Highlights of the AAp National Wire at 1445 = 2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-21-2006
Highlights of the AAp National Wire at 1445 = 2

CANBERRA - Attorney-General Philip Ruddock says he and Prime Minister John Howard share
concerns over the length of time terror suspect David Hicks has been in detention. (Hicks
Ruddock )

CANBERRA - Australia should increase its military commitment and aid to Sudan to help
avert the collapse of the United Nations mission, a report says. (Darfur )

CANBERRA - Farmers' hopes of an end to the big dry may have been dashed, with research
predicting a strong chance of the dreaded El Nino weather pattern returning. (Drought)

CANBERRA - The Norfolk Island government has caved in to Canberra's demand for major
reforms of their governance and taxation systems. (Norfolk Governance. Also see Norfolk)

CANBERRA - The rorting of a UN aid program to recover an $US8 million debt for BHP
will be dissected by investigators when the inquiry into disgraced wheat exporter AWB
resumes tomorrow. (AWB)

SYDNEY - Guidelines on the treatment of meningococcal disease will not be changed to
recommend antibiotics for people who have only brief contact with a sufferer, an infectious
disease expert says. (Meningococcal Guidelines. Also see Meningococcal, Meningococcal
Iemma and Meningococcal Factbox)

Meningococcal N/L to come.

SYDNEY - A man accused of taking bribes to help Chinese nationals gain Australian citizenship
has been refused bail in a Sydney court. (Moon Lead)

Moon N/L to come.

SYDNEY - The police officer in charge of the investigation into the suspected murder
of Janine Vaughan failed to tell a NSW coroner that he had concerns about the alibi of
a suspect and fellow officer. (Vaughan)

Vaughan N/L to come.

SYDNEY - Heroin with a potential street value of $3.5 million has been found by police
inside a car in Sydney's south-west. (Heroin)

SYDNEY - Patrick Keating, the son of former prime minister Paul Keating, will face
a Sydney court next month on an assault charge. (Keating)

SYDNEY - A journalist has denied leaking information to the NSW opposition alleging
a former minister sought a bribe for the ALP over the Oasis development in Sydney's west.

(Obeid to come)

SYDNEY - Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott is ditching his day job for a few hours
this week to hand out prescriptions at a Sydney pharmacy. (Business)

MELBOURNE - The lawyer for Jack Terrence Thomas - the first Australian jailed under
new anti-terrorism laws and freed last week - says there is no new evidence to re-try
his client. (Thomas Lawyer)

MELBOURNE - Parents risk injuring or killing children by allowing them to use adult
seat belts in cars too early, a study has found. (Booster)

MELBOURNE - A Chilean man has claimed a 17th century artwork on display at the National
Gallery of Victoria (NGV) may have been looted from his grandfather by Nazis. (Painting)

MELBOURNE - A Melbourne teenager banned from wearing a crucifix to school returned
to class today still sporting the necklace, in defiance of school rules. (Cross)

MELBOURNE - The Coles Myer Ltd board holds its regular monthly meeting tomorrow but
there will only be one topic of conversation - the takeover activity swirling around the
retailer. (Coles)



INNISFAIL, Qld - Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says a re-elected Labor government
will spend $52 million on equipment and training for emergency volunteers to better prepare
for cyclones. (Poll Qld Cyclone Lead)

INNISFAIL - Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says he will examine parliamentary rules
that allow retiring MPs to keep thousands of dollars in allowances. (Poll Qld MPs. Also
see Poll Qld Flegg, Poll Qld Molloy, Poll Qld Apprentice)

Poll Qld Nightlead to come.

INNISFAIL - First there were Lady Flo's pumpkin scones - now there's Heather Beattie's
choc chip cookies. (Poll Qld Cookies. Pics available)

BRISBANE - Two brothers and their mate will be sentenced in the Supreme Court this
afternoon after being convicted of attacking a man and leaving him to die on the roadside
in Brisbane. (Bachelard to come).

BRISBANE - Gold Coast Deputy Mayor David Power is facing a summary trial over a charge
that he misled a Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) investigation into the Gold Coast
City Council. (Power. Pics available )

BRISBANE - A woman believed to be cleaning her balcony has plunged to her death from
the 36th floor of a Gold Coast highrise. (Balcony)

Seeking more.

BRISBANE - Former Brisbane Broncos rugby league forward Neville Costigan has faced
court on a drink driving charge. (Costigan)

BRISBANE - Vandals have pushed over and smashed up to 50 headstones during a "mindless"

rampage in a Brisbane cemetery, authorities say. (Headstones)

BRISBANE - The Queensland government has stood down two staff at a regional hospital
over allegations of fraud and drug theft. (Blackwater)

BRISBANE - A veterinarian says the use of .22 calibre rifles in harvesting wallabies
is inhumane and against animal protection laws. (Wallaby to come)

BRISBANE - Over 40s women release fabulous forties calendar for charity. (Forties to come)

ADELAIDE - Police say it is a miracle six school students escaped with only minor injuries
as steel girders speared through the windows of a bus in a collision with a truck in Adelaide.

(Bus Lead )

ADELAIDE - The elderly are prepared to risk their safety to maintain an independent
lifestyle, a university study has found. (Elderly )

ADELAIDE - NASA has revived hopes that Woomera, in South Australia's far north, will
be the launch site for rockets to supply and maintain the International Space Station
(ISS to come)

ADELAIDE - A research team at the University of Adelaide may have found a way to reduce
brain swelling, the most common cause of death after stroke. (Brain to come)

ADELAIDE - South Australians are being urged to drink more water, with statistics showing
many drink fewer than two glasses a day. (Drink)

PERTH - Australian paedophile Paul Thompson will appear in a Perth court today after
police arrested him following his deportation from Thailand. (Thompson)

Thompson N/L to come.

HOBART - The Red Cross Blood Service will defend its donor-screening policies in the
Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal today as blood supplies reach dangerously low levels
across the nation. (Blood)

HOBART - It's windy enough to flatten your vegetable patch and it rains an average
of 249 days per year. (Maatsuyker)

LAUNCESTON, Tas - Judge sums up in the trial of man charged with murder and arson following
a fire at backpacker hostel. (Hostel to come)

SYDNEY - Interview with Melanie Hogan and Bob Randall, about new Australian documentary
Kanyini. (Kanyini to come. Pics available)

SYDNEY - Cleo Batchelor of the Year finalists photo call. (Batchelor to come. Pics available)

SYDNEY - Australian Kate Beahan has signed on to star in American indie film One of
Our Own. (Beahan to come. Pics available)

SYDNEY - Interview with Henry Singer, producer and director of ABC documentary The
Falling Man. The doco is about the controversial picture of the unidentified man falling
from the World Trade Centre on September 11. (9/11 to come. File pics available)

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KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL 2 SYDNEY

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