Top Scoop Stories - 04 February 2008 News Summary

Monday, 4 February 2008, 2:00 pm
Article: The Scoop Editor

Today's Top Scoops - 04 February 2008

LEAD STORY:

More Wellington Madness: Perilous Circus In The Square

NZ POLITICS:

Foreign Affairs: McCully Says Govt Should Be Firmer With Burma
Transport: NZ's First Dedicated Busway Inaugurated By PM
Politics: Race Relations Whitewash A Farce Says Maori Party
Medical: Greens Worried By Slow Emergency Response

BUSINESS SCIENCE & TECH:

Migration: UK Family Want More Brits To Move Here
Environment: NZ Wetlands Receive International Recognition
Agriculture: Farm Business Specialist Thinks Carbon Tax Beastly
Scoop Weather: National Climate Summary - January 2008

WORLD:

Global Warming: Latin America And The Caribbean Have Key Climate Change Role
Foreign Affairs: Number Of Political Prisoners Increases In 2007
Sweet! Cocoa Farmers To Benefit From New UN Partnership With Chocolate Giant

COMMENT:

David Swanson: Your Vote Will Be Thoughtful, But Will It Be Counted?
Ramzy Baroud: People'S Power In Gaza
Ron Callari: Obama Vs. Clinton - Public Vs. Private Talks

LIFESTYLE:

Ha, ha, ha: Classic, It's A Night Of Clean Comedy
Touring Musos: Interpol choose NZ opening act!
Popular Music: Anika Moa to support Jools Holland

More Wellington Madness: Perilous Circus In The Square - Scoop Images: If you were missing out on costumed tomfoolery after the Wellington Sevens, Civic Square was the place to be on Sunday. Outdoor circus performances, music and clowning mixed with free workshops in everything from trapeze to unicycling to juggling. More >> [1]

FROM THE SEVENS:

• Images: The Best Of The Sevens' Fans [2]
• Pictures: Wellington Sevens Costumes On The Street [3]
• Street Parade Images (Part One) [4]
• Wellington Sevens Parade Hi-jinks Part Deux [5]
i
• TV3 Video - Crowds begin to arrive for Sevens [6]
• TV3 Video - Police blame alcohol for disorderly sevens fans [7]
• TV3 Video - Rugby: Vito seals victory for NZ sevens team [8]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0802/S00019.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0802/S00013.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0802/S00012.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0801/S00296.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0801/S00300.htm
[6] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/sport/4723.html
[7] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/sport/4717.html
[8] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/multimedia/tv/sport/4735.html

Foreign Affairs: McCully Says Govt Should Be Firmer With Burma - Helen Clark must explain why a taxpayer-owned company is doing contract work for the Government of Myanmar (Burma), given her position on flights to Kuwait and the sanctions imposed on Fiji says National Party Foreign Affairs spokesman Murray McCully. More >> [1] ALSO:

• Terry Evans - Burmese Resistance and the Starling Theory [2]
• Terry Evans - Burma: Leading Pro-Democracy Activists Charged [3]
• Assistance Association for Political Prisioners - Number of political prisoners increases in 2007 [4]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0802/S00023.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0802/S00021.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0801/S00299.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0802/S00018.htm

Transport: NZ's First Dedicated Busway Inaugurated By PM - New Zealand 's first dedicated 6.25 km two-way busway with 5 stations that took one decade to build was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Helen Clark this morning amid cheers from the hundreds who came to witness the historic occasion. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0802/S00016.htm

Politics: Race Relations Whitewash A Farce Says Maori Party - Today's release by Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres proclaiming that 2007 was a year of 'significant developments in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi' demonstrates that the Commissioner's role has become reduced to that of a Government proxy says Te Ururoa Flavell, Treaty spokesperson for the Maori Party. More >> [1] ALSO:

• Human Rights Commission - Treaty developments significant over the past year [2]
• Waitangi Day Speeches - State of the Nation speeches ready to roll [3]
• Maori Party - The Maori Party is doing its bit to fly the flag [4]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0802/S00001.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0802/S00019.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0802/S00016.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0802/S00025.htm

Medical: Greens Worried By Slow Emergency Response - The Green Party is calling for a formal inquiry into why no ambulance was available to take Wairarapa accident victim Reece Lloyd-Grimwood for urgent surgery. The people of Wairarapa need to know whether there are major problems with their ambulance service. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0802/S00009.htm

Migration: UK Family Want More Brits To Move Here - In 2000 Mike and Tammy Bell left a cramped rented house London with their three young daughters and flew off to make a life for themselves in New Zealand. Before Peter Jackson made this a popular destination it was an unusual and difficult move. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• JP Morgan - NZ: Falling net-permanent migration [2]
• Stats NZ - Trips to the Pacific Islands and Asia increase [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0802/S00030.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0802/S00029.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0802/S00024.htm

Environment: NZ Wetlands Receive International Recognition - Conservation Minister Steve Chadwick has announced today on World Wetlands Day that a unique area of New Zealand wetlands has received international recognition. 16,000 hectares of wetlands in Southland have become part of a network of just six New Zealand sites that are recognised under the International Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• Taranaki Regional Council - No Dry Arguments On World Wetlands Day [2]
• Greater Wellington Regional Council - Spotlight goes on our wetlands [3]
• Environment Bay of Plenty - Celebrate Our Wetlands [4]
• Greens - Government must protect Happy Valley wetlands [5]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0802/S00026.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0802/S00004.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0802/S00024.htm
[4] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0801/S00203.htm
[5] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0802/S00014.htm

Agriculture: Farm Business Specialist Thinks Carbon Tax Beastly - Anyone who thinks that farmers should be hit with a carbon tax for greenhouse gas emissions should think again, according to farm business specialist Peter Floyd. Floyd says that properly managed pastures will steadily build up organic matter and effectively lock up atmospheric carbon. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0802/S00023.htm

Scoop Weather: National Climate Summary - January 2008 - NIWA: Heat wave conditions occurred across inland areas of the South Island, and even extended to coastal parts of Canterbury and central Marlborough. More >> [1]

ALSO:

• NIWA - Warm late summer; dry soils and low river flows [2]
• Greens - Hawkes Bay DHB warns GPs of death risk [3]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0802/S00002.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0801/S00060.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0802/S00004.htm

Global Warming: Latin America And The Caribbean Have Key Climate Change Role - The top United Nations climate change official today highlighted the crucial role that Latin America and the Caribbean countries - which scientists believe will bear the brunt of the effects of global warming over the coming decades - will play in addressing the problem. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0802/S00020.htm

Foreign Affairs: Number Of Political Prisoners Increases In 2007 - The international community has made little progress in addressing the oppression and suffering of the Burmese people. The visits of both the UN special envoy to Burma, Mr. Gambari, and the UN Special Rapportuer on Human Rights in Burma, Mr. Pinheiro, failed to yield any real results. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0802/S00018.htm

Sweet! Cocoa Farmers To Benefit From New UN Partnership With Chocolate Giant - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is setting up a partnership with the confectionery conglomerate Cadbury to support cocoa-farming communities in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean by helping them to boost their crop yields. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0802/S00005.htm

David Swanson: Your Vote Will Be Thoughtful, But Will It Be Counted? - By the time November 2008 rolls around, you will have endured over two years of breathless horse-race election coverage. But the big question (and one of the important things to work on) is this: will you have any way to know your vote is counted? More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0802/S00026.htm

Ramzy Baroud: People'S Power In Gaza - In a radio interview prior to the US invasion of Iraq, David Barsamian asked Noam Chomsky what ordinary Americans could do to stop the war. Chomsky answered, ''In some parts of the world people never ask, 'what can we do?' They simply do it.'' More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0802/S00020.htm

Ron Callari: Obama Vs. Clinton - Public Vs. Private Talks - What is the evolution of unresolved negotiations? Have we benefited from failed diplomacy and conflict management over the years? Does mankind actually learn from its collective mistakes? More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0802/S00027.htm

Ha, ha, ha: Classic, It's A Night Of Clean Comedy - After ending last year with a sell out show, Clean Comedy is back with a special event. The Clean Comedy show is a family friendly show offering a great night of up-lifting entertainment guaranteed to be a hit with everyone. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0802/S00019.htm

Touring Musos: Interpol choose NZ opening act! - Interpol as on their previous visit from the start insisted on choosing the opening act for their forth coming Auckland show. Mysterygirl sent them a list (with audio links) of a dozen bands ranging from The Dead C to Charlie Ash and the result is that they chose...Surf City More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0802/S00015.htm

Popular Music: Anika Moa to support Jools Holland - Kiwi songbird Anika Moa has been signed to support British superstar musician JOOLS HOLLAND when he performs in Auckland next month. After her memorable support slot for Ryan Adams and her sold out national tour, Anika is honoured to be supporting Jools. More >> [1]

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0802/S00016.htm

ENDS

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