Top Scoop Stories - 31 August 2007 News Summary

Friday, 31 August 2007, 2:00 pm
Article: The Scoop Editor

Today's Top Scoops - August 31, 2007

LEAD STORY:

Images & Audio: Hans Blix Talks Arms Control

NZ POLITICS:

Elections: Campaign Laws Set To Change
Immigration News: Ali Panah Returned to Hospital - Hunger Strike Day 50
Corrections: Supreme Court Lowers Compo For Prisoner Abuse
Local Govt News: Len Brown's Letter: Voting Day 29 September 2007

BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH:

Banking: As If Finance Companies Don't Have Enough Trouble
Horse Flu: No Evidence Of Equine Influenza In NZ
Scoop Link: Working iPhone In New Zealand!

WORLD:

Smoke & Mirrors: Kyoto Protocol Parties Move Closer To Trading Emission Allowances
Atomic Power: UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief Circulates Latest Report On Iran
Here's Looking at Us: International Demonstration Against NZ, Australia & Canada
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Nepal Govt Silent Over Hundreds of Disappearances

LIFESTYLE:

Statistics: Father Figures
Ministry of Fisheries: New rules require fishers to stay with set-nets
Sporting Controversy: Could Carter Be Playing For NZ If Rebel Tour Happens?
Artiness: South Island Gothic A Winner For Photographer

Images & Audio: Hans Blix Talks Arms Control - Yesterday former Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix (responsible for inspecting Iraq before the beginning of the Gulf War in 2003) delivered a keynote address to the Second Commonwealth Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference on International Humanitarian Law at Victoria University Wellington. His speech came in a plenary session on Weapons and Means of warfare and includes an extensive discussion on prohibited weapons and efforts to control the use and production of Weapons of Mass destruction. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0708/S00421.htm

Elections: Campaign Laws Set To Change - The Green Party is calling on the Government to introduce further changes to the Electoral Finance Bill to stop large anonymous donations and donations from secret trusts to political parties. This is in light of leaks this morning that the Government intends to change the regime in the bill around the intervention by non-party actors in the election campaign. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• National - Electoral reform process from bad to worse [2]
• Muriel Newman - On-line Petition to Oppose "Mugabe" Bill [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0708/S00548.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0708/S00553.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0708/S00402.htm

Immigration News: Ali Panah Returned to Hospital - Hunger Strike Day 50 - Iranian hunger striker Ali Panah was returned to hospital on Wednesday night from Mt Eden Prison. He is now on Day 50 of his hunger strike and fears are rising for the state of his health. Ali began taking liquid mineral supplements while in hospital last week on the strong advice of doctors but is refusing solid food or a drip. (The mineral supplements, while having little food value will help prevent some of the physical damage from a prolonged period without food) More >> [1]

ALSO:

• Greens - Greens concerned about Al Panah's return to hospital [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0708/S00392.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0708/S00538.htm

Corrections: Supreme Court Lowers Compo For Prisoner Abuse - The Supreme Court has, by majority, declined these appeals by prisoners who claimed that their treatment under an admittedly unlawful regime amounted to cruel, degrading, or disproportionately severe treatment. The appeals did not affect the decisions that the regime denied the prisoners their right to be treated with humanity and respect for their inherent dignity. The Court has, also by majority, allowed cross-appeals by the Attorney- General against the level of damages awarded to three of the prisoners for breach of s 23(5). More >> [1]

ALSO:

• NZ Supreme Court - Judgement: Terry vs Queen [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0708/S00404.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0708/S00405.htm

Local Govt News: Len Brown's Letter: Voting Day 29 September 2007 - So getting people to vote in local body elections is tough. Many people in Manukau City simply don’t care or are neutral about local government... If I was living alone on a fixed income why should I bother to vote? More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0708/S00373.htm

Banking: As If Finance Companies Don't Have Enough Trouble - The Reserve Bank has issued an enforcement notice to ABN Union Bank Limited, a company incorporated in the United Kingdom. It is a breach of section 64 the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989 to carry on any activity in New Zealand using a name that includes the word "bank", unless the entity using the name is a registered bank in New Zealand, or is otherwise exempted. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• Reserve Bank - ABN Amro Bank NV not associated w ABN Union Bank [2]
• J P Morgan - Research note: A model to predict RBA decisions [3]
• finsec - BNZ’s new sales targets push customers into debt [4]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0708/S00650.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0708/S00662.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0708/S00656.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0708/S00406.htm

Horse Flu: No Evidence Of Equine Influenza In NZ - There is currently no evidence of equine influenza in New Zealand. MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) is growing more confident that the virus has not arrived in the country as investigations into the 97 horses imported from Australia progress and time passes. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0708/S00072.htm

Scoop Link: Working iPhone In New Zealand! - "John Ballinger from Bluespark.co.nz (with the help of his mate Shaun O’donnell) has hacked up his iphone so that it works on the Vodafone New Zealand network. This is probably the first proper working (SMS/Phone calls, etc) iphone in New Zealand, and it only took about 6 hours of hard work! :)" More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0708/S00434.htm

Smoke & Mirrors: Kyoto Protocol Parties Move Closer To Trading Emission Allowances - The secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) today released first results indicating that countries will meet criteria to begin trading in Kyoto emission allowances for 2008, the first year of the Treaty’s first commitment period. International teams coordinated by the secretariat have finished reviews of reports submitted by Austria, Japan and Switzerland that detail their preparations to work under the Kyoto Protocol. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0708/S00732.htm

Atomic Power: UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief Circulates Latest Report On Iran - The head of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has circulated his latest report on the nuclear programme of Iran to the agency's Board of Governors. The report covers the developments since the last report of IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei, which was issued in May, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters. The 35-member Board will now consider the report at its next meeting, scheduled to begin at IAEA headquarters in Vienna on 10 September. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0708/S00718.htm

Here's Looking at Us: International Demonstration Against NZ, Australia & Canada - In an urgent effort in support of the upcoming vote (tentatively scheduled for September 13th) in the UN General Assembly on United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, over two dozen national and international NGOs in the United States and Canada have come to New York City to announce their support for Indigenous peoples rights and to protest the opposition to the Declaration being led by the governments of Canada, New Zealand and Australia. "We are appalled by this action of human rights hypocrisy--especially coming from the governments of Canada and New Zealand, countries that are traditionally considered global leaders for human rights." More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0708/S00717.htm

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Nepal Govt Silent Over Hundreds of Disappearances - The Nepali Congress-led government of Nepal has not given any information about 1,500 cases of disappearances in Nepal. Most of them were disappeared by the Royal Nepal Army (now renamed as Nepal Army). Human rights organizations maintain that more than 250 of the disappearances were caused by the Maoist insurgents. A Nepali source affiliated to the ICRC told this reporter that hundreds of cases of disappearances seem to have been unregistered. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0708/S00741.htm

Statistics: Father Figures - To acknowledge the positive role of fathers, Statistics New Zealand offers the following facts about fathers for Father's Day on Sunday 2 September 2007: A baby will be a Father's Day present for an estimated 160 men this year, the average age of fathers of new babies is 33 years, but one in 100 babies has a father aged 50 years or over. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• Wotif.com - Dads lose out in the battle of the sexes [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0708/S00379.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0708/S00661.htm

Ministry of Fisheries: New rules require fishers to stay with set-nets - Local fishers have worked in partnership with the Ministry of Fisheries for the benefit of everyone. Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton today congratulated local fishers in the East Otago Taiapure-Local Fishery for their initiative in improving the use of set-nets… More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0708/S00372.htm

Sporting Controversy: Could Carter Be Playing For NZ If Rebel Tour Happens? - New Zealand Cricket today confirmed its position on the proposed Indian Cricket League (ICL). “The proposed ICL league would be an unofficial rebel tournament not sanctioned by either the ICC or the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). More>> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0708/S00363.htm

Artiness: South Island Gothic A Winner For Photographer - Lyttelton photographer Dean Mackenzie took out the top prize at the 2007 Epson/NZIPP Iris Professional photography awards with a striking portfolio, which included an intimate portrait of his mother and brother. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0708/S00366.htm

ENDS

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