17 October 2003 14:59
HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:45, Oct 17
PERTH - It has been labelled the Boer War Cup.
MELBOURNE - It sounds a bit like a Third World circus act.
MELBOURNE - Two former prime ministers, a pair of past governors-general and a selection of four decades of Labor
luminaries gathered today to farewell one of their heroes. But the funeral of Dr Jim Cairns was notable as much for the
one person who wasn't there. CANBERRA - Prime Minister John Howard has condemned comments by outgoing Malaysian
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that "Jews ruled the world by proxy" and that Muslims should use brains, not
brawn to fight them. CANBERRA - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had gone too far this time in claiming that
Jews ruled the world by proxy, Labor said today. CANBERRA - Australia's Jewish community today condemned outgoing
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for "inciting violence and hatred". CANBERRA - Australia did not see
itself as sheriff or enforcer in the Asia Pacific region, Prime Minister John Howard said today. CANBERRA - Australia
had to be careful it did not build an image as the lone ranger of South-East Asia following United States President
George W Bush's regional sheriff comment, Labor said today. CANBERRA - More than two dozen Australian travellers
are stuck in Bolivia following widespread social unrest which has caused the cancellation of commercial flights, the
Department of Foreign Affairs said today. SYDNEY - Internet service provider BigPond today told customers hit by the
Swen virus the company did not provide a service guarantee for email traffic. HASTINGS - School children waving
Australian flags and war veterans decked with medals turned out to meet Britain's Princess Anne in the seaside town
of Hastings, south-east of Melbourne, today. SYDNEY - Pan Pharmaceuticals founder Jim Selim has lost his bid to stop the
company being placed in liquidation. MELBOURNE - Damien Oliver's main concern about the Dermot Weld-trained In
Time's Eye, 5-1 favourite for tomorrow's $2.5 million Caulfield Cup, is his ability to handle the Caulfield
circuit. BRISBANE - The Wallabies believe they need to improve their finishing against Romania in tomorrow's Rugby
World Cup match in Brisbane. SYDNEY - Test debutant Brad Williams claimed his first Test scalp as Australia's
bowlers dominated the morning session of the second and final cricket Test against Zimbabwe at the SCG today. ALSO SEE
THE FOLLOWING BACKGROUNDERS AND ANALYSES MOVED TODAY: CANBERRA - George W Bush is unlikely to come face to face with any
ordinary Australians when he visits Canberra next week. JAKARTA - With the life sentence handed down to Bali bomb
plotter Mubarok, the trials of the main suspects are drawing to a close. CANBERRA - The normally calm waters of the
Murray River are proving to be most treacherous for the federal government. SYDNEY - NSW Premier Bob Carr is the master
of the political diversion, and he was at it again this week. BRISBANE - Beware. The Crocodile Hunter's on the
prowl and out to catch tourists. MELBOURNE - Bruce Esplin, the man investigating last summer's devastating
Victorian bushfires, this week made a vain bid to halt the acrimony and finger-pointing that started while the embers
still glowed. SYDNEY - Not many buildings get birthday parties. SYDNEY - It's like the Godfather meets Romeo and
Juliet with a touch of Quentin Tarantino thrown in. HOBART - The cure for a disfiguring disease killing Tasmanian devils
may take years to develop. LONDON - In his Booker Prize acceptance speech, Peter Finlay thanked his Mexican friends in
Spanish and his Australian mates with that quintessential Aussie phrase "Oi, Oi, Oi!". SYDNEY - Australian
entertainment icon Barry Crocker says he's often been knocked for not knowing when to get off stage. CANBERRA - The
Navy accepts delivery of the first of 11 of the troubled Super Seasprite helicopters tomorrow - more than two years late
and in no condition to actually fire a missile or drop a torpedo in anger. ADELAIDE - It's a car that can literally
park itself. BRISBANE - Australia's greatest swimmer Dawn Fraser thought her male coach was "mentor, mother
and father". MELBOURNE - For many country Victorians, life revolves around Aussie rules football.
BRISBANE - A leading Australian bookmaker says he has suspicions about tour tennis players rigging matches, but has
no hard evidence of such activity. CANBERRA - Prime Minister John Howard today warned homebuyers taking out low-deposit
home loans could be trapped if there was a fall in property values or a rise in interest rates. CANBERRA - Australians
would commemorate the anniversary of the Bali bombings every year but probably not on the same scale as this year, Prime
Minister John Howard said today. CANBERRA - Prime Minister John Howard today criticised France, Russia and Germany for
not sending peacekeepers to Iraq despite supporting a United Nations Security Council resolution. CANBERRA - Thieves who
stole computer equipment from a Customs facility in Sydney, sparking a major security scare, went to a lot of trouble
for devices which weren't very valuable, a parliamentary committee heard today. CANBERRA - Two brazen thieves who
stole Customs computers requested and signed for a swipecard to gain access to a supposedly secure computer room, a
parliamentary committee heard today. SYDNEY - Federal Communications Minister Daryl Williams today came under fire from
his opposition counterpart over plans to resubmit a bill softening regulations on cross-media ownership. SYDNEY - NSW
Premier Bob Carr today appeared to tone down his language over the Greenacre shootings, saying he never meant to tarnish
an entire community. SYDNEY - Sydney was being controlled by around a thousand gun-toting young men and a new jail was
needed to put them in, the NSW opposition said today. SYDNEY - A second home shot up in Sydney's west overnight had
been targeted before, police said today. SYDNEY - A new counter-terrorism intelligence body would strengthen
Australia's security capability, Attorney General Philip Ruddock said today. SYDNEY - The federal government faces
a community backlash if it forces the NSW government to remove protection for certain small business operators, Premier
Bob Carr said today. SYDNEY - A man injured while breaking up a brawl at a western Sydney TAB has been awarded more than
$90,000 in damages. SYDNEY - Tears flowed today as family, friends and school mates packed St Andrew's Anglican
Cathedral in Sydney for the funeral of a family killed in a north Queensland plane crash. SYDNEY - In an increasingly
divided world plagued by wars, astronaut Buzz Aldrin still believes his small steps on the moon were giant leaps for
mankind. MELBOURNE - A national score card which rated Australia's efforts at reducing poverty over the past year
gave the country an F today. SYDNEY - Australia maintained a "conspiracy of silence" about poverty, opposition
family and community services spokesman Wayne Swan said today. MELBOURNE - Prime Minister John Howard today said the
shipload of 52,000 sheep on their way back from the Middle East would undergo rigorous quarantine inspection before
being allowed back into Australia. MELBOURNE - Country music legend Slim Dusty could join the likes of Charles and Diana
and Captain Cook, immortalised on a 50 cent piece. MELBOURNE - Victorian independent MP Russell Savage has complained to
parliament alleging an opposition member had abused and challenged him to a fist fight in the house last night.
MELBOURNE - A 26-year-old Melbourne computer student today pleaded guilty to possessing 10,000 images of child
pornography in his computer. MELBOURNE - A retrenched factory worker from Melbourne's western suburbs can give up
the job hunt after winning more than $1.1 million in Wednesday's Tattslotto jackpot. BRISBANE - Top-ranking
swimming coach Greg Hodge today filed a writ for defamation against Channel Nine over allegations of inappropriate
behaviour. BRISBANE - Premier Peter Beattie has defended the Queensland Families Department's handling of foster
care by claiming his own file was "methodically kept". BRISBANE - Notorious "Postcard Bandit"
Brenden Abbott has gone on a hunger strike in protest against increased security procedures in Queensland prisons.
BRISBANE - A 29-year-old man has been charged with drug and firearm offences following a raid by police south of
Brisbane today. BRISBANE - Santas would have to undergo criminal record checks under plans to extend Queensland's
child protection laws. BRISBANE - Two more paraplegics have had nasal cells transplanted into their damaged spinal cords
as part of a world-first trial in Australia aimed at spinal regeneration. GOLD COAST - What's in a name - plenty if
it's a town called Bogangar. TOWNSVILLE, - The Port Hinchinbrook controversy is heating up again after developer
Keith Williams applied for approval for the second stage of the project. ADELAIDE - A former adviser to South Australian
Premier Mike Rann appeared in court today charged with abuse of public office. ADELAIDE - Australians would prefer more
government spending on health and education to tax cuts, a social services group said today. ADELAIDE - Some South
Australian schools have taken to using SMS messaging on mobile phones to help improve student attendance. DARWIN - A man
allegedly found with more than 12,000 hard porn pictures of children - including infants being sexually penetrated - has
been refused bail in a Darwin court. DARWIN - The hot and dusty outback is almost as far from the glitz and hype of the
Melbourne Cricket Ground as you can imagine. DARWIN - Deadly cane toads could one day inhabit every state and territory
in Australia, a report has found. PERTH - A rooftop protest at Port Hedland detention centre by a teenaged Iraqi boy,
who claims immigration officials tricked his mentally-ill brother into signing deportation papers, has entered its third
day. AAP mo
[AIW [Asia Africa Intelligence Wire]] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
