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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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KAYAK SEARCH: The search for the missing trans-Tasman kayaker is due to end tonight, and Andrew McAuley's family is beginning to give up hope of seeing him alive again. The Australian's wife, three-year-old son, and other relatives are waiting at Te Anau to hear the fate of the adventurer - who's been missing since Friday. He was attempting to become the first person to kayak solo across the Tasman. Family spokesperson Jen Peedon says the family's living hour by hour. CUT
Mr McAuley's friend and boat builder Paul Hewitson says it's difficult to say what his biggest challenge would be if he were still alive and in the water. CUT
The kayak has just been brought to Te Anau where Mr Hewitson will investigate it to see if he can find any clues to what went wrong. He's particulary interested in what happened to the plastic canopy bubble that doubled as a device to prevent capsizing. CUT
Now the latest on the search from Peter Williams at the Rescue Co-ordination Centre. LIVE
DONALD CORONER: It's been revealed that the late Green Party co-leader, Rod Donald died of a heart attack brought on by rare complications from a food poisoning bug that makes up to 100 thousand New Zealanders sick each year. Mr Donald died unexpectedly in November 2005 at the age of 48. He'd been sick with campylobacter for several days but had carried on working. The Christchurch coronor has released the final report on Mr Donald's death, which was initially thought to have been caused by viral myocarditis - a virus infecting the heart muscle.Further tests had shown that the acute myocarditis was caused by campylobacter - of which this country has the highest rate in the developed world. Canterbury is the worst affected region. Here's the Medical Officer of Health Dr Alistair Humphrey. PREREC
DEATH BABY: A mother has told the High Court in Nelson how she found her baby daugher face down in a bath with the father standing in the bathroom staring at the child. The father is accused of murdering 7 month old Alyssa in the family's Nelson flat last March. His trial opened today, and our Nelson reporter Geoff Moffett has been there...LIVE
DRIVER CHARGED: The police have charged the bus driver involved in Saturday's crash near Tokoroa that injured a number of Korean tourists. Six passengers were admitted to Waikato Hospital, with three having to have their right arms amputated. The bus went over on its side and slid for around 20-metres on a straigh stretch State Highway One south of Tokoroa. Now the safety of tourist buses plying New Zealand roads is again under scrutiny, as Andrew McRae reports. PKG
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1720 BUSINESS NEWS WITH SEAN KENNEDY
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FLOODS FIJI: Fiji's main tourist town, Nadi, has come to a standstill under one metre of flood water with the levels rising. Many people and businesses have been evacuated. More heavy rain is expected and disaster authorities, including police, the military and the Red Cross are on alert. Radio New Zealand International's Dubravka Voloder has more PKG
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1730 HEADLINES
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SPORTS NEWS WITH STEPHEN HEWSON
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LEAKY HOMES: The householder in a leaky home legal test case is devastated the Waitakere City Council plans to challenge the ruling. Last month, in a landmark ruling, the High Court ordered the Council to pay 250-thousand dollars to a Hobsonville homeowner because its building inspectors approved construction. Now the Council's insurer plans to challenge the case in the Court of Appeal. Kiri Ennis filed this report. PKG
SCHOOLS NCEA: National is calling on the government to name five schools under investigation for breaching NCEA regulations because, it says, parents and children have the right to know. After ongoing difficulties at Waverley High School in Taranaki, the Qualifications Authority has stopped it from marking internal NCEA standards. And it says its found problems with five other schools but is refusing to name them. National's Education Spokeswoman Katherine Rich is with us now.... And the NZQA's Deputy Chief Executive of Qualifications, Bali Harque... LIVE
HOWARD OBAMA: The Australian Prime Minister John Howard has been told to put up or shut up after attacking the United States presidential candidate Barack Obama for his plan to withdraw US troops from Iraq by March next year. In an extraordinary statement, Mr Howard said al-Qaeda would be praying for Senator Obama's election, which would be disastrous for the war on terrorism. Today the Senator responded in kind, noting Australia has only 14-hundred soldiers in Iraq compared with the United States' 140-thousand. CUT
Australian opposition politicians have also been critical of Mr Howard's comments, but he has been continuing to defend them today. CUT
Joining us now from Canberra is the ABC's Louise Yaxley LIVE
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17.45 TRAILS
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WAATEA
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EDUCATION MāORI: Educational lobbyists say warnings about the dangers of under-achieving Māori boys at school are close to the mark. An educational expert at Waikato university is calling the problem a ticking time bomb. Principals and teachers agree it is a vital issue that must de dealt with, but clear on how to do so. Eric Frykberg reports. PKG
AUSTRALIA POLITICS:The latest opinion poll in Australia shows the new Labour leader Kevin Rudd is now the most popular opposition leader in decades. But both Mr Rudd and the Prime Minister John Howard are playing down the results. This report from the ABC's Peta Donald PKG
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