1700 to 1707 NEWS
A 76-year old retired catholic priest begins a five year prison term this evening, after today being sentenced at the High Court in Dunedin, for repeatedly sexually assaulting four boys. Magnus William Murray, now of Auckland, had already admitted the 10 representative charges of abuse which started when the boys were aged between 8 and 12. Murray admitted abusing them between 1962 and 1972 while acting in various roles for the Catholic Church in and around Dunedin. Detective Mark Lodge has praised the victims for their courage in coming forward. He says another complaint of sexual abuse has been made against Murray since his conviction, and three others are also considering making compliants. CUT Joining us now to discuss the case is our Reporter, Nathan Mills... LIVE
Strong winds in Hawke's Bay have brought down power lines all over the region and cut power to about 250 households - six power poles are down in one street in Hastings alone. The Met Service says wind gusts of 159 kilometres an hour were recorded in the Kaweka Ranges, with winds of between 120 and 140 kilometres recorded in the foothills and on the flat. The power lines company Unison is working to restore the power supply to those households where it's been cut and its general manager operations Nigel Brown joins me now. LIVE
Staff and pupils of St John's College in Hastings are shocked by the deaths of two senior students, killed in a car accident in Napier last night and tomorrow the school will open for people wanting to gather and mourne the deaths. 15 year old Samuel O' Kane and 16 year old James Te Whaiti were killed instantly, when the car in which they were passengers hit a truck at an intersection on the Napier Hastings expressway just after midnight. It's the second fatal car accident involving teenage drivers since the school holidays started last friday. Heugh Chappell reports. PKGE
New Zealand's balance of payments deficit has worsened dramatically - with the [illegible] account deficit for the year to June 2003 almost double the previous year's total.
Figures from Statistics New Zealand show the deficit in the year to June is almost five point nine billion dollars.
Bank of New Zealand chief economist Tony Alexander told me that's an increase over the previous year of almost 90 percent. PREREC
1719 BUSINESS NEWS WITH JOHN DRAPER
Police have laid charges of murder against a 14 year old boy following the death of another teenager after a fight at a Otahuhu party earlier this month. The student died when life support was turned off on Saturday. Here's reporter Sarah North. PKGE
1730 HEADLINES
SPORTS NEWS WITH STEPHEN HEWSON
The barrage of flat rejections to the government's foreshore and seabed proposal was endorsed today by Māori at Pipitea Marae in Wellington. However the government is hailing it as the most constructive hui so far. It was the nineth of eleven hui on the issue - Whangarei was cancelled - and the final one is being held in Auckland tomorrow. Our Māori Issues Correspondent Gideon Porter is with us now. LIVE WITH DROPINS
There's been an explosion at a hotel in the centre of Baghdad where employees of the American television network NBC are staying. Police say at least one person has been killed. The BBC's Baghdad correspondent Howell Jones has the latest. CUT
Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri has called on the West to re-examine its war on terrorism strategies and criticised US policy in the Middle East and Iraq.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly shortly after the US President George Bush, Ms Megawati said major powers were feeding the flames of political violence by [illegible] an unjust approach toward the Arab-Israeli conflict.
She also backed the French criticism of President Bush's policy in Iraq saying the US-led invasion created far more problems than those it intended to solve. The BBC's Jakarta correspondent Rachel Harvey told me that the Indonesian president has delivered a number of quite strong speeches lately. PREREC
In Washington President Bush has dispatched senior members of his administration to explain to the US Congress his latest spending request for reconstruction in Iraq. Several weeks ago, Mr Bush told the American people that he would need another 87 billion US dollars this year alone. That's enraged critics of the administration. As our Washington correspondent Owen Fay reports, the money will be approved, but not as easily as the Bush administration would like. PKGE
Meanwhile, the CIA says an interim report expected next month, on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, will reach no firm conclusions. A senior U.S. official says the report by weapons inspector David Kay is expected to find "documentary evidence" of Iraqi chemical and biological weapons programs, but no proof of the arms themselves. WRIT
Up to 70 people were rescued from a launch on Lake Rotorua that ran aground after being blown on to a mudbank in high winds this morning. The Lake Rotorua Coastguard says the passengers were never in any danger and three vessels were used in the rescue operation and all the passengers were safely returned to shore. Coastguard spokesperson Lynsey Spence told me what happened. PREREC
Scientists at Massey University say they are in the advanced stages of developing plants to mine gold from soil. Dr Chris Anderson who lectures in soil and earth sciences, came up with the idea six years ago, using crops to clean up pollution. PREREC
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