Checkpoint for TUES 10 MARCH 2009
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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A lawyer for murder accused David Bain has told the High Court in Christchurch that his client could have been exonerated, if blood found on his father's hands had been tested. David Bain is being retried for the murder of his parents and three siblings in Dunedin in 1994, after his original convictions were quashed by the Privy Council in 2007. Matthew Peddie has been at the High court in Christchurch and joins us now. LIVE
An Otago sawmill is shedding more than half of its workers with its owners saying it was a choice between downsizing or closing completely. Winstone Pulp International met workers today, to outline plans to radically reduce its operations at Blue Mountain Lumber, near Tapanui.It says about 60 of the company's 105 workers will be made redundant. Our reporter Emma Lancaster was there and joins me now. LIVE
The Government is expected to announce more details of the nine-day fortnight tomorrow, as it outlines its plans to help blunt the worse effects of the recession.But the Labour Party says the Government is doing too little, too late, to help hundreds of workers being laid off as times get tougher.Here's our political editor Brent Edwards. PKG
A volunteer firefighter and his pilot are dead after the crash of a tandem hang glider at The Remarkables mountain range near Queenstown. 34 year old Andrew Michael Scotland from Waipu died, when his hang glider nose dived into the ground. The pilot's name has not been released.Steve Wilde has been at the scene and joins us now. LIVE
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BUSINESS NEWS
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Northern Ireland is facing it's biggest political crisis in years after the fatal shooting of a police officer in the province. The shooting comes just hours after the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the killing of two soldiers on Saturday would not derail the peace process.The local Sinn Fein politician John O'Dowd has also condemned the shooting. CLIP
The BBC's Andy Moore reports PKG
The Board of the Accident Compensation Corporation says its financial governance has been excellent, and it is concerned that it has been gagged by its Minister.The ACC minister, Nick Smith yesterday sacked the chairperson of the Board, Ross Wilson saying the Board needed more financial expertise. Dr Smith has labelled ACC technically insolvent - here he is during a snap debate in Parliament earlier this afternoon. CLIP
But in a just-released letter dated last week, Ross Wilson told Nick Smith that Board members do NOT accept that they have been responsible for "a significant deterioration" in ACC's financial position. Our political reporter, Julian Robins joins us now...LIVE
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17.30 HEADLINES
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The country's smallest university is planning a merger with the largest Crown Research Institute. AgResearch and Lincoln University say their plan will create a world-class university focussing on New Zealand's farming, horticulture and forestry industries.Here's our education correspondent, Gael Woods. PKG
There are warnings that plans to force prisoners to share cells could put the safety of inmates, prison officers - and ultimately the public - at risk.The Corrections Department is talking with staff about putting two beds in every cell.This from our Justice Reporter, Penny Smith. PKG
Papua New Guinea's AIDS Council is being accused of massive corruption.The country has one of the region's highest cases of HIV/AIDS, with estimates saying up to 200 thousand people are infected.Here's Radio New Zealand International's Dubravka Voloder. PKG
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WAATEA NEWS
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The ACC Minister Nick Smith has announced that from July the levy for car registrations will increase by 32 dollars and the levy from petrol goes up by just over half a cent a litre. Dr Smith says the increase is the bare minimum needed to fund the cost of motor vehicle accidents.The Automobile Association spokesperson Mike Noon joins us now. LIVE
The Auckland City Council is asking the Government for a law change to allow it to ban events such as the Boobs on Bikes parade.If the law is changed, it may not just be parades like the erotica parade, which attracted thousands of spectators to Queen St last year, which will be affected.Belinda McCammon reports. PKG
The Sudanese government has released the powerful opposition leader Hasan Al Turabi only weeks after he was imprisoned after expressing support for the International Criminal Court's decision to to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Al Bashir. The BBC's Arab Affairs Analyst Magdi Abdel-hadi reports: PKG
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