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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The police in Fiji are accusing a New Zealand businessman Ballu Khan of resisting arrest and assaulting police officers, and say they had no choice but to use force against him. Mr Khan is under armed guard in Suva hospital after being arrested on Saturday, for alleged involvement in a plot to kill Fiji's interim Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, some members of his cabinet and senior figures in the army. A further five people have been arrested today in connection with the alleged plot. New Zealand diplomats who have visited Mr Khan say he sustained reasonably serious facial injuries in a beating that left him virtually unable to talk. But today the Police Commissioner Esala Teleni played down the extent of Mr Khan's injuries and said police had been compelled to use force against him. CUT But Mr Khan's lawyer Tevita Fa has just visited his client in hospital, and gave a differing report of his condition. PREREC
The Police Commissioner Esala Teleni has been unavailable for interviews today. But our correspondent in Suva, Vijay Narayan has attended a police media conference today. PREREC
The Government says there's no evidence of live cells from the feared invasive marine alga didymo in the Central North Island. Dead didymo cells were found in four rivers in the Central North Island last week. Biosecurity Minister, Jim Anderton, says the focus will now be on trying to find out how the dead didymo cells appeared. Mr Anderton joins us now LIVE
A day after President Pervaz Musharraf of Pakistan imposed emergency rule, the government says it still has to decide when it will hold the parliamentary elections originally scheduled for January. The announcement came from the prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, who also confirmed that between 4 hundred and 5 hundred people had been arrested. The United States says it's reviewing aid to Pakistan. The BBC's Damien Grammaticus has more details: PKG
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BUSINESS NEWS
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New Zealand is being warned it's heading for a health crisis, unless more is done to limit alcohol consumption, which is being linked to brain damage. Two visiting Australian experts say one in five people are at risk because of the way they drink. Carla Gray reports. PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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Police in Whangarei are worried about the welfare of two young children, taken from their home by their father. James Toby left the house in Onehari with the children, aged 3 and 18 months, last night following a fight in which his wife was injured.Here's Detective Kelly Penney, of Whangarei Police. PREREC
Taxi drivers have been warned they have to lift their game or risk being taken off the road. 295 taxis were checked in a joint operation between Police and Land Transport New Zealand in Auckland at the weekend, and it was found that over half didn't comply with safety regulations. More than 60 were ordered off the road because of safety problems. Earlier I spoke to Tim Reddish, the executive director of the Taxi Federation, and Andy Knackstedt, spokesperson for Land Transport New Zealand. PREREC
Hundreds of investors in the troubled company Geneva finance have voted on a rescue plan to save the firm. The firm asked investors to put a hold on investment repayments, stopping them from pulling their money out for six months. The move follows the downgrading of Geneva Finance's credit rating and the announcement it's closing all of its branches. One investor voting at the meeting in Auckland was Grace Loo [LEE] and she joins us now LIVE
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WAATEA NEWS
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A fumigation company has detailed a plan to capture the controversial gas methyl bromide instead of releasing it into the air at Port Nelson. The company has negotiated an agreement with the Nelson City Council to install the new technology, on the condition it does not have to undergo a resource consent process for its fumigations. However, the arrangement surrounding the controversial toxic fumigant depends on an Environment Court hearing which began in Nelson today. Geoff Moffett was there. LIVE
The publisher of a new translation of the Koran has been arrested in Afghanistan while trying to leave the country. Religious scholars have complained that the new translation into Dari -- the Afghan dialect of the Persian language, is un-Islamic. The BBC's Ian MacWilliam PKG
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