The Australian
Deport the clerics of hate: sheik
Trudy Harris and Cameron StewartJuly 20, 2005THE country's highest-profile Islamic leader has called for the deportation of clerics who preach violence, as part of a push to rid Australia of the "disease" of fundamentalism.
Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali compared the spread of Islamic fundamentalism in Australia to AIDS, and said he and other moderate clerics across the country must take firm steps to win the hearts and minds of impressionable young Muslims.
"They are a disease like AIDS and you can't cure them with Panadol," Sheik Hilali said of radical clerics.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15988222%255E601,00.html
Robots jockey for place in future of camel racingReuters
July 20, 2005ABU DHABI: Robot jockeys made their debut as camel riders in the United Arab Emirates yesterday, competing in a trial race after the Gulf state tightened a ban on child jockeys.
Remote-controlled robots weighing up to 15kg were dressed in jockey silks for the race in Abu Dhabi, the capital. Officials said the trial was successful.
The UAE this month outlawed the use of jockeys under 18 in camel races, raising the age limit from 16, after international condemnation of the practice as a form of slavery.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15987865%255E601,00.html
This is no flagging war
July 20, 2005PERHAPS accidentally, one scene in Steven Spielberg's latest piece of sci-fi escapism, War of the Worlds, prods today's Western dilemma. After monster tripods attack the ordinary folk in a working-class suburb in New York, Ray (Tom Cruise) takes refuge in a dank cellar with a deranged Ogilvy (Tim Robbins), who has lost his family to the monsters. Ray and Ogilvy argue over how to confront the enemy. Ogilvy, who wants to run and hide, starts digging a tunnel. After a time, he says to Ray in an exhausted hicksville drawl: "You and me ... I don't think we're on the same page."
Sometimes you get the feeling that too many in the West are, like Ogilvy, on a different page. On the one hand, Australian Muslim communities rightly condemn terrorism. On the other hand, an Islamic bookstore in western Sydney is selling how-to manuals for suicide bombers, endorsed by Osama bin Laden. Other equally abhorrent literature is on sale in other Islamic stores in western Sydney.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15985294%5E32522,00.html
Australia can help with N Korea:
USFrom correspondents in WashingtonJuly 20, 2005US President George W. Bush has called on Australia to play a key role in encouraging China to stop North Korea building nuclear weapons.
Mr Bush discussed his concerns about the possible build-up of nuclear weapons in North Korea during hour-long talks with Prime Minister John Howard at the White House today.
The discussion covered next week's planned resumption of stalled talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions, to be held in Beijing.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15990128%255E1702,00.html
Price of freedom
Roy EcclestonJuly 20, 2005I
MMEDIATELY after the London bombings, one senior European-based intelligence official lashed Britain for failing to realise it had tolerated the intolerant for too long.
"The terrorists have come home," The New York Times quoted the senior spy, pointing to Britain's record of free speech, civil liberties and protections for political activism when some Islamic clerics preached hate.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15985719%5E28737,00.html
Aussie wanted to be bomberMartin Chulov
July 20, 2005CONVICTED Australian terrorist Zekky Mallah sought the blessing of senior Islamic cleric Sheik Abdul Salam Zoud to become Australia's first suicide bomber, a phone call intercepted by ASIO has revealed.
The recorded conversation included Mallah, who will be freed in September, seeking the sheik's permission to travel to Lebanon to launch a suicide Jihad against non-Muslim targets.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15988224%255E2702,00.html
Dollar down on lagging euro
July 20, 2005THE dollar opened marginally softer today after lagging the euro's climb against the US dollar overnight.
At 7am AEST the local unit was trading at $US0.7501/05, slightly below yesterday's close of 0.7505/10.
During a choppy offshore trading session it reached a low of $US0.7482 and a high of 0.7523.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15990139%255E1702,00.html
Sydney Morning Herald
Cycling world ripped apart
By Jacquelin Magnay, Mark Todd and Andrew ClarkJuly 20, 2005
Australian cycling is in mourning after a young driver mowed down the women's team in Germany, killing Amy Gillett and seriously injuring her five teammates.
Doctors managed to save the shattered leg of Katie Brown and took Alexis Rhodes off a respirator, although her condition was still life-threatening.
The national women's cycling coach, Warren McDonald, was following the cyclists in the team car when a Honda Civic, driven by an 18-year-old who had had her licence for only four weeks, suddenly careered across the road at high speed.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/cycling-world-ripped-apart/2005/07/19/1121538973627.html?oneclick=true
Someone is itching for a fight with China.
Chen's pitch to Congress may fuel row with China
The Chinese defector Chen Yonglin flew out of Australia yesterday to give evidence to a US congressional human rights committee, in a move that threatens to exacerbate tensions between Australia and China.
The Howard Government described the hearing, beginning tomorrow, as an opportunity for Mr Chen to substantiate claims that China spied on and harassed pro-democracy activists in Australia.
However, an official at the Chinese embassy in Canberra told the Herald last night: "What Mr Chen has claimed in the past few months is totally untrue."
Asked about the hearing, the official said: "We are opposed to any use of human rights to interfere in China's internal affairs."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/chens-pitch-to-congress-may-fuel-row-with-china/2005/07/19/1121538975641.html
Corby lawyer: key witness needs immunity
Schapelle Corby's lawyer has claimed that a potentially crucial witness to her case is refusing to testify without immunity under Australian law.
The claim, made on the eve of the reopening of her trial before the Denpasar District Court, is central to Corby's insistence that 4.1kg of marijuana found in her luggage at Bali airport last October was put there by someone else, possibly Australian airport baggage handlers.
"Give me immunity and someone will be able to help,'' defence lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea quoted the unidentified Australian witness as saying.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/corby-lawyer-key-witness-needs-immunity/2005/07/19/1121538970071.html
Tackling extremists: Blair and imams draw up plan
British Muslim leaders and Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed ways to tackle radical Islamists on Tuesday in the wake of the London bombings, but face a tough task to win round disaffected young Muslims.
Senior imams, Muslim politicians and representatives of the Muslim Council of Britain went to Downing Street where they had an hour-long discussion with Blair.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/tackling-extremists-blair-imams-draw-up-plan/2005/07/19/1121538978181.html
The New Zealand Herald
Israel confronts settler sympathisers
20.07.05
TEL AVIV - The largest peacetime military deployment in Israel's history yesterday confronted a mass protest by opponents of Ariel Sharon's controversial plan to withdraw Jewish settlers from Gaza.
About 40,000 soldiers and 4000 police officers were deployed across southern Israel at roadblocks and checkpoints to stop tens of thousands of protesters from reaching Netivot, a town near Gaza's Jewish settlements
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10336653
Huge storms lash two continents
A message written on the sand in a beach in Cancun, Mexico after Hurricane Emily wreaked havoc.
Picture / Reuters 20.07.05
Two continents were bracing for the full force of huge storms last night, as Hurricane Emily threatened Texas after sweeping over the coast of Mexico and Typhoon Haitang swirled over Hangzhou City in China.
Hurricane Emily headed for Texas after hitting Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, ripping up homes with 215km/h winds but causing only a handful of deaths.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10336630
Blair to meet Muslim leaders to tackle radicals
Tony Blair arrives in Downing Street to meet with Muslim politicians and community leaders. Picture / Reuters 20.07.05
LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair and opposition heads will meet Muslim politicians and community leaders on Tuesday as a first step to building a plan to tackle radical Islamist ideology.
"Collectively we will listen to what the Muslim leaders have to say," Blair's spokesman told reporters.
He said the meeting at 10 Downing Street was not just about expressing solidarity with the Muslim community but about trying to find practical ways forward.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10336648
Angola Marburg outbreak near end, vigilance urged
20.07.05
LUANDA - Angola has not seen a new case of Marburg haemorrhagic fever for almost two weeks, officials said on Tuesday, suggesting the outbreak that killed more than 300 people is petering out -- but they still urge caution.
With the last confirmed case on July 9, emergency teams have been leaving Uige, the northern province which bore the brunt of the disease. But they say the outbreak in the Southern African country will not be officially over until 42 days after the last case, twice the maximum incubation period.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10336643
Mexican resorts survive Hurricane Emily 19.07.05 8.00am
CANCUN - Mexico's Caribbean beach resorts have escaped almost unscathed from Hurricane Emily, which blew down trees and cut power but nothing more serious.
Cozumel island, a popular diving destination, took the hardest hit. The storm uprooted trees and smashed windows of homes and businesses.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10336487
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