Top Scoop Stories - 12 December 2007 News Summary

Wednesday, 12 December 2007, 1:31 pm
Article: The Scoop Editor

Today's Top Scoops - December 12, 2007

LEAD STORY:

Health: Call On Govt To Admit Spray Errors

NZ POLITICS:

Crime Fighting: Amnesty International Calls For Moratorium On Taser Decision
Health: Cunliffe Reiterates His Call For Roy To Apologise
Police: Rickards Investigation Praised By Complaints Authority
Justice: Cases, Causes Of Wrongful Conviction In Spotlight

BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH:

Technology: Voice Activated Desk A Big Winner For Young Gore Student
Finance: Enron Lessons Unheeded In NZ
Motoring: Fiat Collects Another Car Of The Year Award!
Pesky Critters: Farmers Study Ways To Protect Crops

WORLD:

Terrorism: Ban Ki-Moon Deplores Deadly Algiers Attacks
South East Asia: Departures Of Burma Refugees From Thailand Top 20K
Environment: Bianca Jagger Calls For Carbon Emission Reductions
Money Matters: Poverty Forces Families Into High-Cost Loans

COMMENT:

Bernard Weiner: Bush's Nuclear-Boogeyman Scam
David Swanson: Kucinich Preparing 50-Page Articles of Impeachment

LIFESTYLE:

Soap Opera: TVNZ's Christmas Present To Shortland Street Fans
Lack Of Festive Spirit: What Drives People Crackers At Xmas
Social Networking: Is Your Net Buddy An Axe Murderer?

Health: Call On Govt To Admit Spray Errors - The Ombudsman's report on Complaints Arising from Aerial Spraying is a damning indictment of the Government's handling of the painted apple moth aerial spraying campaign, the Green Party says. "The Government needs to admit its errors, apologise to the people of West Auckland... and take on board all of the recommendations and findings of the report," Health Spokesperson Sue Kedgley says. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• NZ Govt - Health effects of spraying carefully considered [2]
• Jane Schaverien - Ombudsman Slates Ministry of Health over spray [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0712/S00220.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0712/S00239.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0712/S00126.htm

Crime Fighting: Amnesty International Calls For Moratorium On Taser Decision - Amnesty International is calling on the Police Commissioner and the Minister of Police not to make a decision on the introduction of Taser stun guns, until results of comprehensive, independent studies into their use and effects are available. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0712/S00125.htm

Health: Cunliffe Reiterates His Call For Roy To Apologise - Minister of Health David Cunliffe has today reiterated his call for Heather Roy to either provide information to support the allegation she made in Parliament last week or apologise to the staff at Capital and Coast DHB. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0712/S00217.htm

Police: Rickards Investigation Praised By Complaints Authority - Police have welcomed the Independent Police Conduct Authority's report into Operation Austin. In a review released today, the authority praised Operation Austin, saying it was an exceptional, major criminal investigation and that it reached a high standard of excellence. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• Radio Waatea - Jackson talks to Rickards on Radio Waatea [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0712/S00124.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0712/S00099.htm

Justice: Cases, Causes Of Wrongful Conviction In Spotlight - The accuracy of forensic DNA evidence, the investigative interviewing of witnesses and suspects, and the high-profile cases of Scott Watson and Peter Ellis are among presentations from speakers at the inaugural Innocence Project New Zealand conference. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED0712/S00045.htm

Technology: Voice Activated Desk A Big Winner For Young Gore Student - Fourteen year old Leighton Terry hopes his voice-activated desk leads to more success after winning a nationwide competition for budding inventors. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0712/S00030.htm

Finance: Enron Lessons Unheeded In NZ - The lessons of the Enron financial scandal have gone unheeded - and the same potential for fraud exists in New Zealand, says the journalist who first broke the story. New York journalist Bethany McLean spoke to the Journalism Education Association conference at the university's Wellington campus. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0712/S00194.htm

Motoring: Fiat Collects Another Car Of The Year Award! - After taking the European Car of the Year 2008 for the new Fiat 500 and the Latin American Car of the Year Award, "Carro do Ano 2008", for the Fiat Punto, Fiat has picked up the "Autobest 2008" award for the Fiat Linea. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0712/S00179.htm

Pesky Critters: Farmers Study Ways To Protect Crops - A group of Canterbury farmers and their commercial and scientific partners hope to encourage uptake of improved methods for controlling crop pests. They are backing a project that will be administered by Crop & Food Research's Abie Horrocks. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0712/S00168.htm

Terrorism: Ban Ki-Moon Deplores Deadly Algiers Attacks - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks which occurred earlier today in Algiers which reportedly killed at least 45 people, including a number of United Nations staff members. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• VOA News - Twin Car Bombs Kill More Than 60 In Algeria [2]
• United Nations - Ban Ki-moon Dispatches Top Aides To Algiers [3]
• Govt of Russia - Putin Condolences To Algeria Over Terror Attacks [4]
• UNHCR - UNHCR's Guterres Condemns Algiers Bombings [5]
• VOA News - 2 Car Bombs Kill More Than 60 In Algeria [6]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S00743.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S00775.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S00768.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S00754.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S00753.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S00733.htm

South East Asia: Departures Of Burma Refugees From Thailand Top 20K - The number of people who have been resettled in third countries from Thailand since the programme started in 2005 now stands at 20,878, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S00750.htm

Environment: Bianca Jagger Calls For Carbon Emission Reductions - Bianca Jagger, Chair of the World Future Council, today called on the politicians participating in the Bali conference to agree vigorous political and financial measures to implement stringent emission reduction targets and ecosystems restoration efforts. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S00783.htm

Money Matters: Poverty Forces Families Into High-Cost Loans - A new report by Save the Children reveals that as many as 2.3 million people in the UK on low incomes are being forced to take out high-interest loans at rates topping 183% APR - many simply to provide essentials for their children. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S00755.htm

Bernard Weiner: Bush's Nuclear-Boogeyman Scam - The Cheneyists wanted to bomb Iran based on the same fear-scam Americans fell for when CheneyBush were pushing the invasion of Iraq: nuclear weapons. Here's how their scheme fell apart -- or did it? More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00165.htm

David Swanson: Kucinich Preparing 50-Page Articles of Impeachment - Kucinich Says He's Preparing 50-Page Bush Articles of Impeachment By David Swanson ... Touching on issues ranging from Yucca Mountain to the Patriot Act and the war in Iraq... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00156.htm

Soap Opera: TVNZ's Christmas Present To Shortland Street Fans - TVNZ and South Pacific Pictures are giving Shortland Street fans a present this Christmas - the biggest week in Shortland Street history free of charge on TVNZ ondemand. More >>

Lack Of Festive Spirit: What Drives People Crackers At Xmas - It may be a time of good will to all men - but a new survey has revealed the 50 things that drive us mad about Christmas. The study by First Choice Holidays asked 3,000 Brits to pick out the things that get up their noses over the festive period. More >>

ALSO:

• Mental Health Foundation - Twelve days to a mentally healthy Christmas

Social Networking: Is Your Net Buddy An Axe Murderer? - New Zealanders need to act on new research which shows most feel uncomfortable posting personal information online Like speeding and drink driving, people need to modify behaviours if they are to minimise risks associated with online social networking. More >>

ENDS

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