Scoop: Top Scoops + Just Politics

Sunday, 30 April 2006, 4:06 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS:
Foreign Correspondent: The Ruins of Honiara's Chinatown
Conservation: No Tern, Tern, Terns – Birds Under Threat From Housing
Health: Big Tobacco Gets An Earful From Shane Bradbrook
Scoop Power Report: Hydro Storage Looking Healthier
MORE HEADLINES:
Electricity: Commission Draft Says No To Transpower Upgrade
Transport: Parking Space Tea-Party Takes Place In Sodden Wellington
Chernobyl: A Kiwi Recalls Visiting The Cursed Earth Of The Ukraine
Education: Yet fewer people receiving student allowances
Australia: West Papuans Sue Howard To Expose Jakarta Lobby
Iraq:Rice & Rumsfeld Go To Baghdad
MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:

SCOOP COLUMNS:
Media: Sonia Nettnin Covers The Chicago Palestine Film Festival
Iran: John Stanton Considers The Implications Of War With Iran
Peak Oil: Kelpie Wilson On The End Of Cheap Oil
MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:

OTHER NEWS (Just Politics):
Legal Issues: David Parker Will Not Be Prosecuted – Companies Office
Disasters: A Dog Called Stan Seeks To Keep Young'uns Safe -
Foreign Affairs: Armitage, Shriver call for US to stop sulking of defense and trade
MORE POLITICAL HEADLINES:
POLITICAL COLUMNS

Foreign Correspondent: The Ruins of Honiara's Chinatown

[1] Scoop reporter Yasmine Ryan skipped Parliament and visited the ruins of Honiara's Chinatown - The extent of the destruction was astounding and incredibly thorough. A toxic smell was thick in the air. Chinatown was certainly not deserted, however. The street was full of people scavenging for anything they could find. From the very young to the very old they were there, armed with plastic bags to collect their treasures. One shell of a building that proved particularly popular must have been a convenience store. We ventured ‘inside’. See... Solomon Islands: Aftermath [2] And Photo Essay: Welcome To China Town, Honiara [3] Earlier:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00353.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00353.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00354.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00329.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00330.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00304.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00418.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00296.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00334.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00333.htm

Conservation: No Tern, Tern, Terns – Birds Under Threat From Housing -

New Zealand fairy terns may be the most critically endangered bird in New Zealand, and perhaps even the world’s rarest tern, new DNA evidence suggests. Research by Auckland University that suggests New Zealand fairy terns have unique DNA characteristics heightens concerns that a proposed subdivision of up to 2000 houses near Mangawhai Heads poses a serious threat to the terns’survival. See... Coastal development threatens rare birds [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00229.htm

Health: Big Tobacco Gets An Earful From Shane Bradbrook

- My name is irrelevant but my culture is not! I am Maori, a native New Zealander. I am here to represent Maori in the matter of Philip Morris International using our culture to sell tobacco products. In 2005, it came to our organisations attention that PMI was selling a product in Israel called Maori Mix under the L & M brand. Let me tell you, this product called 'Maori Mix' was an absolute affront to my people! See... Statement to Altria Group From Shane Bradbrook [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0604/S00093.htm

Scoop Power Report: Hydro Storage Looking Healthier

- Recent rainfall in the South Island breaking the drought on the Taieri Plains and bringing flooding to Oamaru has had a clear upside for the rest of the country. Over the past five days the rain has also seen the Southern hydro lakes rapidly filling up. Since April 16 the level of storage in the hydro system has increased from 71% of average for this time of year, to 84% of the average (59% of the maximum). See... Risk Of 2006 Winter Power Crisis "Nearly" Over [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00347.htm

MORE HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00401.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED0604/S00088.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00225.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00223.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0604/S00440.htm

Electricity: Commission Draft Says No To Transpower Upgrade

- Today the Electricity Commission has issued a draft decision to turn down Transpower’s proposal to build a new 400 kilovolt (kV) line between Whakamaru and Auckland. The Commission will make its final decision on the proposal in July. Commission chair, Roy Hemmingway said, “Based on a wide range of advice and the analysis undertaken to date, there are alternatives that provide the same level of electricity security but are less expensive than the proposed 400kV line. Therefore, at this stage the Commission cannot approve the proposal.” See... EC's Draft Decision On Transpower Application [1] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0604/S00416.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0604/S00419.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00390.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00387.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0604/S00412.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00390.htm

Transport: Parking Space Tea-Party Takes Place In Sodden Wellington -

Eight young people from around New Zealand set up a meeting area on Molesworth street, directly across from Parliament and the Beehive, as part of a workshop on sustainable transport and cities. Despite the drizzle, they set up chairs, pot plants and a coat hangers in a parking space and held a meeting to talk about cities, transport and people. See…Students Take Back The Streets [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0604/S00043.htm

Chernobyl: A Kiwi Recalls Visiting The Cursed Earth Of The Ukraine -

Seeing is believing. Just as seeing the Mona Lisa or the Pyramids makes them more real, getting close-up and personal made Chernobyl more real to me. Exactly a decade since my visit – and 20 years since the accident – memories of the time I spent at the site of the world’s worst ecological, engineering and economic catastrophe still linger. See…Keith Lyons: Chernobyl - A Thinly Wrapped Monster [1] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00303.htm
[2] - http://nzhpremiumcontent.blogspot.com/2006/04/john-roughan-chernobyl-was-not-that.html
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00433.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00343.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00380.htm

Education: Yet fewer people receiving student allowances

- Information released by the Ministry of Education to the New Zealand University Students’ Association (NZUSA) under the Official Information Act highlights the decline in the number of students who receive a student allowance on a campus by campus level. See... Allowances going down, campus by campus [1] ALSO:Otago Polytechnic Student's Association - Otago Polytechnic Hit Worse [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED0604/S00085.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED0604/S00090.htm

Australia: West Papuans Sue Howard To Expose Jakarta Lobby

- West Papua solidarity groups today welcomed law firm Mallesons Stephen Jacques’s legal action against the Howard Government and claim the proceedings will highlight undue and unlawful interference with domestic immigration policy. Spokesperson from the Free West Papua Campaign, Nick Chesterfield, claims the Howard Government has overlooked concerns about human rights, in pursuit of economic and ideological interests. See... West Papua Legal Action to Expose Jakarta Lobby [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00455.htm

Iraq: Rice & Rumsfeld Go To Baghdad

- QUESTION: (Translated from Arabic.) This is the first joint visit of your two personages to Iraq. Do you think that your ministries can improve their support for a free press, or have they done enough in the past, to help safeguard the media, which has come under attack by the terrorists, especially the Iraqi national media? See… Rice & Rumsfeld Roundtable With Iraq Reporters [1] MORE:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00446.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00443.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00442.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00438.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00436.htm

MORE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00454.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00451.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00448.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00447.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00445.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00434.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0604/S00441.htm

Media: Sonia Nettnin Covers The Chicago Palestine Film Festival

- After five years I have decided to write some of the reasons why the Chicago Palestine Film Festival is one of Chicago’s cinematic treasures. See... Sonia Nettnin: A Gem of a Film Festival [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00366.htm

Iran: John Stanton Considers The Implications Of War With Iran

- Just when it seemed unlikely that domestic and international events would unfold to test an already incompetent US government, along comes the acceleration of the movement to destroy Iran. See... Strike Iran, Watch Pakistan and Turkey Fall [1] RELATED:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00364.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00344.htm

Peak Oil: Kelpie Wilson On The End Of Cheap Oil

- Gas prices are on the rise again and news analysts are kicking it around, wondering who is being ripped off this time. But geologists, scientists and even some economists suspect that unlike other gas shortages, this one is the real thing, or at least the beginning of the real thing: production has peaked and the era of cheap oil is about to end. See..Kelpie Wilson: Stop the Fossil Foolishness [1] RELATED:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00351.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00331.htm

MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00367.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00345.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00340.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00336.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00346.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00365.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00363.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00362.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00361.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00360.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00359.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00358.htm
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00357.htm
[14] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00350.htm
[15] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00349.htm
[16] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00348.htm
[17] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00343.htm
[18] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00342.htm
[19] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00341.htm
[20] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00339.htm
[21] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00338.htm
[22] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00337.htm
[23] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00335.htm

Legal Issues: David Parker Will Not Be Prosecuted – Companies Office

- The Registrar of Companies has announced today that he has accepted the advice of the Auckland Office of the Crown Solicitor, Meredith Connell, that no prosecution action be taken against Mr David Parker MP, or any other director associated with Queens Park Mews Limited. The decision follows an investigation by the Companies Office arising from allegations of false or misleading documents having been filed with the Companies Office. See… : Result of Investigation Into Matters Concerning Queens Park Mews Limited and David Parker MP [1] and Press Release & Report In PDF Format [2] ALSO:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00206.htm
[2] - http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/0604/Queens_Park_Mews_Ltd_media_release.pdf
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00327.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00379.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00380.htm

Disasters: A Dog Called Stan Seeks To Keep Young'uns Safe -

A major new classroom initiative to help kids survive a disaster fronted by a cartoon dog called Stan, has been launched by Civil Defence Minister Rick Barker. ‘What’s the Plan, Stan?’ is a curriculum based teaching resource for schools that uses role-playing, quizzes, an inter-active CDROM, stories and colourful cartoons. See... What's the plan Minister? [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00392.htm

Foreign Affairs: Armitage, Shriver call for US to stop sulking of defense and trade

- Defence and Trade Minister Phil Goff has warmly welcomed the support of two former senior United States officials for closer cooperation in defence with New Zealand, and their call for a Free Trade Agreement. See... Goff welcomes call for US to build closer relations [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00377.htm

MORE POLITICAL HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00386.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00398.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00397.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00391.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00390.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00389.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00372.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00370.htm
[9] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00385.htm
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00384.htm
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00383.htm
[12] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00381.htm
[13] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00369.htm
[14] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00368.htm
[15] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00373.htm
[16] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00396.htm
[17] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00394.htm
[18] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00395.htm
[19] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00387.htm
[20] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00393.htm
[21] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00388.htm
[22] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00400.htm
[23] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00371.htm

POLITICAL COLUMNS

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00404.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00402.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0604/S00264.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0604/S00374.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.

Contact Alastair Thompson

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