Top Scoop Stories October 30th 2009 News Summary
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LEAD STORY------------
Power has now been restored to all areas affected by a power outage this morning due to a forklift carrying a container
hitting the 220 kV transmission line between Otahuhu and Henderson. Areas were restored by 1pm. The outage, occurring
just after 8.00am this morning caused loss of supply to North Auckland and Northland (about 280,000 consumers). More »[1]
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NZ POLITICS------------
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Hone Harawira: Mr Speaker, the Maori Party also has grave concerns about significant human rights issues in the Bill, such as:
* the abuse of private information; * the prolonged detention of asylum seekers; * the protection of the rights of
children born in Aotearoa without citizenship; and * the refusal to allow the Human Rights Commission to have
jurisdiction over immigration matters. More »[1]
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[2] - http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2009/07/06/campbell-eroding-justice-creepign-complacency/ [2]
Education Minister Anne Tolley has acknowledged the valuable work being done by New Zealand’s teachers as they celebrate
World Teachers Day. “Teaching is a vitally important job, second only to parenting,” said Mrs Tolley. More »[1]
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: More »[1]
Destiny Church wishes to state that a number of comments made by the individual were grossly inaccurate and questions
the credibility of the source, which the programme fails to identify. More »[1]
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Moving the 80 per cent target for early childhood teacher registration out two years to 2012 is welcomed but will not
solve the sector's current and damaging staff shortages, says the Early Childhood Council. More »[1]
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A team of hardened investigators is to be formed to hunt down and seize the millions of dollars in profits made by
organised crime, Police Minister Judith Collins announced today. More »[1]
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Labour has been leaked the details of the new structure which reveal the Auckland Transition Agency is planning to place
control of Auckland’s assets in the hands of up to eight commercially run organisations. More »[1]
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Parliamentary staff picketed parliament today as part of their fight for better pay and the maintenance of redundancy
provisions. More »[1]
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"The appointment by Tony Ryall of Dr Murray Horn as the Chair of the new National Health Board reeks of cronyism, and
reflects a return to the hard right policies of the 1990s..." More »[1]
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BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH------------
From Sunday drivers in New Zealand will only be allowed to use mobile phones in their cars if they use a hands-free kit
or phone cradle. The ban, and its timing, were officially confirmed in August. Mobile phones cannot be used, even while
stopped ... More »[1]
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Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell is calling on Rotorua farmers to clean up their act following a damming report that the
majority of farms in the area are creating more pollution than allowed. More »[1]
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TV3’s Wednesday night screening of Inside New Zealand posed the question “Are Vitamins Killing You”. The program viewed
more like a propaganda piece, with an intentional political campaign to make Vitamins prescription only drugs. More »[1]
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The opening of the rugby ball under the high profile Tokyo Tower site was covered by over 100 journalists from Japan’s
eleven national television stations, eleven national newspapers and more than forty websites. More »[1]
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No Guts No Glory [6]
The Government is to inject $4.7 million into a programme to help save kauri trees threatened by a disease known as
kauri dieback (Phytophthora taxon Agathis). More »[1]
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"Activity in New Zealand's trading partners continued to rebound during the September quarter and financial market
sentiment has improved further. However, there remain significant vulnerabilities and challenges to be worked through in
many economies. This process could weigh on global growth going forward." More »[1]
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MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) today confirmed that a series of
New Zealand and European laboratory tests on a single New Zealand sheep brain have detected the condition atypical
scrapie (also known as Nor 98). More »[1]
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COMMENT------------
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand and Cambodia have descended into a loud political feud about Bangkok's 2006 coup, and
Thailand's current threat to demand the extradition of its fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The rift
between the two ... More »[1]
Amidst the terror and debauchery of the Old Testament are some passages of striking intrigue and beauty. Among these is
Psalm 79 - a passage I was drawn to ponder during a recent visit to a ‘Miracle Faith Healing’ service held by one of our
country’s... More »[1]
The only woman convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has returned to Serbia.
Biljana Plavsic, former Bosnian Serb President (1996-8), had spent two-thirds of her 11-year sentence in a Swedish
prison after being convicted... More »[1]
Many themes of global importance inter-relate when discussing events in Central America. An apparently simple discussion
of local developments in the Nicaraguan economy ends up covering global issues. One has to look at the role of the
dollar, the price of ... More »[1]
Fittingly, when you click on the official button for United Nations Day (October 24) it takes an inordinate amount of
time for Ban Ki Moon’s brief message to load up. Most people give up; a few look elsewhere. More »[1]
In a report recently posted on the United Nations website [i] , numerous United Nations agencies condemned the United
States blockade of Cuba, saying it impacts on their – and the Cuban Government’s - ability to provide prompt and
affordable humanitarian... More »[1]
In times like this, with bird flu, SARS, killer dogs and ‘Internet Hackers’, New Zealanders need a pleasurable laugh or
two. The More »[1]
The Pentagon has paid anti-war activist Noam Chomsky the highest honor any totalitarian entity can bestow upon an
author: they’ve banned his book “Interventions” at Guantanamo Bay prison. They won’t say precisely why they “honored”
Chomsky... More »[1]
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LIFESTYLE------------
With a video that featured loads of colour, plenty of lips and lots of lollies, Parallel Dance Ensemble won the Golden
Jandal for best video, as voted by the audience at last night's Radio Active 89FM Handle the Jandal DIY Music Video
Awards. More »[1]
Tired of having to clean up the office the morning after the Christmas party? Fed up with recycling bins full of
photocopies of lewd body parts? Or do you just fancy treating yourself to a night out where the speeches will actually
be funny? More »[1]
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WORLD------------
SECRETARY CLINTON: (In progress.) – this conference for women entrepreneurs, to bring you all together and not only to
have you meet one another, but also to meet people here in the State Department, because we want to promote more social
inclusion, ... More »[1]
An independent United Nations expert has called on Myanmar’s Government to release all political prisoners before the
national elections planned for 2010 so that the polls can be as inclusive as possible. More »[1]
Rising sea levels could inundate coastal holiday spots while melting snow caps could spell an end to ski resorts, the
United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has warned, as climate change threatens tourism, a lucrative industry
for the world’s ... More »[1]
Democratic governance both reinforces and is bolstered by development and human rights, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
underscored in a message to a high-level event drawing thousands of representatives of both governments and
non-governmental organizations. More »[1]
Nearly three days of talks supported by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wrapped up today
with a draft agreement on how to provide Iran with fuel for a civilian nuclear research facility. More »[1]
Central America has become the region with the highest levels of non-political crime worldwide, with an average murder
rate of 33 per 100,000 inhabitants last year, three times greater than the global average, a new United Nations report
warns, noting ... More »[1]
A senior United Nations official today welcomed a recent landmark agreement with the International Criminal Police
Organization (INTERPOL) to strengthen police units in peacekeeping missions around the world, and called on Member
States to contribute ... More »[1]
ENDS