Today's Top Scoop Stories - News Summary

Yasmine Ryan's Letter From Lebanon: In the bombed-out suburb of Haret Hreik the Attieh family is returning to its home in spite of continuing safety concerns. Hassan Attieh, his wife Hoda Yassine Attieh and their five children evacuated the area during the summer 2006 war. They left shortly after Israeli aircraft bombed the Al-Manar television headquarters located one block from their apartment. The family has stayed elsewhere since the war, waiting for a safety check that government officials assured them would be conducted. The promise has remained unfulfilled. See... Lebanon: Injured, Displaced Can’t Depend on State [1]

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- Justice Minister Mark Burton has given his clearest hint yet that the Government may be ready to back down on state funding of election campaigns. State funding has been proposed as part of a Government package to reform election campaign laws. Greens Co-Leader Russell Norman confirmed Saturday on the TVOne programme “Agenda” that one of the proposals the Government had talked to his party about was paying two dollars for every vote parties gained at an election. See... Agenda Snippets – Saturday 14 April 2007 [1]

Computer programmers often leave 'Easter Eggs' in software - special features or surprises that can be revealed by some secret combination of events. Some early Unix systems, for example, responded to the command "make love" with "not war?". More recently, the 1997 version of Excel contained a flight simulator. And then there's the 'Exploding Lara Croft' trick. In honour of the recent holy season, I present the list of little-know local easter eggs. See... Lyndon Hood: Real Life Easter Eggs [1]

Today the media reported that the Timaru mother acquitted, under Section 59, of using a riding crop on her son is back in court. “The reported evidence of serious assault on a teenager by a mother and step-father must cause all those who see no relationship between section 59 and child abuse to pause and reflect,” said Murray Edridge, Chief Executive of Barnardos New Zealand. See... Who said changing s59 won’t reduce child abuse? [1] ALSO:Public Address - Hard News: A Depressing Day In Court [2] Scoop Link - YouTube: The Timaru Lady speaks out - herself [3] Scoop Full Coverage - Section 59 Bill [4]

- Scoop Audio / Text / Images: The Premier of Niue has invited all Niueans living in Auckland, Wellington and Sydney to consider returning home. He encouraged them to do so, before family land they abandoned over the past 30 years is lost to them. The call came this morning during an official welcome to the Governor-General of New Zealand and Niue, Anand Satyanand, who is currently visiting Niue. See... Niue Premier Calls Expats To Return Home [1]

KiwiFM Audio: [1] Scoop's Selwyn Manning & KiwiFM's Wallace Chapman discuss how Niue and New Zealand want the 20,000+ Ex-Pat Niueans to reconnect with their island and its 1600 people. What's it like on Niue, and can people visit as tourists? Yes!

Kiwi FM Audio (click here to listen): [2] Wammo and Selwyn Manning talk Niue issues before Selwyn heads off there with New Zealand's Governor-General and two Members of Parliament.

New Zealanders in London when the Rainbow Warrior was sunk may know something of what Ahmed Zaoui felt after the bombings in Algiers this week, that left over 30 people dead. Suddenly, the television screen carries images of home, but in a truly unsettling light. See... Zaoui on the Algiers bombings [1]

- National Party Deputy Leader Bill English says Labour should stop the "shadow boxing" and put its secret plans for election spending reform on the table. "For more than a week now, Labour has been shuffling its feet on what may or may not be in the bill which it says will be tabled in Parliament by June. If Labour is confident its proposals are 'fair and transparent' then it's time for them to come clean with the public. See... Secrecy on election laws anti-democratic [1] ALSO:NZ Govt - Reforming third party advertising vital [2] ACT New Zealand - Heather Roy's Diary: No donations please, we're Labour [3] National - www.mccully.co.nz 13 April 2007 [4]

TVNZ's decision to make nearly sixty news and current affairs staff redundant is a short-sighted move that poses a major threat to New Zealand journalism, say the unions that represent journalists. The proposal includes the total closure of the news reference library, the closure of Wellington's 'Sunday' office and a serious reduction of camera operators in Wellington and Auckland, and smaller cuts across almost every other news and current affairs division. See... TVNZ proposes to gut NZ journalism [1] ALSO:National - Groundhog day for staff at TVNZ [2] CTU - CTU Backs Workers' Stand In Favour Of Quality [3] EPMU - EPMU condemns APN outsourcing [4]

Thomas Yadegary the Iranian chef who cooked for Bill Clinton and who the government locked up indefinitely awaiting his signature on papers that would see him deported back to Iran, has been released from prison. Mr Yadegary appeared in the Auckland High Court Thursday morning and was later released... (Image: Thomas Yadegary in happier days cooking for former US president Bill Clinton.) See... Scoop News: Thomas Yadegary Released From Prison [1] ALSO: Global Peace and Justice Auckland - Thomas was released after a High Court decision was made late yesterday which resulted from a judicial review application heard in December. This judicial review was of an earlier District Court decision to keep Thomas incarcerated. See... GPJA - Thomas Yadegary released after 2 yrs 5m [2] Greens - Yadegary release a partial victory [3]

- Scoop Video: Significant attention is now focusing on what Australia, New Zealand and the United States are planning in an attempt to take the uncertainty and instability out of the Pacific region. Scoop today releases footage (from November 06)) of NZ prime minister Helen Clark, US assistant secretary of state Christopher Hill and others discussing Pacific security; NZ/US free trade; how the US can make diplomatic use of NZ's anti-nuclear laws; and a renewed commitment by the US to increase its presence in the Pacific.

Scoop Video: An A NZ US Plan For Pacific Stability? [1]

Scoop Audio: [2] Scoop's Selwyn Manning & Radio Adelaide's Peter Godfrey discuss: How New Zealand is moving to warmer relations with the United States highlighted by a NZ state visit to the White House.

Scoop Video: International Day Of Action Begins In New Zealand. [3]

RDU Audio: [1] Kate Gorgeous delivers her Best of the Week Interviews... Featured this week are: Scoop's Kevin List on Govt Minister Steve Maharey saying the F*** word in Parliament; and Canty Uni's Dr Linda-Jean Kenix, about media's role in informing public debate.

KiwiFM Audio: [2] Wammo talks to Govt minister, Ruth Dyson about swearing in the debating chamber; Ruth's visit to the UN Disabilities Convention in New York; and the new minimum wage.

Scoop Audio: [3] Scoop's Selwyn Manning & Radio Adelaide's Peter Godfrey discuss: the release of a Commission of Inquiry report into a culture of sexual deviancy within the New Zealand Police.

KiwiFM Audio: [4] Scoop's Kevin List joins KiwiFM's Wammo to deliver his weekly News Roundup. Items discussed: Report into dodgy cops; and Christine Rankin… what was she famous for and does her opinion really count?

95bFM Audio: [5] Opposition is mounting against a controversial bill that would see official records of births, deaths, marriages and registrations locked away from public eyes. 95bFM interviews journalist and historian Graeme Hunt and Internal Affairs Minister Rick Barker on this issue.

KiwiFM Wammo-Audio-Feast: [6] Wammo presents a feast of informative interviews from his morning show. So sit back and listen to the Wammonator quiz Russell Brown on whether musos are being bled to death by internet downloads; Gerry Brownlee on giving your kid a crack; and an Aussie doctor who says we are feeding our kids too much Ritalin.

Eight months on from the 34-day war, its victims still receive little or no help from their government. Instead, they must turn to other sources, which are often linked to political parties such as Hizbullah and Amal. Thus sectarianism is reinforced. See... Letter from Lebanon: Injured and Displaced Can’t Depend on Government for Assistance [1]

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today reported that preparations are gaining momentum towards holding a conference next week in Geneva on the humanitarian needs of the nearly 4 million Iraqis who have been forced to flee their homes in a mass exodus sparked by bloodshed, want and insecurity. See... UN Meeting On Aid To Iraqis Forced To Flee [1]

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has called climate change one of his top priorities, today hailed a new report on the subject, urging nations to make decisive efforts to alleviate the worst consequences brought on by global warming. See…Mitigate Worst Effects Of Climate Change [1]