Gales And Floods - Tourist Found - CityJet - EgyptAir Crash - Yelling And Chicken Dances On the Campaign Trail - DNA Testing for Teens - Auckland Business Meets Winston - Brierleys - Indian Cyclone - East Timor - New Ambassador - Olympics

GALES AND FLOODS: Torrential rain drenched parts of the North Island today. Farmers in Waimana are only now recovering from last years floods. More than 200mm of rain in last 24 hours. Farmland turned into a lake. Idiots kept trying to use the road and one caught. Farmer says morale was coming back - "and then this". Storm also struck Auckland. A yacht caught. Minor slips in West Auckland.

TOURIST FOUND: Search and Rescue operation to find lost Austrian tourist near Te Awamutu on the other side of the mountain.

CITYJET: CityJet has issued secret tapes which it says shows there is political interference behind its grounding. Tape recording - played - appears to show a CAA official admitting there is political pressure involved in the case. CAA say the conversation has been taken out of context and is actually about a Dominion Newspaper article. A pilot is worried about his job. CAA describe the secret tape recording as a bizarre move and says CityJet should use appeal procedures.

EGYPTAIR CRASH: Mystery has deepened into the reasons behind the EgyptAir flight 990 crash. The autopilot disconnected. Eight seconds later the airplane began a controlled descent. Data shows it descending to 19,000 feet…and then the recorder stops before the plane starts to climb again and then plummet into the Atlantic. Search boats are now looking for the cockpit voice recorder.

YELLING AND CHICKEN DANCES: National MPs and students clash outside Parliament when students gatecrash a function to launch a National Party bus tour. Roger Sowry says student leader Karen Skinner - pictured yelling at the Nats - should come clean and explain why he had her removed from his office. Meanwhile Helen Clark was doing the Chicken dance at the lollipop playland across town.

DNA TESTING FOR TEENS: National announced today it wants to give police the power to take DNA samples from burglary suspects as young as 14.

AUCKLAND BUSINESS MEETS POLITICS: IHUG Founder Nick Wood says that he is not convinced the present government structure is Y2k compatible. NZ First leader says he can give his record as evidence things will improve. The Alliance says that the Auditor General should be responsible for keeping politicians honest. Labour says it will fix the problem with anti-defection legislation. Everyone agrees however on more tax on tobacco.

BRIERLEYS: Chapter closes on Brierley Investments as the company holds last AGM before moving to Singapore and Bermuda. One investor turns up in army uniform and says the company has lost as much money as the cost of WWI. Sir Ron Brierley says he has always believed there is something worth saving. Selwyn Cushing ignored repeated requests to explain the cost savings of moving off-shore. Four hour meeting. One investor still has a lot of confidence.

INDIAN CYCLONE: Problems with getting high caste Indians to help with recovery operation.

EAST TIMOR: Kiwi Troops have had the beer ban lifted. Breweries are keen to help out. Troops on active operations will stay dry.

NEW AMBASSADOR: US Senate approves new NZ Ambassador in overwhelming majority.

OLYMPICS: Oz PM John Howard steps aside to allow the Queen to open the Olympic Games.

© 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