Scoop: Top Scoops + Just Politics

Monday, 26 July 2004, 5:14 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
LEAD STORY:Scoop Investigation: NZ Foreign Affairs Invited Europeans To Damn RSAA Report
AG Responds To Supreme Court Head Criticisms
MORE NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES:
Australia and NZ Agree On Darfur Concerns
INTERNATIONAL NEWS HEADLINES

SCOOP COLUMNS:
Stateside: Where Rosalea Takes Her Brain For A Spin
911 Report: A Citizen's Critique
911 Report: Sibel Edmonds Is Confused
911 Report: Mary Pitt Is Apportioning Blame
Dennis Hans: 16 Stinky Words From The POTUS
Between The Lines: The Road To A One Party State
Genevieve Cora Fraser: Palestine's Universities Under Siege
Sonia Nettnin: Frontiers Of Dreams And Fears
Poem: Ensnared in A Israeli Death Trap
Valenzeula: George Bush's Legacy – Part II

OTHER NEWS (Just Politics)
Is Sickness Benefit The New Benefit Scam?
Coddington Seeks Answers On The Cost Of School Closure
Flag Burning Should Be De-Criminalised – Locke
Mark Burton: Feeling Good Economically Speaking
HealthLine To Take On PlunketLine's Mantle
Far From Impressed With Response To Contaminated Cornflour
Dunne Notes New Business Thinktank's Thoughts
Robson Sees Closure For East Timor In OZ/NZ Agreement
Winston Wants Answers On Breakfast TV
More Parole Outrage With Marc Alexander

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...TODAY'S PHOTO STORY...

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00185.htm
Scoop Investigation: MFAT Documents Obtained Show NZ Solicited France/Belgium RSAA Criticism

LEAD STORY:
Scoop Investigation: NZ Foreign Affairs Invited Europeans To Damn RSAA Report

- Foreign Affairs documents obtained by Scoop reveal the New Zealand government initiated a response from France, Belgium and Switzerland inviting those countries to criticise a judicial Refugee Status Appeals Authority report supporting Ahmed Zaoui. Scoop also reveals 'evidence' was planted in France's Operation Chrysanthemum. See... Foreign Affairs Sought Offshore Critique Of RSAA [1] ALSO: High Court Judgment Means SIS Boss Becomes The Jailer [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00185.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00180.htm

AG Responds To Supreme Court Head Criticisms

- "I am a little surprised at the chief justice's comments, as I have tried to consult on matters that affected the Supreme Court", says Attorney General Margaret Wilson. See... Supreme Court Cost and Resources [1] ALSO: - ACTWhere's the Attorney-General On Judicial Activism? [2] - Judges: Lambs At Home, Lions Abroad [3] - Nats - Problems just beginning for Supreme Court [4]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00404.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00396.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00395.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00398.htm

MORE NEW ZEALAND HEADLINES:

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00397.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00399.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0407/S00309.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0407/S00306.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/BU0407/S00305.htm

Australia and NZ Agree On Darfur Concerns

- Foreign Minister Phil Goff, and his Australian counterpart Alexander Downer today pressed grave concern over the humanitarian situation in Darfur, Sudan. See… Goff, Downer joint statement on Darfur [1] ALSO: NZ, Australia sign maritime boundary treaty [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00401.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00400.htm

INTERNATIONAL NEWS HEADLINES

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0407/S00246.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0407/S00245.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0407/S00244.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0407/S00243.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0407/S00242.htm

SCOOP COLUMNS:
Stateside: Where Rosalea Takes Her Brain For A Spin

- I don't know why people got their thongs in a knot when the governor of California called the Democratic legislators in Sacramento girlie-men for not standing up to special interest groups. See... Stateside with Rosalea: Taking My Brain For A Spin [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00192.htm

911 Report: A Citizen's Critique

- In the wake of the attacks of September 11th, 2001, independent researchers, former military and intelligence officers, families of victims, certain members of Congress and other citizens began to address the unanswered questions about the events. Who? Why? How? See... UQ Wire: A Citizens’ Critique Of The 9/11 Commiss. [1] MORE: - Commission - UQ WIRE: The 9/11 Commission Report [2] - Citizen's Watch - UQ Wire: Critique Of 9/11 Commission Now Online [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00186.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0407/S00248.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0407/S00247.htm

911 Report: Sibel Edmonds Is Confused

- The countdown is finally over, and a five hundred sixty seven-page Commission report is out. According to the Commission Chairman, they have seen ‘every single document’ and have interviewed ‘every single relevant witness and authority’. See... UQ Wire: Sibel Edmonds – Puzzled & Curious [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00194.htm

911 Report: Mary Pitt Is Apportioning Blame

- In the wake of the release of the report of the 9/11 Commission, there is one question being asked over and over with many answers coming from all corners of society. ''It was Clinton's fault!'' ''It was Bush's fault!'' ''It was the fault of the FBI or ... See... Mary Pitt: Who Is Responsible For 9/11? [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00191.htm

Dennis Hans: 16 Stinky Words From The POTUS

- We are now told that the controversial 16-word sentence in the January 28, 2003 State of the Union address (hereafter ''SOTU'') about alleged Iraqi efforts to procure unenriched uranium from Africa was ''truthful'' (William Safire) and ''well-founded'' (Britain’s Butler Committee report). Alas, it is neither. See... Dennis Hans: Those 16 Words Still Smell [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00196.htm

Between The Lines: The Road To A One Party State

- "Banana Republicans" Examines How GOP Gained Virtual Control over U.S. Political Power - Interview with John Stauber, co-author of ''Banana Republicans: How the Right-Wing is Turning America into a One-Party State,'' conducted by Scott Harris. See... GOP's Virtual Control Over U.S. Political Power [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00189.htm

Genevieve Cora Fraser: Palestine's Universities Under Siege

- Higher Education in Palestine is increasingly under siege from Israeli death squad attacks on the lives and well being of professors and students to Israel's refusal to grant work visas to instructors as well as from a variety of other hardships such as the deterioration of the Palestinian economy and the inability of students to access their schools due to Israeli closures, roadblocks and the Racist Apartheid Wall. See... Palestinian Universities Post Urgent Appeal [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00188.htm

Sonia Nettnin: Frontiers Of Dreams And Fears

- In the film, Frontiers Of Dreams And Fears, director Mai Masri explores the lives of two, teenage girls who become close friends. See... Film Review: Frontiers of Dreams and Fears [1] See... Film Review: Frontiers of Dreams and Fears [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00195.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00195.htm

Poem: Ensnared in A Israeli Death Trap

- Dedicated to the memory of Palestinian American Dr. Kahled Salah and his son 16 year old Mohammed who were murdered in cold blood in their Nablus home by Israeli soldiers. See... Palestinian Family Ensnared in Israeli Death Trap [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00190.htm

Valenzeula: George Bush's Legacy – Part II

- Out of the coffers of antiquity and history have been opened the days of fear, emancipated to hover above the land of the free and the home of the brave. Yet it is fear that is slowly eroding both our freedoms and bravery. See... George W. Bush’s Lasting Legacy to America (2) [1] . See also… George W. Bush’s Lasting Legacy to America (1) [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00187.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00175.htm

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0407/S00184.htm
IMAGE: Scoop's Fahrenheit 9/11 Preview - Friday Night

Is Sickness Benefit The New Benefit Scam?

- ACT New Zealand Health Spokesman Heather Roy today expressed concern, but not surprise, that doctors are speaking out over being swamped by unemployed people seeking medical certificates to enable to them to sign up for the Sickness benefit. See... Doctors Stuck Doing WINZ Job [1] MORE: - NZ First -Government Invited Benefit Scam [2] - ACT - Time For Truth On Sickness Benefit [3] - United Future - Turner: Perhaps Now The Minister Will Listen [4]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00413.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00414.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00412.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00408.htm

Coddington Seeks Answers On The Cost Of School Closure

- ACT New Zealand Education Spokesman Deborah Coddington today demanded that Education Minister Trevor Mallard reveal just how much New Zealand taxpayers have had to fork out for Education Ministry officials to close their schools. See... How Much, Mr Mallard? [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00407.htm

Flag Burning Should Be De-Criminalised – Locke

- Green MP Keith Locke is calling for the Government to repeal the flag protection law, following Friday’s overturning of an activist’s conviction for burning a New Zealand flag at a protest against Australian Prime Minister John Howard last year. See... Flag burning law must be extinguished [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00405.htm

Mark Burton: Feeling Good Economically Speaking

- Real well-being-not only for us, but for future generations-means looking after all of our capital-human, built, natural, social, and cultural. See... Hon Mark Burton: Economic well-being: Speech [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00419.htm

HealthLine To Take On PlunketLine's Mantle

- All of New Zealand will have access by June next year to a free nationwide health information phone line that will incorporate PlunketLine and build on that line’s success, says Health Minister Annette King. See... Nationwide Healthline service poised to take off [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00418.htm

Far From Impressed With Response To Contaminated Cornflour

- Green MP Sue Kedgley today called on the New Zealand Food Safety Authority to release a list of every product with batch numbers that were produced using lead-contaminated cornflour imported from China. See... Contaminated corn recall "nowhere near enough" [1] and Kedgley calls for lead-contaminated inquiry [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00417.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00403.htm

Dunne Notes New Business Thinktank's Thoughts

- United Future leader Peter Dunne says a new report released today, which says the median household wealth in Australia is more than three times that of a similar household in New Zealand, highlights the real issue Kiwis ought to be worried about. See... Dunne calls for priorities re-think [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00416.htm

Robson Sees Closure For East Timor In OZ/NZ Agreement

- Australia's successful signing of a maritime boundary agreement with New Zealand should form the basis of a similar agreement between Australia and East Timor, Progressive MP Matt Robson said today. See... Deal should form basis for Oz-Timor agreement [1] and NZ, Australia sign maritime boundary treaty [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00415.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00400.htm

Winston Wants Answers On Breakfast TV

- New Zealand First leader Rt Hon Winston Peters wants to know why TVNZ has decided that taxpayers should pay for an additional front person on the Breakfast Show, after deciding in July last year that one presenter could do the job. See... TVNZ Could You Please Explain? [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00411.htm

More Parole Outrage With Marc Alexander

- Last week I wrote about the risk posed to the community by Lloyd McIntosh. Remember he was the offender who raped a six year old in 1989, and then brutally raped a 23 month old baby girl within three months of being released in 1993. See... Marc My Words [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0407/S00409.htm

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

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