Foot and Mouth Misinformation – Spouse House Wars – Air Force Departures – Air Force Crash – Level Crossings – Macedonia – John McNutt – Glenbrook Steel Mill – Home Alone

FOOT AND MOUTH MISINFORMATION: The Agriculture Minister is blaming sloppy journalism for mistaken reports on CNN and in Time Magazine about NZ’s history with Foot and Mouth disease. Jim Sutton says he is chasing the sources.

SPOUSE HOUSE WARS: The PM and Leader of the Opposition remain at odds over the involvement of family members in political mudslinging. Yesterday the PM proposed a truce with the Opposition but this morning sounded less conciliatory.

AIR FORCE DEPARTURES: The Air Force has confirmed that a number of senior pilots are leaving the RNZAF for careers in commercial piloting.

AIR FORCE CRASH: A special Air Force investigation team is going to investigate whether a pilot was obeying rules when it crashed into a power line in the Buller Gorge yesterday.

LEVEL CROSSINGS: The union that represents train drivers say that many level crossing accidents could be avoided if they were better designed.

MACEDONIA: The EU security chief Javier Solana is to meet with senior Macedonians to discuss security issues. Mr Solana says that Macedonia has the full support of the EU. NATO has announced troop reinforcements on the Kosovo border.

JOHN MCNUTT: The Deputy PM and Foreign Minister will represent the government at the funeral of Major John McNutt at Burnham Camp this afternoon.

GLENBROOK STEEL MILL: The future of 1200 jobs at Glenbrook Steel Mill could be dependent on a $20 million investment decision at the plant to be made in May. The owner of the mill, BHP, has announced a merger with a British mining and minerals giant.

HOME ALONE: The police say they had to force their way into a West Auckland house to free a two-year-old girl left home alone.

© 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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