Israel – Child Whipped To Death – Fires – Bill English – Thrift Christchurch – Vector Payout – Italian Working Holidays – Laser Acupuncture For Pot Addiction

ISRAEL: The voters of Israel have elected a man known as the bulldozer as Prime Minister. Tonight in his victory speech Sharon was tough and uncompromising – but left the door open for peace talks. Sharon said he wants to resume talks but says that painful compromises will need to be made. “A united and eternal Jerusalem”, was one such compromise Palestinians would have to make. Sharon said he would not share Jerusalem. Sharon is not afraid of war having fought it several times most recently in 1982. He has earned a reputation for brutality after being found responsible for a Palestinian refugee camp massacre in Lebanon. He unsuccessfully sued Time Magazine when it wrote about this. Yasser Arafat said he would respect the Israeli vote and hoped peace talks would continue. The PM says that she is sure Sharon’s government knows Israel’s people want peace and the Americans also want peace. Reaction from several other NZers. One man. “The people have not chosen peace. This is not a man of peace. They know that.”

CHILD WHIPPED TO DEATH: A woman has plead guilty to whipping a 5-year-old boy to near death. The child then died in his father’s arms after being put to bed and vomiting. The boy was whipped with a piece of rubber and a car aerial. More than 165 strikes to the body of the child were counted by the pathologist.

FIRES: Firefighters have been battling fires on both sides of the Cook Strait. A Picton blaze began this afternoon threatening houses. Four helicopters are helping fight the fire. The Makara Beach fire was fought by 60 firefighters and was undercontrol in the afternoon.

BILL ENGLISH: Bill English has been elected deputy leader of the National Party. Only one round was necessary. Gerry Brownlee says there is no bad blood. Brownlee last week questioned English’s loyalty, this week he wasn’t talking about it. English said the caucus wants a deputy leader that supported the leader and that’s what they now had.

THRIFTY CHRISTCHURCH: Christchurch ratepayers are going to miss out on proceeds from the sale of a Gas Utility the money will be used to pay down city debt and invested.

VECTOR PAYOUT: In Auckland a cheque is almost in the mail for more than $500 per household to electricity customers. of Vector Energy. Council will decide tomorrow whether to abandon an appeal that is holding up the payment. The person who will get the payout is the person whose name is on the bill. The payout is expected to be around $570.

ITALIAN WORKING HOLIDAYS: New working holiday agreement with Italy unveiled. The agreement is a world first for Italy but not for NZ which has similar agreements with several nations.

LASER ACCUPUNCTURE FOR POT ADDICTION: While lasers have been used overseas to combat cannabis addiction, now they will be used here to reduce anxiety levels in addicts. Acupuncturist says he has succeeded with tobacco and alcohol.

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

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