Today's Top Scoops - 28 July 2008
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LEAD STORY------------
Welfare: Cullen Sceptical Of Key's New Enthusiasm For WFF - John Key's complete reversal on Working for Families - a programme he has consistently attacked as middle class welfare - makes it increasingly clear he cannot be trusted to stand by his own beliefs, Finance Minister Michael Cullen said. More >> [1]
ALSO:National - National to keep Working for Families unchanged [2] NZ Govt - Come clean on borrowing plans Mr Key [3] National - Giving certainty to family incomes [4] Progressive Party - NZ can't afford National's spending recklessness [5]
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NZ POLITICS------------
Foreign Affairs: Condoleezza Rice Says NZ and USA Now Allies - Scoop Report (Audio + Images): US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said Saturday that New Zealand is now a friend
and an ally. That's one step up from the 'New Zealand is a very, very close friend of the United States' which was how
President Bush referred to New Zealand in 2007. More >> [1]
ALSO: TV3 Video - Rice meets with Peters, Clark under shadow of protest [2] TV3 Video - NZ-US relations in 'good shape' - Rice (Full Address) [3] Scoop Full Coverage - Sec. Condoleezza Rice In NZ [4] United Nations - Afghanistan: More Illegal Armed Groups Disbanded [5]
Oddspot: Perigo Rails At English Anti-Smoking Laws - Contrary to Rule Britannia, Britons ever ever ever shall be slaves, if today's news from Aberystwyth is any
indication, says SOLO Principal Lindsay Perigo. More >> [1]
Justice: Kurariki Holding Up Against Huge Odds Says Kim Workman - "Bailey Kurariki Jnr has held up until now, against huge odds", said Kim Workman, former National Director of Prison
Fellowship, on hearing that Bailey had been arrested on suspicion of using illicit drugs. More >> [1]
Donations: Peters "Rejects Unfounded Claims" - A series of newspaper articles, radio and television items this week about New Zealand First election funding are
"unsubstantiated rubbish". More >> [1]
ALSO:Scoop Audio - Audio + Images: Peters Denies Wrongdoing [2] TV3 Video - Winston Peters addresses funding questions at press conference [3] NZ First - Peters Rejects Unfounded Claims [4] Lyndon Hood - Things To Do About Winston Peters [5]
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BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH------------
Bickering: Auckland Airport And Canadians Debate Costs - Auckland Airport has received notice of a claim from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and its subsidiary, NZ
Airport NC Limited, (together, "CPPIB"). The claim relates to Auckland Airport's request for reimbursement of expenses More >> [1]
Rural Affairs: Farmers Want Better telecommunications - Federated Farmers telecommunications spokesman Donald Aubrey welcomes the release earlier today of a report that
recommends a range of reforms to the Telecommunications Service Obligation. More >> [1]
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WORLD------------
China Leans On Nepal: Abuses Against Tibetans Protesting China's Tibet Crackdown - "Nepal's government is turning the screws on peaceful Tibetan protesters at the behest of China," said Brad Adams,
Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "How can a government that came to power on a wave of public protests justify
crushing peaceful protests by Tibetans?" More >> [1]
Photo Essay: Barack Obama Visits No. 10 Downing Street, UK - Foreign Policy issues, including Iraq & Middle East, were high on the agenda this morning as U.S. Presidential nominee Barack Obama met with Gordon Brown. Mr
Obama is on a worldwide tour that has taken him to Iraq and Israel, and the two compared notes. More >> [1]
Northern Lights: Aurora Borealis Mystery Solved By UCLA Scientists - UCLA space scientists & colleagues have identified the mechanism that triggers substorms in space; wreaks havoc on satellites, power grids & communications systems; leads to the explosive release of energy that causes the aurora borealis (northern lights). More >> [1]
University Of Manchester: Worries Over The Future Of Thailand's Elephants - Worries over the future of Thailand's famous elephants have emerged following an investigation by a University of
Manchester team. Though transferring to the tourism trade has improved working conditions, their future remains under a
cloud. More >> [1]
War of Perceptions: The Colombian Government Versus FARC - Colombian Minister of National Defense Juan Manuel Santos has addressed lingering questions regarding the
extraordinarily successful July 2 rescue of fifteen hostages from the grip of las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionárias de
Colombia (FARC). More >> [1]
Proliferation Pathways: Weak States, Rogues & Non-State Actors - Even as we expend maximum effort at denying hostile states and terrorists access to nuclear and other WMD, we must be
prepared to defend ourselves if they should succeed. In the last 35 years the number of states possessing ballistic
missiles has increased from 9 to more than two dozen today. More >> [1]
Wheels Of Justice: Extradition Deadline Passes For Radovan Karadzic - A deadline for ex-Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to appeal against extradition on genocide and other charges
has expired. However, an appeal notice is said to have been posted by his lawyer just before 1800 GMT at an unknown
location in Serbia. More >> [1]
Ending Impunity: "Peace & Justice Go Hand In Hand" -- Outgoing UN Legal Chief - Although maintaining the balance between restoring peace and ending impunity can be sensitive and complex, amnesties
for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are unacceptable, according to the United Nations Legal Counsel. More >> [1]
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COMMENT------------
Roger Buick & Nasa: Follow The H2O Or Energy Not Selection - Roger Buick, a native Australian, not only looks like a "rock star" with his long dark hair swept to one side and has
the name to match, he actually is one. That is, he studies rocks and evidence of sulfur eating bacteria and pre-Snowball
... More >> [1]
Stateside with Rosalea: Convention watch - In just four weeks' time, the world's media will be lining up in Denver, Colorado, to receive their press credentials
to cover the Democratic national convention; a week later, ditto in St. Paul, Minnesota, for the Republican convention.
But already... More >> [1]
Uri Avnery: "If I Forget Thee, Umm Touba..." - IN ONE of the most beautiful songs in the Bible, the poet vows: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, / Let my right hand
forget her cunning. / If I do not remember thee, / Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; / If I prefer not
Jerusalem above ... More >> [1]
ICC and al-Bashir: Ocampo's Justice - The crimes committed against innocent people in Darfur represent a shameful episode in the history of Sudan and its
neighbours, including Chad, which has played a dubious role in sustaining the seething conflict. Equally disgraceful is
the politicising ... More >> [1]
Secret "Torture Memo" Gave Legal Cover to Interrogators Who Acted in "Good Faith" - A Justice Department legal opinion issued in August 2002 advised the CIA that its interrogators would not be
prosecuted for violating anti-torture laws as long as they acted in "good faith" while using brutal techniques to obtain
information from suspected... More >> [1]
Walter Brasch: Geo Beach - A Swamp Yankee in the Last Frontier - When Geo Beach looks you in the eye and says that "Tougher in Alaska," his 13 week series on the History Channel,
isn't Reality TV, you believe him. It might be the sincerity seen... More >> [1]
Martin LeFevre: Why Is Man Separate from Nature? - As I see it, human consciousness is an unexplained contradiction in the infinitely dynamic order of the universe.
Consciousness is not 'evolving,' and things are going from bad to worse. Is there an understanding of the relationship
between humankind ... More >> [1]
Scoop Review of Books: On the Morality of Zionism - A Just Zionism: On the Morality of the Jewish State by Chaim Gans Oxford University Press. Reviewed by JEREMIAH HABER
for the Scoop Review of Books I have in my hands -- well, next to my computer... More >> [1]
Bush Accused of Tyranny and Murder: House Justice Committee Hears Kucinich Resolution - Today's hearing on the abuse of presidential powers before the House Committee on the Judiciary turned into a
devastating political ambush by Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), committee Democrats, and the extraordinary panel of
witnesses... More >> [1]
Kenneth Ring: The Ordeal of Mohammed Omer - We are used to hearing about the hazards, often fatal, of being a journalist these days. Everyone is familiar with
accounts of courageous Russian journalists who have been assassinated and of course with stories of war correspondents
who have been ... More >> [1]
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LIFESTYLE------------
Auctions: Barn Stored Motorbike Fetches Record Price - A Mowbrays' subsidiary has notched up a New Zealand record auction price for a vintage motorbike which till recently
had been lying idle in an old barn. More >> [1]
Scottish Diaspora: Largest International Clan Gathering Planned For 2009 - Taking place on the 25th and 26th July 2009, The Gathering 2009 is one of the key events of next year's Homecoming
Scotland programme and is expected to be the largest international clan gathering and Highland Games ever held in
Scotland. More >> [1]
Artiness: Middle East And Spansih Ceramics Inspire Photographer - The visual inspiration Morag's set of photographic works came primarily from time living and working in the Middle
East, but was also fed by her love of Spanish ceramic decoration. More >> [1]
Queer Theorising: Animated Lecture Likely In Auckland - The University of Auckland's Department of Film, Television and Media Studies is pleased to announce a public lecture
by internationally renowned queer theorist Judith Halberstam on August 7, 2008. More >> [1]
Pearls of Wisdom: Some Advice For The Young Ones - "What advice would you give an 18 year old leaving home?" This was the question posed by Maria Carlton as she asked
50 coaches, parenting and lifestyle experts, parents and authors from around the world. More >> [1]
And those were the Top Scoops on this day, 28 July 2008
:)
ENDS