**** CKPT FOR TUES 13 MAY 2008
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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QUAKE CHINA: The death toll from a devastating earthquake in China is set to rise, with at least ten thousand people buried in one town alone. The 7-point-8 earthquake hit China's southern Sichuan province. British journalist Nick Mackie reached the area last night. CUT China has mobilised 50 thousand soldiers to help with relief work and the Premier Wen Jiabao has flown to the area. CUT Major highways into the provincial capital Chengdu have been damaged. Norm McIntosh told the BBC he was teaching at a school there. CUT Auckland-based Rico Wong's parents live in Chongqing, 200 kilometres from the quake's epicentre. CUT
Our reporter in Beijing, Amanda Morgan joins us now. LIVE
ORINGI CLOSURE: More than 450 workers at the Oringi sheep meat plant south of Dannevirke have been told the plant is to close. The Chief Executive of PPCS told them that a combination of not enough stock and too much killing capacity has forced it to shut. Our reporter Heugh Chappell was at Oringi when the announcement was made. PKG
Dave Eastlake is the National Secretary of the Meatworkers Union - he joins us now. LIVE
IMMIGRATION PROBLEMS: The head of the Immigration Service, Mary Anne Thompson, resigned today, after revelations about her involvment in the residency applications of three family members from Kiribati in 2005. The State Services Commission is now looking into how the matter was handled. Here's our political reporter Julian Robins. PKG
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BUSINESS NEWS
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TRANSPOWER SETTLE: Transpower has settled a long-running battle with the Commerce Commission over electricity transmission prices. The Commission has accepted Transpower's offer to reduce its price rises from 45 percent to 25 percent over three years in return for a greater say over future investments in the national grid.Ian Telfer reports. PKG
FOOD PRICES: The latest Food Price Index figures show that while food prices rose by only point three of a percent between March and April, the year-on-year figures make for frightening reading. Tim Graham reports. PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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CONSUMER MEDICAL: Consumer New Zealand believes taxpayers may have been subsidising pharmacy prescriptions for tourists and international students because software used by Medtech Global in most pharmacies hasn't been able to distinguish between patients who are entitled to a prescription subsidy and those who aren't.The chief executive of Consumer New Zealand, Sue Chetwin, joins us now. LIVE
KAHUI COURT: More revelations have been heard in court today about how the Kahui twin's mother went partying the night of her babies' tangi, and how she behaved while they were dying in hospital. Her former partner, the babies' father Chris Kahui is on trial for their murder.Joy Reid has been in court and joins us now... LIVE
MYANMAR CYCLONE: The United Nations and the United States have castigated Myanmar's military regime over its slow response to Cyclone Nargis.The official death toll stands at almost 32-thousand. New Zealander Craig Strathern is working with the International Red Cross committee in Yangon, and says the relief effort has stepped up. PREREC
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WAATEA NEWS
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FUEL SEWAGE: A New Zealand company Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation is refining its methods in Marlborough of turning wastewater into crude oil. Many international companies are watching closely - among them, aircraft maker Boeing. Our reporter Geoff Moffett has been checking the latest developments. PKG
CLIMATE ICE: New Zealand scientists have confirmed a large part of Antarctica's ice sheet disappeared in the past. Core samples from a hole drilled deep into the ocean bed appear to prove the West Antarctic ice sheet has melted and then rebuilt. The director of the Antarctic Research Centre at Victoria University, Tim Naish (Neigh-sh), says the findings date from a time when the climate and carbon dioxide levels were at a level the Earth will reach again in the next 100 years.Professor Naish joins me now. LIVE
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