Top Scoop Stories - 24 December 2007 News Summary

Monday, 24 December 2007, 2:00 pm
Article: The Scoop Editor

Today's Top Scoops - December 24, 2007

LEAD STORY:

Treaty Settlement: Ngatikahu Ki Whangaroa Agreement Signed

NZ POLITICS:

Conservation? DOC To Wipe Out Historic Arapawa Goat Population
National Party: Labour Just Keeps Hiring More Decoy Cops
GM Foods: Government Caves In To Monsanto, Say Greens
Cynicism: SOLOist's Guide to Reducing Your Carbon Footprint
Police: Outcome - Fatal Shooting Of Stephen Bellingham
Scoop Full Coverage: Gisborne Earthquake

BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH:

Tourism & Travel: UK Airport Strike Will Effect Travelling Kiwis
In The Bag: Rank Group Pays $2.7 Billion For Alcoa's Packaging Business
Search Vs. Belief: Why The Web Tells Us What We Already Know
Holiday Driving: Transit NZ's Traffic Cams On Metservice.Com

WORLD:

UN Health Card: H5N1 Avian Flu Pandemic Threat Remains
Medecins Sans Frontieres: 10 Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories Of 2007
United Nations: $4.2 Billion UN Budget Approved, Despite US Opposition
Mind Games: Russian Government Media Control During Recent Elections
Gordon Brown, British PM: Whaling Is "Unacceptably Cruel"
Cambodia: Ensure Safety Of Buddhist Monks

COMMENT:

Bradblog: Diebold Under DoJ Investigation As Stocks Hit Low
Martin LeFevre: Two Empires Down, One To Go
Stateside: Prelude To The 2008 Election, Part 2
Holiday Reading: Six Months Of Top Stories - Summaries Of Scoop News

LIFESTYLE:

Sport: Competition Hotting Up At FAI World GP Gliding World Championship
Smear Campaign: Family Planning Wants Women To Make Resolution
Court Lineup: Sovereign Ball Kids Are Ready For Tennis Action
Press Statement: Fatal Glider Crash Of Herbert Weiss From Germany

Treaty Settlement: Ngatikahu Ki Whangaroa Agreement Signed - The Crown and Kahukuraariki Trust Board have signed an Agreement in Principle to settle the historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Ngatikahu ki Whangaroa, Minister in Charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Michael Cullen announced today. The Agreement in Principle covers all the claims of Ngatikahu ki Whangaroa, including those related to the loss of land in the nineteenth century and the Crown's acquisition of land in the twentieth century. Ngatikahu ki Whangaroa are based on the peninsula between the Mangonui and Whangaroa harbours in the Far North... More >> [1]

ALSO:

• NZ Govt - AIP Between Crown & Kahukuraariki Trust Board [2]
• NZ Govt - Further Progress In Far North Treaty Settlements [3]
• NZ Govt - Horomia: Agreement Reached With Primary Principals [4]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0712/S00515.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0712/S00516.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0712/S00514.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0712/S00513.htm

Conservation? DOC To Wipe Out Historic Arapawa Goat Population - The Arapawa Island goats are a recognised unique breed, almost certainly released there by Captain James Cook on 2 June 1773 - see attached info from Cook's Diaries. Only a few are left now... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0712/S00316.htm

National Party: Labour Just Keeps Hiring More Decoy Cops - The Labour Government continues to allow the police to employ more and more 'decoy cops', despite the chance that these relatively untrained personnel could be placed in dangerous situations, says National's Police spokesman, Chester Borrows. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• National Party - Labour Must Ensure Cops Investigate Serious Crime [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0712/S00518.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0712/S00520.htm

GM Foods: Government Caves In To Monsanto, Say Greens - The Government has failed New Zealanders by approving a potentially hazardous GM food ingredient, setting a dangerous precedent that will let other untested animals feed products enter the country's food chain. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• NZ Food Safety Authority - High lysine corn gazetted [2]
• NZbio - Corn approval protects NZ's reputation [3]
• Sustainability Council NZ - Food Safety Regulation takes a Significant Hit [4]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0712/S00517.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0712/S00273.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0712/S00281.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0712/S00059.htm

Cynicism: SOLOist's Guide to Reducing Your Carbon Footprint - The Environmentally-Conscious SOLOist's Guide to Reducing Your Carbon Footprint 1) Smoke cigarettes: Smoking, though contributing 0.000032% of greenhouse gas emissions, is a sure fire way to reduce your carbon footprint... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0712/S00305.htm

Police: Outcome - Fatal Shooting Of Stephen Bellingham - On Wednesday the 26th of September 2007 at 8.37 pm, 37 year old Stephen Jon Bellingham was fatally shot by Police during an incident in Stanmore Road in Christchurch... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0712/S00269.htm

Scoop Full Coverage: Gisborne Earthquake - Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake Off Gisborne NZ / People Urged To Check Neighbours / Minister Visiting Gisborne / Foreign Visitors Call Your Embassy / St John has busy night / State of local emergency / Summary of response / Gisborne Hospital / No tsunami risk to NZ. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00286.htm

Tourism & Travel: UK Airport Strike Will Effect Travelling Kiwis - Kiwi travel company House of Travel warned customers earlier of the likelihood of strike action over the Christmas and New Year holiday period in the United Kingdom and Europe. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0712/S00419.htm

In The Bag: Rank Group Pays $2.7 Billion For Alcoa's Packaging Business - New Zealand's Rank Group Limited to purchase Alcoa's packaging and consumer businesses for $2.7 billion in cash. These businesses include the Flexible Packaging, Closure Systems International, Consumer Products and Reynolds Food Packaging divisions of Alcoa. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0712/S00417.htm

Search Vs. Belief: Why The Web Tells Us What We Already Know - Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have found that while Internet searches do bring up a variety of useful materials, people pay more attention to information that matches their pre-existing beliefs. The research considered how people use Internet search engines to answer health questions. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S01143.htm

Holiday Driving: Transit NZ's Traffic Cams On Metservice.Com - With the holiday traffic peaking over the next few weeks, you can now better plan your journey. Check out the new Transit traffic section and the day's weather on metservice.com. Transit is planning to install more cameras in the near future to improve traveller information services.More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0712/S00065.htm

UN Health Card: H5N1 Avian Flu Pandemic Threat Remains - Avian influenza continued as a threat, with cumulative figures showing a human toll of more than 200 deaths since 2003. UN Warns that the world needs to be prepared for a bird flu pandemic, with special attention to influenza viruses such as H5N1 More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S01136.htm

Medecins Sans Frontieres: 10 Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories Of 2007 - MSF issues 'Top Ten' most underreported humanitarian stories of 2007: The countries highlighted on this year's list accounted for just 18 minutes of coverage on the three major U.S. television networks' nightly newscasts from Jan through Nov 2007. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S01153.htm

United Nations: $4.2 Billion UN Budget Approved, Despite US Opposition - The General Assembly adopted the 2008-2009 budget on Saturday morning by a vote of 142 to 1. The US, which contributes around 22 per cent of the world body's budget, was the only country to vote against the plan. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S01152.htm

Mind Games: Russian Government Media Control During Recent Elections - Political aggression from President Putin's supporters has long been the norm, and it does not seem to upset anyone. On the contrary, such behaviour is widely welcomed, as many regard Putin's actions as an expression of masculine power, supreme courage. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S01156.htm

Gordon Brown, British PM: Whaling Is "Unacceptably Cruel" - Many coastal communities, including those in developing countries, can profit from tourist income generated by a well-regulated whale watching industry. The current and future benefits from whale watching far exceed those from killing whales. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S01126.htm

Cambodia: Ensure Safety Of Buddhist Monks - Phnom Penh Police Commissioner Touch Naroth announced that authorities are investigating all of the monks who protested in order to find the "fake monks who instigated the violence." More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0712/S01139.htm

Bradblog: Diebold Under DoJ Investigation As Stocks Hit Low - The death spiral for the 131 year-old company, once respectfully known as Diebold, continues, as its stock price falls to a 5-year low today, near year's end (currently $29.23/share and still sinking, from a 52-week high of $54.50/share), along with the additional news that the U.S. Department of Justice has now joined the SEC in an investigation concerning the company's "Enron-like" bookkeeping tricks. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00296.htm

Martin LeFevre: Two Empires Down, One To Go - After being booed and berated for days, the US led coalition of the swilling - Canada, Japan, and Australia - ended its opposition in Bali to launching negotiations on a new pact to fight global warming. "It was exactly what we wanted." More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00280.htm

Stateside: Prelude To The 2008 Election, Part 2 - In February 2007, Holt - along with 216 co-sponsors - introduced H.R. 811 in the US House of Representatives to amend the Help Americans Vote Act with respect to ballot verification and mandatory paper record audit capacity. "If H.R. 811 becomes law, Americans just could bear witness to the most dysfunctional administration of Federal elections in our nation's history." More >> [1]

ALSO:

• Rosalea Barker - Stateside: Prelude to the 2008 Elections, Part 1 [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00278.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00210.htm

Holiday Reading: Six Months Of Top Stories - Summaries Of Scoop News - Special Edition: Six Months Of Top Scoop Stories, 25 Jun 2007 - 14 Dec 2007 News Summary. A news junkies delight, ranging from ''Peters Bringing Reserve Bank Act Rewrite to Parliament'' to ''Housing Vs. Treaty / Wellington Claim / Bali & Climate''. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00277.htm

Sport: Competition Hotting Up At FAI World GP Gliding World Championship - A thrilling afternoon of racing involving a surprise finish, changing weather patterns and high speed gliding for the penultimate day of the FAI World GP Gliding Championship. Bruce Taylor (AUS) had an astounding win, coming from well behind the leaders. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0712/S00303.htm

Smear Campaign: Family Planning Wants Women To Make Resolution - Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide and the eighth most common in New Zealand. Maori and Pacific women develop this cancer at twice the rate of all women - largely because they are much less likely to have cervical screening than non-Maori, non-Pacific women. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0712/S00102.htm

Court Lineup: Sovereign Ball Kids Are Ready For Tennis Action - The players can find themselves under huge pressure and will often look for a way to vent that frustration. While the ball kids are never a target, they can be close to the action and must remain detached. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0712/S00299.htm

Press Statement: Fatal Glider Crash Of Herbert Weiss From Germany - It is with great sorrow that we announce the pilot involved in yesterday's fatal crash was 59-year-old Herbert Weiss from Friedrichsruhe, Germany. Mr Weiss had been gliding since 1969 and was twice German national champion. He had clocked up more than 8,600 flying hours. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0712/S00295.htm

ENDS

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