**** Checkpoint FOR TUES 19 MAY
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The Government has announced it is to boost spending on maternity services by an extra 103 million dollars over the next four years. The Health Minister, Tony Ryall, says they want to offer first-time mothers the chance to stay in hospital longer after giving birth, and to involve family doctors more in ante-natal care.Our Health Correspondent, Karen Brown , went to Wellington Regional Hospital to hear what the Government will have in the Budget to boost maternity services. - PKG
A jury in Christchurch is still deliberating over the case of a man charged with assaulting his pre-school aged sons, in what is seen as a test of the controversial child discipline law. James Mason is charged with three counts of assaulting a child under the age of 14. The trial by jury began in the Christchurch District Court yesterday.
Our reporter Matthew Peddie joins us now: -LIVE
Last June, Colin Kay, along with business partners was given resource consent to establish the country's largest piggery near Foxton. Trading as Coastal Lakes station, the consent allows for nearly 45 thousand animals on about 20 hectares of farm land. The mayor of Horowhenua district , Brendan Duffy joins us now -LIVER
The President of Sri Lanka has made a formal declaration of total victory in the war against the Tamil Tigers.It marks the first time Colombo has taken control of the entire country since civil war broke out in 1983.The military initially claimed the Tigers leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran had been killed trying to flee the war zone.
The BBC's Damien Grammaticus reports from the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. PKG
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH PAtrick Omeara
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At Parliament today, the Tongan Prime Minister has warned against the dangers of ostracising Fiji, and says maybe it's time Fiji's regional neighbours took a change of approach.Feleti Sevele held a news conference with his New Zealand counterpart John Key at Parliament this morning.Our parliamentary chief reporter, Jane Patterson, was there and listened to what Mr Sevele had to say.-PKG
The pig farmer at the centre of animal cruelty claims has spoken to media who've been camped outside his property today. The farm is one of five piggeries in the North Island owned by former pork industry board director Colin Kay. Our reporter Clint Owens is at the farm and joins us now -LIVER
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17.30 HEADLINES
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Auckland's super city dramas have spilled over into the South Island, with fears the Local Government Commission has been hijacked by Aucklanders.The Commission, which decides the shape of councils all around the country, has just lost its sole South Island commissioner.The government has chosen an Aucklander to replace him, a former lobbiest for a super city, Grant Kirby.- PREREC
United States President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have engaged in intense talks over the future of the Middle East peace process.But the US President failed to win a public endorsement of a key US goal, the creation of a separate Palestinian state.The two leaders, meeting at the White House, also differed in their approach to dealing with Iran.Our correspondent in Washington Daniel Ryntjes reports. -PRE REC
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17.45 TRAILS
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WAATEA
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The defence team in the David Bain trial has put up its own expert to talk about footprints made in blood.David Bain is on trial for the murder of his 5 family members but he says his father Robin Bain was the real killer.One of the key pieces of evidence are the bloody footprints found using luminol teasting in the Bain house, which the Crown says were made by the killer. Monique Devereux reports: PKG
The Corrections Association says figures showing a sharp rise in the number of non-serious prisoner on prisoner assaults go nowhere near showing the true level of violence in jails.Figures from the Corrections Department show assaults it classifies as "non serious" grew from 27 to 43 last year, or by 60 percent.But one of the main unions for prison officers says the true number of assaults on offenders is closer to 15-hundred.
Reporter Penny Smith has seen the figures. PKG
Employees are out of a job and regular customers taken by surprise after popular Wellington Book store Dymocks shut its doors suddenly.The liquidation of the company that ran the Lambton Quay franchise follows another Dymocks store, in Takapuna, closing early last week.But other book sellers say business is solid despite the recession. Rosemary Rangitauira reports. PKG