Native Logging Loan – Israel x 2 – Sri-Lanka – Jeffrey Archer – National Party President – Fantasy – Fire Fighters – Christchurch Hospital – Golf - Hockey

NATIVE LOGGING LOAN: The Mayor of Westland is defending a $400,000 loan to a local company involved in felling native trees on private land. The loan has been criticised as hypocritical by National. The Mayor says the council was told it could use the $120 million grant from the government for whatever it wanted. Around 32 jobs are expected out of the project.

ISRAEL: Israel has rejected a proposal made at the G8 Foreign Ministers meeting calling for the deployment of international monitors in the occupied territories. The Israeli Government was left alone to say that monitors would be useless. The Palestinians meanwhile have called for international protection.

ISRAEL: In the past hour three Palestinians including an infant were shot dead in the city of Hebron.

SRI-LANKA: The Black Caps cricket players have been moved away from the Sri-Lankan capital in the wake of political disturbances.

JEFFREY ARCHER: The novelist and former Conservative Party Chairman Jeffrey Archer has been found guilty of perjury and perversion of the course of justice. He has been sentenced to 4.5 years in jail and is expected to serve at least 2 years.

NATIONAL PARTY PRESIDENT: The Presidential contest is set to dominate the National Party’s annual conference this weekend. Michelle Boag and John Slater are lobbying up to the last minute. Boag looks like a shoe-in. The party appears to be in a mood for change.

FANTASY: An expert committee on drugs has advised the classification of the Fantasy range of drugs, including GHB and 14B as illegal.

FIRE FIGHTERS: There is a new dispute among fire-fighters less than a month after a new contract was signed. Around 30 fire-fighters on individual contracts have been refused membership of the Professional Firefighters Union.

CHRISTCHURCH HOSPITAL: Proposals to reduce the number of middle management positions at Christchurch Hospital are not an attempt to save money says the hospital’s bosses.

GOLF: Scotsman Colin Montgomerie is leading the British Open by three strokes.

HOCKEY: The NZ Hockey team have beaten India in their second straight win at a tournament.

© 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.

CONTACT ALASTAIR THOMPSON

• Mobile - 021707044
• Twitter - @althecat
• Google+

• Linkedin
• Facebook
• Email - alastair@scoop.co.nz