NewsRoom_Digest for 14 January 2016

NewsroomPlus.com Today’s edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 3 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Thursday 14th January. It is best viewed on a desktop screen. NEWSROOM_MONITOR  Noteworthy stories in the current news cycle include an Iwi working group saying Maori are being prevented from accessing waterways on land they own, the New Zealand sharemarket having another bout of weakness, and NZ First saying that a 2025 smoke-free New Zealand is unrealistic unless recommendations by the Maori Affairs select committee are implemented. POLITICS PULSE Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today  included: Greens: Government must prioritise equal pay for women; Cheap oil gives the opportunity to start exiting from it; OIA charging a worrying step New Zealand First: Obama Gets Lukewarm TPP Response But NZ To Sign Regardless; Failure To Deliver Committee Recommendations Hurting Māori; Crude Oil At 2004 Prices, But Petrol Is 62% More Expensive LINKS OF THE DAY NZ UNIVERSITIES RANK IN TOP 112: The Times Higher Education’s list of the most international universities released today ranks seven New Zealand universities within the top 112 in the world. The “Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-16” results and analysis are at https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/worlds-most-international-universities-2016 PROPERTY SALES BOOM: The New Zealand property for sale market settled in December, ending 2015 with a whimper rather than the roar witnessed throughout the year. Read more: http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/price-index/for-sale/december-2015/ RETAIL CARD SPENDING INCREASES: Retail spending using electronic cards reached $6.0 billion in December 2015, up $304 million (5.3 percent) from December 2014, Statistics New Zealand said today. Click here for more:http://bit.ly/230pRs1 And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Thursday 14th January. –]]>