Checkpoint FOR FRIDAY 26 AUGUST 2011
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The country's suicide rate is stuck at over 500 deaths a year and the Chief Coroner says something's got to be done but he's not sure what. The latest figures covering June 2007 to June this year have just been released by Judge Neil MacLean They reveal that Christchurch recorded just one suicide in February - and the numbers have remained low following the earthquake. But Judge Maclean says apart from that nothing much has changed. PREREC
People who can't get enough of Trade Me will now get the chance to buy a slice of it. Australian publisher Fairfax Media has announced it plans to sell between 30 and 35 percent of its star online auction and classified ads business through an initial public offering. The timing of the float is yet to be finalised but Trade Me will be listed on the NZX, and possibly in Australia. Fairfax needs to raise money to pay off debt. 2.8 million New Zealanders belong to the site. Consultant Lance Wiggs advised Trade Me shareholders Sam Morgan and Richard Abbott on the sale to Fairfax back in 2006. What does he think of this latest move? PREREC
The Green Party is accusing the New Zealand Superannuation Fund of investing in companies that make cluster bombs and called on it to pull the money out immediately. But the Super Fund says it will only divest from the five companies if it finds proof firsthand in an ongoing investigation. Two weeks ago the Greens revealed the Fund was investing in tobacco, and it was forced to admit it had broken its own rules and promised to tighten its screening. As for cluster bombs, investing in them might also breach this country's obligations under the global Cluster Munitions Convention. The head of the Super fund Adrian Orr joins us now. LIVE
The Foreign Affairs Minister has decided which aid agencies will get a share of one million dollars, promised six weeks ago, for famine relief in the Horn of Africa. The United Nations estimates 12 million people in Somalia and neighbouring countries are starving in the worst drought for 20 years. Aid agencies say there have been unacceptable delays in getting the drought assistance from the Government. Neither Murray McCully nor the New Zealand Aid programme are commenting. Ian Telfer has the latest developments. LIVE
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH Naomi Mitchell
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Four television journalists in Australia have been sacked or resigned for faking reports about the search for a teenage boy's remains. The journalists twice pretended they were reporting live from a Channel Nine helicopter hovering over the search site in Queensland. The search for Daniel Morcombe's remains has made headlines in Australia, and earlier this month a man was charged with his murder. The News Director of channel nine's rival Channel Seven in Brisbane - Rob Raschke (rash-key) joins us now.
LIVE
States of emergency have been declared in several American towns as the country's east coast prepares for a full frontal assault from Hurricane Irene. The category three storm is carrying powerful winds gusting up to one-hundred-and-eighty-five kilometres an hour. It's already brought destruction to the Bahamas and caused several deaths in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Now with the front expected to gain force as it heads north, evacuation plans are in place for nursing homes, schools and low-lying areas from North Carolina to New England - including New York. The ABC's North America correspondent Jane Cowan reports : PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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The final two bodies have been recovered from the scene of a fatal house fire south of Brisbane which killed 11 people. Three Pacific Island men escaped the inferno on Wednesday, but one, Jeremiah Lale, lost his wife and five children. He spoke at a news conference this morning. The Courier-Mail's Jodie O'Brien was there and she joins us now. LIVE
The United Nations is calling on both sides in Libya to avoid revenge attacks, as allegations emerge of summary killings and torture by rebels and Gaddafi loyalists. The fighting is continuing in Tripoli, though it is now largely under rebel control and they have begun moving their political base to the capital, from the rebel stronghold Benghazi. And they've been buoyed up by the UN agreeing to release one point five billion US dollars in frozen Libyan assets. Richard Spencer of Britain's the Daily Telegraph says his colleagues have witnessed revenge attacks - he joins us now from Tripoli. LIVE
A night sky of bright stars can gleam like diamonds but now an Australian led team of astronomers says there is a small planet four thousand light years away made of diamond. The ABC's Ashley Hall reports. PKG
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17.45 MANU KORIHI
Tēnā koutou katoa, good evening,
The latest suicide statistics released by the chief coroner show that Māori still have the highest rate of suicide by ethnic group.
The rate for Māori is almost 18 [17.8] per 100-thousand population, compared with 13-point-5 for the category of European and other groups.
Michael Naera is a co-ordinator with the Māori suicide prevention programme, Kia Piki Te Ora.
He says it's important kaumātua talk openly about suicide, despite concerns those conversations could encourage copycat behaviour.
Mr Naera says every iwi or hapū also needs to make sure they have strategies in place to address broader issues such as drug and alcohol use and sexual abuse.
SUICIDE NAERA TP
IN IT IS GREAT...
OUT ...CARE OF THAT.
DUR 20
Michael Naera from Kia Piki Te Ora.
And you can hear more on this issue on the Insight programme on Sunday Morning.
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A Tainui kaumatua says it's insulting an American boutique brewery has called a beer, Māori King - and says it should be renamed.
Funkwerks of Colorado says it came up with the name from using New Zealand Rakau hops.
A co-founder of the company, Brad Lincoln, says he only found out there was a Māori King when a New Zealander walked into their bar and told them.
He hopes he's not offending the Māori King movement, and has offered to send King Tuheitia a crate of bottles.
But Mamae Takerei, of Tainui, says Funkwerks should have done its research.
BEER-TAINUI-TP
IN THERE IS NO EXCUSE...
OUT ...A CRATE OF ALCOHOL.
DUR 20
Mamae Takerei says the company should rebrand its product.
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The Labour list MP, Kelvin Davis, says if the Māori Party wants to get rid of the Mana Party leader it should not stand a Tai Tokerau candidate in the upcoming election.
The Māori caucus has now fronted Te Waihoroi Shortland, a Māori language expert, an actor and broadcaster.
The general election is on November the 26th.
In June, a by-election for the Māori seat was held - the Mana leader, Hone Harawira, won by a majority - followed by Mr Davis - and the past Māori Party candidate, Solomon Tīpene came in third.
Mr Davis says the Māori Party is entitled to campaign for the electorate.
But he says Mr Shortland's nomination will make it harder for him to beat Mr Harawira.
Instead of giving advice, the Māori Party says, Kelvin Davis should consider joining them.
That's Te Manu Korihi news, I'll have a further bulletin in an hour.
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Fiji's military council has banned the Methodist Church from holding public meetings and is also stopping its leaders from travelling, with immediate effect. The ban was declared because the Methodist leaders had refused to step down before this week's planned - and now cancelled - annual conference. Despite this there's little support for the Methodist Church in Fiji from other denominations. Radio New Zealand International's Dawn Tratt reports. PKG
A member of the Libya's rebel council says the country is united in wanting to rid the country of Gaddafi and will not collapse into sectarian violence. The dictator's loyalists are still holding out in the capital Tripoli, in the colonel's coastal home city and deep in the inland desert. Ali Suleiman Aujali is the National Transitional Council's representative in Washington. He says Libyans have spilt too much blood in their hard fought battle for freedom to allow tribal or other differences to ruin the chance for peace. He says Gaddafi will be hunted down. PREREC
A little black dress festooned with gadgets from the industrial revolution is one of 170 creations that will take to the catwalk at tonight's World of Wearable Arts Awards in Wellington. The design, inspired by the civil engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is the handiwork of Tauranga wedding photographer, Steve Brown. The first time entrant says it took him seven and a half months to put the piece together, but it was worth it. CUT Our reporter, Cushla Norman, is backstage at the show. LIVE
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