East Timor – Turkish Quake – Kosovo – Burger Boycott – Petrol Prices – Blue Fin Tuna – Lottery Salary – Gang Shooting – Smoking Teenagers

EAST TIMOR: Tensions remain high in East Timor. Sarah Boyd says the town was quiet over night. UN observers are continuing to arrive. Later today a group monitoring the ballot will release information on human rights abuses.

TURKISH QUAKE: Turkish Government has begun legal action against some building contractors accused of building sub-standard buildings. Similar promises after previous disasters have not been fulfilled. Experts say vast majority

KOSOVO: KLA commander says Russia should apologise publicly for supporting the Serbian side during the conflict. Barricades have been up for five days to keep Russian’s out of a town.

BURGER BOYCOTT: Angry Jewish settlers have called for a world wide boycott of Burger King. On Thursday Burger King decided not to open a restaurant on the West Bank after threats of an Arab boycott.

PETROL PRICES: Small independent petrol company Challenge has decided not to raise its petrol prices for a fourth time. AA is welcoming the apparent competition.

BLUE FIN TUNA: NZ has won a case against the Japanese over blue fin tuna. Don McKinnon says the battle has been going for some time. The international tribunal is now telling Japan to stop over

LOTTERY SALARY: Criticism of the salary paid to Lotteries Commission boss David Bale who is earning $410,000 a year from the State Services Commissioner and the Green Party.

GANG SHOOTING: Police in Gisborne are reviewing rules on dealing with gangs after a gang member was shot. Police are concerned the gang member was shot while his three children were in the house.

SMOKING TEENAGERS: Percentage of teenage smokers has risen by 37% since 1992 according to a survey.

© 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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