0600 NEWS/WEATHER
0609 NZ NEWSPAPERS
0611 NEWS STORY BRITAIN - TRAIN CRASH - at least 8 people dead and more than 160 injured following collision of 2 trains packed with commuters during London's peak rush hour near Paddington station. (CNN) AUSTRALIA - EAST TIMOR ROW - war of words between PM John Howard and former PM Paul Keating, with Mr Keating blaming Mr Howard for East Timor bloodshed and saying he should not have pressed Indonesia for vote on independence. Mr Howard supported by East Timorese independence leader Jose Ramos-Horta. (ABC)
0620 RURAL NEWS TERMINATOR GENE - general relief at Monsanto's announcement it won't pursue illegible called terminator gene which renders seed of a crop sterile for following season, meaning farmers would have to buy new seeds for every planting. Associate Health minister Tuariki Delamere says it would have been way of extorting money from farmers (q) and Alliance MP Phillida Bunkle says Monsanto's backdown is victory against use of genetically engineered organisms.(q). (Clare Sziranyi); Fed Farmers president Alistair Polson says NZ grain farmers will also be happy with knowledge Monsanto not pursuing the research. (Kevin Ikin) WOOLNET - Wool Board's new internet wool-selling system, which was supposed to be fully operational last month, will be several weeks late and substantially altered. WoolNet operations manager Paul Stanley Boden says start of real sales delayed to address serious grower concerns. (Diana Leufkens) RARE PIGS brought to NZ in January will remain in quarantine while plan formed to reduce disease risk to pork industry. The 17 pigs were moved off sub-Antarctic island to preserve breed and so DoC could restore environment to natural state. Tests showed pigs may be infected with trichonella and salmonella. (Diana Leufkens) FRANCE - BRITISH BEEF - European Commission warns France it will start proceedings against it within week unless it lifts ban on British beef put in place over concerns about BSE. France intends to continue ban after new rreport from its own food safety agency concludes there were insufficient guarantees that meat is safe and free of Mad Cow Disease. (RTR)
0625 SPORTS STORY AUSTRALIAN SPORTS - i/v with correspondent Ross Solley. (Netball, cricket)
0630 NEWS/WEATHER
0635 NEWS STORY EDIBLE ART exhibition at AK's Aotea Centre. (Melita Tull) INTERNATIONAL PAPERS MANA MāORI MāORI BATTALION - C Company veterans and their families return from pilgrimage to comrades' graves in Italy. TRAFFIC REPORT
0648 BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL NEWS TOWER GROUP SHARES - close to $100 million shares remain unclaimed after members entitled to them fail to sign up for them. Tower informs Stock Exchange that 28.64 million unclaimed shares have been placed in a trust. Managing director James Boonzaier says company will attempt to find the members who have yet to come forward. (Helen Matterson) U.S. - INTEREST RATES - FEDERAL RESERVE policy-makers in key meeting expected to leave interest rates unchanged. (BBC) FINANCE/MARKETS MARKET REVIEW RURAL PROPERTY TRUST chair Sir Selwyn Cushing says Trust could have faced financial difficulties if unit-holders hadn't voted in favour of closed structure. Trust had been facing increasing number of applications for redemptions; RURAL PROPERTY PRICES continue to decline, with latest Real Estate Inst figures showing that while number of sales increased in August the median price went down. President Max Oliver notable exception to depressed rural market is the lifestyle block. (Bronwen Evans) FAIR TRADING RULING - in legal first, Commerce Commission wins Fair Trading Act ruing against Australian company with no physical presence in NZ. Company trades in NZ as Starworks, was making misleading claims about prices of 2nd-hand computers in TV adverts and selling the computers throught toll-free call centre based in Australia. (Clare Sziranyi) BUSINESS BRIEFS
0700 INTRO/NEWS BRITAIN - TRAIN CRASH - at least 26 people dead, death toll expected to rise with many bodies still trapped in wreckage. Comment from passengers and witnesses; Live i/v with correspondent Alistair Wanklyn. EAST TIMOR - AID - International Committee of Red Cross says more equipment has left Australia that will enable aid groups to expand food distribution outside Dili. Agencies yesterday started first mass distribution of food in Dili. I/v with reporter Sarah Boyd, who's now in Darwin. (Mng Rpt) PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM meeting in Palau pledges help for East Timor and expresses concern about shipment of nuclear waste through Pacific, also endorses in principle a free trade area among members. I/v with RNZI reporter Philippa Tolley. RUSSIA - CHECHNYA - Russian forces take control of northern one-third of Chechnya as tanks and infantry push deeper into break-away territory. I/v with correspondent Charles Maynes re how Russian govt believes campaign is going. (Mng Rpt) CANTERBURY UNIV FEES - about 300 students camp out in registry building in protest over proposed rises in fees. Live i/v with president-elect of Students' Union Jared Gilbert and univ Vice-Chancellor Prof Daryl LeGrue. NEWS/WEATHER NZ PAPERS TRAFFIC REPORT FINANCE UPDATE INTERNATIONAL PAPERS U.S. -TELECOMMS MERGER - biggest-ever corporate take-over announced between 2 giant telecommunications companies MCI WorldCom and Sprint Corp, at cost of about $230 billion. Dewal could face sharp scrutiny from Justice Dept and Federal Communications Commission. Live i/v with correspondent Richard Quest. TERMINATOR GENE - Monsanto says it's still committed to process of genetically modifying seeds despite agreeing not to pursue "terminator gene" commercially. I/v with Bryan Arnst, Monsanto's public affairs manager in Australia. (Mng Rpt) MISLEADING TRAVEL PROMOTIONS - Commerce Commisison say it will continue to clamp down on misleading promotions. Budget Travel fined $8,000 for breaching Fair Trading Act after Commission takes it to court over misleading price claims in advertising campaign. Commission has taken action against 4 airlines and 2 travel agents in past year and wants industry to clean up its act. (Kathryn Ryan) ELECTIONS - MāORI LANGUAGE - MAURI PACIFIC leader Tau Henare says party will push for it to become compulsory for all public servants to take Māori language and culture courses. He says Māori are biggest users of public service and would be better served if staff had Māori training. Live i/v with Mr Henare and Labour's Māori Affairs spokesman Dover Samuels who opposes idea.
0800 NEWS/WEATHER BRITAIN - TRAIN CRASH - all survivors have been recovered from wreckage but there may still be more bodies found. Cause of collision unclear but comes as public dissatisfaction with British rail system's performance is at all-time high. Transport Secretary John Prescott promises investigation into crash; consumer groups and regulators says rail system, privatised 2 years ago, can't cope with fast growing passenger traffic. Main rail pressure group Save Our Railways says crash underscores problems faced by owners of rail system. I/v with campaign director Jonathan Bray. (Mng Rpt) RUSSIA - CHECHNYA - thousands of Chechens fleeing homes amid fears of full-scale war with Russian. Worst fighting since end of 1994-96 Chechen war. Live i/v with AK Univ specialist in Russian politics, Dr Reuben Azizian. ELDER RETIRES - Internal Affairs minister and Mauri Pacific list MP Jack Elder announces retirement at next election for "family reasons". Mr Elder went into Parliament in 1984 as Labour MP, became NZ First list MP in 1996 and later defected to join Mauri Pacific - he's i/ved live. SEXUAL HEALTH CONTRACT - Audit Office report criticises way Health Funding Authority let contract for sexual health services in WN, finds new service changed significantly from one which unsuccessful bidders were asked to makeproposals for and criticises HFA for not giving all bidders equal opportunity to bid for revised service. Contract eventually won by Wellington Independent Practitioners' Assn, who were successful against numberof other bidders, including AK Healthcare. Live i/v with AK Healthcare's Dr Rick Franklin and WIPA's chief exec Cathy O'Malley.
0830 NEWS/WEATHER/SPORTS EAST TIMOR - AID - OXFAM NZ looking engineers interested in disaster relief work. NZ exec director Terri-Anne Scorer says Oxfam particularly interested in people who can help with logistics, water or sanitation - i/ved live. DRUG ADDICTION SERVICES - CH couple and their daughter backing calls for more services for people with drug addictions, say recent attempt to get help shows funding has never been equated with size of problem. They finally opted for 5-week programme at Hanmer's Queen Mary Hospital, which cost them $10,000, rather than wait months for referral for treatment. (Shona Geary) INTERNATIONAL PAPERS TELEWORKING - survey commissioned by AK Regional Council to look into benefits shows it could reduce road traffic by up to 5%. Survey designer Bevis England says AK's daily traffic congestion could be over if around 1 in 5 companies tooks up teleworking, with employees working away from the usual workplace. (illegible Carpenter) PALESTINE - CORRIDOR - Palestinians fulfil long-held goal with signing of accord for "safe passage" corridor across Israel, linking West Bank and Gaza. Corridor is meant to answer years of complaints that Israel prevents Palestinians from seeing friends and family. "Jerusalem Report" editor David Horovita explains how corridor will work. (Mng Rpt) DUNEDIN CASINO - country's newest casino opens officially tonight in DN. Owners Dunedin Casinos Ltd say new business will bring more than $5 million in wages into city each year but community agencies are preparing for rise in problem gambling while sports clubs are concerned about impact on their financial returns. (Graham McKerracher) SOUTH AFRICA - DR DEATH - trial of pro-apartheid military surgeon Wouter Basson opens, Dr Basson faces charges ranging from 200 murders to drug dealing in what's described as biological and chemical warfare campaign against blacks in apartheid era. I/v with correspondent Anthony Johnson. (Mng Rpt)