Sterilisation – Shell/Mobil Boycott Call – US Tax Cut – Israel – Motorsport Sentencing – Prison Escape – Problem Gambling – UK Elections

STERILISATION: Midwives and doctors say women with already large families are having babies they cannot afford because of waiting lists for tubal ligations. The problem is particularly bad in South Auckland where some women have been waiting two years or more.

SHELL/MOBIL BOYCOTT CALL: Auckland Regional Council’s Phil Warren is calling for a boycott of Mobil and Shell because they are blocking plans to reduce the levels of sulphur in diesel fuel. Warren also says the government is dragging its feet.

US TAX CUT: The US President George Bush has signed into law the biggest tax cut in US history. The tax cut bill has been achieved through political cooperation, says Bush.

ISRAEL: The US CIA Director George Tenet has scored an initial success in his mission to the Middle East by scheduling a meeting of Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs in Ramallah tonight.

MOTORSPORT SENTENCING: Motorsport NZ will today be sentenced in Invercargill District Court on a charge of criminal nuisance in relation to the deaths of two spectators at a race in Queenstown.

PRISON ESCAPE: The police have revealed that a prisoner who broke out of Rimutaka Prison visited his family in Petone for a change of clothes shortly after breaking out of prison.

PROBLEM GAMBLING: Problem gambling is up 20% according the problem gambling purchasing agency. Over 5000 people sought help for the first time last year. 40% of the new clients are women. 93% of the women preferred gaming machines compared to 75% of men.

UK ELECTIONS: British voters have another hour to vote in the UK general election which is expected to result in a substantial majority for Labour PM Tony Blair. Blair was the last of the big three party leaders to cast his vote. First results are expected mid morning NZT.

© 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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