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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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Three children are being held by an armed man at Matauri Bay in the Far North. Details are sketchy at the moment. With us now is our reporter Cherie McQuilkin LIVE
Christchurch police investigating the disappearance of a 20 year old deaf woman, Emma Agnew, have a new lead. Police are trying to locate a man seen walking his dog near where her burning car was found. Ms Agnew has been missing since Thursday morning. Her burning car was found that night in Bromley Park in Christchurch. Police have now identified the silver car that had been seen near the park and Detective Inspector Tom Fitzgerald says they've now spoken to the young couple who were in the vehicle. PRE REC
Parliament's justice and electoral select committee has made substantial changes to the controversial Electoral Finance Bill but not enough to satisfy the National Party. National's deputy leader Bill English says the changes don't go far enough. CUT
The Justice Minister Annette King dismisses National's objections. CUT
Our political editor Brent Edwards has been looking at the select committee's report and joins me now. LIVE.
Emergency aid is beginning to reach hundreds of thousands of people left without shelter or clean water in Bangladesh, four days after a cyclone hit the south of the country.The ABC's Barbara Miller has this report. PACKAGE.
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BUSINESS NEWS
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The Prime Minister, Helen Clark, says the President of Netball Fiji has a valid visa to stay in this country, even though her son is in the Fiji military. Our reporter, David Reid has been following the story and joins us now. LIVE
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17.30 HEADLINES
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Three children are being held by an armed man at Matauri Bay in the Far North. With us now is police spokesperson Sarah Kennett LIVE.
It's just been announced Christchurch will play host to next year's Ellerslie International Flower Show. Christchurch mayor Bob Parker says the city council has purchased the hosting rights to the Show, which has been held at the Botanic Gardens in Manukau since 1998.
The show's managing director, David Mee joins us now. LIVE.
Back now to the disappearance of 20-year-old Emma Agnew in Christchurch. And today Ms Agnew's family and members of the Deaf Society have spoken about the woman many see as a role model for the deaf. And as Katy Gosset reports, they're making their own efforts to find Emma. PACKAGE.
The Australian election campaign has entered its final week with polls predicting the Labor Party will win by a two seat majority. One of those the party hopes to win is the Brisbane seat of Bonner. Our political reporter Danya Levy has spent the day in Bonner and joins us now. LIVE.
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WAATEA NEWS
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Prestman Vesiputa Taiura is charged with murdering 24-year old Faa'Fetai Lafolua in Otahuhu in August last year, in what the Crown says was a deliberate and sustained attack. Our reporter, Kim Baker Wilson, was at the trial opening. PRE REC
Australian rescuers managed to free 27 miners trapped in a gold mine shaft which collapsed earlier this morning. The miners were stuck a kilometre underground for more than three hours at the Ballarat mine in southern Victoria. ABC Reporter Jane Cowan witnessed the rescue. PRE REC
A huge methane gas explosion that ripped though a coal mine near Donetsk in south-eastern Ukraine early on Sunday morning has killed at least 60 people with dozens more still missing. And, while more than three hundred miners managed to escape, it's the country's worst mining accident in years. But, as Mike Sanders reports, the state of Ukraine's mines has long been a cause for concern. PACKAGE.
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