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1800 NEWS
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KERIKERI-TODDLER: A homicide investgation has been launched after 16-month old Riley Justin Osborne died in Starship Children's Hospital last night. He was flown there on Friday suffering from injuries and took a turn for the worst yesterday. Joy Reid reports. PKG
FIJI- EXPEL: An academic specialising in the Pacific says New Zealand and Australia must not pressure Fiji to hold elections in March if there is to be an improvement in their relationships. The research director for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute is Anthony Bergin. Our Pacific Issues Correspondent Richard Pamatatau has more. PKG
US-RECESSION: One of the big stories this year has been the huge mountain of bad housing loans in the United States which triggered an international infection of failing banks, frozen credit and recession. But easy credit spurred on by new types of financial institutions ready to finance a building boom in which people keep borrowing more and more is also an old story.
American historian Scott Reynolds Nelson recalled the global crash of 1873 which started in Central Europe, caused widespread misery, shifted the balance of power, and resulted in the world's financial centre moving to New York.PRE REC
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BUSINESS UPDATE WITH AMANDA STRONG
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CHRISTMAS-MAFIA: With Christmas upon us there's still a lot of cooking, shopping and eating to be done. Something probably not on your holiday agenda though is fighting the Mafia. From Rome here's CNN's Alesio Vinci : PKG
JAPAN-EMPEROR: Emperor Akihito of Japan has defied concerns about his health and appeared in public to greet well-wishers in Tokyo. About 10 thousand people gathered at the Imperial Palace to mark his 75th birthday. The Emperor's cut back on his official duties this year apparently because of psychological pressures arising from stress within the royal household. Here's the BBC's Duncan Bartlett: PKG
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1830 HEADLINES
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BUSH-SHOE: The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoe at the US President George Bush goes on trial at the end of this month. Hailed as a hero by many the 28 year old has been charged with aggression against a foreign head of state and faces up to 15 years in jail. Meanwhile the journalist's brother is raising fresh allegations that his brother has been tortured in jail. The ABC's Kim Landers reports: PKG
HOSPITAL-THEFT: Staff at Waikato Hospital's intensive care unit for premature and sick babies are angry at the theft of two expensive breast pumps which they say has caused huge inconvenience for more than 20 mothers. Charge nurse Cathy McBride says the machines cost more than two thousand dollars each. PRE REC
WAHINE-40TH: This year marked the 40th anniversary of the Wahine disaster off the coast of Wellington. 53 people died following the sinking of the inter-island ferry on April the 10th 1968.
Tony Coard was 14 at the time and lived in Seatoun. But he went out in a tiny boat to help rescue survivors. He told us that earlier in the day he'd gone for a walk to see what was happening in the harbour. PRE REC
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WAATEA NEWS 2
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GAS-RUSSIA: Most of the world's natural gas is found in just five countries: Russia, Iran, Qatar, Venezuela and Algeria. Between them they control two thirds of global reserves and forty percent of annual production. Today these five and representatives of other gas-producing nations met in Moscow. Here's the ABC's Scott Bevan: PKG
DOLLS-RUSSIA: They originated in Japan but the Matri-ash-ka dolls have become the symbol of Russian culture. These dolls within dolls are not only toys but they're also used to make far more grown-up points about the hidden layers of Russian politics. And at this time of the year there are many Christmas variations on the dolls. Here's Scott Bevan again. PKG
CONCHORDS: This year, the New Zealand folk-comedy duo, Flight of the Conchords, soared into the US pop charts at number three with their debut album. The self-titled album sold 52-thousand copies in its first week, following on from the success of their EP, The Distant Future which won a Grammy Award earlier this year. The duo, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are probably best known for their show Flight of the Conchords on the US cable channel, HBO. We spoke to Bret McKenzie's very proud mother, Deidre Tarrant.PRE REC
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Presenter: Mary Wilson
Editor: Gina Faafoi
Deputy editor: Joanne O'Brien
Producer: Amanda Strong