Davina William presents today's news, including reaction to Budget 2013 funding for schools, police and disability caregivers; reports of terrorist training camps in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula; and the 70th anniversary of World War 2's "Dambusters".
From the RBG News Centre for Shine TV.
Huge obstacles confront rescuers as they battle to find survivors from the weekend's powerful earthquake in mountainous southwest China.
Around 200 people have died, with more than 11,000 others injured. Some 17,000 families have lost their homes.
The Chinese government has been commended for a swifter and more effective response than that which it mobilised for the devastating quake in 2008. The first rescue teams reached the worst-affected areas, including the city of Ha'an, early on Monday.
Rescuers trying to reach survivors continue to be impeded by clogged roads, debris and landslides, as well as unnerving aftershocks. Huge boulders are blocking rescue vehicles along roads leading to some of the worst-hit areas, and some areas are only accessible by foot along broken passes through the rough terrain.
Able-bodied neighbours have carried elderly survivors and the wounded to safety, and helicopters have been employed as well. Rescuer teams have also been bolstered by thousands of civilian volunteers who rushed to the area to help. However there are concerns that the mass influx of untrained rescuers may pose logistical problems to the search effort.
Reports described Saturday's magnitude 6.6 (US Geological Survey) quake in SiChuan Province as China's worst in three years.
- Newstalk ZB/ RBG News
Davina William presents today's news, ncluding the rescue of three trampers missing for a week; warnings of sewage contamination as floods subside; the Government's reaction to the Opposition's joint electricity sector policy and its impact on Mighty River Power's partial float; and New Zealand becomes home to the Afghani interpreters instrumental to the NZ military's work in Bamiyan Province.
From the RBG News Centre for Shine TV.
Cameron Eagle presents today's news, including the verdict finding Pike River Coal Ltd guilty of nine breaches of workplace health and safety leading to the fatal Pike River mine disaster; a joint electricity sector policy from Labour and the Greens, as Winston Peters reveals New Zealand First's; and horrific casualties in a fertiliser plant explosion in Waco, Texas.
From the RBG News Centre for Shine TV.
Judgement has been passed on Pike River Coal Limited (PRCL).
The mining company has been found guilty of all the workplace safety breaches it was charged with relating to the fatal mine explosion in an interim decision.
Judge Jane Farish has just made the ruling in the Greymouth District Court. She told the court that she finds all nine charges proved and will enter convictions against the company. Judge Farish says the breaches by PRCL was causitive of the explosion and the subsequent deaths of the men who perished.
The charges were brought against the company, which is in receivership, by the former Department of Labour - now part of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. Each charge carries a maximum fine of $250,000.
A sentencing date has yet to be set.
A spokesman for the families of the Pike River 29 expressed reservations about the court case. Bernie Monk earlier said the fines would mean nothing to a company that has no money.
- Newstalk ZB
---UPDATE---
Since this daily news bulletin was recorded, the results of voting on the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill have been announced. It passed by 77 votes to 44 . No MPs abstained. This makes New Zealand the 13th country to legalise homosexual marriage.
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Davina William presents today's news, including the 'Monday-ising' of ANZAC Day and Waitangi Day; heightened security in American cities as the federal investigation into the Boston bombings continues; and the final countdown to the third reading of the contentious Marriage Amendment Bill.
From the RBG News Centre for Shine TV.
Davina William presents today's news, including what newly legislated welfare reforms under the Social Security Amendment Bill mean for beneficiares, reaction to Australia's latest case of boat refugees, and the announcement that Steve Hansen will coach the All Blacks through to RWC 2015.
From the RBG News Centre for Shine TV.
Davina William presents today's headlines, including the local and international political tensions accompanying Prime Minister John Key's trip to China; another battle between Egypt's judiciary and its President; and a move to contain bovine tuberculosis here while China deals with human cases of bird flu.
From the RBG News Centre for Shine TV. Catch our hourly bulletins every weeknight from 6:30-9:30pm, on Sky 111 or Freeview 25.
Davina William presents today's news, including the official conclusion of New Zealand's military deployment in Afghanistan, the release of offer documents for Mighty River Power shares, and a twin focus on the nuclear threats presented by North Korea and Iran as UN Security Council members meet in Kazakhstan.
From the RBG News Centre for Shine TV.
Catch our hourly bulletins every weeknight from 6:30-9:30pm, on Sky 111 or Freeview 25.
Militants have used deception to strike at north Indian police in a deadly ambush.
Disguised as cricketers, pro-Pakistan militants killed five paramilitary police in Srinagar, the main city in the Indian state of Kashmir. A senior police officer says the extremists pretended to be joining children for a game of cricket before taking out automatic weapons from a bag and throwing a grenade.
The two gunmen were subsequently shot and killed. The Hindustan Times reported them as being connected to the local terrorist group, Hizbul Mujahideen, which has threatened more guerilla tactics in its fight to see Kashmir come under Pakistan's control.
It's the deadliest attack in the past five years in the tug-of-war over Kashmir between pro-Pakistani extremists and the Indian government.
- Newstalk ZB/ RBG News
