**** CKPT FOR MON 18 FEB 2008
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The real estate firm the Joneses has gone into voluntary liquidation. The company which charged a flat fee for sales, this morning called off plans to list on the sharemarket and, with the listing no longer available, the company says it didn't have the cashflow to continue trading. One of the directors Chris Taylor joins us now. LIVE
Our reporter Joy Reid is outside the Joneses headquarters in Auckland. LIVE
The operation to remove debris from a plane and helicopter crash over Paraparaumu is due to be completed by tonight. The Cessna light aircraft has already been removed from the street where it crash landed, while efforts are continuing to remove the wreckage of the helicopter from the hardware store it hit. Our reporter David Reid is there. LIVE .
Nick Brunsden is a friend and Kapiti College classmate of 17-year-old Bevan Hookway who was piloting the Cessna and who died in hospital several hours after the crash. PRE REC
A group of French sailors have been rescued from their yacht after it capsized off the coast of Dunedin. The crew of ten were taking part in the Jules Verne Round the World Race when their trimaran overturned. They managed to activate an emergency beacon, then climbed on to the hull of the vessel before being winched to safety by three helicopters. Heres Ross Henderson from the Rescue Coordination Centre. LIVE
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BUSINESS NEWS
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The Green Party says the Government should reconsider tax cuts as it now has less money in its coffers than predicted. In the six months to the end of December the cash deficit was 812 million dollars, worse than forecast. Here's our political editor Brent Edwards. PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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An expert on New Zealand drug use says methamphetamine use is levelling out and may be decreasing. Ross Bell's perspective was one of many heard this morning in Wellington, as local talks on the United Nations global drug policy began. Tim Graham was there. PKG
A decade after Serbia crushed a separatist rebellion led by the then-Kosovo Liberation Army, Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership has announced its independence from Serbia, which is fiercely opposed to Kosovo's independence. CUT
The Serbian Prime Minister denounced the declaration as illegal. CUT
Meanwhile Kosovans, like this teenager, have been celebrating on the streets. CUT
I spoke earlier to the BBC's Nick Thorpe in Pristina about the celebrations. PRE REC
A law professor says the actions of a lawyer who instigated the return of medals stolen from Waiouru's Army Museum is unlikely to have broken the law. Auckland lawyer Chris Comeskey negotiated the return of the 96 medals on behalf of his clients in return for some of the $300,000 reward, but won't discuss the details. Catherine Hutton reports. PKG
Figures released today show that the number of births has reached a 44-year high.
Statistics New Zealand says there were more than 64-thousand births last year, the highest number since 1963. Our reporter, Ian Telfer, has been finding out why. PKG
A major conference on cluster muntions inWellington has heard an appeal from victims of the weapons for a total ban on them. 122 countries are represented at the week long conference, which is working towards a treaty banning the use, manufacture and stockpiling of cluster munitions. Our political reporter Julian Robins was there. PKG
More than a quarter of a million bikes landed in New Zealand last year outstripping car imports by sixty thousand plus, But few are used as regular transport. Transport Ministry figures show, of the 1.3 million cyclists in New Zealand, only two per cent, about 26 thousand, pedal to work on a regular basis. A campaign - The Bike Wise Battle - began this morning and hopes to get more New Zealanders on their bikes We sent Richard Pamatatau out on his bike. PKG
Wellington's inaugural Absolutely Positvely Pasifika Festival was held over the weekend drawing crowds to the capital's waterfront. Seven Pacific nations Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands, Tokelau and Niue were involved. Radio New Zealand International's Elma MaUa went along. PKG
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WAATEA NEWS
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