National Radio Midday Bulletin

Green GE Moratoriam - Burdett Retrial - Panda Escapes - Tube Denied - Gp Bulk Funding - TVNZ Criticism - 111 Emergency - Pakistan Ruling - Bias Rejected - Sheep Muscles - Train Derails - Nurse Shortage - Sticker Campaign - Rower’s Next Attempt

GREEN GE MORATORIAM: The Green Party is putting up it’s own legislation to try and force a moratorium on new genetic engineering field trials until the Royal Commission on genetic engineering has reported. The Greens co-leader Jeannette Fitzsimmons says they are resorting to a Members Bill because the government has failed to address the issue.

BURDETT RETRIAL: The jury is still deliberating in the re-trial of Teina Poura who was accused of the rape and murder of Susan Burdett 8 years ago.

PANDA ESCAPES: Auckland Zoo is in search of it’s smallest and youngest red panda who has escaped. The small shy animal is believed to be hiding up a tree somewhere.

TUBE DENIED: Northland health says it would never deny a woman the option of a gastrostomy simply because the woman had dementia.

GP BULK FUNDING: Doctors say bulk funding of GPs will be an improvement on the current system, saying as long as there are checks disadvantaged patients would not miss out.

TVNZ CRITICISM: The State Owned Broadcaster TVNZ has come in for fresh critcism from the Government – this time the commerce select committee has told the broadcaster that news readers salaries were excessive and innapropriate. The committee recommends a further “clean-up”

111 EMERGENCY: The emergency 111 line has crashed in parts of Otago and emergency services say they have no idea how long the faults will take to fix.

PAKISTAN RULING: A Pakistan court will report on whether the former Prime Minister tried to kill the General who deposed him in a military coup. If found guilty the former PM would be executed. In Pakistan opinions are divided on his guilt.

SHEEP MUSCLES: The researches proposing to modify a sheep gene to grow bigger muscles, say their proposal would have wide ranging benefits on understanding muscle development in humans.

TRAIN DERAILS: A freight train has derailed in South Auckland blocking both lines in the city. There have been no injuries but the accident has caused widespread delays.

BIAS REJECTED: The Casino control Authority says it completely rejects allegations of bias on two members made by residents opposed to a casino development in Hamilton.

NURSE SHORTAGE: Texas hospital staff who are coming to New Zealand to recruit nurses say they are not getting much response even though salaries of up to NZ$90,000 are offered. The reason seems to be a combination of high cost of living in Texas, long registration waits in the US and a shortage of qualified nurses in NZ.

STICKER CAMPAIGN: The Police Minister is expected to rule on the legality of a car sticker campaign which targets under 25 drivers. The scheme has had two complaints to the human rights act saying it discriminated against young people.

ROWER’S NEXT ATTEMPT: The French solo rower who abandoned his trip from New Zealand to South America this week is already planning another attempt.

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