**** CKPT FOR TUES OCT 24 *******
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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WEATHER: Heavy rain and high winds have caused major disruption in the lower North Island today. Flights and ferry sailings in Wellington have been cancelled, roads have been closed, trains have been disrupted and emergency services have been dealing with fallen trees, slips and flooding. And an Interislander ferry is battling to cross the strait at the moment and is already more than two hours late. Further north the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council has a team on standby to open the Moutua floodgates if the Manawatu River continues to rise. The council has notified farmers with land on the spillway to clear stock. And the lashing is set to continue, with the Met Service issuing heavy rain warnings for Taihape, Wanganui, Manawatu, Wellington and Wairarapa, as well as the Kaikoura ranges.Natalie Mankelow has been monitoring the situation.. PKG
FIJI TENSION: The political tension at the Pacific leaders meeting in Fiji has moved up a notch with attention now turning to Tahiti where a disbanded militia seized the Presidential palace in the capital Papeete. French riot police have now taken back control after the President Oscar Temaru, who is at the Pacific Forum, refused to negotiate with the protesters and their demands over the high cost of living. The strikers continue to occupy other government buildings, including the territoral assembly. Oscar Temaru is due to deliver a major speech to the Forum tomorrow. Meanwhile ... Australia continues to come under attack from other Pacific leaders, with thinly veiled criticism from both Papua New Guinea and Fiji who accuse the region's big brother of bullying and interference.
Our correspondent in Fiji is Linda Skates - she's with us now. LIVE
TEENAGER CUSTODY: A teenager charged after the fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old student in west Auckland is in police custody tonight because all secure Child Youth and Family beds are being used. Manaola Kaumeafaiva died outside a function at Avondale College on Sunday night - a teenager was stabbed in the arm, and another teenager was chased and assaulted. A 16-year-old appeared in the Youth Court in Auckland this afternoon, charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and assault with a weapon. Our reporter Joy McArthur was there... LIVE
AUCKLAND ELECTRICITY: There's a new plan to give Auckland electricity users a back-up electricity supply system after the June 12 blackout. The June outage was caused by a failure at the Otahuhu sub station, which was widely criticised as a vulnerable bottleneck into the Queen City. Now, Transpower is proposing to fix that danger spot at the same time as it builds new high tension wires to bring electricity into Auckland from south Waikato. Eric Frykberg reports. PKG
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1720 BUSINESS NEWS WITH BADEN CAMPBELL
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ENRON SENTENCING: The Harvard-educated whiz kid who headed the energy giant Enron has been sentenced to 24 years jail, for his part in one of America's biggest corruption scandals. Enron collapsed and thousands lost their jobs and pensions when several years of false auditing caught up with the company...and its Chief Executive. The ABCs Michael Rowland reports. PKGE
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1730 HEADLINES
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SPORTS NEWS WITH STEPHEN HEWSON
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SAFETY FERRIES: 24 changes have been called for to improve what's been described as "an unacceptably high level" of accidents on the Cook Strait ferry crossings. They're listed in an independent review launched by Maritime New Zealand after a string of incidents last year, including a fatal collision in Picton Harbour. Maritime New Zealand says there's no doubt that between 2001 and 2005 the safety level on the ferry services rang alarm bells. Rachel Graham reports. PKGE
NURSE THEFT: A nurse has admitted using the names of dead patients to steal a potent painkiller to feed his drug addiction. 40-year-old Dan Hansson worked as a nurse at Tauranga Hospital until his arrest this month. He pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing a Class B controlled drug, when he appeared in the Tauranga District Court this morning. Our reporter Monica Holt was in court -- and she joins us now: LIVE
SOLOMONS COURT: The Australian lawyer and suspected child sex offender at the centre of a diplomatic row between Australia and the Solomon Islands, has made another brief court appearance in Honiara. Julian Moti is facing illegal entry charges in the Solomons, after arriving there on a clandestine military flight from Papua New Guinea. The Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare wants Mr Moti as his attorney-general, and has refused to hand him over to Australia where he's wanted on child sex charges. The ABC's Lisa Miller is in Honiara, where Julian Moti appeared in the Magistrates Court today. PKGE
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WAATEA NEWS WITH ERU REREKURA
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SHOOTING: There's profound relief in a Northland farming community this evening - that a teenager who accidentally shot and killed his father - has escaped a jail sentence. Brian Evans was shot in the head in May, when his son Colin aimed a new hunting rifle at his departing car to test the scope, not realising it was loaded. Colin Evans, who's seventeen, appeared for sentencing this afternoon in the Whangarei District Court, after pleading guilty to careless use of a firearm causing death. Lois Williams was in court for the sentencing; she joins us now. LIVE
HEALTH DISABILITY: The Nelson-Marlborough District Health Board has rejected a move to hand over services for intellectually disabled people to a Trust. A review group had recommended the DHB pull out of providing the services. And as Geoff Moffett reports, the decision's been greeted warmly by parents of handicapped children who turned up for the special meeting. PKGE
UK FILMS: Big international film festivals used to be judged on the feature films they presented and on the glamorous stars who posed for the cameras on the red carpet. But increasingly festival-goers have shown a new interest in film documentary. As the BBCs Vincent Dowd now reports, this year's London Film Festival is proving that factual films are becoming as popular as fictional ones.
PKGE
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