Top Scoop Stories December 9, 2009 News Summary
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LEAD STORY------------
On current indications the Buckle Tax review will provide the final draft of their recommendations to the government
just before Christmas – to enable it to digest the content – and then release the document to the public during the
third week of January.While speculation about the report’s likely findings have focused on a capital gains tax or a land
tax levied on the unimproved value of all land, very little attention has been paid to a more politically palatable
option – a Risk Free Return Method (RFRM) targeted only at the property sector. More »[1]
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NZ POLITICS------------
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New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully must press Indonesia to accept responsibility for the execution of New
Zealand journalist Gary Cunningham in 1975, Green Party MP Keith Locke said today. More »[1]
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56 newspapers in 45 countries have taken the unprecedented step of speaking with one voice through a common editorial.
We do so because humanity faces a profound emergency. More »[1]
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[6] - http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2009/12/climate-change-exempting-one-of-nzs.html" target="_blank [6]
- More »[1]
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ETS, etc [6]
Most of the intercepts of the pseudoephedrine precursor to P that were being touted by John Key at his press conference
yesterday originated from China – which suggests that Chinese criminal gangs may be at the heart of our P problem. Key
though, didn’t seem to know either way. More »[1]
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BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH------------
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee has adopted almost every major recommendation of the Electricity Technical Advisory
Group, in a package of reforms for the electricity market that he describes as “putting the boot back on the consumer’s
foot”. More »[1]
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Around 80 delegates will be attending the meeting which will examine issues surrounding ship-borne tourism in the
Antarctic Treaty Area. More »[1]
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New Zealand is on the brink of introducing factory farming of dairy cows, the Green Party said today. Consent
applications were recently lodged with Environment Canterbury for factory-style dairy farms in the Mackenzie Basin. More »[1]
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Federated Farmers welcomes Fonterra’s announcement of an annual retention but believes the amount retained by the
cooperative is far too small. More »[1]
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COMMENT------------
On current indications the Buckle Tax review will provide the final draft of their recommendations to the government
just before Christmas – to enable it to digest the content – and then release the document to the public during the... More »[1]
It has been a sordid tale, enrapturing audiences in Italy and globally. The murder of 21-year-old British student
Meredith Kercher, who was found with her throat slit in her Perugia apartment in November 2007 after being sexually
assaulted, continues... More »[1]
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Media coverage of the battle against P has tended to focus on the role of Maori gangs in the P trade. Yet most of the
intercepts of the pseudoephedrine precursor to P that were being touted by John Key at his press conference yesterday... More »[1]
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When California’s Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, travels to Copenhagen this week to participate in Subnational Day at
the UN Climate Change Conference, he and his support staff may be doing so at the expense of a wealthy business owner
who contributes... More »[1]
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Uruguay's left wing political coalition, the Broad Front party ( Frente Amplio ), retained control of the presidency in
the November elections. This wasn't just any election. More »[1]
Several public accounts of abusive interrogations at Guantanamo have praised psychologist Dr. Michael Gelles for his
opposition to these abuses. Similarly, the American Psychological Association (APA) has repeatedly pointed to actions of
Dr. Gelles to instantiate... More »[1]
Tomorrow Fernando Gonzalez and Ramon Labanino will grace the Miami court with their presence once again - for yet
another re-sentencing by a judge more renowned for her grotesquely inconsistent rulings than for the administration of
justice. More »[1]
IT WOULD have been the epitome of political kitsch. Binyamin Netanyahu and ten of his ministers were to hold a joint
meeting with Angela Merkel and ten members of the German cabinet. What for? To demonstrate Germany’s love for Israel... More »[1]
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LIFESTYLE------------
Film fans will be treated to a red carpet appearance from Academy Award winning Director Peter Jackson and The Lovely
Bones actors, Oscar winner Susan Sarandon, Oscar-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan, Rose McIver and Carolyn Dando at the
film’s New Zealand premiere on Monday 14 December. More »[1]
What is one to make of this extraordinarily gritty, brutal film by Lee Daniels? An obese 16-year-old girl from Harlem
is cooking for her abusive, welfare-addicted mother in a room that rarely sees the light of day. The mother hurls an
object at ... More »[1]
The winners of the 18th annual Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards were named last night, with Auckland-based Wellingtonian
Arthur Meek scooping the major prizes for his production Collapsing Creation. More »[1]
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WORLD------------
The outcome of the historic United Nations climate change conference under way in Copenhagen will have reverberations
for the future of humanity and the planet, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today. More »[1]
ALSO:
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0912/S00086.htm [10]
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0912/S00085.htm [11]
Around 80 per cent of global trade is transported by sea but challenging times are ahead for the shipping industry,
which is faced with a surge in the supply of vessels and tumbling freight rates amid the economic crisis More »[1]
Progress in bringing stability to the war-wracked east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is mixed,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in a new report. More »[1]
Some 4.8 million Ethiopians will require emergency food and related aid costing $270 million for the first six months of
2010 in a country already plagued by prolonged drought and crop failure. More »[1]
Based on the “bed of nails” used by ancient Hindu yogis; a new cure-all “nail mat” fad has inundated Europe, USA and the
West; which fans are using for “mental and physical renewal”. More »[1]
With a new copyright law virtually putting an end to the pirate DVD business in Fiji, consumers now have to pay more to
rent original DVDs. People that Wansolwara spoke to said that the price of renting DVDs was too high. More »[1]
The U.S. Department of State in October published the latest in its series of ''Background Notes'' regarding Indonesia.
( http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2748.htm ) The periodic series provides a useful overview of the history, culture,
geography, economy and government. More »[1]
ENDS