Fiji x 2 – Child Welfare – Foot And Mouth – Oil Hostages Freed – UK Train Smash – Easter Shop Trading – Deer A Pest - Milosevic – Motueka Search

FIJI: The NZ Foreign Minister Phil Goff wants Fiji’s interim administration to step aside and make way for a government of national unity. “That would assist the healing process and the rebuilding of Fiji.”

FIJI: The former Fiji PM Mahendra Chaudhry says he is still his countries rightful leader and is waiting for Parliament to be recalled.

CHILD WELFARE: Private welfare agencies have welcomed a report into CYFS that calls for more money for child welfare. The report says CYFS has been battered by restructuring.

FOOT AND MOUTH: Britain’s foot and mouth epidemic has spread to Scotland and Northern Ireland. The disease may also be in the republic of Ireland.

OIL HOSTAGES FREED: Seven foreign oil workers held hostage in Ecuador since last year have been freed according to reports. The hostages included NZ copter pilot Dennis Corrin.

UK TRAIN SMASH: British Police say they cannot rule out finding more bodies in the wreck of a train crash at Great Heck. Heavy machinery is now cleaning up the wreckage.

EASTER SHOP TRADING: A new proposal to ease Easter shop trading restrictions is being considered by Labour MPs. Margaret Wilson wants to allow garden centres to open on Easter Sunday and to widen the number of tourism areas exempted from the wider ban.

DEER A PEST: The Department of Conservation has added deer to its official list of pests. The move has not pleased deer stalkers who say the government has ignored the views of thousands of hunters.

MILOSEVIC: Former Yugoslavian PM Slobodan Milosevic could be just days away from arrest as investigators begin working on “abuse of power” inquiries. Eventually Milosevic may be charged with war crimes.

MOTUEKA SEARCH: Police in Nelson have doubled the number of searchers out looking for a missing man near Motueka who was caught in the bush having to eat dog biscuits.

© 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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