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WELLINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Following are some of the lead stories from New Zealand metropolitan newspapers on Thursday.
Stories may be taken from either the paper or Internet editions of the papers.
Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
DOMINION POST (
Payments 'buy the silence' of staff at Parliament: Parliamentary Service has hit back at claims that severance payments given to fired employees were effectively "hush money".
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Yellow's debt woes continue to mount: Directory company Yellow has narrowed its annual loss to NZ$12.5 million ($10.37 million), but it trades only at the pleasure of its bankers after being forced to seek covenant waivers.
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Hellers' NZ$17m deal tipped to create 50 jobs: Hellers is set to buy Goodman Fielder's
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Kiwi ingenuity winning cancer war: A Wellington research institute is among the world's pioneers of a treatment named the biggest scientific breakthrough of 2013. Top medical journal Science chose cancer immunotherapy - using the body's immune system to attack cancer cells instead of targeting the tumour itself - as the biggest breakthrough of last year.
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NEW ZEALAND HERALD (
Banks eye low-deposit loans again: Banks are showing more interest in making low-deposit home loans after cutting back hard before Christmas, but it is mainly investors who are taking advantage, say mortgage brokers.
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Analysts welcome Goodman Fielder sell-off: Goodman Fielder's selling its New Zealand meats and pizza businesses is seen as positive by market analysts but news of the deal comes as one research firm cuts its profit forecast for the food manufacturer by almost A$20 million ($17.86 million).
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Women MP target misses mark: Labour's target of selecting candidates to ensure women make up at least half of its caucus by 2017 has been given the thumbs down in the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey - and more than half of the women polled said it was too restrictive.
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Smith wants more sea sanctuaries: Conservation Minister Nick Smith says he aims to establish a record number of marine reserves around the coast this year as protecting the offshore environment becomes his top priority.
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((Wellington newsroom tel +64 4 802 7980, fax +64 4 473 6212 wellington.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com))
($1 = 1.2059 New Zealand dollars) ($1 = 1.1198 Australian dollars)
Keywords: NEWZEALAND PRESS