The multinational drug company Merck Sharpe & Dohme has recalled its widely used painkiller, Vioxx, after a study suggested it might increase the risk of heart disease in certain people.Graham Andrew (Vioxx user); Dr Peter Tim (Merck Research Lab President); Alisdair Finnie (NZ Arthritis Foundation); Dr Sharon Sime (Ministry of Health); Alister Brown (GM Merck New Zealand); Lorelei Mason (One News - live).
Jailed asylum-seeker Ahmed Zaoui has won what his lawyers are calling a major victory in his fight to stay in NZ. The Court of Appeal has ruled that his rights under the International Convention on the Rights of Refugees must be taken into account in any Deborah Manning (Ahmed Zaoui's lawyer); Peter Hosking (Human Rights Foundation).
Report on the first of the three US Presidential Debates John Kerry (Presidential candidate); George W. Bush (US President).
Report on further violence and suicide car bombings in Iraq. Iyad Allawi (Iraqi Interim Prime Minister).
At the British Labour Party's Annual Conference, PM Tony Blair has won a crucial vote on Britain's continued involvement in Iraq.
Some Queenstown residents are demanding the District Council make zoning changes to prevent outside property developers ruining the town. voxpop (local residents); Clive Geddes (Queenstown Mayor).
Russia has belatedly announced that it will indeed back the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions. Alexei Kokorin (World Wide Fund for Nature); Prof Michael Grubb (Imperial College, London).
Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat has called on world leaders to intervene after an Israeli crackdown in the West Bank.
Gay marriage may soon be legalised in Spain, prompting outrage in the Catholic church.
Update on the trial of seven Pitcairn Island men accused of sexual abuse.
Update on the Coroner's Inquest into the crash last year of a plane carrying 7 senior staff of Crop and Field Research. A cardiologist has given evidence that it is unlikely the pilot, Michael Bannerman, suffered a heart attack.
The US has said it will 'fasttrack' NZ exports through strict new anti-terrorism measures intended to make imported goods more secure. Helen Clark (PM).
Update on the New Plymouth District Council's plan to sell off its stake in New Plymouth-based powerlines company Powerco to an Australian firm. Kerry Morrel (Takeovers Panel).
Masterton is to get a new $30 million hospital.