http://www.worldvision.co.nz/middle_east_crisis.asp
TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS:
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:
Scoop Audio: Cullen & Dunne Presser On Business Tax
NRT: What Legislation Will NZ First Treaty Bill Undermine?
Politics/Media: Media Ignores Lebanon Crisis And Eats Itself -
Entertainment: Shards Of Occupied Iraq At Film Festival -
Trade: Doha Round Collapses - NZ Reaction
Arts: Gee Wins Best Fiction at Book Awards
MORE HEADLINES:
RECOMMENDED AUDIO:
LEBANON WAR:
Dahr Jamail Reports From Beirut & Baghdad
BREAKING NEWS LINKS:
COMMENT DIGESTS:
Am Johal Reports From South Of The Blue Line
Open Letter: Chomsky, Pinter, Zinn, Vidal, Klein, Ali on Israel and Palestine
Henri Bou Saab in Beirut Reports On His War
SCOOP COLUMNS:
The Inconvenient Truth about An Inconvenient Truth
Toni Solo On Symptoms Of Imperial Decay
David Dill, Doug Jones & Barbara Simons On Diebold
Daily Mail Continues Its Assault On Dr Kelly Suicide Story
The Battle For Connecticut - Let Joe Go
MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:
OTHER NEWS (Just Politics):
New Zealand Govt. Backs UN Call For Ceasefire In Middle East
Education: Maharey Hunts For (Currently) Hard To Access English Speech -
Telecom Leaks: No Rules Broken, Could Do Better
Foreign Affairs: Mr Peters Goes To Washington -
MORE POLITICAL HEADLINES:
TO CHANGE MY SCOOP OPTIONS OR UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS LIST
IF YOU HAVE LOST YOUR PASSWORD
-----------
TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
------------
[1] - A high-ranking IAF officer caused a storm on Monday in an off-record briefing during which he told reporters that IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz had ordered the military to destroy 10 buildings in Beirut in retaliation to every Katyusha rocket strike on Haifa. The officer said that the equation was created by Halutz and that every rocket strike on Haifa would be answered by IAF missile strikes on 10 12-story buildings in the Beirut neighborhood of Dahiya, a Hizbullah stronghold. See... 10 Beirut Buildings Bombed For Each Haifa Missile [2] See also... 150 Terrorists Liquidated Since Soldier Kidnapping [3] See also Scoop Full Coverage Of The War In Lebanon:Lebanon War: NZ Political Reaction [4] Lebanon War: Scoop Comment & Opinion [5] Lebanon War: Breaking News [6] Lebanon War: First Source Reports [7]
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:
Questions for Oral Answer - Wednesday, 26 July 2006 [1] Questions And Answers - Tuesday, 25 July 2006 [2]
Scoop Audio: Cullen & Dunne Presser On Business Tax
- Yesterday afternoon Finance Minister Michael Cullen told the media that while a Labour Government will not cut
existing spending or programs to pay for corporate tax cuts other projects may have to be deferred to compensate for the
revenue that will be lost. See... Business Tax Cuts Will Lead To Spending Shortfalls [1] & Business Tax Review Discussion Document released [2] REACTION: NZ First - Tax Policy Paper Good For Business [3] KPMG - Tax Review: Who wants to be Minister of Finance? [4] Business NZ - Business Tax Review - timid proposals [5] Employers and Manufacturers - Tax review should count growth, but is about cost [6] NZCTU - Credits for Investment Beats Tax Cut for Co's [7] Business Roundtable - Business Tax Review Not Coherent Or Bold [8] Institute of Chartered Accountants - Business tax review has retro air [9]
NRT: What Legislation Will NZ First Treaty Bill Undermine?
When Labour chose to rely on New Zealand First for confidence and supply, it knew it would have to swallow some dead
rats. One of those rats is on the menu tomorrow, in the form of Doug Woolerton's Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi
Deletion Bill - and Labour's Maori MPs are already gagging. And who can blame them? The bill is an attack on Maori.
See...No Right Turn: Not Just About Treaty Clauses [1]
Politics/Media: Media Ignores Lebanon Crisis And Eats Itself -
After the PM explained to the press gallery that New Zealand was supporting the Secretary General to bring about an
immediate ceasefire to the conflict in the Middle East Newstalk ZB's Barry Soper decided it was essential that he ask
question after question about a spat between himself and Foreign Minister Winston Peters. See... Round Two: Peters Versus Soper 'n' TVNZ [1] ALSO: NZ Govt - Peters on Washington trip [2] NZ Govt - Peters to Malaysia for ASEAN meetings [3]
Entertainment: Shards Of Occupied Iraq At Film Festival -
James Longley's beautifully crafted, poetic documentary frames war-torn Iraq through the daily experience of three
different male clans: a Sunni master and apprentice, a young Shiite commander and his men, and a Kurdish farmer and son.
Without making any explicit claim to do so, the movie quietly probes the religious, ethnic and political fissures
exacerbated by the occupation. See... Film Festival - Iraq in Fragments [1]
Trade: Doha Round Collapses - NZ Reaction
- - Trade Minister, Phil Goff expressed disappointment and deep regret at the failure of the G6 countries to resolve
the differences between them to allow the WTO Doha Round to move forward. "I share Pascal Lamy's view that with the
suspension of the WTO talks the whole world loses. See... WTO Talks Break Down [1] ALSO:EMA Northern - Silver lining to WTO talks impasse [2] Wellington Chamber of Commerce - Concern About Breakdown In WTO Negotiations [3] Seafood Industry Council - Seafood Industry Disappointed at WTO Breakdown [4] Federated Farmers - Farmers Disappointed At Doha Breakdown [5] Oxfam - Suspending WTO talks resolves nothing [6] Arena - Collapse fo Doha Round Cause for Celebration [7] DCANZ - Industry Deeply Disappointed by Doha Suspension [8] Fonterra - Doha Round Suspension a Great Pity [9] Tasman Transparency Group - Multilateral Trade Reform: the Way Forward [10] Meat And Wool NZ - 'Don't give up on Doha' [11] WORLD:WTO - Talks suspended. 'Today there are only losers.' [12] Oxfam - US Farmers on W Africa Trip: 'US Policy Shameful' [13] European Commission - Mandelson on Suspension of Doha [14] ICTFU - WTO: Collapse inevitable result of blindness [15]
Arts: Gee Wins Best Fiction at Book Awards
- Maurice Gee's winning novel described as a narrative tour de force Maurice Gee's novel, Blindsight has won the Deutz
Medal for Fiction or Poetry in the Montana New Zealand Book Awards 2006. The judges - Lawrence Jones, convenor, Linda
Burgess and Bob Ross - described Gee's novel as a narrative tour de force, with a strong ending that makes the reader
reinterpret everything that has gone before. "It is," they agreed, "a worthy addition to the oeuvre of this country's
greatest living novelist." See... Gee's novel a 'narrative tour de force' [1] ALSO:NZ Govt - Laban congratulates award-winning poet Karlo Mila [2]
MORE HEADLINES:
Tip Site Search for Severed Hands [1] Fresh Faces for the Solomons [2] Hodgson's Medical Council veto a blow to democracy [3] Record Dairy Season Boosts Exports [4] New Art Gallery director appointed [5]
RECOMMENDED AUDIO:
Scoop Audio: Round Two: Peters Versus Soper 'n' TVNZ. [1] If the Prime Minister had announced at her post cabinet press-conference the imminent dissolution of her government it seems likely senior reporters from Newstalk ZB and TVNZ would still have decided to harangue her over a spat they were involved in with Foreign Minister Winston Peters, last week, in Washington DC.
Scoop Audio: PM Pleads For Peace In Mid-East And Close To Home. [2] After being questioned for some minutes by Newstalk ZB's Barry Soper regarding a spat Mr Soper was involved in with New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters the Prime Minister suggested that relations between some members of the press gallery and Mr Peters should be repaired in a manner befitting "mature adults".
-----------
LEBANON WAR
------------
New Zealand Govt. Backs UN Call For Ceasefire In Middle East
- Prime Minister Helen Clark said today that New Zealand was strongly supporting the efforts of the UN Secretary
General to bring about an immediate ceasefire to the conflict in the Middle East and to negotiate and implement a
solution to the crisis. See... NZ backs efforts for Middle East ceasefire [1] And ...PM Pleads For Peace In Mid-East And Close To Home [2] ALSO:Progressive Party - Protecting Civilians, Progressing Justice [3] PHRC Welcomes PM's Statement On ME Conflict [4] Green - Government must support Lebanon ceasefire now [5]
Dahr Jamail Reports From Beirut & Baghdad
-
Hundreds of Lebanese refugees languish in a city park in downtown Beirut. Fleeing southern Lebanon, as well as south Beirut, thousands have already made their way through this camp as they are farmed out to schools, abandoned buildings and anyone ... See... Dahr Jamail: "Aren't People Seeing All of This?" [1] ---/--- "Habibi, to live in Baghdad now is to live in a big prison," he told me recently, "You stay in your home, and that's it. You only go out when you must. So many are being killed daily, and you only hope that your day to die is not today." See... Jamail: Lebanon Bleeds, Iraq Burns, People Flee [2]
BREAKING NEWS LINKS:
Tyre, Lebanon - Dirty bandages hid the worst of 8-year-old Zainab Jawad's swollen, bloodied nose Monday. Her arm, fractured in two
places, was strapped to her chest. See... Israel Drops White Phosphorus Bombs On Children [1] New York - The United Nations Security Council today discussed the future of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) as the
force reported further heavy exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) close to its positions
in the south of the country. See... Council Debates UN Force in South Lebanon [2] ALSO:United Nations - Disproportionate Force Used in Gaza, Says Official [3] United Nations - UN Food Agency Supplies Are Distributed in Lebanon [4] Washington - A delegation from Saudi Arabia asked President Bush on Sunday to push for a cease-fire in the conflict between Israel
and the terrorist group Hezbollah - something the United States has refused to do. See... Saudis Urge Bush to Push for Cease-Fire in the ME [5] Rome - With violence continuing to tear through Lebanon for a twelfth day, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan
leaves for Rome today for an international meeting aimed at resolving the crisis, expressing hope that concrete measures
will emerge from discussions there. See... Annan Heads to Rome in Search of Lebanon Measures [6] ALSO:United Nations - Lebanon: UN Launches $149 Million Appeal [7] United Nations - Term of Head of Hariri Probe Extended [8] United Nations - S Lebanon Force in Heavy Fire, Actions Impossible [9]
Am Johal Reports From South Of The Blue Line
- Jerusalem/Ramallah - I am contemplating what is now known as the Haifa Suitcase Dilemma. I left it in an apartment
and left with only a backpack last Sunday when the rockets started to land. See... Am Johal 100 Hours in the Holy Land [1] . As US Secretary of State Condolleeza Rice arrived in Israel to talk about the possibility of a ceasefire,
Jerusalem protesters were pushed and shoved away from sight and in to the middle of the street near the Citadel Hotel on
King David Street on Monday night. See... Security Forces Arrest Jerusalem Peace Activists [2]
Open Letter: Chomsky, Pinter, Zinn, Vidal, Klein, Ali on Israel and Palestine
- The latest chapter of the conflict between Israel and Palestine began when Israeli forces abducted two civilians, a
doctor and his brother, from Gaza. An incident scarcely reported anywhere, except in the Turkish press. The following
day the Palestinians took an Israeli soldier prisoner - and proposed a negotiated exchange against prisoners taken by
the Israelis - there are approximately 10,000 in Israeli jails. See... Chomsky, Pinter, Zinn, Vidal et al on Israel [1] Cindy Sheehan - Cindy Sheehan: Helplessly Hoping [2] Bernard Weiner - From Bombs in Beirut to the Ballot Box in November [3] William Rivers Pitt - William Rivers Pitt: The Pin in the Grenade [4] Martin LeFevre - Apocalypse Means "The Uncovering of Hell" [5] Scoop Feedback - Letter From Pinter, Saramago, Chomsky and Berger [6] Ramzy Baroud - More To Lebanon War Than Meets The Eye [7] Sam Smith - Undernews Extracts - Lebanon War [8] Kamala Sarup - Peace in Lebanon Immediately [9]
Henri Bou Saab in Beirut Reports On His War
- It is now the middle of summer in my village in Mount Lebanon, Dhour el-Choueir. It is beautiful here, high up above
the Sea, the heavy heat of Beirut on the coast cannot reach us It is Friday afternoon. Normally I would be down in that
heat at my business, trying to find some customers to buy the beautiful Brazilian bathroom accessories that I sell. But
not today. Not yesterday, either. See... Christian town opens arms to Moslem refugees [1] MORE LATEST COMMENT & OPINION:Xymphora - Blogwatch: Reassessing The Hariri Assassination [2] Mike Whitney - Wild Dogs Are Devouring The Victims Of Israel [3] Michel Chossudovsky - Israeli Crimes Against Humanity? [4] Tel Aviv Notes - Syria's Role In The Israel-Hizbullah Confrontation [5] Democracy Now - Nader IV: US Responsible For Israeli War Crimes [6] Michael Hammerschlag - Why They Hate Us [7] Sonia Nettnin- All Are Equal, Middle East Included [8]
-----------
SCOOP COLUMNS
------------
The Inconvenient Truth about An Inconvenient Truth
- Sorry Al and Laurie. The perhaps inconvenient truth is that An Inconvenient Truth is perhaps convenient and not the
truth. Science suggests the movie not based on science and it does not reflect reality. It’s a trace out of focus.
Here’s why: See... The Inconvenient Truth about An Inconvenient Truth [1]
Toni Solo On Symptoms Of Imperial Decay
- If people needed reminding that North American and European foreign policy, including policy on aid and trade, is
based on sadism and hypocrisy, events in Palestine and Lebanon will surely have done so. While people inside the
imperial Bluebeard's Castle come to terms with the narcissistic cynicism of leaders like Tony Blair and George Bush,
outside the Castle other people are determined to realise the potential of themselves and their families and rescue as
best they can the settlement embodied in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights so contemptuously trashed by the
imperial leaders. See... Toni Solo: Varieties Of Imperial Decline [1]
David Dill, Doug Jones & Barbara Simons On Diebold
- Most computer scientists have long viewed Diebold as the poster child for all that is wrong with touch screen voting
machines. But we never imagined that Diebold would be as irresponsible and incompetent as they have turned out to be.
See... The Diebold Bombshell [1] RELATED: Michael Collins - Lehto To head Busby-Bilbray Recount Effort in CA [2]
Daily Mail Continues Its Assault On Dr Kelly Suicide Story
- Everyone knows, don't they, that most untoward events generally have banal explanations such as muddle, incompetence
or sheer blind chance. To believe otherwise is to run the risk of being branded a 'conspiracy theorist', a small step
away from being lumped together with the kind of people who think that crop circles are designed by visitors from Mars
or that Princess Diana was murdered by MI6. See... Will We Ever Be Told The Truth About Dr Kelly? [1] MORE:Scoop Link - "I Believe David Kelly Did Not Commit Suicide" [2]
The Battle For Connecticut - Let Joe Go
- Here we go again - There is a grass-roots movement picking up steam in the nutmeg state, but the old guard is rushing
in to maintain the status quo. Bill Clinton is rushing to Connecticut to save Joseph Lieberman for the party insiders
who don't want to lose their power in the party. We saw the same thing when Howard Dean energized the grass roots in
2004. Clinton and others rallied to John Kerry to make sure that a nominee would emerge that would answer to the party's
moneyed interests.See... Scott Galindez: Hands Off Connecticut [1]
MORE SCOOP COMMENT & OPINION:
Russell Brown & Ors. - Public Address 26/07/06 - Reasons To Be Cheerful [1] & Public Address 25/07/06 - So That's It, Then? [2] Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed - UK Government Sources Confirm War With Iran Is On [3] Between The Lines - Congress Consensus to Uphold Geneva Conventions [4] Guest Opinion - Downsizing Nepal Army Challenges National Security [5] Kamala Sarup - Tourism Must Be Addressed To Reduce Poverty [6] Evelyn Pringle - Boston Scientific Won Guident - What A Prize [7] Sanjay Upadhya - Nepal: New Portrait Of Chinese Pragmatism? [8] David Swanson - David Swanson: Impeachment - Why and How [9]
-----------
OTHER NEWS (JUST POLITICS)
------------
Education: Maharey Hunts For (Currently) Hard To Access English Speech -
Education Minister Steve Maharey today asked Bill English to release the full speech he gave to the National Party
conference, in which he signalled the rolling back of mainstreaming for students with special needs. "It is vital that
Mr English clarifies for teachers and parents, National's position on mainstreaming," Steve Maharey said. "This would
remove any doubt that children with a disability would have full access to a range of education opportunities under a
National government. See... Where's the speech Mr English? [1]
Telecom Leaks: No Rules Broken, Could Do Better
- The Securities Commission has released a report of its inquiry into effects on the securities markets of statements
made in May 2006 concerning telecommunications. The inquiry considered the conduct and circumstances surrounding the
release of the Government's Telecommunications Stocktake Paper on 3 May 2006 (the Stocktake Paper), and comments
reportedly made during a media interview on 15 May 2006 by Communications Minister, Mr David Cunliffe, regarding
Telecom's dividend policy. See... Effects of T'comms Statements on Securities Mkt [1]
Foreign Affairs: Mr Peters Goes To Washington -
The bilateral relationship and a wide range of pressing international issues were discussed when Foreign Minister
Winston Peters met United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington this afternoon. "Clearly events in
the Middle East were uppermost in the Secretary's mind, but we also talked at some length about our bilateral
relationship," Mr Peters said. "I took the opportunity to underline to the Secretary my personal commitment to doing
everything I can to strengthen links with the US." See... Minister holds forward-looking discussions with Rice [1] ALSO:NZ Govt - Productive trip to Washington for Peters [2] NZ Govt - McCain meeting wonderful, NZ media disgraceful [3] National - Winston Peters is not up to Foreign Affairs role [4] NZ Govt - Peters, Downer to meet in Adelaide [5]
MORE POLITICAL HEADLINES:
NZ Govt - Ryall should check the facts [1] NZ Govt - WTO Talks Break Down [2] NZ Govt - More steps to improve leaky homes service [3] National - Ratepayers carry cost of Government buck-passing [4] National - Field: Labour turns blind eye to own labour laws [5] National - Too little too late for leaky-home owners [6] National - Minister allows DHB to cut electives [7] National - Patients face unacceptable waits [8] National - Immigration Minister ducks bullets on Field [9] NZ First - Inquiry Wanted Into Local Body Charges [10] NZ First - Right As Rain? [11] NZ First - Tax Policy Paper Good for Business [12] Green Party - Green Party launches new business publication [13] Maori Party - Toeing the line again! Aue taukuri e! [14] Maori Party - Harawira: Estimates Debate - Social Services [15] ACT - Swap Red Tape For Green Ribbons [16]
ENDS