Scoop: Top Scoops + Just Politics

Monday, 23 May 2005, 5:10 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
LEAD STORY: MFAT Scuttles NZ's WTO Ambassador After He Joins Nats' List
Police Replace Remington Rifle With SLR
GG Cartwright To Visit Chile
Steven Ching Stands Down From Labour List
MORE NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES:
Scoop Link: Gerhard Schroeder Calls Early German Election
United Nations Mission Officially Ends In Timor-Leste
UN Arbitrary Executions Expert Requests Urgent Visit To Uzbekistan
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:

SCOOP COLUMNS:
Rosalea Barker Watches The Digital Strategy Webcast
Antony Wright: George Galloway's Welcome Home
Scoop Link: Seymour Hersh Update On Abu Ghraib
Bill Berkowitz's Puts The Buzz In Buzzflash
MORE SCOOP COMMENTARY:

OTHER NEWS (Just Politics)
Brash Inches Toward Alternative Budget
NZ First Cautions On Party Pill Dangers
MORE PARLIAMENTARY HEADLINES:

LEAD STORY:
MFAT Scuttles NZ's WTO Ambassador After He Joins Nats' List

New Zealand’s Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation, Tim Groser, has confirmed that he intends to stand as a list candidate for the National Party in the forthcoming general election. As a consequence, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Murdoch, acting in conformity with the provisions of s.52 of the Electoral Act, has placed Mr Groser on leave. See... NZ’s WTO Ambassador to stand aside [1] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0505/S00230.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00576.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00575.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00570.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00587.htm

Police Replace Remington Rifle With SLR

- "The new rifle will be more operationally compatible with the other police standard issue firearm, the semi-automatic Glock," says Assistant Commissioner Peter Marshall. The Remington 7 was introduced in 1993 and is a bolt action styled rifle, so each time a shot is fired, the operator has to take one hand off the rifle to action the bolt. Once the bolt is actioned, the operator has to reposition their hand as well as re-sight the weapon and this could be dangerous in certain situations. This is not the case with the new Bushmaster," says Assistant Commissioner Marshall. See... Replacement Due For Police Rifles [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0505/S00239.htm

GG Cartwright To Visit Chile

- The Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright will this week travel to Chile in what is the first official state visit by a New Zealand Governor-General to a Latin-American country. Dame Silvia's visit follows two earlier visits to New Zealand by President Lagos and underlines the importance New Zealand attaches to the relationship with Chile. See... Governor-General on historic visit to Chile [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00602.htm

Steven Ching Stands Down From Labour List

- National Party Justice spokesman Richard Worth says the Government must start asking some serious questions about the alleged behaviour of Labour list candidate Steven Ching. See... Serious questions about Labour’s Steven Ching [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00573.htm

MORE NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0505/S00238.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0505/S00237.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0505/S00347.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0505/S00345.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0505/S00197.htm

Scoop Link: Gerhard Schroeder Calls Early German Election

- BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany looks set to hold a national election within a few months after Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder shocked the country by calling for an early vote in the aftermath of a crushing regional poll defeat. Reuters: Schroeder shocks Germany with early election call [1]

[1] - http://today.reuters.com/news/newsChannel.aspx?type=worldNews

United Nations Mission Officially Ends In Timor-Leste

- The United Nations ends one era of its work in Timor-Leste and begins another this week as its support mission officially closes it doors, while a new UN political office gears up to help ensure the country continues its journey toward self-sufficiency ...See... UN Peacekeeping Mission in Timor-Leste Ends [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00338.htm

UN Arbitrary Executions Expert Requests Urgent Visit To Uzbekistan

- The United Nations expert on summary or arbitrary executions today requested an invitation from the Government of Uzbekistan for an “urgent” visit following reports that hundreds of people were killed in the eastern city of Andijan last weekend when Government troops opened fire on a protest march. See… UN Expert on Executions Requests Uzbekistan Visit [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00341.htm

MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00339.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00337.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00335.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00334.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00333.htm

SCOOP COLUMNS:
Rosalea Barker Watches The Digital Strategy Webcast

- Will somebody please tell the Minister for Information Technology that you don't actually have to type www. into a browser these days to get to a web address? It does not make you look hip to use "dub, dub, dub" when making a speech; it makes you look really, really daft. See... Stateside With Rosalea: The Mother of All Bells [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00271.htm

Antony Wright: George Galloway's Welcome Home

- George Galloway received a rapturous welcome this Wednesday at a Respect rally in central London, less than twenty four hours after his barnstorming performance in the US Senate. See... George Galloway Receives A Hero's Welcome Home [1] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00268.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00259.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00246.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0505/S00348.htm

Scoop Link: Seymour Hersh Update On Abu Ghraib

- It's been over a year since I published a series of articles in the New Yorker outlining the abuses at Abu Ghraib. There have been at least 10 official military investigations since then - none of which has challenged the official Bush administration line that there was no high-level policy condoning or overlooking such abuse. See... Scoop Link: Seymour Hersh On Abu Ghraib Inquiries [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00263.htm

Bill Berkowitz's Puts The Buzz In Buzzflash

- As the deadline approached for naming its GOP Hypocrite of the Week for the Friday, May 13, edition of BuzzFlash.com, Editor Mark Karlin was faced with a daunting challenge. While some of the previous "winners" -- Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Karen Hughes and President Bush -- are all well-known political figures, this week's choices were a gaggle of relatively unknown GOP officials and surrogates involved in sexual shenanigans. See... Bill Berkowitz: Getting its Buzz On [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00256.htm

MORE SCOOP COMMENTARY:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00273.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00270.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00269.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00267.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00266.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00265.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00262.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00261.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00260.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00255.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00258.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00264.htm

Brash Inches Toward Alternative Budget

- Nearly 600 people get on a plane and leave New Zealand to move permanently to Australia each week - 30,000 in the past year - the equivalent of losing the city of Gisborne each year. They go because they can see a better life with better rewards for themselves ... See... Brash: Tax Cuts Key to a Spirit of Enterprise [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00598.htm

NZ First Cautions On Party Pill Dangers

- New Zealand First’s view that there should be no softening of drugs laws for so-called party pills has been reinforced by the near fatal experience of a Christchurch woman during the weekend, says health spokesperson Barbara Stewart. See... Party Pills Too Dangerous - NZ First [1] RELATED:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00593.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00592.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00589.htm

MORE PARLIAMENTARY HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00601.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00599.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00588.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00583.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00580.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00579.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00597.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00595.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00594.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00591.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00585.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00584.htm
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00581.htm
[14] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00600.htm
[15] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00590.htm
[16] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00582.htm
[17] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00577.htm
[18] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00574.htm
[19] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00572.htm
[20] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0505/S00586.htm

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

Contact Alastair Thompson

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