Scoop: Top Scoops + Just Politics

Tuesday, 19 July 2005, 5:39 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS:
Brash's Foreign Affairs Indecisiveness To Become Election Issue
Transpower Confirms 320 Landowners Affected By Pylons
Labour Issues Third Term Pledge-Card
United Nations Voices Concerns Over Mugabe Abuses
MORE NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES:
Hurricane Emily Approaching Mexican Coast
Iraq: Alleged Torture Sees Nine Suffocate In Container
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:

SCOOP COLUMNS:
Tarek Cherkaoui On Developments In Egyptian Politics
Ivan Eland On Rove Vs The Truth
The Once Mighty American Eagle's Fall
Why Australia Has Changed It's Detention Policy
MORE SCOOP COMMENTARY:

OTHER NEWS (Just Politics):
Nandor's Cannabis Bill Ignites Policy Debate
Greens Back Tahiti's Oscar Temaru's Pac-Passport Call
MORE POLITICS HEADLINES:

Brash's Foreign Affairs Indecisiveness To Become Election Issue

“I have no doubts whatsoever that an issue in this election will be whether New Zealand makes decisions based on its own values and principles about where it engages militarily offshore,” explained the Prime Minister at yesterday's post-cabinet press conference. The Prime Minister considered that the present conflict in Iraq would very definitely be an issue in the upcoming general election. “[Iraq] is certainly an election issue because it is very clear to everyone that had there been a National Government in power, New Zealanders would have been sent into combat in Iraq,” she said. See... Iraq Conflict Set To Be NZ Election Issue - PM [1] ALSO: Anne Else: Would The Real Dr Brash Please Stand Up [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00258.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00254.htm

Transpower Confirms 320 Landowners Affected By Pylons

- Transpower has confirmed the final route within which the proposed new transmission line through the Waikato and south Auckland would be built. Proceeding with the transmission line is subject to Electricity Commission and Resource Management Act approvals. An interim route was announced in May for the proposed 400 kV transmission line between Otahuhu and Whakamaru. This has now been confirmed as the final route. Information packs are being delivered today to affected landowners and occupiers. See... Transpower Confirms Route For Pylons [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0507/S00264.htm

Labour Issues Third Term Pledge-Card

- Prime Minister Helen Clark announced today that Labour is issuing a pledge card again this election outlining key commitments it is making to New Zealanders, during a third term of a Labour-led government. Helen Clark also announced that one of the key pledges would be Labour's plan to make big improvements to the rates rebates scheme. Helen Clark said that Labour had pioneered the use of pledge cards in New Zealand in response to the public distaste for years of broken promises by previous governments which had preceded Labour's win in the1999 election. See... Labour pledge card for third term in office [1] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00375.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00377.htm

United Nations Voices Concerns Over Mugabe Abuses

- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today voiced increasing concern about the human rights and humanitarian aspects of the housing demolitions in Zimbabwe. See... UN Concern About Housing Demolitions In Zimbabwe [1] ALSO: Scoop Report: How Vulnerable Will Black Caps Be On Zimbabwe Tour? State Of It: Selwyn Manning writes that New Zealand's Black Caps Cricket team will be without direct diplomatic support should the planned tour of Zimbabwe go ahead in August. The team will be reliant on a consulate in Pretoria should the players become pawns in a political scrap between Zimbabwe opposition parties and the Mugabe regime. See... Only Filtered Diplomatic Support On BlackCaps Tour [2] ALSO:

Scoop Video: First Time In NZ Video Of Zimbabwe Regime's Victimization [4] - Here for the first time in New Zealand, Scoop broadcasts recent footage of homes being demolished by the Robert Mugabe government in Zimbabwe. This video footage includes interviews with victims and human rights spokespersons inside Zimbabwe. See... Zimbabwe Video Footage Shown For First Time In NZ [5] MORE:

CLICK HERE: for more political reaction. [6]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0507/S00307.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00255.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0507/S00172.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00236.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00236.htm
[6] - #cricket1

MORE NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0507/S00065.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0507/S00256.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0507/S00174.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0507/S00251.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0507/S00133.htm

Hurricane Emily Approaching Mexican Coast

- Hurricane Emily is 36 hours away from landfall on the Gulf Coast, most probably close to the Mexico/Texas border ( See supercomputer forecast of landfall below ). The following image shows the most recent National Hurricane Warning Center forecast ... See... Supercomputer Weather: Emily's Landfall Imminent [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00271.htm

Iraq: Alleged Torture Sees Nine Suffocate In Container

- Amnesty International has written to Iraq's Interior Minister, Bayan Jabr Solagh, to call for a full investigation into the alleged torture of a group of men detained by Iraqi police on 10 July and the circumstances in which nine of them were suffocated to death after being confined in a police van or container. The nine who died were among a group of 12 men who were detained in Baghdad's al-'Amariya district on 10 July. The Iraqi authorities have suggested they were members of an armed group who had engaged in an exchange of fire with US or Iraqi forces, but other sources claim they were a group of bricklayers who were picked up as suspected insurgents and then brutally tortured by police commandoes before being confined in a police van or container in extremely high temperatures for up to 14 hours. See... Iraq: Amnesty Urges Inquiry Into Custodial Deaths [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0507/S00324.htm

MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0507/S00327.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0507/S00323.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0507/S00316.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0507/S00315.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0507/S00329.htm

Tarek Cherkaoui On Developments In Egyptian Politics

- Tarek Cherkaoui writes that after decades of political stagnation in Egypt, there is a semblance of change in the Egyptian public arena thanks to the emergence of new actors on the political scene. Yet there are still many challenges ahead. See... Kifaya: The New Player in the Egyptian Politics [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00270.htm

Ivan Eland On Rove Vs The Truth

- Much of Washington is abuzz about whether Karl Rove, the president’s deputy chief of staff and chief political operative, or perhaps other Bush administration officials, broke a law that prohibits government officials from disclosing the identity of CIA ... See... Ivan Eland: A Roving Ethical Problem [1] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00269.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00263.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00262.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00261.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00260.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00267.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0507/S00266.htm

Nandor's Cannabis Bill Ignites Policy Debate

- The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 to introduce instant fines for the personal use of cannabis. The Bill aims to: * To decrease the number of criminal convictions given every year for minor cannabis offences; * To decrease police expenditure on cannabis offences and to enable the police to focus more on crimes against people and property; * To enable the establishment of effective drug education and rehabilitation programmes and adequate health treatment; * To implement the findings of the Health Select Committee Inquiry into the Legal Status of cannabis; * To decrease the number of suspensions from schools over cannabis and to enable schools to provide a effective drug education for children and young people; * To break the link between cannabis and hard drugs. See… Text of Nandor's Cannabis Bill [1] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00382.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00379.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00381.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00380.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0507/S00186.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0507/S00185.htm

Greens Back Tahiti's Oscar Temaru's Pac-Passport Call

- The Green Party is urging the Government to give serious consideration to the idea of a 'Pacific passport' floated by visiting French Polynesia President Oscar Temaru. See... Govt should look at Pacific passport [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00383.htm

MORE POLITICS HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00391.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00389.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00388.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00386.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00385.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00384.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00376.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00374.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00373.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00372.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00371.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00369.htm
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00390.htm
[14] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00378.htm
[15] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00387.htm
[16] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0507/S00370.htm

ENDS

© 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.

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