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TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS
LEAD STORY:
Former U.S. Security Advisor Asks: Is Winston Peters Being Used?

NZ LEAD:
National Taps Into Community's Fear And Resentment For Immigration Policy -
Labour's New Billboards Spark War Of Words On SOE's -

INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
Iran Re-Starts Uranium Conversion Plant Before UN Completes Surveillance Tests
Upton-On-Line
HARD NEWS from Russell Brown
Yasser Abu Moailek Writes From Gaza

OTHER NEWS (Just Politics)
NZ First Commits To Aged Care Security
National Insists Sutton Behind Dog-Code Agenda
Greens Challenge All Parties To State Position On Maori Seats

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TODAY’S TOP SCOOPS

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Former U.S. Security Advisor Asks: Is Winston Peters Being Used?

http://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0508/8e4f1269bb7426c0b303.jpeg

The Director of the Working Group on Alternative Security Perspectives at Auckland University, Paul Buchanan, previously worked as an analyst and consultant for several U.S. security agencies and with irregular forces in Latin America. He believes New Zealand has a clear threat to its national security due to continuing accusations being leveled against this country's Muslim community by a high profile politician. He says this MP, albeit unconsciously, may be being used to advance an Islamicist extremist cause. See... Is Peters Being Used As A Pawn in Al-Qaeda's Game?
[1]

[1] http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0508/S00074.htm

NZ LEAD:

National Taps Into Community's Fear And Resentment For Immigration Policy -

There is resentment, at least among those wanting to buy their first home, at the impact of immigration on house prices. There is fear of Islamist fundamentalism, exacerbated when a Maori convert to Islam expresses admiration for Osama bin Laden and a Muslim (Labour) Member of Parliament contends that the Koran is right to say that adulterers and homosexuals should be stoned to death. It is these resentments and these fears that underlie the very real concern many people have about current immigration policy. See... Brash: A responsible middle course [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0508/S00229.htm

Labour's New Billboards Spark War Of Words On SOE's -

Prime Minister Helen Clark today warned of the National Party's hidden agenda for privatisation, as new election billboards carrying a similar message were unveiled. The billboards quote Don Brash on asset sales: "I'm not willing to say. We can fill in the gaps in its policy: National will sell New Zealand’s state-owned enterprises,” Helen Clark said. See... Labour: National plans SOE sales [1] Prime Minister reckless with the truth again [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0508/S00246.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0508/S00244.htm

SCOOP REPORTS:

Scoop Report: Prime Minister's Presser Very Political Indeed

- Image: Was National's leader Don Brash evasive? Kevin List details hot topics discussed at the Prime Minister's post-Cabinet press conference. These included: Don Brash's "evasive" answers to the Listener magazine - PM considers whether National ready to finish Roger Douglas's work - and Gerry Brownlee's assertion last week that "there is practically no difference between National and Labour on foreign policy" which the PM considered to be "quite ridiculous". See... PM Presser: Foreign Policy Difference's Clarified [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0508/S00064.htm

INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
Iran Re-Starts Uranium Conversion Plant Before UN Completes Surveillance Tests

- Iran re-started activities at a uranium conversion plant today following the installation of surveillance cameras by the United Nations atomic watchdog but “regrettably” prior to completion of their testing, the agency entrusted with curbing the spread of nuclear weapons reported. Iran voluntarily suspended operations last year of all uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities during negotiations with European countries on its nuclear programme, which it insists is for peaceful energy production but which some countries, including the United States, say is part of an effort to produce nuclear weapons. See... Iran Re-Starts Uranium Conversion Plant [1] Nuke Ban Call On 60th Anniversary Of Japan Bombing [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0508/S00089.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0508/S00080.htm

TOP COLUMNS:

Upton-On-Line

- In (yet another) national identity edition, upton-on-line explores some of the questions raised recently by Colin James in an address entitled Four Million People in Search of an Idea. But first, proof that old Gauls die hard... Such a pity Le Figaro recently devoted its literary supplement to spies and espionage. And to inject a frisson of reality, the newspaper published a special interview with Pierre Marion, the head of the French External Security service between June 1981 and December 1982. See... Upton-on-line: Identity Edition [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0508/S00066.htm

HARD NEWS from Russell Brown

- The final Paul Holmes show on Prime last night led with Nick Smith MP wittering on about dog kennels. An hour later, Campbell Live devoted an entire show to what might be the last televised interview that David Lange will do. Spot the difference. Campbell's interview with the former Prime Minister was a gem; its conclusion sufficiently moving that the host's eyes were welling with tears as he signed off the show. And amid slightly manic media attempts to declare a fight between Lange and various of his former colleagues on the basis of excerpts from his memoir, Lange offered his verdict on Helen Clark with grace and good humour. See... PUBLIC ADDRESS 09/08: With Grace and Good Humour [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0508/S00067.htm

Yasser Abu Moailek Writes From Gaza

- For Nafez Abu Nahyeh, the imminent Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip is his only chance at regaining his former normal life, one in which he did not have to share his home with the enemy. Every morning Abu Nahyeh wakes up from a disturbed sleep, as he is reminded of the fact that, for more than three years now, he and his family have always begun the day to the accompaniment of the thuds and rumblings of the Israeli soldiers who occupy their house's rooftop. See... Yasser Abu Moailek's Letter From Gaza [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0508/S00065.htm

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OTHER NEWS (JUST POLITICS)

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JUST POLITICS:

NZ First Commits To Aged Care Security

- New Zealand First made three commitments at the inaugural Healthcare Providers conference in Auckland today. “First, we will dramatically increase funding to the elder care sector to place it on a stable footing,” said Jim Peters MP. “We will also remove income and asset testing for those requiring long stay hospital care and remove asset testing for those in long stay private care. Labour made similar promises in 2002, which have not been kept in this regard. See... Aged Care Secure With New Zealand First [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0508/S00243.htm

National Insists Sutton Behind Dog-Code Agenda

- Labour cannot claim the draft new dog code has nothing to do with the Government when Jim Sutton, as Minister of Agriculture, has his name all over it, says National's Local Government spokesman, Nick Smith. "I can understand that six weeks out from an election Labour would want to distance itself from these daft new dog welfare rules, but the Minister has written the preface and has overseen four drafts of this nonsense," says Dr Smith. See... Minister's name all over stupid dog code draft [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0508/S00239.htm

Greens Challenge All Parties To State Position On Maori Seats

- The Greens are calling for political parties to publicly restate their commitment to the Maori seats, Maori Issues Spokesperson Metiria Turei says. Mrs Turei is a list MP who is standing in Te Tai Tonga in this year's election. "National and NZ First want to do away with the Maori seats, but ultimately that is solely the prerogative of Maori themselves, something that is tested by the proxy referendum of the five-yearly Maori electoral option," Mrs Turei says. See... Greens issue wero on Maori seats [1] Libz Accept Turei's Challenge: "No Maori Seats!" [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0508/S00222.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0508/S00104.htm

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