THE receivers of the failed child care provider, CFK Childcare Centres, said they are working through a shortlist of 40 buyers looking to acquire some, or all, of the failed company's centres.

THE Federal Government has demanded an explanation from a company with close ties to Eddy Groves that told parents on Thursday it would close 14 child-care centres on December 31.

WHILE the British Government has complained bitterly about a United Nations report on child care that gave its services a middle ranking, the Rudd Government has happily accepted that Australia's services are the third-worst in the developed world.

NEWCASTLE Private Hospital will close its intensive care unit over the Christmas period and transfer any critical cases to John Hunter Hospital.

THE immediate future of CFK Child Care's 39 centres in NSW is in peril after the Federal Government refused to provide financial support for the failed chain.