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TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS:
Business: Property Valuations Continue Upward Trend
Environment: Baby Birds Relocated to Fire Hazard Area
Sport: Commonwealth Games Baton To Arrive In ChCh
Environment: NZ Wasn't Invited To Sydney-Based Climate Conference
MORE NZ NEWS HEADLINES:
Suva back to normal after security scare?
Annan urges Iranian nuclear negotiator to avoid escalation
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:
SCOOP COLUMNS:
Suzan Mazur: The Sotheby's Euphronios Tape
Russell Brown On Coddington's Reaquaintance With The Blogosphere
Jason Leopold: Illegal NSA Spying Began Earlier Than Thought
Karl Ferguson Likes The Lines Of Peugeot's 206 GTI
MORE SCOOP COMMENTARY:
OTHER NEWS (Just Politics):
NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Energised By Iran's Nuclear Ambitions
Legal Issues: Slightly Dodgy Drivers Get Caught In Unflinching Transport Purge -
Whaling: Paul Buchanan on NZ and the Whalers
Prison Muster Crisis Now Less Huge
Politics: Brownlee Wants Green Staff To Have A Long Holiday -
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TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
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[1] (Image courtesy of Jon Stephenson) - NZUS Council executive director, Stephen Jacobi, will visit Washington DC 23-29 January after comments made by visiting U.S. Senator John McCain about a possible free trade agreement with New Zealand. Senator McCain was quoted as saying that a free trade agreement would be beneficial for both countries. “We welcome this public expression of support from such a high ranking US politician and we in the Council are ready to play our part in making this happen” said Mr Jacobi. See... NZUS Director To Visit Washington [2]
Business: Property Valuations Continue Upward Trend
- Statistics released by QV indicate that residential property values are still rising, with New Zealand residential
properties growing in value by 15.8% over the 12 months to December, up from 15% annual growth to November. See... Property values continue to climb [1]
Environment: Baby Birds Relocated to Fire Hazard Area
- A plot to trick seabirds into believing Mana Island is “home” intensified this weekend with the transfer of a third
seabird species to the island. Forty fluttering shearwater chicks from Long Island in the Marlborough Sounds followed
diving petrel and fairy prion onto the island as part of a plan by the Department of Conservation and Friends of Mana
Island (FOMI) to restore its ecology. See... Mana Island seabird colonisation plot thickens [1] ALSO:Fire danger closes Mana Island [2]
Sport: Commonwealth Games Baton To Arrive In ChCh
- North Hagley Park and the Central City will provide the backdrop to Thursday morning’s (19 January) welcoming to New
Zealand of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games Queen’s baton. See... Queen’s baton welcome in North Hagley Park [1]
Environment: NZ Wasn't Invited To Sydney-Based Climate Conference
- Alasdair Thompson from the Employers and Manufacturers Association has asked why New Zealand’s Climate Change
Minister wasn’t at the recent Sydney Climate Change Conference. The reasons are that it wasn’t a conference, it wasn’t
open to the public and New Zealand wasn’t invited. See... Why NZ wasn’t at the Climate Change Conference [1]
MORE HEADLINES:
Land Transport NZ extends Unisys relationship [1] Telstra-Clear/Telecom Deal Bad News For Net Users [2] Expert urges damage control as invader ant digs in [3] Waitangi Tribunal Releases Kaipara Report [4] Waihopai Spybase Protest January 2006 [5]
Suva back to normal after security scare?
- Fiji's police have been taken off alert 24 hours after a security scare raised fears of another coup in the South
Pacific nation. Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes, an Australian expatriate, said life had returned to normal in Suva.
See... Suva back to normal after security scare [1] ALSO:Fiji: “situation” at the RFMF, latest Coup Tensions [2] Fiji: Commissioner of Police on Coup Tensions [3] 1800 Fijians cannot vote in 2006 election [4]
Annan urges Iranian nuclear negotiator to avoid escalation
- Responding to Iran’s decision to end its suspension of uranium enrichment activities, United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged Tehran’s key nuclear official to find a negotiated settlement and later briefed
key countries on his diplomatic efforts. Mr. Annan, who also spoke extensively today with Mohamed ElBaradei,
Director-General of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told reporters that he is “extremely concerned”
about the situation. See... Annan urges Iranian negotiator to avoid escalation [1] ALSO:Iranian nation determined to defend nuclear right [2] Iran: UN concern, removal of seals on uranium site [3] Australia Condemns Iran's Latest Nuclear Steps [4] New Zealand reiterates strong concern about Iran's nuclear programme [5]
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:
'Coal Pact' delegates agree to let greenhouse pollution double [1] Japanese Whaling ship caused collision [2] Florida professor & wife arrested as Cuban spies [3] Australian terrorist trials face lengthy delays [4] Australia & East Timor Sign Treaty on Gas & Oil Reservoir [5]
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SCOOP COLUMNS
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Suzan Mazur: The Sotheby's Euphronios Tape
- In the 1970s oil boom years, before Mu-ammar al-Gaddafi nationalized Bunker Hunt's oilfield and the silver market
collapsed, he and brother Herbert amassed a quarter-ton of ancient coins and some astonishing pieces of ancient art.
These were put up for sale in New York on June 19, 1990 to appease the Internal Revenue Service and the Hunts' various
creditors, and raised more than $20 million. The Hunts bargained for a 60% commission over the benchmark figure on total
sales. I had arranged for a private preview of the auction pieces with Sotheby's experts two weeks earlier, June 4, as
part of my coverage for an article for The Economist magazine. Following are excerpts from my taped interview of that
preview. See... Mazur: Sotheby's Pre-Auction Euphronios Transcript [1]
Russell Brown On Coddington's Reaquaintance With The Blogosphere
- Deborah Coddington claims to have discovered the blogosphere last week, and she was shocked. Shocked. "Planet blogger
is a sad, pathetic sphere," she lamented in her newspaper column. She's not entirely wrong, especially as regards the
character of argument in many blog comments forums. But Coddington is hardly the blog virgin (still less the delicate
little flower) she claims to be in her column. There See... Public Address 16/01/06 - Second-Time Blog Virgin [1] & Public Address 13/01/06 - A Little Respect [2]
Jason Leopold: Illegal NSA Spying Began Earlier Than Thought
- The National Security Agency advised President Bush in early 2001 that it had been eavesdropping on Americans during
the course of its work monitoring suspected terrorists and foreigners believed to have ties to terrorist groups,
according to a declassified document. The NSA's vast data-mining activities began shortly after Bush was sworn in as
president and the document contradicts his assertion that the 9/11 attacks prompted him to take the unprecedented step
of signing a secret executive order authorizing the NSA to monitor a select number of American citizens thought to have
ties to terrorist groups. See... Bush Authorized Domestic Spying Before 9/11 [1] . FOR MUCH MUCH MORE… Full Coverage: The NSA Domestic Spying Scandal [2]
Karl Ferguson Likes The Lines Of Peugeot's 206 GTI
- Is the 206 GTI the best looking hot hatch of all time? In brilliant cherry red, and despite being more than a little
long in the tooth, the little Peugeot looks stunning. Colour coded body mouldings, neat rear spoiler, front fog lights,
17” alloys and chrome exhausts all add to the picture of a sensational looking small car. See... MOTORNET: Peugeot Twins Turn On The Charm [1]
MORE SCOOP COMMENTARY:
Martin LeFevre - Meditations: We Are Not At War [1] Warren Throckmorton - Does Abortion Impact the Mental Health of Women? [2] John Roughan - Learning from the locals! [3] M. Shahid Alam - Real Men Go To Tehran [4]
ISRAEL & PALESTINE: Remi Kanazi - Remi Kanazi: The Next Path for Israel/Palestine [5] Uri Avnery - With Friends Like These… [6]
UNITED STATES: Doug Giebel - The Book Of Bush Bashlaw [7] William Fisher - William Fisher: Bush's New Multilateralism [8] Ray McGovern - Men Intoxicated with Power & Servile Courtiers [9] Sam Smith - Why You Want To Talk With Terrorists [10] Narconews - DEA Says It Will Investigate Agents in Colombia [11] Daniel Patrick Welch- Pants on Fire [12] Morton Mintz - Undernews: The Questions No One Has Asked Of Alito [13] Kelpie Wilson - Republican Gold-Diggers Hit Wall [14] David Swanson - War Lies And Journalistic Constipation [15]
NEPAL: Kamala Sarup - The Phases Of Woman [16] & Threats and Democracy [17] Siddhi B. Ranjitkar - Nepal's China-Card [18] Narayan Prasad Mishra - Democracy, Election And Politics Of Boycott [19] Surendra R Devkota - Guest Opinion: Ruling by hypotheses in Nepal [20]
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OTHER NEWS (JUST POLITICS)
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NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Energised By Iran's Nuclear Ambitions
- Foreign Minister Winston Peters reiterated his strong concern that Iran had started to remove International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) seals on uranium enrichment equipment and material at Natanz and other facilities and had said it
intended to undertake research and development related to uranium enrichment. "This move goes against IAEA Board
resolutions urging Iran to re-establish its voluntary suspension of uranium enrichment related activities. See... NZ Concerned About Iran's nuclear programme [1]
Legal Issues: Slightly Dodgy Drivers Get Caught In Unflinching Transport Purge -
The cases of bus and taxi drivers losing their licenses for long-past minor sexual offences is exactly what the Green
Party warned would happen when the new land transport law was being debated last year, Associate Transport Spokesperson
Keith Locke says. See... Greens warned of problem with licenses [1] ALSO: United Future - Driver sex cases breach Bill of Rights Act [2]
Whaling: Paul Buchanan on NZ and the Whalers
- The New Zealand response is problematic for several reasons. Like it or not, this increasingly violent dispute is a
political issue foremost, and governments are already involved. Not only is the scientific whaling project funded in
part by the Japanese government, and the New Zealand government wholly opposed to it. See... The Geopolitical Implications Of The Southern Ocean Whaling Conflict [1] ALSO:NZ Govt - NZ Not Sending Frigate To Watch Whaling Stoush [2] NZ Govt - NZ reiterates deep concern about whaling [3] Greens - Letter of the law could save the whales [4] Green Party - More excuses from Government on whales [5] Maritime Union - Union members will refuse to work Japanese Ships [6] Sea Shepherd - Sea Shepherd Intends to Ram, Disable Pirate Whalers [7] Sea Shepherd - Sea Shepherd Sideswipes Japanese Whaling Supply Ship [8] Greenpeace - Japanese Whalers ram Greenpeace ship [9] Jon Sumby - Japan misleads public about anti-whaling actions [10]
Prison Muster Crisis Now Less Huge
- The Corrections Department has reached agreement with prison officer unions to increase capacity at most prisons
through additional emergency beds, Mr O'Connor said. The agreement means 180 additional prison beds are available
immediately with a further 90-100 beds able to be accessed by the end of February. This will result in fewer prisoners
having to be held in police and court cells. See... Significant progress on managing prison muster [1] ALSO:National - More needed to fix Corrections crisis [2]
Politics: Brownlee Wants Green Staff To Have A Long Holiday -
National Party Deputy Leader Gerry Brownlee says the taxpayer-funded Ministerial advisors to the Greens should be stood
down while the Auditor- General investigates whether their appointments are legal. The Auditor-General has confirmed an
investigation into the legality of attaching two Ministerial advisors to the Greens. The funding comes from the same
pool used by legitimate Ministers of the Crown. See... Staff for Greens should be stood down [1]
ENDS