Top Scoop Stories - 17 July 2007 News Summary

Tuesday, 17 July 2007, 2:13 pm
Article: The Scoop Editor

Today's Top Scoops - July 17, 2007

LEAD STORY:

Legislation: Govt Puts Therapeutic Products Bill "On Hold"

NZ POLITICS:

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY: Questions For Oral Answer - Tuesday, 17 July 2007
Flooding: Schools Evacuated In Hastings
The Ahmed Zaoui Case - Injustice On The Cheap
Regulation: NZFSA Takes Nutricia To Task Over Infant Formula
Govt News: Rating review underlines need to save
Health News: Hospital lockout resumes

BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH:

Travel: Grabaseat Celebrates Birthday With $1 Fares
Real Estate News: Iconic Bluff ‘Paua House’ Sells
Media News: TVNZ 6 will feature up to 75% local content
Agri News: Bumper Season for Barley

WORLD:

UN Report: Climate Change Will Be Key Topic
United States Government: Interview With Maria Bartiromo on CNBC
UN Report: UN Agency Forced to Double Aid Target
Socialist Alliance: Indigenous leader agrees with Maori MP

COMMENT:

Mark Drolette: Don’t even start calling things Bushian
William Rivers Pitt: We're All Gonna Die!
Scoop - Michael Collins: Full Frontal Assault – The Vitters Square Off?
Scoop Link: US will back Israeli strike on Iran -
David Swanson: Hillary for Emperor
Bill Berkowitz: Wolfowitz - Return to Sender?
LIFESTYLE:

Art: To Japan With Love -
Music News: American Ambassador Snubs Burt Bacharach In Sydney
Dance: Around the World in 80’s Outfits
Media: Alt TV To Audition New Hosts Live To Air
Kiwi Pride: No Need For Drugs When You Have 624 Hugs

Legislation: Govt Puts Therapeutic Products Bill "On Hold" - The Government is not proceeding at this stage with legislation that would have enabled the establishment of a joint agency with Australia to regulate therapeutic products, State Services Minister Annette King announced today. Ms King says the Therapeutics Products and Medicines Bill has been postponed, but will remain on the Order Paper to be revisited when sufficient parliamentary support is available. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• National - Failure of bill shows Labour is lame duck Govt [2]
• Greens - Government backdown a victory for democracy [3]
• NZ First - An Opportunity Lost [4]

• SOIL and HEALTH Assn of NZ - Activist's visit a natural sweetener [5]
• NZNO disappointed at Bills failure [6]
• Out-Link - Hard News: No Bills [7]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0707/S00235.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0707/S00240.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0707/S00237.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0707/S00236.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0707/S00141.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0707/S00056.htm
[7] - http://www.publicaddress.net/default,4349.sm

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:Questions For Oral Answer - Tuesday, 17 July 2007 [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0707/S00246.htm

Flooding: Schools Evacuated In Hastings - Heavy rain causing flooding in Hastings District including areas to the west of Napier. Puketapu School and Puketapu Child Centre have both been evacuated by NZ Army unimog to the Puketapu Hotel... Maraekakaho School has also been evacuated by unimog. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• Hastings District Council - Flooding in Flaxmere [2]
• Canterbury Civil Defence - Household Emergency Planning Made Easy [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0707/S00194.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0707/S00192.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0707/S00196.htm

The Ahmed Zaoui Case - Injustice On The Cheap - Gordon Campbell writes: Unless you’re talking about money, New Zealand seems fairly relaxed about the potential abuse of state power. The Auditor-General, IRD and Treasury may be funded sufficiently to keep an eye on how money is being spent and recouped - but the agencies supposed to protect our rights as citizens have to get by on starvation rations and, in some cases, with a questionable level of independence. That is especially so with the Office of the SIS Inspector-General. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• Scoop Full Coverage - The Ahmed Zaoui Case – The Gordon Campbell Series [2]
• (95bFM Audio): Jose & Gordon Campbell on IG's Zaoui Hearings [3]
• (Scoop Doco):Algeria Amnesty & An Intel Turntable [4]
• (KiwiFM Audio): Wallace & Selwyn Manning on IG's Secret Hearings [5]
• (KiwiFM Audio): Wallace & Helen Clark on IG's Zaoui Hearings [6]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00175.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00174.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00069.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0605/S00004.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00177.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00065.htm

Regulation: NZFSA Takes Nutricia To Task Over Infant Formula - The New Zealand Food Safety Authority announced today that Karicare’s line of Gold Plus formulas including Gold Plus Ready-to-Feed, Infant, and Follow-On contain non-compliant substances called fructo-oligosaccahrides (FOS) or prebiotics. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• NZFSA - Infant Formula does not meet New Zealand Standards [2]
• Nutricia - Karicare Formulas continue to be a safe choice [3]
• National - Warning on baby formula far too late [4]
• Green Party - Baby food breach breathtaking [5]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00181.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0707/S00166.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0707/S00304.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0707/S00243.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0707/S00238.htm

Govt News: Rating review underlines need to save - Finance Minister Michael Cullen today welcomed the decision of Standard & Poor’s to reaffirm its AA+/A-1+ foreign currency and AAA/A-1+ local currency sovereign credit ratings on New Zealand. “This is good news and underscores the wisdom of the Labour-led government’s prudent fiscal management and especially our savings policies,” said Dr Cullen. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0707/S00229.htm

Health News: Hospital lockout resumes
- Spotless Services Ltd will lock out 800 cleaning, kitchen and orderly workers from midnight tonight. The lockout was confirmed after a brief mediation today. SFWU spokesperson Alastair Duncan said Spotless came to mediation unwilling to changes their position. Once again they are standing outside the framework of a national settlement reached with every other employer in the sector. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0707/S00164.htm

Travel: Grabaseat Celebrates Birthday With $1 Fares - One-dollar fares to celebrate grabaseat’s first birthday today sparked a frenzy of online activity as Kiwis snapped up Air New Zealand’s cheapest-ever domestic fares. Special offers on grabaseat.co.nz included $1 each-way flights from Auckland to Dunedin and Christchurch to Nelson. More than 115,000 seats have been sold exclusively on grabaseat since it was launched in July 2006. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0707/S00309.htm

Real Estate News: Iconic Bluff ‘Paua House’ Sells - Following strong ongoing interest from both the local community and a number of potential buyers, the internationally renowned iconic ‘Paua House’ in Bluff has been sold. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0707/S00291.htm

Media News: TVNZ 6 will feature up to 75% local content - TVNZ 6 will feature up to 75% local content TVNZ 6, the first of TVNZ's two new digital channels for the Freeview platform will feature advertising-free programming with between 50% and 75% local content. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0707/S00279.htm

Agri News: Bumper Season for Barley - North Island barley growers are predicting a bumper season after two years of low prices and poor yields, said Grains Council representative for the lower North Island Hew Dalrymple. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0707/S00286.htm

UN Report: Climate Change Will Be Key Topic - On the eve of his meeting in Washington, D.C. with United States President George W. Bush, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said the two will discuss climate change ahead of a special session on the issue planned for September in New York and a global conference to be held two months later in Bali. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0707/S00217.htm

United States Government: Interview With Maria Bartiromo on CNBC - Interview With Maria Bartiromo on CNBC's Closing Bell Secretary Condoleezza Rice Washington, DC July 6, 2007 QUESTION: Secretary Rice, good to have you with us. Thanks for joining us. SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Nice to be with you, Maria. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• United States Governemt - Interview on ABC's Good Morning America [2]
• United States Governemt - Interview With Steve Doocy of Fox and Friends [3]
• United States Governemt - Interview on CBS's Early Show with Harry Smith [4]
• United States Governemt - Interview on NBC's The Today Show With Matt Lauer [5]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0707/S00195.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0707/S00197.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0707/S00196.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0707/S00194.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0707/S00193.htm

UN Report: UN Agency Forced to Double Aid Target - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) announced today that it is doubling to $123 million its budget to help the hundreds of thousands of uprooted Iraqis who are either internally displaced or living in neighbouring states. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0707/S00185.htm

Socialist Alliance: Indigenous leader agrees with Maori MP - “I completely agree with New Zealand Maori Party MP Hone Harawira that Prime Minister John Howard, by attacking marginalized Aboriginal communities, is a ‘racist bastard’,” Aboriginal leader and Socialist Alliance Indigenous spokesperson Sam Watson said in response to Harawira’s controversial comments. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0707/S00181.htm

Mark Drolette: Don’t even start calling things Bushian - I’m sick of lefties snidely comparing the grim totalitarian society of George Orwell’s 1984 to today’s freedom-spewing United States, a country few Americans would dare call dystopian, even if they could define it. The following analysis exposes these aspersions as utterly specious. Unfounded, even... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00182.htm

William Rivers Pitt: We're All Gonna Die! - Who can forget the incredible scandal that erupted back in May of 2002? Around about the middle of that month, details began to emerge about the August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing that specifically warned Bush about Osama bin Laden's... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00196.htm

Scoop - Michael Collins: Full Frontal Assault – The Vitters Square Off? - Senator David Vitter, the family values politician from Louisiana, admitted that he’d committed “a serious sin” and strayed from his marriage. There are always consequences. Vitter may be sleeping lightly with good reason. In a 2000 interview, wife Wendy wowed to take action, Lorena Bobbitt Style, if she ever discovered that her husband David ever strayed from the marriage. In a 2000 interview, wife Wendy wowed to take action, Lorena Bobbitt Style, if she ever discovered that her husband David ever strayed from the marriage.... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00151.htm

Scoop Link: US will back Israeli strike on Iran - - Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday that he received the tacit blessing of Europe and the United States for an Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. “If we start military operations against Iran alone, then Europe and the US will support us,” Lieberman told Army Radio following a meeting earlier in the week with NATO and European Union officials... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00206.htm

David Swanson: Hillary for Emperor - I've decided to drop my advocacy for the impeachment of Cheney or Bush and focus on something more realistic: making Senator Hillary Clinton our next emperor. After all, when the candidate is someone good, you should want them to have as much power as possible. Bear with me a minute, and I think you may agree... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00202.htm

Bill Berkowitz: Wolfowitz - Return to Sender? - Recently forced out as president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, one of the primary architects of U.S. President George W. Bush's Iraq war, is heading back to familiar surroundings. And the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute (AEI), one of the United States' premier conservative think-tanks, is more than pleased to welcome him back... More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00194.htm

Art: To Japan With Love - - “To Japan with love” is an exhibition of over 30 Japan-inspired artworks by local artists that officially opens this Saturday 14 July at the Thistle Hall Community Centre’s gallery, 293 Cuba Street and runs until 21st July. The artworks include Japanese modern art, calligraphy, ikebana, photography, sculpture and more. More>> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0707/S00157.htm

Music News: American Ambassador Snubs Burt Bacharach In Sydney - At Thursday night's official function preceding An Evening with Burt Bacharach at the Sydney Opera House, the Guest of Honour was the American Ambassador to Australia, Robert C McCallum Jnr. The VIP guest and his wife Mimi expressed immense excitement in anticipation of their impending private introduction to the bona-fide legend, to be held backstage following the show. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0707/S00156.htm

Dance: Around the World in 80’s Outfits - The World Recording breaking, May Day Cup holding, Lycra clad dance sensations, The Real Hot Bitches are bursting out of the winter drizzle to bring you one of the most ambitious and anticipated shows of 2007! More>> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0707/S00150.htm

Media: Alt TV To Audition New Hosts Live To Air - Throughout July and August, budding music television presenters will be given the chance to audition live on-air as Alt TV seeks a replacement host to fill the void left by Lucy Hunt. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0707/S00149.htm

Kiwi Pride: No Need For Drugs When You Have 624 Hugs - Record breaker Alistair Galpin has done it again. With 624 hugs, Galpin broke the world record for most hugs in an hour beating the previous record by 12 hugs. More >> [1]

ALSO:
• Good Morning - Cucumber Destroying World Record Holder Needs A Hug – Today! [2]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0707/S00147.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0707/S00124.htm

ENDS

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