HEADLINES & NEWS
Kiwibank has unveiled just what it's offering potential customers, including low fees and mortgage rates which undercut those being offered by the big banks. Nathan Mills reports that there is now growing acceptance in banking circles that Kiwibank WILL have an impact upon the major trading banks. PKGE
The Crown has opened its double murder case against Mark Lundy in the High Court in Palmerston North, saying it will provide scientific evidence proving that Mark Lundy was at the scene of the crime. Lundy is accused of killing his wife Christine, and daughter Amber in the family's suburban home 18 months ago. Our reporter Jill Galloway is at the court - she joins me now. LIVE WITH DROPINS
[illegible] Maritime Safety Authority has declared a pollution emergency amid fears that the hundreds of tonnes of fuel aboard a stranded Korean ship may spill onto a Gisborne beach. The logship, Jody-F Millenium, was driven onto a sandbank by five metre swells when it tried to move out of the Gisborne port into Poverty Bay last night. The ship remains stranded - during the day, it's moved even closer to shore Barbara Dreaver has been following the story and filed this report. PKGE
BUSINESS NEWS WITH PATRICK O'MEARA
The National Party has unveiled a new policy to help solve Auckland's transport problems, proposing a law change to speed up decisions under the resource management act.
National's leader Bill English has announced the policy at a special caucus retreat on Auckland's North Shore, saying traffic congestation costs the region one billion dollars per year. Our chief parliamentary reporter Kathryn Street is covering the meeting and joins me now. LIVE WITH DROPIN
In the Middle East, five people are dead after a gunfight in a Jewish settlement on the West Bank. Eyewitnesses say Palestinian gunmen entered the Hamra settlement in the Jordan Valley, battling Israeli security forces before seizing a house and taking hostages. The incident ended when elite Israeli commandos stormed the house, killing one gunman, but the search is still on for any other offenders. Israeli fighter planes have retalliated, attacking a Palestinian military installation in the West Bank town of Nablus. I asked the BBC's Jerusalem correspondent Caroline Hawley for the details. PREREC
5.30 NEWS HEADLINES
SPORT with STEPHEN HEWSON
The New Plymouth District Court has heard that Stephen Wallace's mother sought advice on how to protect herself from him only a few weeks before police shot him dead as he rampaged through Waitara's main street. The constable who shot him, Keith Abbott, is facing a private murder prosecution brought by Mr Wallace's family after police investigations cleared him of wrongdoing. Our reporter Kirsty Jones is covering the case - she joins me now. LIVE
Canterbury industry and businesses are warning that boatowners aren't the only victims of yesterday's storm which caused further damage to the battered and problem-plagued Lyttelton Marina. 15 months ago, the marina was badly damaged by a vicious storm which sank at least 30 privately owned boats. Yesterday's southerly blast sank another five and damaged 15. John MacDonald reports, local authorities are under more pressure than ever to help out, with claims that the region's boatbuilding industry is now at risk of collapsing. PKGE
New Zealand's lack of awareness about the threat of a tsunami, or tidal wave, has surprised an American expert attending the first tsunami conference held in this country in 20 years. Geologists, scientists, and engineers are meeting in Paraparaumu to discuss the threat and share their knowledge with civil defence specialists. Liz Banas compiled this report. PKGE
Australia and Indonesia have agreed to work together to stamp out terrorism in the region. Australia's Prime Minister John Howard is in Jakarta, meeting with the Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri on trade, asylum seekers and regional security. Earlier, two senior Indonesian politicians cancelled their official meetings with Mr Howard in what's been seen as a diplomatic snub. The [illegible] Jakarta correspondent Mark Bowling has been covering Mr Howard's visit and joins us now. LIVE
That Southern delicacy - the Bluff oyster - could soon be farmed commercially - in the warm waters north of Auckland. Researchers at Auckland University 's School of Biological Sciences say after two years experimentation, results look extremely promising. The head of the Experimental Marine Biology research group, Professor Rufus Wells, says the aim is to produce Bluff Oysters in the north. PREREC
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