The Australian
Howard reins in media reforms
Steve Lewis, Chief political reporter
September 28, 2005
THE Howard Government will abandon plans to radically reform Australia's media landscape, instead restricting changes to cross-media and foreign ownership laws.
In a setback to the reformist aspirations of Communications Minister Helen Coonan, the Government will dump her big-ticket reform proposal in favour of a narrower set of changes.
Plans to allow free-to-air television stations to offer multiple channels - and the take-up of information services, known as datacasting - have been shelved.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16745680%5E601,00.html
ASIO shadowing 800 extremists
Patrick Walters, National security editor
September 28, 2005
AUSTRALIA faces a serious new home-grown terror threat, with ASIO estimating that up to 800 Muslim "extremists" living here could be motivated to carry out a London-style attack.
A year ago, the nation's security agencies revealed they were closely monitoring the activities of 70-80 Australians known to have trained with terrorist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16745674%5E601,00.html
43 left dead as typhoon blows out
From correspondents in Hanoi
September 28, 2005
A GREATLY weakened Typhoon Damrey wrought more destruction in its wake Wednesday after killing at least 43 people in a week-long sweep through a vast swathe of East Asia.
Damrey was downgraded into a tropical depression as wind speeds dropped to just 38km/h from a high of around 200km/h, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
The storm earlier killed 16 people in the Philippines, 16 in southern China, eight in Vietnam and three in Thailand, where it caused widespread flooding in the north. Five people have been reported missing there.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16753046%5E1702,00.html
Female bomber kills seven
From correspondents in Tal Afar, Iraq
September 28, 2005
A FEMALE suicide bomber blew herself up outside an army recruitment centre in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar today, killing at least seven and wounding 37.
The recruitment centre, housed in a former US military base, had only opened today after a joint Iraqi-US military operation which US forces said had effectively rid Tal Afar of what they called "terrorists and foreign fighters".
"A suicide bomber blew herself up in front of the recruitment centre. This centre was supposed to be open today for volunteers," Iraqi General Nejam Abdullah said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16751981%5E1702,00.html
New 'dirty bomb' labs
Simon Kearney
September 28, 2005
A NETWORK of anti-terror chemical analysis laboratories will be set up in capital cities amid fears Australia could be targeted by a "dirty bomb".
The laboratories will be built to accelerate Australia's response to any chemical, biological or nuclear terrorist attack.
They will work in conjunction with a new $17.3million research facility in Canberra, which will study ways of detecting and countering terrorist attacks using chemical, biological or radioactive material.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16745760%5E601,00.html
Laws may create 'fascist state'
Simon Kearney
September 28, 2005
A PROMINENT Islamic leader yesterday denounced the new counter-terrorism laws, saying sunset clauses could mean the nation remained "a fascist state" until 2016.
Keysar Trad, of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, warned that the new laws represented a severe erosion of individual freedoms and would create fear and division in society.
"The sunset clauses mean the laws will remain in effect for 10 years, and the review is more likely to increase them rather than moderate them," he said.
"These laws will be unfair and could lead to the creation of a fascist state."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16745764%5E601,00.html
Not in our back paddock
Neither the public nor politicians are behind Bob Hawke's proposal to make Australia the world's nuclear waste dump, writes Katharine Murphy
September 28, 2005
TEN years ago, an American research company called Pangea Resources, which was funded by international nuclear industries, developed a top-secret research project identifying possible sites for a high-level nuclear waste dump.
Pangea chose Australia as its favoured option. Australia had all the right elements: the perfect geography to store nuclear waste, stable countryside in remote Western and South Australia and lots of isolated places. It had a strong economy and the required political stability.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,16743059%5E28737,00.html
World News
SEPT 11 CONSPIRATORS JAILED
27.9.2005. 09:41:53
The Syrian head of an Al-Qaeda cell based in Spain has been jailed for his role in the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US at the end of the biggest trial to date in Europe involving Osama bin Laden's network.
Spain's High Court also jailed 17 other people, including a reporter for the Al-Jazeera television station, for between six and 11 years.
Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, alias Abu Dahdah, was sentenced to 27 years jail for conspiring to commit murder in the September 11 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121673®ion=3
CENTRE RIGHT WINS POLAND POLL
26.9.2005. 08:20:32
The leader of Poland's socially conservative Law and Justice Party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, says he has a mandate to become prime minister after exit polls showed his party finished first in the parliamentary elections.
Mr Kaczynski cited a deal with potential coalition partner Civic Platform, which finished second.
"The agreement was that whoever wins the election has the prime minister post, and then this applies to me as the head of the winning party," Mr Kaczynski said.
Exit polls put the two conservative parties in firm control of the Polish parliament, in the first national vote since the central European country joined the EU last year.
The exit polls give Catholic Law and Justice (PiS) just over 28 percent of votes with the centre-right Civic Platform (PO) running a close second with around 26 percent.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121574®ion=3
LAW COUNCIL URGES COAG CAUTION
27.9.2005. 13:18:14
State and federal leaders meeting in Canberra are being urged not to react too hastily when drawing up new anti-terror laws.
The Law Council of Australia has accused the Premiers of trying to outdo one another when it comes to developing the most stringent laws.
It says today's meeting should look at the existing laws before developing new ones.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121727®ion=7
HAWKE NUCLEAR IDEA DUMPED
27.9.2005. 13:13:09
The environmental group Greenpeace says Australians would never support former Prime Minister Bob Hawke's suggestion Australia become the world's nuclear waste dump.
Mr Hawke says Australia has an environmental responsibility to promote itself as a safe place for the world's nuclear waste and could benefit economically from such a scheme.
But Greenpeace spokesman Ben Pearson says Australians have recently shown they don't even want a dump for nuclear waste produced in Australia.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121724®ion=7
DARFUR FIGHTING ESCALATES
22.9.2005. 11:54:44
RELATED STORIES
- Sudan announces government
Reports of fresh violence in Sudan’s western Darfur province has sparked fears that peace talks between rebels and the Sudanese government could breakdown and leave the region in a lawless mess.
The United States has expressed concern at the possibility that a sixth round of negotiations being hosted in Abuja, Nigeria, could be derailed if attacks continue in violation of a ceasefire.
US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Roger Winter, a special representative of Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, was in Khartoum and would shortly visit Darfur “to deal with this and see if we can help to contain the violence and get the parties to act responsibly.”
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121233®ion=5
UN REPORT BLAMES TOGO FORCES
26.9.2005. 20:07:07
A UN investigation into violence before and during Togo’s April elections has found that between 400 and 500 people died in human rights violations, far more than previously estimated.
The report by the High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said that security forces were largely to blame for the violence that involved torture and inhumane and degrading treatment.
"The principal responsibility for the political violence and the violations of human rights (lay with) the state security apparatus," she said.
Western diplomats had estimated that 100 to 150 were killed while human rights groups put that figure at 800.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=121668®ion=5
Charlotte Observer
Naked truth is revealed on showers
Gender differences emerge as adults come clean about habits
JEFF ELDER
Staff Writer
If you happen to be reading this in the shower, ask yourself:
• Am I in here for a luxurious escape from it all or a brisk cleanup?
• Do men and women behave differently in the shower?
• What do Charlotte's bankers and famous Carolinians do in the shower?
Let's pull back the flimsy curtain and take a peek into one of life's most private places.
The shower can be a refreshing splash in summer and a luxurious warm-up in winter. The goofiness of "Porky's" or the terror of "Psycho." But there is one thing the shower is not, according to Dr. Debbie Magids, a New York-based psychologist:
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/columnists/jeff_elder/12742895.htm
Ivory Coast Oct. elections may be delayed
PARFAIT KOUASSI
Associated Press
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo said Tuesday that planned October elections will not be held because rebels who control the northern half of the West African nation have failed to disarm.
Gbagbo also said the constitution allows him to remain in power after Oct. 30 - a claim rebels dispute - when the vote was to have been held and his mandate would have expired.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12757092.htm
Duke brings together 'podcasters' for academic symposium
NATALIE GOTT
Associated Press
DURHAM, N.C. - Students at Duke University have listened to foreign language lessons and reviewed lectures using their iPods. In New York, other students put together unofficial audio guides for the Museum of Modern Art and made them available as podcasts.
The projects were among those mentioned Tuesday during a symposium that was expected to bring about 500 educators, journalists, podcasting practitioners and others to Duke to discuss how podcasting is shaping business, law, journalism and college classrooms. Organizers said they believed the two-day event was the first academic podcasting symposium.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12757125.htm
America West, US Airways begin flying under one banner
BOB CHRISTIE
Associated Press
TEMPE, Ariz. - America West and US Airways finalized their union Tuesday, combining to form the nation's fifth-largest domestic carrier.
"Today we start a new chapter in aviation history," Doug Parker, chief executive of the newly combined company, said in a news release.
Although the airlines can now operate as one carrier, they said passengers should continue to book directly with each airline as they did before the deal closed.
The airlines are still operating separate Web sites and still have two reservation systems. Flight crews, maintenance and safety procedures for each airline will also remain separate for some time.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12754652.htm
New Colorado treasurer questions legality of tobacco settlement
STEVEN K. PAULSON
Associated Press
DENVER - Less than four months after taking office, acting State Treasurer Mark Hillman is making waves by suggesting a 46-state tobacco settlement is illegal, even though it provides Colorado with millions of dollars a year.
Hillman wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal arguing that the settlement, negotiated among state attorneys general and major tobacco companies, was unconstitutional because it set up a system to collect taxes without legislative authority.
"The billions generated by the tobacco settlement conceal the threat that activist attorneys general pose to taxpayers and to checks and balances on political power," Hillman wrote in the column, published last week.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12756528.htm
N.C. passes cold medicine sales restrictions to combat meth labs
Associated Press
MEDICINE RESTRAINTS: Gov. Mike Easley signed into law a bill that will require cold and allergy tablets and caplets containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine to be placed behind the pharmacy counter. A buyer will have to show an ID and sign a log as well.
FOLLOWING THE TREND: North Carolina's General Assembly approved the law after similar bills passed in Oklahoma, Iowa and Tennessee, where the medicines were being "cooked" to create illegal methamphetamine.
OTHER SOURCES: Attorney General Roy Cooper said he believes the law will lead to a marked decline in meth labs and free up law enforcement to go after traffickers who bring in meth from Mexico or other states.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12756493.htm
Panel checks bid to kill base-closing plan
LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A House committee rejected an effort Tuesday by a Republican congressman to kill the Pentagon's proposal to close or downsize hundreds of U.S. military bases.
Nevertheless, under the law that authorized base closings, any House lawmaker can force the full House to consider Rep. Ray LaHood's joint resolution to disapprove the plan to restructure the U.S. network of military bases.
Rep. Curt Weldon, the No. 2 Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said he expected the resolution to reach the House floor as early as next week.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/breaking_news/12757065.htm
The New Zealand Herald
Scientists capture giant squid on camera
28.09.05 1.00pm
LONDON - Japanese scientists have taken the first photographs of one of the most mysterious creatures in the deep ocean - the giant squid.
Until now the only information about the behaviour of the creatures which measure up to 18 metres in length has been based on dead or dying squid washed up on shore or captured in commercial fishing nets.
But Tsunemi Kubodera, of the National Science Museum, and Kyoichi Mori of the Ogasawara Whale Watching Association, both in Tokyo have captured the first images of squid attacking bait 900 metres below the surface in the cold, dark waters of the North Pacific.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10347690
Grizzly bear recovery opens way to hunting
28.09.05
By David Usborne
NEW YORK - There is good news from Yellowstone National Park: the grizzly bear population, which collapsed precipitously in the latter half of the last century, to the point where it was included on America's Endangered Species Act, has recovered so brilliantly that the Government proposes to take it off the list.
But that is also the bad news. In the eyes of many animal welfare activists, the decision to delist the grizzlies - expected in the next few weeks - is tantamount to abandoning them to another period of dangerous decline just when their future seemed safe.
The success of the effort to rescue the grizzly in Yellowstone has triggered a furious controversy: what should happen next?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10347562
South African mining magnate Brett Kebble killed
28.09.05 1.00pm
JOHANNESBURG - Controversial South African mining magnate Brett Kebble was shot and killed while on his way to a dinner engagement on Tuesday, police and a family spokesman said.
"Brett Kebble died on Tuesday evening in Johannesburg after shots were fired at his car," spokesman David Barritt said in a statement.
Mr Kebble, a patron of South African arts, stepped down as chief executive from three interlinked South African mining firms after they ran into financial problems.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10347696
London bomb victims compensated
28.09.05 7.20am
Victims injured in London's deadly bomb attacks on July 7 and the families of the dead will start to receive compensation within the next 10 days, an official compensation panel said.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board said it had received 180 applications for funds so far.
Payments of up to £500,000 ($1.34 million) are available to the injured and families of the 52 people killed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10347623
UN wants US$30 million for Zimbabwe homeless
28.09.05 2.20pm
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations appealed for nearly US$30 million ($44.64m) in humanitarian supplies for the most vulnerable people evicted from urban slums in Zimbabwe, according to a letter circulated on Tuesday.
The appeal was to have been launched in August but President Robert Mugabe initially rejected the funds, smarting from a critical United Nations (UN) report on July 2 that called his government's bulldozing of urban slums a disastrous and unjustified venture that affected 700,000 people.
The new appeal, called "Common Response Plan" was sent to UN ambassadors by Jan Egeland, the UN emergency relief coordinator, and is to provide some assistance to 300,000 people.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10347702
Solar-power cars set off across Australian outback
26.09.05 1.00pm
SYDNEY - Twenty-two bug-shaped solar cars designed and built by corporations and universities from around the world set out across the vast, inhospitable Australian outback on Sunday in the eighth World Solar Challenge.
Japan's Sky Ace Tiga car, from the Ashiya University in Osaka, led off after qualifying fastest for the 3000km race across the centre of Australia from the tropical north city of Darwin to Adelaide in South Australia.
Ashiya University's Professor Kunio Nakagawa said his team's car, one of the race favourites, was capable of speeds averaging 95 kph.
"The first target is hoping to finish this race with safety and the second target is to get a top-three position," Nakagawa told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10347347
Tsunami inspires lifesaving software
27.09.05
By Owen Hembry
If there is ever a bright side to natural catastrophe, it's that someone usually develops technology to try to better prepare for next time.
Auckland-based web technology company Cyberglue took just such inspiration from last year's Asian tsunami, and came up with eAlert - a disaster notification system it hopes will save lives.
Cyberglue co-founder and chief executive Richard Gill says he was horrified while watching television coverage of the tsunami. Unable to sleep, he decided he could come up with an information management system that could ultimately limit the impact of such events.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10347386
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