Interest Rates – National Election Tactics – Fiji – Girls On The Net – Israel – Kosovo – Doctors – IRD Charter - Tiger Woods

INTEREST RATES: Employers and Manufacturers Association spokesman Alasdair Thompson is calling for the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates next week in the wake of reports that the Australian economy is shrinking. National’s finance spokesman Bill English is not so keen on

NATIONAL ELECTION TACTICS: The National Party has confirmed it will stand MPs in every seat in the next election, but candidates will have to agree to withdraw at the last minute if party officials ask them to.

FIJI: Fiji’s President is expected to announce the reconvening of Parliament at a meeting with the Great Council of Chiefs today.

GIRLS ON THE NET: A group which has surveyed teenage girls about their internet use has produced “frightening” results. 30% of the girls surveyed have met people they met on the internet in real life. Many of these did not tell their parents, went alone and met men

ISRAEL: Ariel Sharon will be sworn in as Prime Minister today following the cobbling together of a coalition containing 73 of 120 MPs.

KOSOVO: NATO peacekeepers on the Kosovo border have opened fire at an armed group of Albanians near the Macedonian border.

DOCTORS: The Medical Council is calling for priority to be given to finding ways to keep NZ doctors working here. 6 out of 10 doctors who qualified in 1997 are still working here. A third of doctors working in NZ are overseas trained.

IRD CHARTER: The chairman of the Parliamentary inquiry into revenue, United Future’s Peter Dunne, says the test of the IRD’s new charter will be how it is implemented by the department.

TIGER WOODS: Tiger Woods is keen to play in a NZ tournament at Paraparaumu in January. Arrangements have been made for Woods Learjet to land at Paraparaumu on January 8th. Woods appearance fee will be over $4 million.

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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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