McKie (mckay) says the New Zealand naval officer Lieutenant Commander Hugh Aitken and his wife Geraldine are currently being treated for their injuries. PRE-REC
The curtain is about to come down on the torrid, litigious and occasionally absurd drama that has been the Auckland Mayoral race. The person who'll be at the political helm of the country's largest city council - a business with assets worth over 7-billion dollars and a rates take of nearly 3-hundred million dollars last year - will be known within 24-hours. Eileen Cameron looks back at the campaign by those who would be mayor. PKG
Elsewhere where the race for the mayoralty is not so contentious, thousands of last minute voters are hand delivering their ballot papers before voting closes at midday tomorrow.
The deadline for postal votes was Thursday and despite the late rush overall numbers are down as Kiri Ennis reports. PKG
1720 BUSINESS NEWS WITH TODD NIALL
Now for the latest on the conjoined twins seperated at Waikato Hospital earlier this week. The parents have given permission for more information to be released about their condition. The head of the surgical team which carried out the operation, Askar Kukkady says they are doing well. PRE-REC
1730 HEADLINES
SPORTS NEWS WITH STEPHEN HEWSON
A second defendant in the Pitcairn sex abuse trials has pleaded guilty to some of the charges he faced. Dave Brown, who's 49, admitted three charges when he appeared in court today for the 2nd time since the hearings began 10 days ago. [illegible] NOT guilty pleas to two charges of gross indecency and 10 remaining counts of indecent assault remain unchanged. Pitcairn, has been reeling from unprecedented attention since the trials opened last week with more than half the island's adult males on trial. Many islanders are trying to ignore the trials - which has seen seven men charged with a total of 54 sex abuse offences, and are trying to get on with their lives. Sue Ingram has been finding out what life on Pitcairn Island is like. PKG
The defence lawyers for three men accused of murder have told a jury in the High court in Auckland that one of them was fighting for his own life against the Highway 61 gang president who was killed in September last year. During the three week trial the jury was told Kevin Weavers death was for revenge after he beat up one of the accused and stole his motorbike.
Our reporter Sally wenley has been in court. Q + A
A gift from the Chinese community to the City of Auckland has come under fire from a Parnell community group which says the 6-metre high sculpture doesn't belong. The Millennium Tree was due to be installed near the Parnell Rose Gardens yesterday but was delayed by rain. The chairman of the Parnell [illegible] Committee, Roger Cole-Baker says the community wasn't consulted about the project, and he has serious concerns. CUT
Joining me now is Ron Sang from the Chinese New Zealanders Millennium Trust. LIVE
63 years to the day after a mass shooting on the West Coast a memorial to those killed has been unveiled. Stanley Graham shot four policeman who went to his farm in Kowhitirangi, inland from Hokitika, when they arrived to take his gun. The final death toll was seven, a total not eclipsed until November 1990 at Aramoana. Erina O'Donohue reports. PKG
The Hastings District Council is strongly defending its decision to give an American businessman Julian Robertson permission to build a luxury lodge and 24 chalets, near the gannet colonies at Cape Kidnappers. The Environment Court is considering three appeals under the Resource Management Act, against the council decision last december. Our reporter Heugh Chappell has been covering the appeal and considers the main issues discussed in court this week. PKG
MANA NEWS
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