Today's Top Scoops - 20 May 2008
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LEAD STORY------------
PM's Presser: Auditor General Set Loose Onto Immigration Service - Video + Audio: Prime Minister and Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove have called in the Auditor General to investigate allegations of corruption surrounding the Immigration Service. Helen Clark said that events have come to light in recent days and weeks which give the Cabinet real concern about the integrity of systems within the New Zealand Immigration Service. More >> [1]
ALSO:Gordon Campbell - SCOOP: ELECTION 08 - WTF 20 May 2008: Brady needs to inquire into Immigration Bill [2] NZ Govt - Auditor General Inquiry into Immigration Service [3] National - Clark tries to isolate Ministers from inquiry [4] Public Service Association - PSA To Set Up Public Service Ethics Committee [5]
MORE:TV3 Video - Immigration Services to be investigated for bribery and corruption [6] TV3 Video - Auditor-General to investigate immigration service [7]
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NZ POLITICS------------
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:Questions For Oral Answer - Tuesday, 20 May 2008 [1]
Current Affairs: Labour's Next Leader? On Alt TV Before Naked News - The National Party's Shadow Leader of the House, Gerry Brownlee, says the announcement from Phil Goff about the
Government's re-election chances and his leadership aspirations "is a sign warfare is breaking out within Labour." More >> [1]
ALSO: Alt TV - Phil Goff on Let's Be Frank [2]
Gordon Campbell: New Zealand's Illegal Trade In North Africa - SCOOP EXCLUSIVE: On May 25, a Turkish owned ship called the Cake is due at Lyttleton harbour, and similar port records show the same
ship is due in Napier between 3-5 June. On both occasions, the Cake will be unloading a cargo of phosphates that
originated in the Western Sahara region of North Africa. This is a highly dubious trade, in seeming violation of the UN
Charter. More >> [1]
Social Issues: Filmmaker Reveals Few Choices for Homeless - Charlie Bleakley has directed a documentary on homelessness in New Zealand, Putting Homelessness in Focus that he and
producer Kate Amore hope will challenge stereotypes and bring the reality of homelessness to policymakers. More >> [1]
Politics: US Presidential Socialist Candidate Visits NZ - Katie Small reports: Immigration is used in the same way to depress wages in the United States as it is in New
Zealand, says the Socialist Workers Party's (SWP) candidate for US president, Roger Calero. More >> [1]
Health Policy: Chlamydia Report Alarming - Labour Asleep - A recent review of sexually transmitted diseases in 2007* should jolt Labour out of its complacency and into action,
says National's Associate Health spokeswoman, Jackie Blue, and the party's Youth Affairs spokeswoman, Nicky Wagner. More >> [1]
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BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH------------
Grownups Awarded: Leading Over-50s Website Takes Big Prize At Awards - Leading online lifestyle magazine www.grownups.co.nz now has a prize to reflect its booming readership figures,
having claimed the People's Choice award for Best Lifestyle Site in New Zealand at the 2008 NetGuide Awards. More >> [1]
Tourism: Early Easter Eases April Arrivals - There were 179,400 visitor arrivals in April 2008, down 13,800 (7 percent) from April 2007, Statistics New Zealand
said today. This was partly because of the Easter holidays occurring in March in 2008, compared with April in 2007.
However, the estimated average ... More >> [1]
Employers: PPCS Dunedin Plant Faces Chop - The Council of Trade Unions has called for an active approach to finding jobs for meat workers being made redundant,
following a further announcement today by PPCS, this time in relation to their Burnside site in Dunedin. More >> [1]
ALSO:TV3 Video - Dunedin plant workers await meeting with management [2] TV3 Video - Dunedin workers fear for jobs as PPCS calls another meeting [3]
Technology: Massey Student Wins Earle Scholarship - Massey University postgraduate student Alistair Scarfe is one of three recipients of a Dick and Mary Earle
Scholarship in Technology for 2008. More >> [1]
ALSO:Vice Chancellors' Committee - Waikato Student Recipient of Post-Grad Scholarship [2] Vice-Chancellors Committee - Massey Student Recipient Of Post-Grad Scholarship [3]
Melting Pots: Relaxed Lifestyle Draws Migrants To New Zealand - The relaxed pace of life or lifestyle had been identified as the most common reason for permanent migrants to choose
New Zealand as their new home, Statistics New Zealand said today. More >> [1]
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WORLD------------
Burma Crisis: Special ASEAN Burma Meeting Statement, 19 May 2008 - Myanmar has agreed to accept the immediate despatch of medical teams from all ASEAN countries. ASEAN has sent an
Emergency Rapid Assessment Team and is ready to provide additional support. Myanmar should allow more relief workers
into stricken areas. More >> [1]
Research: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Urges Stem Cell Backing - Scientists should be given the legal framework necessary to pursue cures for diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's
and cancer, the PM has said. ''We owe it to ourselves and future generations'' to allow scientists to use properly
regulated stem cell research. More >> [1]
Google In London: UK'S Gordon Brown Addresses Google Conference - Gordon Brown has praised the internet industry as a model for the global economy. ''The global economy will not work
for people unless it is open, flexible, about free-trade, non-protectionist, inclusive, empowering and about building a
society. More >> [1]
RELATEDUK Govt - New Vision Of Climate Change Through Google Earth [2]
Munitions: Ban Ki-Moon Issues Call To Eliminate Cluster Bombs - Ban Ki-moon appealed for a new global pact to rid the world of cluster munitions. The devices are ''inherently
inaccurate and often malfunction,'' and they pose ''a very real danger to civilians, both at the time of use and long
after conflicts have ended''. More >> [1]
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COMMENT------------
Book Review: Common Wealth, Economics For A Crowded Planet - Andreas von Warburg writes from New York: Some have acknowledged it as a masterpiece, a tinkerer's manifesto. Others
have called it the perfect plan of a serious dreamer. Jeffrey Sachs - Penguin Press - "Common Wealth, Economics for a
Crowded Planet". More >> [1]
Paul Smith: Fervently swimming against the tide - When an ideology once touted as New sounds quaint, you know for sure it's dead in the water. And so it was earlier
this month with attempts to revive the corpse of privatisation. More >> [1]
Remi Kanazi: When Free Speech Doesn't Come Free - Free speech is not without consequence. In the United States, for example, criticism of Israel is tantamount to
heresy. Former US President Jimmy Carter felt a societal backlash last year after the release of his book, Palestine:
Peace Not Apartheid ... More >> [1]
Jason Leopold: McCain Defends 'Enron Loophole' - Sen. John McCain says he opposes the $307 billion farm bill because it would dole out wasteful subsidies, but his
chief economic adviser Phil Gramm also wants to stop its proposed regulation of energy... More >> [1]
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LIFESTYLE------------
Sporting Joy: Alternative Rugby Commentary Is Back For 2008 - The Alternative Rugby Commentary is back, on the ball and full of all the clichés, calls and controversy you won't
hear in your average rugby commentary. More >> [1]
Ambience: Nova Paul - The World Of Interiors - Filmed in red, green and blue layers the filmic surface of The World of Interiors is influenced by the aspirations of
the 1910s Russian Avant-Garde movement Rayonism. More >> [1]
And those were the Top Scoops on this day, 20 May 2008
:)
ENDS