Top Scoop Stories December 11th 2009 News Summary
------------
TO CHANGE MY SCOOP OPTIONS OR UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS LIST
IF YOU HAVE LOST YOUR PASSWORD
------------
LEAD STORY------------
With just a few days of Parliament left, MPs will – if they’re anything like me – be thinking about planning their
summer break.Ah, the traditional MP’s Christmas: the enforced seizure and redistribution of presents, the
community-controlled opening of new liquor bottles, the crabby aunts trying to exaggerate your liabilities, the endless
round of coup-plotting barbecues, and the chance to spend some time getting away from it all.Always keen to help, Scoop provides a few holiday suggestions... More »[1]
------------
NZ POLITICS------------
ALSO:
An ongoing national strike for adequate pay by staff of High Courts, District Courts and Tribunals must be resolved as
quickly as possible, says the President of Auckland District Law Society Incorporated, Anna Fitzgibbon. More »[1]
ALSO:
Before going into what Obama might need to do in future to justify the prize, we should spare a thought for those who
have been having an even worse decade than the US for the past nine years, and by that I don’t mean the citizens of Iraq
and Afghanistan. I’m talking about al Qaeda. More »[1]
ALSO:
"The much touted agreement is more about public relations and spin than public health," Ms Kedgley said. "Children in
schools will still be exposed to highly acidic, enamel-destroying fizzy drinks with addictive and controversial
additives in them, despite this so-called accord." More »[1]
ALSO:
ACC levies for workers, employers and motorists will increase next year but less than those recommended by the ACC
Board, ACC Minister Nick Smith says. More »[1]
ALSO:
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0912/S00099.htm [10]
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0912/S00091.htm [11]
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0912/S00148.htm [12]
- More »[1]
ALSO:
A range of hi-tech Police vehicles, which are being put into frontline service, will give Police the edge over
criminals, Police Minister Judith Collins said. More »[1]
------------
BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH------------
Australia has lifted the ban on research involving animal to human transplants. In 2004, NHMRC recommended that there
should be no animal to human transplantation (xenotransplantation) clinical trials in Australia for five years, subject
to review in December 2009. More »[1]
Food prices decreased 0.3 percent in the November 2009 month, Statistics New Zealand said today. This is the fourth
consecutive monthly fall in food prices, which has not occurred since July 2004. More »[1]
ALSO:
Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard said: "The New Zealand economy continues to recover but there remains considerable
uncertainty about the durability of the expansion. More »[1]
ALSO:
[3] - http://business.scoop.co.nz/2009/12/10/nz-dollar-jumps-on-bollard-hint-of-early-rate-hike/ [3]
- More »[1]
ALSO:
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0912/S00287.htm [10]
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0912/S00222.htm [11]
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0912/S00126.htm [12]
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0912/S00244.htm [13]
[14] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0912/S00144.htm [14]
[15] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0912/S00261.htm [15]
[16] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0912/S00255.htm [16]
[18] - http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2009/12/anti-environmentalist-spite.html" target="_blank [18]
Around 80 delegates will be attending the meeting which will examine issues surrounding ship-borne tourism in the
Antarctic Treaty Area. More »[1]
ALSO:
------------
COMMENT------------
Fellow citizens of the world, I stand before you in a time of undeclared war to accept the world’s greatest commendation
for peace. It is in this contradiction we, the peoples of the world, find... More »[1]
ALSO:
[4] - http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2009/12/11/gordon-campbell-obamas-peace-prize-al-quaeda/ [4]
With just a few days of Parliament, left MPs will – if they’re anything like me – be thinking about planning their
summer break. Ah, the traditional MP’s Christmas: the enforced seizure and redistribution of presents the... More »[1]
A handy guide to Newzild, issued to US servicemen during the war, says that ''a fair cow'' or, more forcefully, ''a fair
adjectival cow'', means “an unpleasant man, woman or situation”. It's exactly the right term, I reckon, to describe the
plan to house... More »[1]
In 2004, France banned headscarves and school principals chased after young ''defiant'' Muslim girls who continued to
cover their heads in school. Now, following a national referendum, Switzerland has banned the construction of minarets,
because minarets... More »[1]
ALSO:
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]
ALSO:
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]
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]
ALSO:
------------
LIFESTYLE------------
Six veterans of the Battle of the River Plate will be joining the Royal New Zealand Navy this weekend for the 70th
Anniversary Commemoration of the battle. More »[1]
ALSO:
There’s no other New Orleans musician operating today who is as great as Dr John, pure and simple. Best of all, the man
has a real fire in his belly again, proven by the new Dr John and the Lower 911’s album City That Care Forgot, which
deals with various aspects of post-Katrina New Orleans outrage. More »[1]
New Zealand Freedivers have shown the world, that when it comes to going deep, those from down under truely have what it
takes. Over 2 seperate events held in Denmark and The Bahamas, Kiwi Freedivers have won a total of 9 medals, out of a
possible 22, hauling the highest Medal Tally of any country, and cementing NZ's place as the leading freedivers in the
world. 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]
ALSO:
------------
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/S00146.htm [10]
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0912/S00125.htm [11]
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0912/S00113.htm [12]
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0912/S00087.htm [13]
[14] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0912/S00086.htm [14]
[15] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0912/S00085.htm [15]
2008 was a banner year for U.S. democracy and its elections. Many states saw record increases in voter registration –
particularly among minority and youth voters – and record increases in voter turnout. More »[1]
The private sector arm of the World Bank today launched the first ever eco-friendly stock market index that allows
investors to track the carbon efficiency of companies doing business in emerging economies. More »[1]
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]
The U.S. organization “The World Can’t Wait,” having organized weeks of protest against President Barack Obama’s
escalation of troops to Afghanistan, said today: More »[1]
ENDS