Sydney Morning Herald
Crack found in space shuttle pre-launch
The United States space shuttle Discovery began its crawl to a launch pad in Miami today, after a crack in insulation briefly delayed a significant step in NASA's two-year quest to return the shuttle fleet to flight.
The roll-out, taking place at barely 1kmh and expected to last six hours, was delayed by more than an hour after a hairline crack was spotted in the foam on the shuttle's external fuel tank.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Crack-found-in-space-shuttle-prelaunch/2005/04/07/1112815660257.html
Get more women on board or be closed, Norway tells companies
April 7, 2005
Oslo: Norway will force companies to close if they refuse to recruit women to at least 40 per cent of board positions by 2007, a cabinet minister has announced.
"Companies have been dragging their feet. They really have to recruit more women," the Family Affairs Minister, Laila Daavoey, said. "In the very worst case, they will face closure."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Get-more-women-on-board-or-be-closed-Norway-tells-companies/2005/04/06/1112489561991.html
Child loses foot as schoolkids detonate ammunition
April 7, 2005
Seven schoolchildren were injured in Turkey after accidentally setting off military devices they picked up at a military yard close to their school.
The children found 14 devices in a sack half-buried in the ground at a military yard, where used and apparently unexploded ammunition were dumped, the premier's office and police said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Child-loses-foot-as-schoolkids-detonate-ammunition/2005/04/06/1112489565499.html
Auditor-general pulls veil on Sydney's dirty air
By Anne Davies, State Political Editor
April 7, 2005
Air quality is under threat because the NSW Government is failing to shift people out of their cars and onto public transport, the Auditor-General has warned.
In his report on Action for Air, the 25-year pollution plan the Government introduced in 1998, Bob Sendt found that NSW would not meet two out of six national air quality goals by the 2008 deadline. And he thought it had little chance of achieving them in the future.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/The-airs-dirty-and-heres-the-smoking-gun/2005/04/06/1112489565809.html
Child loses foot as schoolkids detonate ammunition
April 7, 2005
Seven schoolchildren were injured in Turkey after accidentally setting off military devices they picked up at a military yard close to their school.
The children found 14 devices in a sack half-buried in the ground at a military yard, where used and apparently unexploded ammunition were dumped, the premier's office and police said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Child-loses-foot-as-schoolkids-detonate-ammunition/2005/04/06/1112489565499.html
Auditor-general pulls veil on Sydney's dirty air
By Anne Davies, State Political Editor
April 7, 2005
Air quality is under threat because the NSW Government is failing to shift people out of their cars and onto public transport, the Auditor-General has warned.
In his report on Action for Air, the 25-year pollution plan the Government introduced in 1998, Bob Sendt found that NSW would not meet two out of six national air quality goals by the 2008 deadline. And he thought it had little chance of achieving them in the future.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/The-airs-dirty-and-heres-the-smoking-gun/2005/04/06/1112489565809.html
The New Zealand Herald
Offence of 'sexual grooming' to bring seven years' jail
07.04.05 4.00pm
Paedophiles who groom children for sexual activity will face up to seven years' jail, Justice Minister Phil Goff said today.
A new offence of sexual grooming would be added to the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) when Parliament debated details of the bill in the next couple of weeks, he said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10119214
Pacific Forum concerned at nuclear waste ship
07.04.05 4.00pm
The Pacific Island Forum today joined New Zealand in protesting the passage of a ship carrying nuclear waste through the region this month.
According to calculations by the environmental group Greenpeace, the British-operated Pacific Sandpiper should be off New Caledonia today after going through the Tasman Sea this week.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10119240
Police sergeant told to pay $1250 to assault victim
Police Senior Sergeant Anthony Solomona. Herald file picture
07.04.05 1.00pm
A senior south Auckland policeman has been convicted of assaulting a teenager and told to pay the youngster $1250 for the emotional harm he caused.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10119229
'We were pinned down by fire in the heart of Kashmir'
An Indian security force officer runs for cover after an attack in Srinagar where a bus was due to take a historic trip across divided Kashmir. Picture / Reuters
07.04.05 1.00pm
by Justin Huggler
SRINAGAR - When the gunfire suddenly sprayed across the street in front of us, we dived for the ground, scrabbling desperately to get behind a parked car. Up ahead, a woman had been hit and we saw her fall to the ground, the blood soaking her shirt. The Independent's photographer, Olivia, was trapped in a mêlée of fleeing people. A bullet whistled past her head, missing her by inches.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119223
Buses set to cross Kashmir divide despite attack
An Indian soldier walks in front of a burning government building after an attack in Srinagar yesterday. Picture / Reuters
07.04.05 1.20pm
SRINAGAR, India - India and Pakistan open a historic bus link across divided Kashmir on Thursday, protected by heavy security following a suicide attack by separatist rebels on the Indian end of the route.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119225
Journalist shot on US-Mexico border
07.04.05 5.20pm
MEXICO CITY - A radio reporter in Nuevo Laredo on Mexico's border with Texas was in serious condition after being shot several times by an unknown gunman, the latest journalist to be attacked along the border in recent months.
Guadalupe Garcia Escamilla, 39, was hit by nine bullets as she arrived at Radio Stereo 91 to do her regular show on crime and public safety, according to the prosecutor's office in the Tamaulipas border state.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119176
Up to 40 feared dead in Congo ferry accident
07.04.05 12.20pm
KINSHASA - Up to 40 people are missing and feared dead after two overloaded ferries capsized while crossing the swollen Congo river, United Nations and government officials said.
Boat disasters are relatively common in the Democratic Republic of Congo where years of war and neglect have destroyed infrastructure and the mighty Congo river is often the only method of travel through the vast African country.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119217
Harvard economics professor charged with manure theft
07.04.05 3.20pm
BOSTON - A Harvard professor who specialises in environmental economics was arrested on suspicion of trying to steal a load of manure from a Massachusetts farm, a police officer said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119230
Veterans' battlefield tour was cover for $33m cocaine run
07.04.05 2.20pm
by Jason Bennetto
A coach party of Second World War veterans was used by drug traffickers as cover to smuggle $33 million worth of cocaine into Britain. Dozens of packages of drugs were hidden on the 49-seat coach as the group of former soldiers toured historical battle sites in France, the Old Bailey heard yesterday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119205
Jailed Fiji minister resigns
07.04.05 4.20pm
A Fijian cabinet member jailed this week over his involvement in the 2000 coup attempt has resigned, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase said today.
He said Lands and Mineral Resources Minister Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu's resignation was effective from last Monday, the day he was convicted and sentenced on the Fijian island of Vanua Levu.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10119241
The weather at Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Overcast
-21.0°
Updated Thursday 07 Apr 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
27 °F / -3 °C
Clear
Humidity:
80%
Dew Point:
21 °F / -6 °C
Wind:
Calm
Pressure:
29.68 in / 1005 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Clear -
end
