Today's Top Scoops - 26 May 2008
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LEAD STORY------------
Technology: Mars Craft Reports Good Health After Landing - NASA PASADENA, Calif. -- A NASA spacecraft today sent pictures showing itself in good condition after making the first successful landing in a polar region of Mars. The images from NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander also provided a glimpse of the flat valley floor expected to have water-rich permafrost within reach of the lander's robotic arm. The landing ends a 422-million-mile journey from Earth and begins a three-month mission that will use instruments to taste and sniff the northern polar site's soil and ice. More >> [1]
ALSO:TV3 Video - NASA spacecraft looking for signs of life on Mars set to land [2] TV3 Video - Ice-sampling probe set for Sunday landing on Mars [3] NASA - Phoenix Mars Lander Prepares For Landing [4] NASA - NASA's Mars Landing Page [5]
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NZ POLITICS------------
Scoop Full Coverage: Budget 2008 Complete Resource
Military and Defence Issues: Viet Nam Veterans And Families To Receive Apology - Prime Minister Helen Clark and Veterans' Affairs Minister Rick Barker said today that the Crown apology to Viet Nam
veterans and their families will be made in Parliament next week. More >> [1]
ALSO:95bFM Audio - Mikey Havoc & PM on Viet Nam Vet Apology [2] TV3 Video - Apology, medals and parade for Vietnam vets, over 30 years on [3]
Legislation: Poll Shows Positive Shift In Child Discipline - A Family First survey released today that shows 48 percent of parents still smack their children actually highlights
a massive improvement in attitudes over the past year, Green Party MP Sue Bradford says. More >> [1]
ALSO:Family First - Smacking Poll - NZ'ers Don't Want to 'Move On' [2] Family First - Bradford Gets It Wrong on Smacking - Again [3] The Kiwi Party - Kiwi Party pledge anti-smacking law will be gone [4] The Family Party - Maori leaders must respect voice of parents [5] PROSTITUTION:NZ Govt - Act helps health and safety of sex workers: report [6] Labour - Barnett: Reform Of Prostitution Law A Success [7] Maxim Institute - Report Shows Prostitution Reform Act Is Failing [8] Family First - Prostitution Report Ignores Concerns [9]
Politics: John Key: Speech To The National Party Conference - "It's good to feel the election-year buzz in the air. That's a buzz born of excitement, but also, I hope, a sense of
the size of the task ahead of us." More >> [1]
Trade: Concept Centre To Help NZ Businesses Into Shanghai - New Zealand businesses looking to China will have a new entry point in the market with the opening of a New Zealand
Concept Centre in Shanghai in October this year, Trade Minister Phil Goff said today. More >> [1]
ALSO:NZ Govt - Tools to put China FTA to work [2]
Politics: Peters: Tauranga Electorate AGM Speech - Winston Peters delivered a speech to the Tauranga electorate, citing J William Fulbright who said "In a democracy
dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects." More >> [1]
Police News: Anonymous Taxi Driver To The Rescue - Hamilton Police are asking a taxi driver, who's actions were pivotal in the arrest of two men, to come forward so he
can be given appropriate recognition for his actions early on Saturday morning. More >> [1]
Youth Issues: Youth Week 08 - Lets Relate To Young People - Youth Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said Youth Week 08 is a chance to acknowledge the work being done to ensure
young people are supported. More >> [1]
Legal Issues: Retailer'S Penalty A 'Slap With A Wet Bus Ticket' - The Smokefree Coalition says the penalty received by a Carterton retailer convicted twice for selling tobacco to kids
is a 'slap on the wrist with a wet bus ticket'. More >> [1]
Police Issues: NZ Police To Prefer Bushmaster Rifles Over Glocks - Global Peace and Justice Auckland states that a Police decision to have Bushmaster semi-automatic rifles become the
preferred option over Glock pistols in armed situations is further evidence of an escalation of police arming
themselves. More >> [1]
ALSO:NZ Police - Police Focusing On Bushmaster Training [2]
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BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH------------
Carbon Trading: Energy Mad Offers Carbon Credits On Trade Me - For the first time ever, voluntary carbon credits created by demand side energy efficiency projects are being offered
to all New Zealanders. This provides the opportunity for individuals, families and businesses to go "carbon neutral". More >> [1]
Success: High Flyer Wins PR Prize - A 25-year-old high-flyer was named Young Practitioner of the Year at the Public Relations Institute (PRINZ) awards
last Friday evening. More >> [1]
Science: ECO To Analyse Sustainability Rhetoric Or Reality - Maina Perrot, AUT University Journalism Student, reports that half way through the election year seems a good time
for the Environment and Conservation Organisation (ECO) to discuss policies at its annual conference in Wellington. More >> [1]
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WORLD------------
Burma: Ban Ki-moon Says Burma Relief Effort To Last At Least Six Months - ''There is good reason to hope that aid to the worst affected areas of Myanmar will increase significantly in the
coming days. These needs must be funded, immediately,'' Mr. Ban said in his address at the start of the international
pledging conference. More >> [1]
ALSO:United Nations - Burma: Ban Ki-Moon Calls For Smooth Aid Delivery [2]
Virtual Reality: Condoleezza Rice, David Miliband & Google Senior VP David Drummond - ''Chinese income per head is between 1/20th and 1/25th of the American level. In 10 years China will be richer ...
but the U.S. will still be a superpower economically as well as politically and militarily and culturally.'' --
Secretary Rice. More >> [1]
SEE ALSO: Rice, Miliband & Cisco's John Chambers [2]
Mid-East: 'Historic' Election Of Lebanese President Welcomed - Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon voiced hope that ''today's historic event leads to the revitalization of all of
Lebanon's constitutional institutions. There have been 18 failed attempts to conduct a parliamentary vote for president
since November 2007. More >> [1]
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COMMENT------------
Richard S. Ehrlich: Suu Kyi Amid Burma's Cyclone - BANGKOK, Thailand -- The world's most famous political prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi, was due to be freed from house
arrest this weekend, but the international community and Burma's military junta have been focusing on aid for cyclone
victims instead ... More >> [1]
Greg Palast: Obama's Secret War Profiteering Tax - In a hotel room in Brussels, the chief executives of the world's top oil companies unrolled a huge map of the Middle
East, drew a fat, red line around Iraq and signed their names to it. More >> [1]
Ramzy Baroud: Coexistence, Not Apartheid - For the last 60 years, all those who have sought a genuinely peaceful and fair solution for Israel and Palestine have
faced the same obstacle -- Israel's sense of invincibility and military arrogance, abetted by the US and other Western
governments' unwavering ... More >> [1]
Michael Collins: Bending Over For Bush - It is now their war. Iraq has been and will be the war of every Senator and Representative who funds the madness.
Over four thousand U.S. troops have been killed in battle in Iraq. Over four thousand U.S. troops have been killed in
battle in Iraq. Ten times that number have major injuries...More >> [1]
Harvey Wasserman: Putting John Edwards on the Supreme Court - As the end game for the Democratic nomination takes shape, the historic union of the feminist and civil rights
movements has never been more in evidence. Nor has the next upcoming appointment to the US Supreme Court ever been more
pivotal. More >> [1]
Jason Leopold: Rove Protégé May Dig for Dirt on Obama - Timothy Griffin, a central figure in the U.S. Attorney scandal and a protégé of Republican political guru Karl Rove,
reportedly has been hired to dig up dirt on likely Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. More >> [1]
Film Review: Human Rights Film Fest - Now The People Have Awoken - Natasha Burling writes that a heated debate followed the screening of a film about Venezuela's political situation.
Now the People Have Awoken looks at the changes in Venezuela since President Hugo Chavez came to power ... More >> [1]
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LIFESTYLE------------
Kiwi Pride: Scott Dixon Praised For Indy 500 Win - Scott has etched his name at the very top of the sport alongside Formula One world champion Denny Hulme and Bruce
McLaren. He began his racing career in New Zealand in karts and passed through all the New Zealand single seater classes
on his way to the United States. More >> [1]
ALSO:NZ Govt - Cosgrove congratulates Dixon for Indy 500 win [2] National Party - Congrats Scott Dixon [3] TV3 Video - Motorsport: NZer Dixon wins the Indy 500 [4] MotorSport NZ - Top Motorsport Media Awards Presented [5] TV3 Video - Motorsport: Hamilton wins Monaco Grand Prix [6]
Jollity: Making NZ Comedy No Laughing Matter - Making comedy can be serious business. The April Writer's Room invited TV3's Head of Comedy and Drama Caterina De
Nave for a revealing look at the process of getting comedy made in New Zealand. More >> [1]
Culture Clash? Little Bushman Meet The Auckland Philharmonia - The Auckland Philharmonia are proud to announce a collaboration with one of New Zealand's most talented and creative
bands, Little Bushman, taking place on Sunday, July 13 in the Great Hall of the Auckland Town Hall. More >> [1]
Artiness: Works On Paper At Toi O Tahuna Fine Art Gallery - Toi o Tahuna fine art gallery is holding an exhibition of works of paper by contemporary New Zealand artists in their
Church Lane gallery. More >> [1]
Flicks: Second Hand Wedding Comes First At Something - Kiwi Film Second-Hand Wedding opened this week as the Number 1 new release at the New Zealand Box Office. More >> [1]
And those were the Top Scoops for yesterday, 26 May 2008.
[NOTE: This Top Scoops list transmission delayed from yesterday due to power cut and subsequent network issues in the
Wellington CBD. - Ed]
:)
ENDS