Today's Top Scoops - August 31, 2007
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LEAD STORY------------
Images & Audio: Hans Blix Talks Arms Control - Yesterday former Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix (responsible for inspecting Iraq before the beginning of the Gulf War in 2003) delivered a keynote address to the Second Commonwealth Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference on International Humanitarian Law at Victoria University Wellington. His speech came in a plenary session on Weapons and Means of warfare and includes an extensive discussion on prohibited weapons and efforts to control the use and production of Weapons of Mass destruction. More >> [1]
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NZ POLITICS------------
Elections: Campaign Laws Set To Change - The Green Party is calling on the Government to introduce further changes to the Electoral Finance Bill to stop large
anonymous donations and donations from secret trusts to political parties. This is in light of leaks this morning that
the Government intends to change the regime in the bill around the intervention by non-party actors in the election
campaign. More >> [1]
ALSO:National - Electoral reform process from bad to worse [2] Muriel Newman - On-line Petition to Oppose "Mugabe" Bill [3]
Immigration News: Ali Panah Returned to Hospital - Hunger Strike Day 50 - Iranian hunger striker Ali Panah was returned to hospital on Wednesday night from Mt Eden Prison. He is now on Day 50
of his hunger strike and fears are rising for the state of his health. Ali began taking liquid mineral supplements while
in hospital last week on the strong advice of doctors but is refusing solid food or a drip. (The mineral supplements,
while having little food value will help prevent some of the physical damage from a prolonged period without food) More >> [1]
ALSO:Greens - Greens concerned about Al Panah's return to hospital [2]
Corrections: Supreme Court Lowers Compo For Prisoner Abuse - The Supreme Court has, by majority, declined these appeals by prisoners who claimed that their treatment under an
admittedly unlawful regime amounted to cruel, degrading, or disproportionately severe treatment. The appeals did not
affect the decisions that the regime denied the prisoners their right to be treated with humanity and respect for their
inherent dignity. The Court has, also by majority, allowed cross-appeals by the Attorney- General against the level of
damages awarded to three of the prisoners for breach of s 23(5). More >> [1]
ALSO:NZ Supreme Court - Judgement: Terry vs Queen [2]
Local Govt News: Len Brown's Letter: Voting Day 29 September 2007 - So getting people to vote in local body elections is tough. Many people in Manukau City simply don’t care or are
neutral about local government... If I was living alone on a fixed income why should I bother to vote? More >> [1]
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BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH------------
Banking: As If Finance Companies Don't Have Enough Trouble - The Reserve Bank has issued an enforcement notice to ABN Union Bank Limited, a company incorporated in the United
Kingdom. It is a breach of section 64 the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989 to carry on any activity in New Zealand
using a name that includes the word "bank", unless the entity using the name is a registered bank in New Zealand, or is
otherwise exempted. More >> [1]
ALSO:Reserve Bank - ABN Amro Bank NV not associated w ABN Union Bank [2] J P Morgan - Research note: A model to predict RBA decisions [3] finsec - BNZ’s new sales targets push customers into debt [4]
Horse Flu: No Evidence Of Equine Influenza In NZ - There is currently no evidence of equine influenza in New Zealand. MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) is growing
more confident that the virus has not arrived in the country as investigations into the 97 horses imported from
Australia progress and time passes. More >> [1]
Scoop Link: Working iPhone In New Zealand! - "John Ballinger from Bluespark.co.nz (with the help of his mate Shaun O’donnell) has hacked up his iphone so that it
works on the Vodafone New Zealand network. This is probably the first proper working (SMS/Phone calls, etc) iphone in
New Zealand, and it only took about 6 hours of hard work! :)" More >> [1]
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WORLD------------
Smoke & Mirrors: Kyoto Protocol Parties Move Closer To Trading Emission Allowances - The secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) today released first results
indicating that countries will meet criteria to begin trading in Kyoto emission allowances for 2008, the first year of
the Treaty’s first commitment period. International teams coordinated by the secretariat have finished reviews of
reports submitted by Austria, Japan and Switzerland that detail their preparations to work under the Kyoto Protocol. More >> [1]
Atomic Power: UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief Circulates Latest Report On Iran - The head of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has circulated his latest report on the
nuclear programme of Iran to the agency's Board of Governors. The report covers the developments since the last report
of IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei, which was issued in May, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters. The
35-member Board will now consider the report at its next meeting, scheduled to begin at IAEA headquarters in Vienna on
10 September. More >> [1]
Here's Looking at Us: International Demonstration Against NZ, Australia & Canada - In an urgent effort in support of the upcoming vote (tentatively scheduled for September 13th) in the UN General
Assembly on United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, over two dozen national and international
NGOs in the United States and Canada have come to New York City to announce their support for Indigenous peoples rights
and to protest the opposition to the Declaration being led by the governments of Canada, New Zealand and Australia. "We
are appalled by this action of human rights hypocrisy--especially coming from the governments of Canada and New Zealand,
countries that are traditionally considered global leaders for human rights." More >> [1]
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Nepal Govt Silent Over Hundreds of Disappearances - The Nepali Congress-led government of Nepal has not given any information about 1,500 cases of disappearances in
Nepal. Most of them were disappeared by the Royal Nepal Army (now renamed as Nepal Army). Human rights organizations
maintain that more than 250 of the disappearances were caused by the Maoist insurgents. A Nepali source affiliated to
the ICRC told this reporter that hundreds of cases of disappearances seem to have been unregistered. More >> [1]
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LIFESTYLE------------
Statistics: Father Figures - To acknowledge the positive role of fathers, Statistics New Zealand offers the following facts about fathers for
Father's Day on Sunday 2 September 2007: A baby will be a Father's Day present for an estimated 160 men this year, the
average age of fathers of new babies is 33 years, but one in 100 babies has a father aged 50 years or over. More >> [1]
ALSO:Wotif.com - Dads lose out in the battle of the sexes [2]
Ministry of Fisheries: New rules require fishers to stay with set-nets - Local fishers have worked in partnership with the Ministry of Fisheries for the benefit of everyone. Fisheries
Minister Jim Anderton today congratulated local fishers in the East Otago Taiapure-Local Fishery for their initiative in
improving the use of set-nets… More >> [1]
Sporting Controversy: Could Carter Be Playing For NZ If Rebel Tour Happens? - New Zealand Cricket today confirmed its position on the proposed Indian Cricket League (ICL). “The proposed ICL
league would be an unofficial rebel tournament not sanctioned by either the ICC or the Board of Control for Cricket in
India (BCCI). More>> [1]
Artiness: South Island Gothic A Winner For Photographer - Lyttelton photographer Dean Mackenzie took out the top prize at the 2007 Epson/NZIPP Iris Professional photography
awards with a striking portfolio, which included an intimate portrait of his mother and brother. More >> [1]
And those were the Top Scoops on this day, August 31, 2007
:)
ENDS