Checkpoint. 2008-01-15

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Year
2008
Reference
36252
Media type
Audio
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Rights Information
Year
2008
Reference
36252
Media type
Audio
Item unavailable online
Duration
01:00:00
Credits
RNZ Collection

**** CKPT FOR TUES 15 JAN
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The condition of a woman who was one of four people attacked on Auckland's North Shore overnight has deteriorated and she now requires neurosurgery. The three other victims also remain in hospital - one has serious injuries and another requires plastic surgery. One couple was robbed and assaulted with a baseball bat by three men at about one-30 at Milford beach. And at about four o'clock this morning, another couple was attacked on Lake Road in Takapuna and left for dead. Detective Sergeant Scott Armstrong says the unprovoked, brutal and vicious assaults say they may be linked. PREREC

The High Court is being asked by the victim of a pack rape to reconsider the Parole Board's release of one of those convicted of the crime, Peter McNamara.The Tauranga businessman was sentenced to seven years in jail after being found guilty of the 1989 attack, along with his co-accused, the former police officers Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum. Here's our Court reporter Ann Marie May. PREREC

A man found guilty of killing a police dog has been sentenced to 14 months in jail. 27 year old Tairyn Murphy was accused of drowning Enzo during a manhunt in remote bush south of Tauranga. Enzo's handler, Kayne Cording, was given permission to read his impact statement aloud in court and described an exceptional young police dog. Sergeant Paul Selby is the head of the Dog Section for the Bay of Plenty region and he joins us now LIVE
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BUSINESS NEWS
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The Institute of Economic Research's Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion continues to show that pessimists outnumber optimists, but even though this is the case firms report being busy, and say resources are stretched. A net 26 percent of respondents expect conditions to worsen over the next six months, which is slightly better than what was recorded in the three months to September. To discuss the survey and its implications, I'm joined by our business reporter Baden Campbell. LIVE

One of Kabul's best known landmarks, a luxury hotel in the heart of the capital's diplomatic quarter has been targeted by terrorists. At least six people died after a suicide bomber and then a gunman struck the Serena Hotel in the Afghanistan capital. The ABC's Simon Lauder reports PKG

Lifeguard Chris O'Neil thought patrolling Omaha Beach, north of Auckland, would provide a respite from his usual duties at the wild and dangerous West coast beach of Piha. But he says he's changed his mind after a 3-metre bronze whaler shark attacked and partially deflated the inflatable dinghy he was in, yesterday afternoon. Our reporter Lisa Thompson joined Chris on patrol, near the area where he and his colleague Lauren were attacked. PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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Telecom says it has embarked on a billion-dollar upgrade that will spell the end of slow internet connections on home computers. Householders will enjoy faster connections through thousands of mini-exchanges being built around the country. Gill Bonnett reports. PKG

New Zealanders should be able to catch a glimpse of the world's only manned satellite tonight. The International Space Station should be visible speeding 340 kilometres above our heads between 8.59 and 9.04pm. The Met Service is forecasting reasonably clear skies. Its track should brush the South Island's Cape Farewell and over the North Island coast from Taranaki to Whakatane. Here's the head of the Stardome Observatory in Auckland, Craig Garner describing how the satellite looked when he saw it last night. PREREC

President Bush has arrived in Saudi Arabia on the latest leg of his Middle East tour during which he's expected to try to encourage democratic reform and discuss relations with Iran. The BBC's Matthew Price is travelling with the President PKG

While the West frets about oil supplies and its dependency on the Middle East and Russia, one country -- Cuba, knows what it's like to live through a severe energy crisis. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba has been struggling to survive on extremely limited fuel supplies. The BBC's correspondent in Havana, Michael Voss, has been looking at how life changes when the fuel runs out PKG

In Madagascar, twenty rare tortoises have been returned to the island after being seized by customs on the French island of Mayotte. The discovery follows the arrest of a Nigerian man last week in Madagascar who was in possession of nearly 3 hundred animals, including eight plow-share tortoises, the rarest in the world. The trade from Madagascar is illegal although some specimens can fetch ten thousand dollars on the international market. The BBC's Jonny Hogg reports. PKG

US Democratic Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has accused African-American senator Barak Obama's campaign of injecting racial tension into the presidential candidacy contest by distorting a comment she made about the civil rights movement.The ABC's Kim Landers reports PKG

The DNA of the kauri tree has provided strong evidence that New Zealand was never submerged under the sea, scientists at Massey University say. It's long been accepted that New Zealand's landmass broke away from the super-continent, Gondwanaland more than 80 million years ago, but in recent years some scientists have argued that the country sank under water around the Oligocene period, 26 million years ago. Peter Lockhart, a Professor of Evolutionary Genetics and senior author of the study says most of the research was largely conducted by a PHD student, Michael Knapp. PREREC

There's been a setback for the ambition of the disabled South African sprinter, Oscar Pistorius, to compete in this year's Beijing Olympic Games against able-bodied runners. Pistorius runs with carbon fibre prosthetics attached to his legs, which he says give him no advantage over other runners of similar ability. But a report from the International Association of Athletics Federations disagrees. Here's the BBC's James Munroe: PKG