HEADLINES & NEWS
Tension remains high in Fiji, as the country's military meets to consider its next move against the rebels holding 27 politicians hostage at the parliamentary complex in Suva. Residents near the complex have began evacuating homes and boarding up houses as the military prepares to create a no-go zone around parliament. Meanwhile, a group of Māori, including activist Tame Iti, have been refused entry into Fiji and put on a plane back to New Zealand. Our reporter in Suva is Shona Geary - she joins me now. LIVE
Joining me now is the minister of foreign affairs Phil Goff. LIVE
[illegible] Islands, the leader of the rebel Malaita Eagle Force is threatening war if politicians today fail to elect a new Prime Minister. The Malaita Eagles attempted coup earlier this month sparked fighting with rival ethnic militia the Isatabu Freedom Movement, and forced Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa'alu to resign. An emergency vote for a new prime minister was abandoned on Wednesday after more than half the MPs failed to show up because they feared the MEF might attempt another coup. A fresh attempt at the vote was due to ahppen about now - joining us with the latest is New Zealand's High Commisioner to Solomons, Nick Hurley. LIVE
BUSINESS NEWS with CATHERINE WALBRIDGE
The Environmental Risk Management Authority has uncovered what it describes as widespread and unauthorised genetic modification experiments at research institutions. The authority began its investigation last month after the discovery that some universities and crown research institutes were carrying out genetic work without its approval. ERMA says 27 research facilities have [illegible] investigated and of the one-thousand-and-sixty-five low-risk experiments [illegible], 152 of them had not been approved. John MacDonald has more. PKG
The police have found the body of the missing Wellington student Gavin Dash. The discovery was made on Wellington's West Coast at Makara - police have been searching the area since Monday. Mr Dash disappeared last year - dental records were used today to formally identify him. A 26 year old man was remanded to Porirua Hospital for a psychiatric examination after being arrested and charged with Gavin Dash's murder last Friday. I asked the head of the Dash Inquiry, Mike Arnerich, about the site where the body was found. PREREC
A group of New Zealand workers flown to Australia to work on Olympic sites in Sydney have agreed to stop work after a union alleged that their Auckland-based employer has broken Australian industrial laws. Town and Country Marquee 1998 Limited has 16 employees currently working on the sites constructing temporary seating for the Olympic Games. The Australian Construction, Forestry, Energy and Mining Union says the workers were given a flat hourly rate without sick pay, annual leave or other allowances - meaning they were paid half what their Austrialian counterparts were getting. I asked a spokesman for the union, Andrew Ferguson, why the workers had taken the jobs in the first place. PREREC
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
SPORT with CHRIS REID
The government has announced a review of the controversial new photographic driver license system. The Prime Minister Helen Clark and the Transport Minister Mark Gosche announced the review at a meeting of the Auckland branch of Greypower today. The system has been beset with problems ranging from excessive queuing, costs for the elderly and commercial dirvers and security of personal details. Luke Henshall with this report. PKG
An education researcher says there are too many myths about the under-achievment of boys compared to girls, and the concern over how well boys in general are reading is mis-placed. Adrienne Alton-Lee has reviewed ten years of literature on the gender-gap in education, for the Ministry Education. She says the reveiw shows that in almost every case across the school curriculum, gender differences in achievement are the smallest. And she told me [illegible] being Māori, Pacific Island or poor are the significant factors in how [illegible] a child is doing. PREREC
The Havelock North and Flaxmere communities in Hawke's Bay have won a year long battle to have community policing re-established. One of the results of last year's police review was the closure of stations in both communities, with staff centralised in Hastings. Hastings Mayor Jeremy Dwyer has been pressuring police to re-open the stations, saying their closure has resulted in escalating crime.
Today his wish was granted - Heugh Chappell reports. PKG
In Australia, it's the eve of the introduction of GST with predictions that come midnight tomorrow all hell will break lose. The ten percent goods and services tax has raised ire across the country but John Howard's government is determined to see it through. Shops will be closing hours earlier to put up prices, taxi drivers fear they'll be assaulted by passengers enfuriated they'll have to pay ten percent more, and perhaps wisely the price of alcohol in pubs, clubs and restaurants won't go up until six o'clock on Sunday morning. I asked our Australian correspondent Kerry Anne Walsh how it's all going. PREREC
[illegible] into the effects on caffeine warns that average caffeine consumption can lead to excitibilty, anxiety and even addiction. The Australia New Zealand Food Authority released the study after two soft drink manufacturers applied to add caffeine to energy drinks, but ANZFA first wanted to establish just how caffeine affects the system. Jane Patterson has more. PKG
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