Top Scoop Stories – 2 December 2008 News Summary
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LEAD STORY------------
The building industry downturn means National should invest in more state houses - not put a cap on them - says the
Green Party. "Putting a cap on state houses as indicated yesterday by Housing Minister Phil Heatley is irresponsible at
a time of economic downtown," Green Party Housing Spokesperson Sue Bradford says. "Not only will a reduction in state
house build have serious health and other consequences for people already in dire housing need - it will also cause
further dismay in the building sector. More »[1]
ALSO:
[10] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0812/S00008.htm [10]
[11] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0812/S00025.htm [11]
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NZ POLITICS------------
The Office of the Ombudsmen is concerned some parts of the public service have been deliberately delaying responses to
Official Information requests. In the office’s Annual Report to Parliament, Chief Ombudsmen Beverley Wakem says the
practice is unacceptable and subverts the purpose of the legislation. More »[1]
ALSO:
NZ will definitely be keeping to its Kyoto commitments said new New Zealand Prime Minister John Key this afternoon. Mr
Key held a post cabinet press conference and answered questions on a variety of subjects including capping the state
housing stock, the situation facing New Zealand travellers in Thailand and the decision to scrap Labour's ETS
legislation and send the whole caboodle back for select committee consideration. More »[1]
Scoop FULL COVERAGE of the Air New Zealand A320 air crash, including tributes to those lost in the tragedy, Air New
Zealand news conferences, reactions, emerging details of the aircraft, those on board, and the investigation into what
went wrong. (Image: Captain Brian Horrell.) More »[1]
ALSO:
Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully and Defence Minister Wayne Mapp are urging all parties to show restraint during
whaling protests in the Antarctic this season. Dr Mapp has confirmed that the New Zealand Defence Force does not have
plans to station craft in the Ross Sea in order to monitor developments. More »[1]
ALSO:
Justice Minister Simon Power today announced that the Government has disestablished the Expert Panel on Electoral
Administration which was established by the Labour Government two months ago... “Following the repeal of the EFA, we
will start work on a new law that will seek as broad a range of parliamentary and public support as possible, to provide
an enduring framework for the administration of elections.” More »[1]
The Classification Act requires that the Office of Film and Literature Classification minimise the risk to New Zealand
society caused by the unrestricted availability of publications depicting matters such as sex, horror, crime, cruelty
and violence. More »[1]
ALSO:
Giving the local government portfolio to Rodney Hide creates some management challenges for John Key. Can Key really
afford to let Hide loose down the privatising track in local government? More »[1]
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BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH------------
Google today announces the launch of Street View on Google Maps in New Zealand: maps.google.co.nz/streetview. Street
View is a new feature for Google Maps that lets internet users view and navigate 360 degree street-level imagery of New
Zealand's cities, towns, regions and remote areas. More »[1]
ALSO:
November figures show TVNZ’s flagship bulletin has grown in both audience numbers and share compared to the same period
last year. It is now heading into its second year of continuous growth. More »[1]
The exhibit will include the colossal squid, dramatically lit in its custom-built tank, displays of various body parts
including the orange-sized lens of the eye, models of its beak and tentacle swivel hooks that can be touched and
rotated, as well as a thrilling theatre featurette immersing visitors in the world of the colossal squid in stereoscopic
3D animation! More »[1]
The longer-term outlook is positive for New Zealand’s livestock producers, who are wellplaced to over-come short-term
challenges and weather the storm created by the current financial crisis, audiences in rural New Zealand were told last
week. More »[1]
ALSO:
The Minister of Energy and Resources, and Economic Development, Gerry Brownlee, today opened the new Pike River coal
mine in the Paparoa Ranges, 50 kilometres north-east of Greymouth. More »[1]
The value of merchandise exports was 13.8 percent higher in October 2008 than in October 2007, and reached $3.8 billion,
Statistics New Zealand said today. Imports were up 15.3 percent to $4.8 billion over the same period. More »[1]
New Zealand’s best little business has earned the honour of being crowned Supreme Award winner in the inaugural year of
The David Awards: heroes in small business. More »[1]
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COMMENT------------
Gordon Campbell on the escape flights from Thailand, and on taxing people for flying long distances. While the
Australians are laying on special Qantas flights out of Thailand in order to rescue their citizens from a situation that
could turn... More »[1]
Extruding onto the land like some slow, cold lava from Hades, ten well-trained terrorists were able to shatter the
polytheistic openness of Mumbai, and telescope the distancing complacency of the global society... More »[1]
Often referred to disparagingly by the mainstream media as “the perennial candidate”—after all, he first ran for
President in 1976—Peter Camejo was a huge force in progressive politics in the United States. He died on September 13,
having just recently switched... More »[1]
THE ISRAELI OBAMA. What will he look like, the Israeli counterpart of Barack Obama? What will be his attributes? That is
a tantalizing question. It goes without saying that one cannot construct a human being according to a recipe, like a
cake from a ... More »[1]
One of Barack Obama's most compelling and popular campaign promises was his pledge to end the war in Iraq “responsibly.”
But what does “responsibly” mean in this context? Does it mean the United States will be assuming full responsibility
for... More »[1]
When Gaza's electricity is in working order, most Palestinians in the impoverished and overcrowded Strip huddle around
their television screens. It's neither "American Idol" nor "Dancing with the Stars" that brings them together... More »[1]
Binoy Kampmark writes: When a figure of conservative propriety as Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, desires
government control over banks, one that exceeds mere partial or public ownership, the political fault lines must be
changing. More »[1]
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LIFESTYLE------------
An Auckland woman is going to meet her long term friend she met on the internet 12 years ago for the very first time
after winning ‘The Kiwi Story’ Show Off NZ Competition. More »[1]
Wellington's fastest growing sport Gaelic Football, has over 150 kiwis playing week in, week out in their seven a side
summer competition, which started on the 12 November. The games run each Wednesday evening at Ian Galloway Park in
Wilton. More »[1]
With almost 85,000 votes being cast in Throng's third annual Shortland Street Fan Awards, this year's results are the
biggest yet! More »[1]
The Big Day Out is truly one of the great gatherings of the cultural tribes of the nation. The Punks, the Students, the
Indie Kids and the Goths had it all to start with in ’94, rubbing shoulders with what was left of the 80s Dole Bludger
generation. More »[1]
ALSO:
Te Papa is pleased to announce that its bid for Colin McCahon's painting, Mondrian's Last Chrysanthemum, 1976, was
successful. The painting was purchased for AUD$312,000 (including a 20% buyer's premium). More »[1]
ALSO:
A political studies graduate from The University of Auckland keenly interested in global justice and migration from
developing countries has gained a coveted Rhodes Scholarship for 2009. More »[1]
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WORLD------------
With today's introduction of key members of the National Security Team, President-elect Barack Obama and Vice
President-elect Joe Biden have now chosen nearly half of the cabinet, including the heads of the departments of State,
Defense, Treasury, and Justice. Significant among them is Hillary Clinton who will replace Condoleezza Rice as Secretary
of State. More »[1]
ALSO:
Richard S. Ehrlich writes from Bangkok: In a Darwinian struggle, the rich buy tickets for expensive helicopters and chartered planes, flying from airstrips
elsewhere in Thailand, while protesters blockade Bangkok's international and domestic airports. More »[1]
ALSO:
The critically endangered cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal, is set to obtain added international protection next
week at a United Nations-backed conference seeking the conservation of species that cross national borders. More »[1]
Environmental fraud is big business. The natural level of discomfort that results from the thought of global warming is
reinforced by numerous reports claiming inevitable environmental doom. More »[1]
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned tonight's coordinated series of shootings and blasts by terrorists in
Mumbai, which have killed or wounded scores of people in India's commercial capital and largest city. "Such violence is
totally unacceptable." More »[1]
ALSO:
A senior United Nations relief official has urged donors to generously support the $550 million appeal launched earlier
this week to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe, which she warned will get much worse without “massive”
international ... More »[1]
The opium industry is largely funding the Taliban's war budget and is a major source of revenue for criminal groups and
terrorists in Afghanistan despite becoming less important to the country's overall economy. More »[1]
Africa, and particularly sub-Saharan Africa, remains the most difficult place in the world for a child to survive, says
a new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF. More »[1]
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