Air New Zealand – Montana Wines – Asbestos – Israel – UK Elections – Patient Privacy - Criminal Profiling – Dirty Diesel

AIR NEW ZEALAND: The Government is pinning its hopes on a consortium of NZ investors buying into Air New Zealand. The consortium’s make-up is not known, but is supported by the government, who are apparently not keen on Qantas taking a stake in the former state owned carrier. Air NZ directors briefed kiwi share Ministers yesterday.

MONTANA WINES: A former member of the Stock Exchange Surveillance Panel says Lion Nathan will need to sell down its stake in Montana Wines, if the Montana Wines Board decides it is necessary.

ASBESTOS: A report into asbestos contamination in Manakau City’s suburb of Flat Bush says that council should remove asbestos from five properties.

ISRAEL: Reports from Washington say the head of the CIA, George Tenet, is about to leave for the Middle East to restart security discussions. Meanwhile the militant group Hamas, in an apparent about face, has said it will continue attacks against Israel.

UK ELECTIONS: For the first time in UK History the Times and the Financial Times newspapers are backing the Labour Party in the upcoming UK General Election. A poll for the Independent Newspaper shows Labour on 44% and the conservatives on 33%.

PATIENT PRIVACY: Changes to rules about patient privacy allowing research on the effectiveness of the cervical cancer screening programme are being accused of going too far.

CRIMINAL PROFILING: The country’s first criminal profiling unit has been established in Auckland to crack down on serial sex offenders.

DIRTY DIESEL: As fishing fleets take to the water with clean diesel, attention in the dirty diesel crisis is moving to land based fleets and recreational boaties. Gull Petroleum has been limiting its sales of diesel to $20 per person.

© 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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