Almost half safest banks in Europe

If you only read headlines you could be excused for thinking the whole of Europe is about to go into financial meltdown.

But almost half the institutions on Global Finance’s list of the 50 safest banks are European and the commentary has more reassurance:

With more than 40 of the top 50 banks from last year once again making the list, the Global Finance ranking shows that most of the top echelon of banks are truly worthy of the moniker World’s Safest Bank.

Winners were selected through an evaluation of long-term credit ratings—from Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch—and total assets of the 500 largest banks worldwide.

The list includes the four Australian banks which opponents of foreign investment crticise for owning trading banks in New Zealand.

The top 50 are:

WORLD’S 50 SAFEST BANKS

1	KfW (Germany)	26	United Overseas Bank (Singapore)
2	Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) (France)	27	Crédit Lyonnais (France)
3	Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten (BNG) (Netherlands)	28	Pohjola Bank(Finland)
4	Zürcher Kantonalbank (Switzerland)	29	Credit Suisse Group(Switzerland)
5	Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank (Germany)	30	BMO Financial Group (Canada)
6	Rabobank Group(Netherlands)	Tie*31	Cassa Depositi e Prestiti(Italy)
Tie*7	Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg – Förderbank (Germany)	Tie*31	CIBC (Canada)
Tie*7	Nederlandse Waterschapsbank(Netherlands)	32	Banco Español de Crédito (Banesto)(Spain)
8	Banque et Caisse d’Épargne de l’État(Luxembourg)	33	Deutsche Bank(Germany)
9	NRW.Bank(Germany)	34	JPMorgan Chase(United States)
10	Banco Santander(Spain)	35	Société Générale(France)
11	Royal Bank of Canada(Canada)	36	Wells Fargo(United States)
Tie*12	National Australia Bank Limited(Australia)	37	Intesa Sanpaolo(Italy)
Tie*12	Commonwealth Bank of Australia(Australia)	38	China Development Bank(China)
13	Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank)(Canada)	Tie*39	Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel (BFCM)(France)
14	Westpac Banking Corporation(Australia)	Tie*39	Landesbank Baden-Württemberg(Germany)
15	BNP Paribas(France)	40	U.S. Bancorp(United States)
16	HSBC Holdings(United Kingdom)	41	Nationwide Building Society(United Kingdom)
17	Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)(Spain)	42	Agricultural Development Bank of China(China)
Tie*18	Scotiabank (Bank of Nova Scotia)(Canada)	43	Shizuoka Bank(Japan)
Tie*18	Australia and New Zealand Banking Group(Australia)	44	Northern Trust Corporation(United States)
19	DBS Bank(Singapore)	45	CoBank, ACB(United States)
20	Caisse centrale Desjardins(Canada)	46	National Bank of Abu Dhabi(United Arab Emirates)
21	Crédit Agricole(France)	47	National Bank of Kuwait(Kuwait)
22	Nordea Bank(Sweden)	48	Pictet & Cie(Switzerland)
23	Svenska Handelsbanken(Sweden)	49	Barclays Group(United Kingdom)
24	BNY Mellon(United States)	50	Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ(Japan)
25	Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation(Singapore)

*A tie is assigned when two banks with the same score have total assets withina $5 billion range.

Politics-free education requires professional approach

The Principal’s Federation wants some parts of the school system to be immune from political interference.

That call would be a lot more powerful if the Federation was dedicated to improving professional and educational standards rather than being more like a union that appears to be at least as interested in members’ pay, conditions and other employment and political issues.

They could take the lead from the medical workforce. The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists deals with employment issues and leaves professional matters to professional bodies like, for example, the College of GPs.

Principals and teachers would have far more standing if they took a more professional approach with a clear division between the organisations which deal with employment issues and those which deal with professional matters.

 

Culture change more important than law change

The government has accepted all 130 substantive changes that the Justice Select Committee made to the Alcohol Reform Bill.

Critics say that’s not going far enough.

But it doesn’t matter how far law changes go, a cultural change is what’s needed and that will take decades.

The anti-smoking message started more than 40 years ago.  It took at least 20 before it started being accepted that smoking was an unhealthy habit and smokers didn’t have a right to impose their habit on others.

Law changes and price rises helped. But the change in attitude of non-smokers who stopped tolerating smoke-filled air and smokers who realised it wasn’t a good habit and definitely wasn’t okay to smoke wherever they liked was at least as important.

Posters  saying Nosmo King is Cool were collectors’ items when I was  student (possibly as much for the cartoon character of a good looking bloke as the smoke-free message).

Nodrin King is cool doesn’t have quite the same ring and the message doesn’t have to be no drinking.

The ads that say it’s not the drinking it’s how we’re drinking are right, moderation rather than abstinence is what’s needed.

Alcohol has a place as a social lubricant and an accompaniment to food.

But drunkenness and the bad behaviour which some try to excuse because of it are far from cool.

Changes in law might go someway towards addressing some problems with alcohol. But ultimately it’s attitude changes not legislative ones that will get rid of our anti-social and immature drinking culture.

 

August 26 in history

1071  Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert.

1278 Ladislaus IV of Hungary and Rudolph I of Germany defeated Premysl Ottokar II of Bohemia in the Battle of Marchfield near Dürnkrut in (then) Moravia.

1346  Hundred Years’ War: the military supremacy of the English longbow over the French combination of crossbow and armoured knights was established at the Battle of Crécy.

1498  Michelangelo was commissioned to carve the Pietà.

1676 Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was born (d. 1745).

1768 The HM Bark Endeavour expedition under Captain James Cook set sail from England.

1778 The first recorded ascent of Triglav, the highest mountain in Slovenia.

1789  Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen approved by National Assembly at Palace of Versailles.

1819 Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom, was born (d. 1861).

1858 First news dispatch by telegraph.

1862 American Civil War: the Second Battle of Bull Run began.

1865 Arthur James Arnot, Scottish inventor, was born (d. 1946).

1875 John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Scottish novelist, Governor General of Canada, was born (d. 1940).

1883 The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa began its final, paroxysmal, stage.

1894 The second Maori King, Tukaroto Matutaera Potatau Te Wherowhero Tawhiao, died.

1898 Peggy Guggenheim, American art collector, was born (d. 1979).

1904 Christopher Isherwood, English-born writer, was born (d. 1986).

1906 Albert Sabin, American polio researcher, was born (d. 1993).

1910 Mother Teresa, Nobel Peace Prize winning Christian missionary, was born (d. 1997).

1914  World War I: the German colony of Togoland was invaded by French and British forces.

1920  The 19th amendment to United States Constitution took effect, giving women the right to vote.

1940 Chad was the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France’s first black colonial governor.

1942  Holocaust in Chortkiv, western Ukraine: At 2.30 am the German Schutzpolizei started driving Jews out of their houses, divided them into groups of 120, packed them in freight cars and deported 2000 to Belzec death camp; 500 of the sick and children weremurdered on the spot.

1944 World War II: Charles de Gaulle entered Paris.

1957 The USSR announced the successful test of an ICBM – a “super long distance intercontinental multistage ballistic rocket … a few days ago,” according to the Soviet news agency, ITAR-TASS.

1970  The then new feminist movement, led by Betty Friedan, led a nation-wide Women’s Strike for Equality.

1977  The Charter of the French Language was adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec

1978   Pope John Paul I was elected to the Papacy.

1978 – Sigmund Jähn became first German cosmonaut on board of the Soyuz 31 spacecraft.

1980  Macaulay Culkin, American actor, was born.

1982 David Long, New Zealand musician, was born.

1992 Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar signed agreement of split of Czechoslovakia in Brno.

1997  Beni-Ali massacre in Algeria; 60-100 people killed.

Sourced from NZ History Online & WIkipedia

Word of the day

Decatize – cause to uncurl by steaming or damping

8/10

8/10, thanks to a couple of lucky guesses, in NZ History Online’s weekly quiz.

Thursday’s quiz

1. By what name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu better known?

2. What are the symbols for sodium and potassium?

3. It’s gagner in French; vincere in Italian; ganar in Spanish and wini in Maori, what is it in English?

4. Moke Lake is close to which much larger lake?

5. Which of Lloyd Jones’ novels is being filmed in New Zealand at the moment and who is the actor who plays the main character?

Loosen up and prepare to party

Listen up and loosen up New Zealand.

It’s time to stop whinging about the Rugby World Cup.

You don’t have to understand or even enjoy the sport because it’s not just about the games.

It’s a party, we’re the hosts, we’ve invited visitors, and good manners require us to make them welcome.

We should be doing everything we can to ensure they have a good time and how can we do that if we’re not having a good time too?

Lots of people and communities are doing their best in spite of the doomsayers.

A wee cafe in Riverton has a notice on its wall inviting locals to get into the spirit for the Scottish visitors they’re expecting when Colac Bay hosts its first rugby international against Scotland supporters.

Oamaru is hosting a Golden Oldies tournament. It opens with the Bog Rock Music Fest featuring The Feelers,  The Beat Girls, X Factor, The Black Velvet Band and the Winner of The Classic Hits Idol Competition.

The Real New Zealand Festival has dozens of  other events that celebrate our art, culture, food and wine, history, sport and everything else we love about our country.

The sponsors have mucked up but that’s no excuse for the rest of us to be negative.

Still not convinced? Then read how Half Pie learned to stop worrying and enjoy the RWC.

When you’ve done that, take a deep breath, accept it’s our party and it will be so much better if we all lighten up and enjoy it.

Spot the leader – Updated

The Listener has been comparing political party websites.

It found 13 pictures of John Key on the front page of National’s

Labour’s is topped by a video of David Cunliffe and you have to scroll right down to the bottom to find a head and shoulders of Phil Goff beside Annette King, David Parker and Cunliffe.

How do other parties feature their leaders?

The Maori Party has photos of it’s president Pem Bird beside co-leaders Pita Sharples and Tariana Turia just below the masthead.

United Future has plenty of mentions of Peter Dunne but just two small identical head and shoulder shots of him.

Act has a video featuring Former leader Rodney Hide at the top of it’s front page and no other photos at all.

The Mana Party has changing photos some of which show Hone Harawira, although none identify him as leader.

And the Green Party has a link to it’s MPs but no photos and no names.

Update:Stuaker left this comment:

Stuaker says:
August 25, 2011 at 1:40 pm  (Edit)
http://www.greens.org.nz/ is the actual Greens website, which has photos of the co-leaders, as well as other MPs

But when I clicked on it and also typed in the address and still got to The page I linked to i.greens.org.nz

UPDATE 2: It’s an iPad problem – when I tried this link on a PC it worked and shows chagning photos in the masthead which include co-leaders Metiria Turei and Russel Norman.

Candidate selection undemocratic and tardy

Electoral law requires parties to use democratic processes for their list ranking.

The influence of unions in the Labour Party calls into question their adherence to democratic principles at the best of times.

Its selection timing this year raises even more questions.

The party did list ranking in April but still hasn’t completed its candidate selection for some seats.

The Opposition party’s website yesterday had yet to name candidates for Waikato, Taupo, Tauranga and Hunua but following inquiries from the Waikato Times the party confirmed it had received nominations for both the Waikato and Taupo seats, where until now National had the only confirmed contenders.

There is no requirement for electorate candidates to be given list places, but it would be fairer and more democratic to select them in time to give them a choice.

It would also give the impression Labour was properly organised for the election and putting more than a token effort into contesting seats.

Taupo and Waikato are blue seats. But a party that doesn’t want to look inept and does want to remain one of the major ones ought to at least look like it cares about the people in these electorates who might give it their party vote.

August 25 in history

1248 The Dutch city of Ommen received city rights and fortification rights from Otto III, the Archbishop of Utrecht.

1530 Tsar Ivan IV of Russia - Ivan the Terrible – was born (d. 1584)

1537 The Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest surviving regiment in the British Army and the second most senior, was formed.

1580  Battle of Alcântara. Spain defeated Portugal.

1609  Galileo Galilei demonstrated his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.

1724 George Stubbs, British painter, was born (d. 1806).

1758 Seven Years’ War: Frederick II of Prussia defeated the Russian army at the Battle of Zorndorf.

1768 James Cook began his first voyage.

 

1825 Uruguay declared its independence from Brazil.

1830 The Belgian Revolution began.

1835  The New York Sun perpetrated the Great Moon Hoax.

1894  Shibasaburo Kitasato discoversedthe infectious agent of the bubonic plague and published his findings in The Lancet.

1898  700 Greeks and 15 Englishmen are killed by the Turks in Heraklion, Greece.

1900 Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist; Nobel Prize laureate, was born (d. 1981).

1910  Yellow Cab was founded.

1912 The Kuomintang, the Chinese nationalist party, was founded.

1916 The United States National Park Service is created.

1918 Leonard Bernstein, American conductor and composer, was born (d. 1990).

1920 Polish-Soviet War: Battle of Warsaw,  ended.

1921  The first skirmishes of the Battle of Blair Mountain.

1930 Sean Connery, Scottish actor, was born.

1930 Bruce Allpress, New Zealand actor, was born.

1933 The Diexi earthquake struck Mao County, Sichuan, China and killed 9,000 people.

1938 Frederick Forsyth, English author, was born.

1942 World War II: Battle of Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea.

1944 Paris was liberated by the Allies.

1945  Supporters of the Communist Party of China killed Baptist missionary John Birch, regarded by some of the American right as the first victim of the Cold War.

1946 Charles Ghigna (Father Goose), American poet and children’s author, was born.

1948 Three people died and 80 injured when a tornado hit Frankton on the outskirts of Hamilton.

1948 – The House Un-American Activities Committee held its first-ever televised congressional hearing: “Confrontation Day” between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss.

1949 Martin Amis, English novelist, was born.

1949  Gene Simmons, Israeli-born musician (Kiss), was born.

1950  President Harry Truman ordered the US Army to seize control of the nation’s railroads to avert a strike.

1954 Elvis Costello, English musician, was born.

1961 Billy Ray Cyrus, American singer and actor, was born.

1970 Claudia Schiffer, German model, was born.

198  Tadeusz Mazowiecki was chosen as the first non-communist Prime Minister in Central and Eastern Europe.

1989  Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Neptune, the outermost planet in the Solar System.

1989  Mayumi Moriyama became Japan’s first female cabinet secretary.

1991  Belarus declared its independence from the Soviet Union.

1991 – The Battle of Vukovar began.

1997  Egon Krenz, the former East German leader, was convicted of a shoot-to-kill policy at the Berlin Wall.

2003  The Tli Cho land claims agreement was signed between the Dogrib First Nations and the Canadian federal government in Rae-Edzo (now called Behchoko).

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

iPredict Fonterra futures launched

Online predictions website iPredict launched it’s first contracts on Fonterra payouts today.

When I checked the website it was showing A 99% probability the 2010/11 payout will be more than $7.90 before detentions; a 98.3% probability the payout will be more than $8.00; a 69% probability it will be more than $8.10; an 18.7% chance it will top $8.20; and a 4.7% chance of more than $8.30.

Word of the day

Yarrish – having a rough, dry taste.

Offender levy helps crime victims

The $50 offender levy has provided 2,091 grants and service for crime victims in its first year:

Since July last year, the levy has been imposed on all convicted offenders at the time of sentencing, regardless of the crime they commit. The levy is collected after reparation but before fines, and is in addition to any sentence or court order.

The levy was originally used to fund eight new entitlements and services for victims of serious crime, but five were added after the levy collected nearly double its first-year target of $2 million.

Justice Minister Simon Power pointed out that victims of crime find themselves in the criminal justice system through no fault of their own and the offender levy helps them through a very difficult time.

In its first year the levy paid out $1.64 million in services and entitlements for victims of crime and their families, including:

Families affected by homicide

• 296 people affected by homicide received assistance from the Homicide Support Service, which provides practical and emotional support throughout the criminal justice process.
• 96 grants were given to families to help with the loss of income and costs incurred immediately after the homicide.
• 322 family members received the $124 per day High Court attendance grant to help cover the loss of income incurred during High Court trials.
• 33 families received assistance with funeral or memorial service costs.
• 319 family members received assistance for expenses (such as travel, childcare, and accommodation) to help them attend court proceedings and Parole Board hearings.

Victims of sexual violence

• 298 victims received a one-off discretionary grant to cover immediate costs following a sexual assault.
• 539 victims were assisted by the Sexual Violence Court Support Service, which gives victims of sexual violence access to a trained and experienced victim adviser during the criminal court process.

Victims of serious crime

• 188 victims received assistance for expenses (such as travel, childcare, and accommodation) to help them attend court proceedings and Parole Board hearings.

Mr Power said the Offender Levy is an important part of the Government’s ongoing drive to put victims at the heart of the criminal justice system.

It is sobering to think there are so many victims but good the justice system now offers them more help and that it I’d funded by those who commit the crimes.

 

Trade surplus in spite of high dollar

Statistics NZ reports the first July trade surplus in 30  20 years  and dairy products accounted for much of that:

The trade balance for the July 2011 month was a surplus of $129 million, or 3.5 percent of exports, Statistics New Zealand said today. “This is the first July surplus since 1991,” overseas trade manager Stuart Jones said. “It compares with an average July deficit of 18 percent of exports over the previous five years.”

The value of goods exported in July 2011 increased $166 million compared with July 2010, to reach $3.7 billion. The increase was led by milk powder, butter, and cheese exports, and crude oil.

The value of goods imported in July 2011 decreased $149 million compared with July 2010, to $3.6 billion, led by a fall in petroleum and products. Regular petrol and automotive diesel were down, and crude oil import quantities, which tend to be irregular, were significantly lower in July 2011.

The trend in the value of exports has increased 30 percent since its most recent low point in October 2009, and continues to reach new highs. The trend for import values is up 20 percent since the most recent low point in September 2009, but is still 9.9 percent below its overall peak in September 2008.

It is worth noting that the trade surplus happened in spite of the high dollar which makes exports more expensive and imports cheaper.

Job losses hard for individuals, better for country

One of the reasons for the creation of the Ministry for Primary Industries was to reduce costs which inevitably means a loss of jobs.

The announcement of job losses in the Ministries of  Agriculture and Fisheries which are merging to become the new ministry was expected.

That is very bad news for the people who will be made redundant.

But increased efficiency and lower costs are better for the country.

The public sector has grown too fast to be sustained and difficult as cuts like this are, they must be made to reduce the burden the state places on taxpayers.

 

Case for consitutional cap on debt

Spain plans to change its constitution to put a cap on public debt.

The rest of us have caps imposed on our borrowing by bank managers.

Countries do get to a limit eventually. But huge deficits facing several nations, including Spain, provide a very strong case for a self-imposed level of debt which prevents successive governments from getting into the danger zone.

There is a case for borrowing for long term projects so future generations who have to pay it back also get the benefits. The case for borrowing to fund for current spending is shakier, it’s like taking out a mortgage to buy groceries.

However, whatever the money is borrowed for it has to be serviced and repaid and that limits the amount of money a country has for other spending.

Imposing a cap would focus governments on responsible budgeting,  impose restraints on spending and help reduce the burden of the state.

Good policy bad politics, bad policy good politics

National’s plan to sell minority shares in a few State Owned Enterprises is good policy but bad politics.

Labour’s proposal for a Capital Gains Tax is bad policy and while I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s good politics it has got more support than the idea of asset sales.

Phil Goff and some other opposition MPs criticising the mixed ownership model were ministers in the Labour administration which sold assets in the 1980s  which ought to mean they have no credibility on this issue.

But they have managed to tap into the irrational belief that borrowing from mostly Chinese-owned banks is better than allowing New Zealand individuals and institutions like superannuation funds, ACC and Community Trusts to invest in domestic assets.

It’s a case of emotion trumping fact.

It happens too often and means that bad policy is enacted because it’s good politics and good policy isn’t because it’s bad politics.

August 24 in history

79   Mount Vesuvius erupted. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae were buried in volcanic ash. 

1198 King Alexander II of Scotland, was born (d. 1249).

 

1200  King John of England married Isabella of Angouleme in Bordeaux Cathedral.

1215  Pope Innocent III declared Magna Carta invalid.

 

1349 Six thousand Jews were killed in Mainz  after being blamed for the bubonic plague.

1391  Jews  massacred in Palma de Mallorca.

1456  The printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed.

1511 Afonso de Albuquerque of Portugal conquered Malacca, the capital of the Sultanate of Malacca. 

1561 Willem of Orange married duchess Anna of Saxony.

1591 Robert Herrick, English poet, was born  (d. 1674). 

1662 Act of Uniformity required England to accept the Book of Common Prayer. 

1759 William Wilberforce, English abolitionist, was born (d. 1833).

1814  British troops invade Washington, D.C. and burned down the White House and several other buildings.

1815 The modern Constitution of the Netherlands was signed.

1821 The Treaty of Córdoba is signed Mexico, concluding the Mexican War of Independence. 

1857  The Panic of 1857 began. 

1870  The Wolseley Expedition reaches Manitoba to end the Red River Rebellion.

1875 Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to swim the English Channel. 

1878  The Governor, the Marquess of Normanby, formally opened Wellington’s steam tram service, which was reportedly the first to operate in the Southern Hemisphere.

1891  Thomas Edison patented the motion picture camera.

1898 – Count Muravyov, Foreign Minister of Russia presented a rescript that convoked the First Hague Peace Conference.

1899  Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer, was born (d. 1986).

1924 Jimmy Gardner , British actor, was born (d. 2010).

1927 David Ireland, Australian author, was born.

1929 Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader, was born (d. 2004).

 

1929  Betty Dodson, American feminist and sex educator, was born.

1931 – Resignation of the United Kingdom’s Second Labour Government. Formation of the UK National Government.  

1932 Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the United States non-stop (from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey). 

1936 A. S. Byatt, English novelist, was born.

1936  The Australian Antarctic Territory was created.

 

1937  In the Spanish Civil War, the Basque Army surrendered to the Italian Corpo Truppe Volontarie following the Santoña Agreement.

1938  – David Freiberg, American bassist (Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Starship), was born.

 

1942 : The Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō was sunk and US carrier Enterprise heavily damaged.

1945  Ken Hensley, English musician (Uriah Heep), was born.

 

1949  The treaty creating NATO went into effect.

1950  Edith Sampson became the first black U.S. delegate to the UN. 

1954  The Communist Control Act went into effect. The American Communist Party was outlawed.

 

1954 Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, president of Brazil, committed suicide and was succeeded by João Café Filho.

1960  A temperature of −88°C (−127°F) was measured in Vostok, Antarctica — a world-record low.

1963  The 200-metre freestyle was swum in less than 2 minutes for the first time by Don Schollander (1:58).

1967  Aa group of hippies led by Abbie Hoffman temporarily disrupted trading at the NYSE by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery, causing a cease in trading as the brokers scramble to grab them up.

1968  France exploded its first hydrogen bomb, thus becoming the world’s fifth nuclear power.

1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

1991  Ukraine declared itself independent from the Soviet Union.

1992 – Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida as a Category 5 Hurricane. 

1995 Computer software developer Microsoft released their Windows 95 operating system.

1998 – First RFID human implantation tested in the United Kingdom.

2000  Argon fluorohydride, the first Argon compound ever known, was discovered at the University of Helsinki by Finnish scientists.

 

2001 – Air Transat Flight 236 ran out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean and made an emergency landing in the Azores.

 

2004  89 passengers died when two airliners exploded after flying out of Domodedovo International Airport. The explosions were caused by suicide bombers.

2006 – The International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefines the term “planet” so that Pluto is considered a Dwarf Planet.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Brash wants to be Education Minister

The NBR reports that Act leader Don Brash would jump at the chance to be Minister of Education in a future government.

That doesn’t surprise me, it was one of the portfolios he spoke about wanting when he was first a National MP.

He has always talked about the importance of education as the bridge to independence and success. 

His speech on Act’s education policy is here.