National Radio Midday Report

NZ Economy – Hospital Funding – Air Force Morale – Lake Omapere – Monteith’s Relocation – Sex Charges – Child Abuse Guidelines – Mir Splashdown - Internet Scam – Kosovo Warned – US/Russian Diplomacy – Foot And Mouth

- NZ ECONOMY: NZ may be slipping economically on the ground it made in the last three months of last year. Official figures show the Current Account was in deficit by $1.9 billion for the quarter.

- HOSPITAL FUNDING: National Health Spokesperson Roger Sowry predicts that a half per cent funding increase for hospital will mean cuts in services.

- AIR FORCE MORALE: There are fresh concerns about morale among air force staff after it was revealed that 11 engineering officers have resigned in the past few months.

- LAKE OMAPERE: Maori anger at the Conservation Department erupted in Kaikohe this morning over the state of Lake Omapere, where the lake is being choked to death by oxygen weed and DOC is refusing to introduce grass carp to eat the weed.

- MONTEITH’S RELOCATION: Greens Co-leader Rod Donald said DB’s decision to close the Greymouth Monteith’s Brewery, by DB say the brewery is as victim of its own success, with sales increasing by 250 per cent over the past two years. DB says Monteith’s will be brewed in Auckland.

- SEX CHARGES: Police have laid further sex charges against Derek Leslie Humphreys, a former teacher, for alleged offences against former students.

- CHILD ABUSE GUIDELINES: Training for GPs on detecting child abuse is to get underway after the publication of Government.

- MIR SPLASHDOWN: Russian space station MIR has about six hours to go before making its fiery descent into the pacific.

- INTERNET SCAM: The Consumers Institute has issued a warning about a new variant on an Internet scam circulating on email. It’s a twist on the Nigerian letter writer’s scam, where thousands were fleeced of cash by responding.

- KOSOVO WARNED: The European Union has warned Kosovo that the Macedonian/Albanian rebel border conflict will wreck any efforts to rebuild the Kosovo economy.

- US/RUSSIAN DIPLOMACY: The Bush administration is expressing hope that a tit for tat expulsion of diplomats in Washington and Moscow will not damage relations between the two counties.

- FOOT AND MOUTH: The Irish Republic is moving to contain any further outbreaks of foot and mouth as the first case of the disease has been confirmed.

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