DAIRY REFORM: The government introduced legislation under urgency last night reforming the Dairy Industry. The deal needs support of 75% of dairy farmers to be implemented. Labour says the changes have been forced through

PETROL PRICE RISE: BP and Shell have raised petrol prices by three cents a litre overnight. Mobil Caltex and Challenge say they will keep an eye on the market. The costs relate to higher crude oil prices.

POLICE AND LOCAL BODIES: Mayors of some times and cities say they want their local council's to take over management of the police in their areas. Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey wants to set strategies and manage police.

PRIMARY SCHOOLS: Report by Primary School Teachers Income says the proportion of income of schools that comes from the government has fallen. A hard core of schools are in financial difficulties.

IRAN: Conservative groups in Iran have held a 100,000+ rally in Tehran.

NZ THE PEACEMAKER: NZ will be offered as a neutral venue for US and China to meet and patch up their differences.

NORTHERN IRELAND: Britain's PM Tony Blair has announced major changes to legislation setting up the Northern Ireland executive just hours after it was passed through the House of Commons. The assembly meets tonight NZ Time.

TELECOM: A man who won a case against Telecom on phone cards - in the disputes tribunal - said he did it as a matter of principle. Telecom says it will appeal the decision and says it did not appear at the disputes tribunal hearing.

© 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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