Newstalk ZB Headlines - 9am

Samoan Assassination - A shocking way to end a life full of promise. Samoans have today tried to come to terms with the assassination of Public Works Minister Luagalau Levaula Kamu. New Zealand’s High Commissioner in Apia says Levaula was a young able Minister. He graduated in Law at Auckland University, met his wife here, and his children attend school here in New Zealand. Levaula was shot dead at a political gathering on Saturday night after leaving the stage to answer a cellphone call. A man was reportedly seen by a rugby team running passed with a rifle in his hand.

JFK Jnr Missing - A tribute from the USA President as hope fades for John F Kennedy, his wife and sister in law. The three are feared dead after a plane crash off the Massachusetts Coast. President Clinton says JFK junior and his wife captured the public’s imagination and were great friends of the Clinton family. He says the Kennedy family has been a great inspiration for the nation for over 40 years: “Through it all they have suffered much and given more,” President Clinton says.

Kennedy Update - Investigators have just revealed that a locater transmission from the waters off the USA’s east coast which may have come from the missing plane. A coastguard search vessel is investigating the signal.

Meningitis Death - Health authorities are reassuring patients after a Whangarei teenager died of meningococcal disease on the weekend. The 14 year old girl’s death is the first from the disease in Northland in two years. That brings the number of cases in the region so far this year to 28. This compares to 31 for the same period last year. A Public Health spokesperson says classmates of the girl’s are not at risk as very close contact would be required for it to spread.

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