TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
LEAD STORY:
Pressure Mounts For Release Of Transcript Of Bush & Blair Discussing Bombing Al Jazeera
Auckland University Student Held Hostage In Iraq
RECOMMENDED AUDIO:
Employment: Youth Rates Viciously Assaulted In Manners Mall -
Trade: Massive Subsidy Scam Alleged By Aid Agency -
Silver Fern Big Loser in Native Plant Ratings
Biz News: Corporate Shonkiness Prizegiving Set To Go For 2005
Military: Brigadier Shoots To the Top
MORE HEADLINES:
Marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:
SCOOP COLUMNS:
Rankin Delves into Bollard's Monetary Policy
Public Address on New Zealand Culture
No Right Turn: America Versus the ICC
Mark Drolette: Costa Rica, Cows and Terror
MORE COMMENTARY:
OTHER NEWS (Just Politics)
Revenue Minister Enthuses Over Opposition Tax Policy
Hide: Saving the Environment Through Commerce
Power Deplores Trial Delays
Cullen Says OECD Supports No Tax Cuts
POLITICAL HEADLINES:
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TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS------------
LEAD STORY:
Pressure Mounts For Release Of Transcript Of Bush & Blair Discussing Bombing Al Jazeera
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- British Prime Minister Tony Blair is coming under opposition pressure to release a memo which reportedly show that he dissuaded President Bush from ordering the bombing the Head Quarters of Al Jazeera TV in Qatar, an ally of the United States. See... Pressure to Release "Bomb Al Jazeera" Transcript [1] MORE: Wikinews - Bush-Blair Transcript Details Stopped [2] Wikinews - Bush-Blair Al-Jazeera Bombing Transcript Leak [3] Scoop Backgrounder - Second Gulf War - Targeting of Journalists [4]
- British Prime Minister Tony Blair is coming under opposition pressure to release a memo which reportedly show that he dissuaded President Bush from ordering the bombing the Head Quarters of Al Jazeera TV in Qatar, an ally of the United States. See... Pressure to Release "Bomb Al Jazeera" Transcript [1] MORE: Wikinews - Bush-Blair Transcript Details Stopped [2] Wikinews - Bush-Blair Al-Jazeera Bombing Transcript Leak [3] Scoop Backgrounder - Second Gulf War - Targeting of Journalists [4]
Auckland University Student Held Hostage In Iraq
- Harmeet Singh Sooden (32), a Canadian electrical engineer who was studying for a masters degree in English literature at Auckland University, is
one of four people taken hostage in Iraq. Mr Sooden arrived in New Zealand in 2003 and gained residency. He left
Auckland in November and was kidnapped in Baghdad on the weekend by a group titled Swords of the Righteous Brigade. The
group accuses the hostages of being spies. Christian Peacemaker Teams has confirmed that the four human rights workers
missing in Baghdad are associated with the CPT organization. See... Christian Peacemaker Teams - 4 Missing in Iraq [1] ALSO:Harmeet Sooden Was Working With International Solidarity Movement [2]
RECOMMENDED AUDIO:
Employment: Youth Rates Viciously Assaulted In Manners Mall -
Today in Manners Mall young workers smashed a giant fast-food cup, decorated with the brands of some of the New Zealand
companies that paid young workers less than adults, in a protest against youth rates. About sixty people, young and old,
attended the rally that was organised by the Wellington Youth Union Movement, and Unite Union. See... Youth Rates Smashed Up [1]
Trade: Massive Subsidy Scam Alleged By Aid Agency -
The European Union and the United States are illegally subsidizing their production of corn, rice, sorghum, fruit
juice, canned fruit, tomatoes, dairy products, tobacco and wine, according to new research published today by
international agency Oxfam. See... Oxfam Exposes Illegal Agricultural Subsidies [1] ALSO: Oxfam - Illegal Agricultural Subsidies Briefing [2]
Silver Fern Big Loser in Native Plant Ratings
- Cook’s scurvy grass is New Zealand’s No.1 plant for 2005 – despite the silver fern being the proudest NZ brand
globally, according to a public vote released today... Interestingly, the silver fern only managed just five votes
despite being such a high profile species among our NZ sporting teams. See... Cook’s scurvy grass voted NZ’s No.1 plant for 2005 [1]
Biz News: Corporate Shonkiness Prizegiving Set To Go For 2005
- The finalists have been chosen for the 2005 Roger Award for the Worst Transnational Corporation Operating in
Aotearoa/New Zealand. There are eight transnational corporations (TNCs), equalling the highest number ever (from 2003).
They are (in no particular order of preference): Telecom, Westpac, Toll, BNZ, Comalco, Guardian Healthcare, Merck Sharp
and Dohme, and British American Tobacco. See... 2005 Roger Award Finalists Chosen [1] ALSO:Action On Smoking And Health - ASH Votes for British American Tobacco New Zealand [2]
Military: Brigadier Shoots To the Top
- Promotion is a milestone in anyone's career, but for the New Zealand Army's newest Brigadier it is particularly
significant. Brigadier Anne Campbell became the first woman to reach the higher echelons of military office when the
Chief of Defence Force, Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson, promoted her in a small ceremony this morning. Now one of the New
Zealand Defence Force's highest-ranking officers, Brigadier Campbell is currently serving as the Director General of
Defence Medical Services in Wellington. See... Army Woman Shatters Glass Ceiling [1]
MORE HEADLINES:
Pressure put on Australia to accept our apples [1] Redford's Festival Picks NZ Film [2] Draft guidelines for stem cells [3] Troubled past for student loan scheme borrowers [4] Sky applies for clearance to acquire Prime TV [5]
Marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
- In an address marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for renewed action by Israelis and Palestinians to meet their obligations
under the Road Map peace process, which calls for parallel steps by both parties toward a final agreement. "Performance
of Road Map obligations is the way to move forward towards the shared goal of a sovereign, contiguous and democratic
Palestinian State, living side by side in peace and security with Israel," Mr. Annan said of the plan, which is
sponsored by the Quartet consisting of the UN, European Union, United States and Russia. See... Marking Palestinian Solidarity Day [1] ALSO:European solidarity with the Palestinian people [2]
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:
Australia: Anti-terrorism dissenters leave MP in Cold [1] WHO Investigates China's First Human Bird Flu Case [2] China Mine Blast Update: 148 Dead, 3 Missing [3] Pakistan: Cold Is Now Killing Quake Victims [4] President Putin comments on the Chechnyan election [5]
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SCOOP COLUMNS------------
Rankin Delves into Bollard's Monetary Policy
- The First Law of Holes says "stop digging". It applies, universally, to anyone who's in a hole. And Dr Alan Bollard,
Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand certainly is in a hole. So are the rest of us, although most of us don't
know it yet. It is a hole dug for us by the Reserve Bank, while the Government sits back and watches with increasing
concern but no obvious sense of panic. See... Keith Rankin: Dr Bollard & the First Law of Holes [1]
Public Address on New Zealand Culture
- Russell Brown writes: Somebody served me a long black without a crema last week. In Wellington. The café had everything else: nice décor,
convivial company, Cafenet connectivity, that capital city buzz. But no crema. Certainly, I am a bit of a nut about this
sort of thing. And Che Tibby Writes: Originally I was on the verge of a little rant about Treaty politics and the need to recognise that Mâori do have a
distinct place within New Zealand. If you're the sort of person who just plain doesn't like Mâori, or thinks that Mâori
culture has no inherent value, then it's highly likely that you oppose recognition of Mâori distinctiveness. See... Public Address 30/11/05 - Coffee And Culture [1]
No Right Turn: America Versus the ICC
- One of the positive steps in international law in recent years has been the establishment of the International
Criminal Court, a permanant standing court to try cases of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Unfortunately, since its inception, the court has been virulently opposed by the United States, which fears that its
soldiers (and more importantly, its political leaders) might be held accountable for any atrocities they commit or order
to be committed ... See... No Right Turn: The Axis of Impunity [1]
Mark Drolette: Costa Rica, Cows and Terror
- Returning to America after a recent trip to Costa Rica, I could practically smell the fear in the Phoenix airport.
Welcome to the Terrified States of America, folks. Kindly remove almost every item of clothing and check all common
sense at the gate... Such is life for Americans these days as we have been told incessantly since 9/11 by George W. Bush
and his fellow jackals that a citizen’s utmost patriotic duty, other than shopping, is to be very, very afraid. See... Cow Bombs In Costa Rica: Only A Matter Of Time? [1]
MORE COMMENTARY:
Doris Colmes: Ridin’ the Bus With Deborah [1] Kamala Sarup: Human Violence Has To Be Stopped [2] Santa Baby, Please Make These Wishes Come True [3] Jay Shaft: The Truth From Our Soldiers About Iraq [4] Bill Berkowitz: Vulnerable Venezuela [5] Mapping The Real Deal: Fed's Cancellation of M3 [6]
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OTHER NEWS (JUST POLITICS)------------
Revenue Minister Enthuses Over Opposition Tax Policy
- United Future leader, Peter Dunne, said today he was delighted to hear the National Party is swinging in behind
United Future with a campaign against Labour's proposed carbon tax. "As part of our confidence and supply agreement with
Labour, we negotiated a new cost benefit analysis of the proposal to introduce a carbon tax as part of New Zealand's
obligations under the Kyoto Protocol," said Mr Dunne. See... Dunne delighted at National support on carbon tax [1]
Hide: Saving the Environment Through Commerce
- It's a great honour to be here. The late Dr John Hayward introduced me to hydrology. John had a big impact not just
through his science but through the many students that he taught and inspired. I know. I was one of them. John's vision
was for a clean, green New Zealand. A prosperous New Zealand. He was dedicated to good science and sound public policy.
See... Making New Zealand Prosperous, Clean and Green [1] ALSOGreens - Meadow Fresh protest "great to see" - Greens [2]
Power Deplores Trial Delays
- National's Law & Order spokesman, Simon Power, says the Government needs to get off its backside and deal with New Zealand's huge and
worsening log jam of court cases. He is commenting on figures that show defendants are waiting longer and longer to have
their cases heard. The average waiting time for criminal trials in District Courts is now 179 days, up from 160 days
when Labour came to power in 2000. The number of criminal trials outstanding is now 1,321, up 44% from 916. See... Log jam in courts gets worse [1] ALSO:NZ Govt - Court Caseloads Are Improving [2]
Cullen Says OECD Supports No Tax Cuts
- “The latest OECD report on New Zealand should silence the clamour for tax cuts,” Finance Minister Michael Cullen said today. Dr Cullen was commenting on concerns by the OECD at the impact on the economy of an additional fiscal stimulus beyond that already projected. “This is the reason that Labour took into the election campaign by far the most fiscally conservative manifesto of any political party,” Dr Cullen said. See... Cullen on OECD report [1] ALSO:OECD Economic Outlook No. 78 - New Zealand (PDF) [2]
POLITICAL HEADLINES:
NZ Govt - Horomia: Maori Language Versions Windows [1] NZ Govt - Auckland leading the way in sustainable building [2] NZ Govt - State Services Senior Leaders Development [3] NZ Govt - Biotech sector sets high standard in engagement [4] National - Missed opportunity to advance NZ’s cause [5] National - Flooded farmers shafted by Labour [6] National - Time to get serious with small business [7] National - National to thank for loan loophole closure [8] NZ First - Sun Smart Policies Vital For Schools [9] GE free NZ - NZ Urged to Follow Swiss Lead on GE Referendum [10] ECPAT - Judiciary Fails to Use Full Weight of Law [11] Family Life International - Dr. Philip Nitschke plans opposed [12]
ENDS