TVNZ Board and Hawkesby (Extended Report) - Lisa Blakie Murder - Americas Cup Defender Selected - Peanuts Creator Dies - General Wiranto Sacked
TVNZ BOARD: The fate of
the TVNZ board hangs in the balance tonight. Jane Young
live: Michael Cullen says the government wanted to know who
was involved, and how high up in the decision to sign the
contract went.
Earlier Helen Clark used the post-Cabinet
press conference to attack TVNZ. Clark accused the
broadcaster of using its top fronts-people, Paul Holmes and
Judy Bailey and Richard Long in a PR campaign, a "war of
words" with the government. John Hawkesby meanwhile has
being making jokes about TVNZ and Marion Hobbs on the
speaking circuit.
Jane Young Live: There has been an
enormous focus on what happened to John Hawkesby before and
after he was appointed by TVNZ. Michael Cullen said that
Hawkesby made an approach to TVNZ himself and that
discussions with TVNZ dated back to 1991. The Government
wants much more accountability on this one. The government
also wants to know why - when they knew the size of the
contract - the board did not take back the delegations it
had given to its CEO Rick Ellis in relation to the
employment contract.
LISA BLAKIE MURDER: Police have described a driver that picked up Blakie as a blond man in his forties - heavily built - she was picked up in a beige four door saloon in Christchurch that was later seen further out on the Canterbury Plains. Police have also found Blakie's cellphone near where her dog was found.
AMERICAS CUP: NZL60 has been chosen to race against Prada in the Americas Cup final series starting on Saturday. Yachting commentator says the boats are quite different even if they look the same. Meanwhile there are arguments yet to resolve how to deal with penalties and umpiring on the water. Tomorrow morning Team NZ will lift the skirts of their defender.
SHULTZ DIES: The Peanuts cartoon creator Charles M. Shultz dies as his final cartoon strip goes to print. Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy all said goodbye today, and Shultz's heart stopped. The largest readership of any comic strip in history will miss this strip.
GENERAL
WIRANTO SACKED: General Wiranto has been stripped of his
Cabinet position. Earlier President Abdurrachman Wahid - who
had just returned from an overseas trip - had said Wiranto
could stay.