Pressure is growing on the Rotorua Stockcar Club to drop the Confederate Flag as one of its symbol. An on-line petition against the club using the flag now has more than 1000 signatures. Wellington journalist Ben Aulakh started the petition a few weeks ago and told producer Jeremy Parkinson that so far, the communication from the Rotorua Stockcar club hasn't been positive.

Rotorua Stockcar club under pressure to drop Confederate flag as club symbol

News & Politics

Kiwi scientist and champion épée-fencer Dr Matt Baker is representing NZ at fencing in the final Olympic qualifying tournament in Dubai later today. Sydney-based Baker is Scientia Research Fellow in the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of New South Wales, where he studies the molecular motor that makes bacteria swim. But today it's all about the sport and Matt is the sole NZ gladiator in men's épée. Age 41, and father of two young children, he's en garde against some up-coming young stars, all hungry for success at the Asia-Oceania Zonal Qualifier for the Paris Olympics. The men's épée starts at 4pm NZ time, streamed live.

Dr Matt Baker: en garde for the Olympics

A first of its kind one-to-one support programme for pre-school children showing signs of autism is about to be trialed in Wellington, with aspirations of going nationwide. Professor Josie Barbaro pioneered the most successful tool in the world for the very early detection of autism. Known as Social Attention and Communication Surveillance or SACS, it identifies autistic children aged 11 to 30 months with an accuracy of 83%, and has identified 96% of autistic children by preschool age. Susie is joined by Prof Barbaro and Educational Psychologist and Clinic Lead of the Victoria University of Wellington Autism Clinic, Dr Hannah Waddington. Hannah is rolling out Raupi te Raupo, a world-first free support programme for under fives who, having undergone Josie's assessment, are showing signs of autism.

Rotorua Stockcar club under pressure to drop Confederate flag as club symbol

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