National Radio Midday Report

Inflation Rise – Middle East Summit – Solomon Peace Outcomes – G.E. Inquiry – Lyttleton Marina – Cycling Champion – Maori Oil Claim – Legal Battle – Genetic Testing – Ebola – Body Found

- INFLATION RISE: Rising petrol prices this year pushed inflation to three per cent in the year to September. Cigarette tax increase was another significant contributor to the increase. Household appliance price increases and grocery price increases haven’t flowed through to the figures in this survey.

- MIDDLE EAST SUMMIT: The United States President Bill Clinton has left for an emergency Middle East summit in Egypt. He joins leaders from Israel, Palestine, Egypt and Jordan. US officials have said there is little the summit can achieve with ill feeling so great between Israel and Palestine.

- SOLOMON PEACE OUTCOMES: The New Zealand cabinet is considering a plan to send peace monitors to the Solomon Islands, as part of a peace agreement reached during talks in Australia.

- G.E. INQUIRY: Aventis Crop Science was the first company to make a submission to the GE inquiry. They used the example of a successful Canadian GE canola crop to demonstrate how GE crops can be safe.

- LYTTLETON MARINA: The Christchurch businessman who agreed to buy the Lyttleton Marina just days before a savage storm destroyed it on Thursday says the deal is frustrated at this stage.

- CYCLING CHAMPION: The father of Hastings road cyclist Jeremy Yates, who won the world junior men’s road cycling championships yesterday, says he and his wife provided most of the money for the successful campaign and hopes that sponsors will come up with more money in the future.

- MAORI OIL CLAIM: A Maori claim for a stake in the country’s oil and gas resources looks unlikely to succeed, as neither the Government or the National Party are receptive to the idea.

- LEGAL BATTLE: Three Auckland local bodies have begun the latest round in a long running legal battle involving the electricity lines company Vector and the consumer trust that owns it.

- GENETIC TESTING: A company specialising in helping childless couples have babies wants to test genetically for defective empbryos, allowing them to screen out genetic disorders such as Downs Syndrome.

- EBOLA: International experts on the deadly ebola virus are making their way to Uganda, where there is an ebola outbreak.

- BODY FOUND: The body found in Arthur’s Pass has been identified as a German snow boarder. He has been missing for three weeks.

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