Top Scoop Stories - 4 June 2008 2008 News Summary

Wednesday, 4 June 2008, 2:06 pm
Article: The Scoop Editor

Today's Top Scoops - 4 June 2008 2008

LEAD STORY:

Gordon Campbell: Russel Norman's Entry and Hillary's Exit

NZ POLITICS:

Forth Estate: NZPA Cuts Threaten News Quality
Gordon Campbell: Don Brash's Rehabilitation
Broadcasting Allocations: English Promises Mixed-Metaphor Election Campaign
Housing: PM Hits Out At Board Minister Was On
Welfare: Children Of The Poor Have Day In Court

BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH:

Incomes: Are Employers Salaries Fuelling Inflation
Publishing: The Independent Revamped Again
Sick Fruit Or Vege? Tomatoes Afflicted By Disease
Subantarctic Islands: Birds About To Live Life Of Reilly

WORLD:

Bold, Urgent Steps To Tackle Food Crisis - Ban Ki-Moon + World "Cannot Afford To Fail" On Food + "$30 Billion/Year To Eradicate Scourge Of Hunger"
Looks Like A Winner: Obama On Brink Of Winning Democratic Party Nomination
Firm Friends: Secretary Condoleezza Rice Reaffirms U.S. Commitment To Israel
Bird Flu: Avian Influenza H7 Confirmed In Oxfordshire, UK
Disaster Relief: 1 Million+ Burma Cyclone Victims Have Received Aid

COMMENT:

Bernard Weiner: Sidney Pollack, Scott McClellan, and Wars for Oil
Remi Kanazi: Why a Cultural Boycott is Necessary
Collins: Texas Supreme Court Challenges Incest Taboo

LIFESTYLE:

Tucker: Maori Queen Of Cuisine Returns
Charity: Dan Carter Offers Himself As Prize
Lifestyle: Kiwi Wins Major US Songwriting Competition

Gordon Campbell: Russel Norman's Entry and Hillary's Exit - As predicted on Scoop last Friday. former Green Party MP Mike Ward has done a U-turn, [1] and will now step aside to enable Greens co-leader Russel Norman to become an MP. The process of Nandor Tanczos exiting and Norman stepping into his shoes should take a few weeks. Making Norman an MP (by the only means available) is really the final recovery from the impact of Rod Donald's sudden death - which, unexpectedly, left the best candidate to replace him stranded outside Parliament. More >> [2]

ALSO:

• KiwiFM - Wallace n Manning Analyse The Green Party Plan [3]

[1] - http://election08.scoop.co.nz/wtf-30-may-2008-stone-mcclellan-and-the-greens/
[2] - http://election08.scoop.co.nz/gordon-campbell-russel-norman%e2%80%99s-entry-and-hillarys-exit/
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0806/S00031.htm

Forth Estate: NZPA Cuts Threaten News Quality - The New Zealand Press Association's decision to cut seven of its fifty-five staff is a reckless move that will reduce news quality across our entire media and undermine the public's right to be informed says the journalists' union - the EPMU. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0806/S00024.htm

Gordon Campbell: Don Brash's Rehabilitation - Given Don Brash's complicity in his own cynical re-packaging contained in Nicky Hager's book The Hollow Men, you'd think it would be impossible to resurrect the Brash saga as a tragic fall from grace. Yet on the weekend, the Sunday Star-Times had a fairly good shot at it. More >> [1]

[1] - http://election08.scoop.co.nz/wtf-june-3-2008-don-brash-and-the-greens/

Broadcasting Allocations: English Promises Mixed-Metaphor Election Campaign - National Party Deputy Leader Bill English says the decision on election-year broadcasting allocations is a "port in the electoral storm" which has surrounded Labour's self serving Electoral Finance Act. "The way broadcasting time is allocated is one of the few things that survived Labour's attempt the screw the electoral scrum in its favour during the election year. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• Electoral Commission - Electoral Commission broadcasting allocation [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0806/S00019.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0806/S00021.htm

Housing: PM Hits Out At Board Minister Was On - The Prime Minister's efforts to pass the buck on the Housing New Zealand conferences held at luxury venues appears to have backfired, says National Party Housing spokesman Phil Heatley. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0806/S00009.htm

Welfare: Children Of The Poor Have Day In Court - Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) says its legal case highlights a significant hole in NZ's social safety net for children. The case begins today in the Human Rights Review Tribunal in Wellington. It alleges the In-Work Tax Credit discriminates against 220 000 children, on the basis of work status. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• Maori Party - History in the Making for our Tamariki [2]
• TV3 Video - Legal challenge launched against Working for Families package [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0806/S00011.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0806/S00013.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/national/8785.html

Incomes: Are Employers Salaries Fuelling Inflation - A survey, which covers 11 employment sectors and hundreds of job roles across New Zealand, reports the majority of employers reported increases in salaries of between 3 and 6 percent. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0806/S00048.htm

Publishing: The Independent Revamped Again - There will be an obvious gap in the newsstands today as Fairfax Media prepares for the debut of its revitalised business paper, The Independent, which appears for the first time on Thursday. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0806/S00036.htm

Sick Fruit Or Vege? Tomatoes Afflicted By Disease - MAF Biosecurity New Zealand (MAFBNZ) has today withdrawn phytosanitary certification for New Zealand fresh tomato and capsicum export produce until further notice. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0806/S00004.htm

Subantarctic Islands: Birds About To Live Life Of Reilly - The sea around New Zealand's Subantarctic Islands is recognised as a World Heritage Area and is likely to receive a boost in protection from a review of marine protected areas in the region. More >> [1] >

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0806/S00003.htm

Bold, Urgent Steps To Tackle Food Crisis - Ban Ki-Moon - Addressing the High-level Conference on World Food Security, Mr. Ban said that over 850 million people around the globe were short of food before the current crisis began. That number is to rise by a further 100 million: poor will be hardest hit. More >> [1]

ALSO

• World "Cannot Afford To Fail" On Food [2]
• "$30 Billion/Year To Eradicate Scourge Of Hunger" [3]
• UK Govt - UK Urges Global Action On Food Prices [4]
• UN - High-level Task Force On The Global Food Crisis [5]
• EU - WTO Head Says Trade Is Key To Food Price Stability [6]
• UK Govt - G8 Summit To Focus On Rising Food And Fuel Prices [7]
• State Depart. - Promoting Global Food Security [8]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00042.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00043.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00044.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00048.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00045.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00038.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00036.htm
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00051.htm

Looks Like A Winner: Obama On Brink Of Winning Democratic Party Nomination - By most estimates, Obama needs the support of about 25 superdelegates out of the more than 150 that have still not announced their preference. All eyes are now on the superdelegates to see if a bloc of them comes out to endorse Obama, giving him the total number of delegates required to clinch the nomination. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00052.htm

Firm Friends: Secretary Condoleezza Rice Reaffirms U.S. Commitment To Israel - "America's commitment to Israel is unwavering. The U.S.-Israel alliance is indivisible and unbreakable. Our alliance with Israel will forever be rooted in a fellowship of families, of friends, and of faith ... deepened by a shared culture of tolerance and a pioneer spirit ... and elevated by interests reinforced by common ideals. This is the true foundation of the U.S.-Israel alliance." - Secretary Rice. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00050.htm

Bird Flu: Avian Influenza H7 Confirmed In Oxfordshire, UK - The Chief Veterinary Officer, Nigel Gibbens, has today confirmed Avian Influenza in chickens on premises near Banbury in Oxfordshire after preliminary tests were positive for the H7 strain. All birds on the premises will be slaughtered. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00041.htm

Disaster Relief: 1 Million+ Burma Cyclone Victims Have Received Aid - Some 1.3 million people affected by the deadly cyclone that battered Myanmar one month ago have received assistance, the humanitarian arm of the United Nations said today. At the same time, that assistance has not been consistent. More >> [1]

RELATED

• ASEAN Springs Into Action, Kicks Off Post-Nargis Joint Assessment [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00040.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0806/S00046.htm

Bernard Weiner: Sidney Pollack, Scott McClellan, and Wars for Oil - OK, let's connect the dots: The Iraq War & Occupation. Scott McClellan's memoir. The death of film director Sydney Pollack. When I heard about the death of Pollack last week, I happened coincidentally to be rewatching one of his earliest films...More >> [1]

ALSO:

• Chuck Baldwin - Washington's culture of deception [2]
• Bush at Center of Intelligence Leak? [3]
• Jason Leopold - McClellan Suggests Plame Cover-up [4]
• Gordon Campbell on Stone, McClellan and Mike Ward [5]
• McClellan Blames Bush, Not Aides, for Disillusionm [6]
• McClellan and His Media Collaborators [7]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0806/S00039.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0806/S00023.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00428.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00423.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00426.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00430.htm
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00434.htm

Remi Kanazi: Why a Cultural Boycott is Necessary - At what point does rhetoric stop and effective action begin? For Palestinians, decades of dialogue and supposed peace overtures have proved fruitless, only serving to protect the status quo: sixty years of continual dispossession, forty years of occupation... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0806/S00038.htm

Collins: Texas Supreme Court Challenges Incest Taboo - The Texas Supreme Court just struck a blow at the foundation of civilized society - the incest taboo . On April 28, 2008, the Court overturned a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services finding that removed 130 children from a religious ... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0805/S00436.htm

Tucker: Maori Queen Of Cuisine Returns - Fresh fare, fabulous music and eclectic celebrity guests are the essential ingredients for Maori Television cuisine show KAI ORA, returning to screens on Sundays at 7.00 PM. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0806/S00015.htm

Charity: Dan Carter Offers Himself As Prize - Rugby player Dan Carter encourages all Schools in New Zealand to help support young people with cancer by enrolling in the annual CanTeen Bandanna Challenge coming up in October 2008. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED0806/S00002.htm

Lifestyle: Kiwi Wins Major US Songwriting Competition - Jane De Jong - AUT Journalism Student writes that Mt Roskill-bred Bruce Conlon has won US$18,000 worth of studio gear, coming first place in the USA West Coast Songwriters Competition. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0806/S00033.htm

ENDS

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