TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
LEAD STORY: Mallard Gets Monstered
SCOOP IS IN THE HOUSE:
Benson-Pope Stands Down From All Portfolios
Scoop Report: Kevin List Reports On The PM's Presser
Wananga Tells Mallard Risks Not Sufficient To Warrant Dissolution Of Council
Prince William To Visit New Zealand For Lions Tour
MORE NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES:
Brazilian Tribe Faces Extinction Due To Unrestrained Logging
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:
SCOOP COLUMNS:
Care For A Middle East Nuclear Holocaust?
Sandor Lau Savages Winston Peters With Blunt Irony
Anne Else: Shades Of Reds Under The Bed
"…The Intelligence And Facts Were Being Fixed Around The Policy."
Carolyn Baker On The Fundy's 12 Step Programme
MORE SCOOP COMMENTARY:
OTHER NEWS (Just Politics)
Bogus Jobs Responsible For Large Scale Immigration Fraud
WINZ Tough Stance Blamed On Election Year Welfare ‘Auction’
MAF Eases Off Foot And Mouth Operation
Parliament's Digital Strategy Launched
MORE PARLIAMENT HEADLINES:
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TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS------------
LEAD STORY:
Mallard Gets Monstered
[1] Pictures from the university student and staff protest at Parliament this afternoon. There was easily a thousand people, it was well organised and ran very smoothly. See... Scoop Images: Mallard Gets Debt Monstered [2] ALSO: NZUSA - Student protest looks to Budget for change [3] VUSA - Victoria University Students and Staff to March [4]
SCOOP IS IN THE HOUSE:
Benson-Pope Stands Down From All Portfolios
- Prime Minister Helen Clark said tonight that Hon David Benson-Pope has at his own request stood aside from his
portfolios while an independent investigation is conducted into the credibility of the allegations against him. Helen
Clark said she would be seeking advice from Solicitor-General Terence Arnold on the form of the inquiry. See... PM Makes Statement Re: David Benson-Pope [1] ALSO: Russell Brown - Public Address 17/05/05 - An Education [2] Scoop - David Benson-Pope Steps Aside From Portfolio [3] Scoop - Earlier: David Benson-Pope Denies Tennis Ball Sadism [4] Scoop - A Week Of It: Publishing & Punishment [5]
Scoop Report: Kevin List Reports On The PM's Presser
- In This Edition: - TV3 And Rodney Hide Take Another Minister Down - Coalition Talks – Past, Present And Future -
Fairfax Transcripts And The Doone Affair - More Muck To Come… See... PM's Presser: TV3, DBP & Mudslinging To Come [1]
Wananga Tells Mallard Risks Not Sufficient To Warrant Dissolution Of Council
- “The Council has told the Minister that it accepts that Te Wananga o Aotearoa has financial, operating and
reputational risks that it must manage, but firmly believes that these risks are not of sufficient magnitude to meet the
thresholds set by the Education Act that would require the Minister to proceed with the process leading to the
dissolution of the Council." See... Wananga Issues Response to Education Minister [1]
Prince William To Visit New Zealand For Lions Tour
- Prime Minister Helen Clark has announced that Prince William will visit New Zealand in July. While it is predominantly
a private visit in conjunction with the British and Irish Lions rugby tour, Prince William will also undertake official
engagements. Helen Clark said she was pleased that New Zealand was to host Prince William soon after the successful
March visit by his father, Prince Charles. “Prince William is a popular and engaging young man and his visit will
attract a lot of interest,” Helen Clark said. See... Prince William to visit New Zealand [1]
MORE NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES:
Commission Issues Warning On New Chain Letter [1] BNZ: Pessimism Eases Slightly [2] Auckland Airport runway work complete [3] Builder apprentice breaks 1000th barrier [4] Asia Film Festival Aotearoa 2005 Set To Begin [5]
Brazilian Tribe Faces Extinction Due To Unrestrained Logging
- A small tribe of uncontacted Indians in the Brazilian Amazon is facing annihilation as loggers invade their land,
forcing them to flee further and further into the forest. See... Brazil: Uncontacted Indians Face Genocide [1] ALSO: UN Opens Two-Week Forum on Indigenous Issues [2]
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:
Scoop Link: Israel Plans Strike On Iranian Nuclear Plant [1] UN Deplores Violence in Uzbekistan [2] Can The World Live With Iran's Nuclear Weapons? [3] U.S. Votes: Hypotheses of Fraud Remain Credible; New Study [4] RFK Memorial Commends Indonesian Officials for Swift Action [5]
SCOOP COLUMNS:
Care For A Middle East Nuclear Holocaust?
- Israel has drawn up secret plans for a combined air and ground attack on targets in Iran if diplomacy fails to halt
the Iranian nuclear programme. The inner cabinet of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, gave “initial
authorisation” for an attack at a private meeting last month on his ranch in the Negev desert. See... Link: Israel Plans Strike On Iranian Nuclear Plant [1] . BACKGROUND: Chossudovsky: Planned US-Israeli Attack on Iran [2]
Sandor Lau Savages Winston Peters With Blunt Irony
- I offer my warmest congratulations to the honourable member (of parliament) from Tauranga, Mr. Winston Peters, for
recently bringing to light a great threat to Aotearoa’s image as a free, open and democratic society. See... Winston Peters & Weapons Of Mass Discrimination [1]
Anne Else: Shades Of Reds Under The Bed
- John Tamihere’s “trash-talk laddism” (as the Listener editor labelled it) was repulsive, but I didn’t take it
seriously enough to respond in public. This is different. Last week Ian Wishart, Tamihere’s interviewer, and Sandra
Paterson, who gets published in the New Zealand Herald, both wrote articles about how a woman called Kay Goodger and a
pamphlet published in 1974, was, they claimed, linked to women in the Labour government. See... Letter from Elsewhere: Joe McCarthy Lives [1] MORE: Lou Garvey - Family break-up – a King Hit for Opposition? [2]
"…The Intelligence And Facts Were Being Fixed Around The Policy."
Delayed for two weeks after first reported and buried in the back pages of most major U.S. newspapers is the
blockbuster story that key players in the British government believed the case for the invasion of Iraq was “thin” and
that the Bush administration was manipulating intelligence to provide a rationale for an aggressive U.S. policy. See... Media Intel. Coverage Reflects Imperial Presidency [1] For Much More coverage of the "Downing Street Memo" see Scoop's IRAQ WAR FEATURE [2]
Carolyn Baker On The Fundy's 12 Step Programme
- In recent article, I promised readers that I would address the mindset of the religious right as an addiction. In
order to do so with accuracy and clarity, it is first necessary to define addiction and clarify the terms, Christian
fundamentalism and Dominionism. See... The Religious Righ (2): Pushing A Deadly Addiction [1] & An Anti-American Terrorist Movement [2]
MORE SCOOP COMMENTARY:
John Roughan - John Roughan: Solomons A Fragile State? [1] Jim Shultz - Jim Shultz: Gas Issue Ignites Bolivia Once Again [2] Greg Palast - Greg Palast: Ecuador Gets Chavez'd [3] Jay Shaft - Jay Shaft: Concrete Is Cold And Hard At Night [4] Sam Smith - Sam Smith: New Headlines Every Fifteen Minutes [5] Kamala Sarup - Kamala Sarup: Eco-Tourism - Making Nepal Unique [6]
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OTHER NEWS (JUST POLITICS)------------
Bogus Jobs Responsible For Large Scale Immigration Fraud
- Despite repeated warnings over the past three years, the Immigration Service appears to have only just realised that
thousands of immigrants gained residency here with false job offers, says Rt Hon Winston Peters. See... Peters: Why No Action On Immigrant Job Scams? [1]
WINZ Tough Stance Blamed On Election Year Welfare ‘Auction’
- A dramatic surge in benefit stand downs is yet another sign that the Government is trying to outgun National and Act
at beneficiary bashing, Green Social Services Spokesperson Sue Bradford says. See... Labour basks in 'beat-the-beneficiary' battle [1]
MAF Eases Off Foot And Mouth Operation
- It was a relief to be able to ease back on emergency response measures against a claimed foot and mouth disease
outbreak, Biosecurity and Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton said today. See... Minister comments on Waiheke Island situation [1] ALSO: MAF - Second letter says Foot and Mouth threat a hoax [2]
Parliament's Digital Strategy Launched
- The launch of The Digital Strategy at 2.30pm at Parliament today will be streamed live to www.r2.co.nz/20050516 with
the help of Citylink. The Digital Strategy is the government's action plan for ensuring all New Zealanders benefit from
information ... See... Digital Strategy Launch - Webcast Details [1] OTHER DIGITAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: NZ Government - Digital Strategy Launched [2] Prime Minister - One stop online access to cultural information [3] Govt - Budget 2005: The Digital Strategy [4]
MORE PARLIAMENT HEADLINES:
NZ Govt - Builder apprentice breaks 1000th barrier [1] NZ Govt - Employment Court -District Court Judge Appointed [2] NZ Govt - Geospatial strategy work ongoing [3] NZ Govt - One-stop shop a hit in the heartland [4] NZ Govt - Feds' hysteria over access beyond the pale [5] National - Waiting lists grow despite billions in extra funds [6] National - Education leadership in chaos [7] National - Finance Minister disowns Labour's lay-by Budget [8] Greens - ARC emissions plan shows Govt the way: Locke [9] Greens - Mean-spirited Labour pinching pennies [10] Greens - RMA plans would clear path for transmission lines [11] ACT - Building Act killing off Kiwi home handyman [12]
ENDS