Clinics weigh tough choice on abandoned embryos; drug education needed in primary schools: report; Christmas shoppers say 'bah humbug'; another quarter of recession predicted; and more
Embryos left over after IVF treatment are causing a dilemma for fertility clinics, the New Zealand Herald reports. If clinics lose contact with the parents who produce the embryos, they have had to store the embryos indefinitely, uncertain whether to keep or discard them. Government advisers have recommended that parents of surplus embryos be allowed to donate them to research, but the Catholic church says the embryos should be allowed to die.
A report revealing that cannabis use costs New Zealand $30 million in hospital bills is recommending drug education programmes in primary schools. The DominionPost leads with news of the report, by the National Drug Intelligence Bureau. It says growing teenage use of the drug is "alarming" and could account for up to ten percent of the country's cases of psychosis. The report also warns against a powerful new breed of "re-engineered" cannabis becoming available.
Retailers are asking Santa for a rush of last minute shoppers, after a poor two days of sales on the last weekend before Christmas. Paymark, which records about 75 percent of electronic transactions, says Saturday's figures were down $20m on last year and $6m down on 2006. If trading doesn't improve, shoppers can expect some of the biggest Boxing Day sales ever as stores look to move stock, the DomPost reports.
More bad economic news is due over the next two days, according to the Otago Daily Times. New Zealand's current account deficit is expected to have increased when new figures are released today, while economists are picking GDP figures tomorrow will show the economy has shrunk by as much as 0.5 percent.
The murder of a Christchurch woman whose body was found in the Avon River last week is the second blow for her family, as her sister died earlier this year. The Press leads with a report that the 27 year-old victim, prostitute Ngati, or Mellory, Manning, was a "caring, down-to-earth person who just had a demon on her back," according to her brother, Robin.
Auckland's largest fire in decades reached 1000c as it chewed through the old Southdown Freezing Works building on Saturday night. The fir is not expected to be completely extinguished until tomorrow, but firefighters will start their search for a cause today. See photos.