Kerry-Anne Walsh Political CorrespondentNovember 25, 2007
JOHN HOWARD led his Government to a humiliating defeat last night and was poised to lose his own seat as Kevin Rudd became Australia's 26th Prime Minister.
Families and Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough was another high-profile scalp on a night in which Australia called a definitive end to Mr Howard's 11-year reign.
The national two-party preferred swing to Labor of 6.3per cent was the second-largest since World War II, bettered only by Gough Whitlam in 1975. Labor looked certain to secure 86 of the 150 House of Representative seats and hoped for 90 - a gain of at least 30 seats.
At 10.35 pm Mr Howard conceded defeat and acknowledged it was very likely he would lose the seat he had held for 33 years to celebrity Labor recruit Maxine McKew.
Flanked by his teary-eyed wife, Janette, and two sons, Richard and Tim - his daughter Melanie was absent on bridesmaid duties - Mr Howard accepted blame for the defeat and anointed Peter Costello as his successor....
JOHN HOWARD led his Government to a humiliating defeat last night and was poised to lose his own seat as Kevin Rudd became Australia's 26th Prime Minister.
Families and Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough was another high-profile scalp on a night in which Australia called a definitive end to Mr Howard's 11-year reign.
The national two-party preferred swing to Labor of 6.3per cent was the second-largest since World War II, bettered only by Gough Whitlam in 1975. Labor looked certain to secure 86 of the 150 House of Representative seats and hoped for 90 - a gain of at least 30 seats.
At 10.35 pm Mr Howard conceded defeat and acknowledged it was very likely he would lose the seat he had held for 33 years to celebrity Labor recruit Maxine McKew.
Flanked by his teary-eyed wife, Janette, and two sons, Richard and Tim - his daughter Melanie was absent on bridesmaid duties - Mr Howard accepted blame for the defeat and anointed Peter Costello as his successor....
Sydney Morning Herald
King Kevin the new conqueror
Lisa Carty and Heath Gilmore in Brisbane
Lisa Carty and Heath Gilmore in Brisbane
November 25, 2007
KEVIN RUDD made a pact with the voters of Australia last night to step forward with them and forge a new future for the nation.
The Prime Minister-elect ascended the stage in the members' dining room at Suncorp Stadium flanked by his wife Therese, sons Nicholas and Marcus and daughter Jessica and her husband Albert Tse.
With more than a 1000 supporters chanting his name, Mr Rudd maintained his usual restraint but beamed widely and embraced and kissed family, friends and supporters as he took the short walk to the stage.
With a smile, he told his colleagues and staff they were allowed a strong cup of tea and perhaps an Iced VoVo as they kicked up their heels and celebrated their historic win. He said the new Labor government would waste no time implementing its agenda in relation to education, industrial relations and climate change, saying he wanted to rid the country of the old divides.
Mr Rudd received a rock-star reception when he took to the stage....
The Prime Minister-elect ascended the stage in the members' dining room at Suncorp Stadium flanked by his wife Therese, sons Nicholas and Marcus and daughter Jessica and her husband Albert Tse.
With more than a 1000 supporters chanting his name, Mr Rudd maintained his usual restraint but beamed widely and embraced and kissed family, friends and supporters as he took the short walk to the stage.
With a smile, he told his colleagues and staff they were allowed a strong cup of tea and perhaps an Iced VoVo as they kicked up their heels and celebrated their historic win. He said the new Labor government would waste no time implementing its agenda in relation to education, industrial relations and climate change, saying he wanted to rid the country of the old divides.
Mr Rudd received a rock-star reception when he took to the stage....
Slide Show
http://www.smh.com.au/multimedia/2007/national/kevin-rudd-claims-victory/start.html
Kevin Rudd victory speech
2007-11-25 03:58:28
Labor Party leader pledges to govern for all Australians before ecstatic party faithful in Brisbane.(21:27)
http://media.smh.com.au/?rid=33510
Rudd faces hostile senate
Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd will face a hostile Senate for his first eight months in office, with the Coalition poised to block Labor legislation.
The Coalition has lost its historic 39-37 Senate majority but the new Senate does not sit until July.
This means the Rudd government cannot be certain of ratifying the Kyoto Protocol or scrapping Work Choices until the second half of 2008, as the conservatives keenly oppose both policies.
Once the new Senate takes effect, it appears Mr Rudd will have to negotiate with the Australian Greens, an independent or Family First -- or a combination of all three -- to ensure passage of his laws.
Senate outcomes are notoriously hard to predict, but with more than half the vote counted some things are certain.
The Australian Democrats have been wiped out and the coalition has lost at least two seats -- one in Tasmania and one in South Australia.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/11/24/1195753384366.html
New recruits sweep into parliament
November 25, 2007 - 12:06AM
Former union heavyweights Bill Shorten and Greg Combet have both successfully made the jump into national politics.
The former national secretary of the Australian Workers' Union, Mr Shorten, was targeted by the Liberals as one of the opposition's many ex-unionists, but he increased Labor's margin in the Victorian seat of Maribyrnong in Melbourne's west by around seven per cent.
He won around 65 per cent of the vote after preferences, while Liberal candidate Ian Soylemez secured 35 per cent.
Mr Shorten said he believed climate change and the electorate's first opportunity to vote on Work Choices were behind Labor's increased margin.
He said that being elected to federal government had taken his breath away.
"It's a feeling of great responsibility," he told the Nine Network.
"There's a lot of people who put their trust in you. I just want to make sure that this part of Melbourne, the western suburbs, gets its fair share, and it's only under Kevin Rudd and Labor will they get their fair share.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/new-recruits-sweep-into-parliament/2007/11/25/1195753385177.html
Fresh faces prepare to take the reins
TWO Brisbane lads who went to the same high school have become the most powerful political duo in the country.
And a left-wing woman from Victoria has made political history by becoming Australia's first ever female deputy prime minister.
Kevin Rudd, 50, and Wayne Swan, 53, - Prime Minister and Treasurer-elect after Labor's win - are proud "Brizzie boys" who both attended Nambour High School.
During the election campaign Mr Rudd anointed Mr Swan as his Treasurer following Howard Government taunts that he did not have confidence in him.
Both have declared themselves economic conservatives, committing a Labor government to keeping the budget in surplus, trimming spending and keeping inflation contained.
Deputy Prime Minister-elect Julia Gillard, 46, has indicated she wants to retain the portfolio of employment, industrial relations and social inclusion.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/11/24/1195753380160.html
John Howard concedes defeat
Prime Minister John Howard has rung Labor leader Kevin Rudd to concede defeat after voters deserted his 11-year government in tonight's federal election.
Mr Howard then appeared at Sydney's Wentworth Hotel to address Liberal Party faithful.
"My fellow Australians, a few moments ago I telephoned Mr Kevin Rudd and I congratulated him and the Australian Labor Party on an emphatic victory,'' Mr Howard told the crowd.
Mr Howard said he harboured no ill will to Mr Rudd.
"I wish him well in the task that he will undertake,'' Mr Howard said.
Howard emerges for morning walk
November 25, 2007 - 7:45AM
Outgoing prime minister John Howard went on his daily morning walk in Sydney today after losing government last night.
Mr Howard emerged from the prime minister's official Sydney residence, Kirribilli House, at 7am (AEDT) and was followed by a sizeable media pack as he took his usual route along the Sydney Harbour foreshore and through the streets of Kirribilli.
People stopped to clap the prime minister as he walked by with one woman remarking, "they don't know what they've done".
Some fishermen on Sydney Harbour heckled Mr Howard with one calling: "Better luck next time buddy".
Bush congratulates Rudd
US President George Bush looks forward to working with the new Australian government after Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch Bush ally, suffered an overwhelming electoral defeat, a White House spokeswoman said today.
"The United States and Australia have long been strong partners and allies and the president looks forward to working with this new government to continue our historic relationship," said spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore.
"President Bush congratulates Kevin Rudd and the Australia Labor Party on their election victory," she said.
The president
http://www.smh.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/bush-congratulates-labor/2007/11/25/1195925651984.html
Typhoon Mitag changes course prompting mass evacuations
November 25, 2007
Thousands of people were pouring into evacuation shelters on Saturday as Typhoon Mitag barrelled down on the eastern Philippines, officials said.
The head of the weather bureau, Nathaniel Cruz, said Mitag had changed course early today and was heading towards the northern provinces of the main island of Luzon, away from the Bicol peninsula where tens of thousands had already been evacuated.
Packing maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometres per hour with gusts of 210 kilometres per hour, Mitag was 190 kilometres off the Bicol peninsula, southern Luzon, and moving northwest at 11 kilometres an hour.
Cruz told local radio that on its present course Mitag is "expected to make landfall" late on Sunday, sparing Bicol from its full fury.
The Bicol peninsula bore the brunt of Super Typhoon Durian last year which killed 1,200 people and left 200,000 homeless.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/typhoon-mitag-changes-course-prompting-mass-evacuations/2007/11/24/1195753371467.html
Climate for change in housing
Matthew Benns
November 25, 2007
LAWS should be passed to ensure every Australian house for sale passes tough new standards of environmental sustainability, a peak building body has said.
Archicentre, which advises the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, said the recent release of a damning United Nations climate change report meant it was time for dramatic action.
Archicentre managing director Robert Caulfield said: "Clever and smarter environmental design of buildings, backed by legislation and government policy will need to be introduced on a national level for Australia to play its part."
But he warned that the current "red tape maze between government departments" and differences from state to state threatened the chances of the new laws coming into effect.
Australia has 7.2 million homes, with houses being sold on an average every seven years.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/climate-for-change-in-housing/2007/11/24/1195753372961.html
The thinning blue line
John Kidman Police Reporter
November 25, 2007
Advertisement
NSW police are quitting at a faster rate than ever, new figures reveal.
By the end of the year about 800 experienced officers will have left the force in 2007. Despite the State Government's high-profile recruitment program, which has attracted 1300 rookies this year, departures are occurring at an average of 66 a month.
The state has 500 more police than before the March state election but 250 fewer than promised by Premier Morris Iemma.
If the trend continues critics say 4200 new officers would need to be found to fulfil a promise of 16,500 police on the street by 2011.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/the-thinning-blue-line/2007/11/24/1195753382763.html
Fires ravage Malibu - again
November 25, 2007 - 7:43AM
Nearly 10,000 people were forced to evacuate as wind-driven wildfires ripped through the celebrity enclave of Malibu on Saturday, destroying at least 35 multimillion-dollar homes and threatening hundreds more, officials said.
Fires erupted in rugged parkland around Malibu about 3.30am (2230 AEDT Saturday) officials said, spreading rapidly through thousands of hectares of tinder-dry brush as powerful desert winds of up to 80kmh gusted across the region.
By 10.30am (0530 AEDT Sunday), about 900 hectares had been scorched as the flames burned unchecked, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said.
About 1,700 firefighters had been deployed to tackle the fires, backed up by 23 aircraft including water-dropping helicopters and a DC-10 which was pummelling the infernos with flame retardant.
Los Angeles county supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky told a press conference 10,000 residents had been evacuated. Only one injury had been reported so far, a firefighter who received burns which were not thought serious, he added.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/fires-ravage-malibu--again/2007/11/25/1195925651978.html
Twin suicide blasts in Pakistan
November 24, 2007 - 3:44PM
Two suicide car bombings killed at least 20 people in near simultaneous attacks on Pakistani security forces in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, security sources said.
Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said both attacks were car bombs, one targeting a bus carrying security forces personnel and the other a checkpost outside army headquarters.
He said at least 15 people were confirmed dead in the bus attack and three security officers were critically wounded at the checkpost.
However, security sources told AFP that the toll was higher, with at least 19 dead on the bus so far and one at the checkpoint.
Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, is where military ruler President Pervez Musharraf has his army offices.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/twin-suicide-blasts-in-pakistan/2007/11/24/1195753355484.html
Suicide bomb kills 9 Afghans, Italian soldier
November 25, 2007
A suicide bomb on the outskirts of the Afghan capital Kabul yesterday killed nine civilians, four of them children, and an Italian soldier, the Italian army said.
The hardline Islamist Taliban have killed at least 200 civilians in more than 140 suicide attacks so far this year in their campaign to oust the pro-Western Afghan government and eject the more than 50,000 foreign troops from the country.
The bomber targeted Italian troops at a bridge construction project in the Paghman district, just outside the city.
The Afghan government "strongly condemns this brutal attack which is against humanity, Islam and the stability of Afghanistan", the Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/suicide-bomb-kills-9-afghans-italian-soldier/2007/11/24/1195753371952.html
Show all 10 fingers if heading to the US
Matthew Hall
November 25, 2007
US GOVERNMENT officials say strict new entry requirements for Australian visitors will not deter legitimate travellers to the US or create delays entering the country.
Measures will be introduced on Thursday requiring all international travellers to provide 10 fingerprint samples as well as a photograph when entering the US.
The system expands current entry requirements introduced four years ago for visitors to provide two fingerprint samples each time they enter the country.
A joint project between the Department of Homeland Security and US Customs and Border Protection, the system will be trialled at Washington DC's Dulles Airport immediately, with Boston, New York, and San Francisco airports added over the next few months.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/show-all-10-fingers-if-heading-to-the-us/2007/11/24/1195753381597.html
Kasparov sent to prison
November 25, 2007 - 7:40AM
A Moscow court convicted former chess champion Garry Kasparov and sentenced him to five days in jail on Saturday for leading an opposition protest.
Kasparov was among dozens detained after riot police clashed with Kremlin opponents following a protest rally that drew several thousand demonstrators.
"What you've heard is all lies," Kasparov said after the sentence was read. "The testimony is contradictory. There was not a single word of truth."
Two riot police testified in court that they had been given direct orders before the rally to arrest Kasparov, one of President Vladimir Putin's harshest critics. One of the policemen acknowledged that the two reports he had filed were contradictory.
Kasparov was charged with organising an unsanctioned procession "of at least 1500 people directed against President Vladimir Putin," of chanting anti-government slogans and of resisting arrest.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/kasparov-sent-to-prison/2007/11/25/1195925651972.html
Rape victim committed adultery: Saudi Arabia
November 25, 2007 - 7:41AM
A woman in Saudi Arabia sentenced to six months in jail and 200 lashes despite being gang raped has confessed to adultery, the justice ministry said as it tried to fend off mounting criticism.
Despite being sexually assaulted by seven men who kidnapped her with a male companion at knifepoint, the unidentified 19 year-old woman was sentenced in November 2006 to 90 lashes.
The judge sentenced her for being in a car with a man who was not her relative, a taboo in the conservative Muslim kingdom which imposes strict segregation of the sexes.
But her story hit international headlines last week when her sentence was increased to six months in jail and 200 lashes after she spoke to the media.
The justice ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency that the woman had owned up to having an extramarital affair with the man in the car.
Syria bans Facebook
November 25, 2007
SYRIAN users of Facebook have complained that authorities have blocked access to the website as part of a crackdown on political activism on the internet.
"Facebook helped further civil society in Syria and form civic groups outside government control. This is why it has been banned," women's rights advocate Dania al-Sharif said.
"They cut off communications between us and the outside world. We are used to this behaviour from our government," said Mais al-Sharbaji, who set up a Facebook group for amateur Syrian photographers.
There was no comment from the Syrian Government, which has intensified a campaign against bloggers, virtual opinion forums and independent media sites in recent months.
Westpac ends credit card deal with Virgin
Danny John
November 24, 2007
WESTPAC has severed its five-year credit card partnership with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Money business as a result of growing competition between the two operators.
Their original deal was due to come to an end next May, but neither company appeared willing to renew it despite the success they had enjoyed in launching from scratch a Virgin-branded low-interest-rate and no-fee credit card that now has 800,000 holders. That has given the partners a 6 per cent share of the overall card market, which Virgin wants to push to double figures over the next five years.
It is understood that Westpac earned a very small margin from the card that, in profit terms, is dependent on having a large number of customers because the fee revenue is a lot lower than higher-priced premium cards.
And while linking with Virgin in early 2003 was seen as opportunity for the bank to increase its smaller credit card business at the time, Westpac has since become Australia's No. 1 card provider. As a result, the Virgin card has become a less important part of its business.
http://business.smh.com.au/westpac-ends-credit-card-deal-with-virgin/20071123-1cgw.html
Climate debate we forgot to have
Michael Duffy
November 24, 2007
In all the concern over climate change in recent years, there's a crucial debate Australia pretty much forgot to have. That's the debate over the best way for government to persuade people to reduce their carbon emissions.
The Federal Government is in favour of an emissions trading system, also known as cap and trade. There's nothing sinister about this: cap and trade is supported by pretty well everyone else, including many groups far more concerned about climate change than the Coalition. But there is an alternative, the carbon tax, and a growing number of economists are saying a tax would reduce carbon emissions more effectively than cap and trade. Last week the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia released a report that included a powerful argument in favour of a tax. Whoever wins the election today, this is a question that would be well worth revisiting.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/climate-debate-we-forgot-to-have/2007/11/23/1195753306678.html
Obese passenger wins case against Air France
November 23, 2007 - 6:22AM
A Frenchman who weighs 170 kilograms has won a court case against Air France after it made him buy a second seat on a flight from New Delhi to Paris, he told AFP.
Jean-Jacques Jauffret, a 43-year-old screen-writer, said he was deeply humiliated when airline staff measured his girth with wrapping tape in front of other passengers at New Delhi airport.
Air France was ordered to pay 8000 euro ($13,599.95) in damages and to reimburse the cost of his second seat, in a ruling delivered last Friday.
Returning to France from a holiday in India in August 2005, Jauffret was told that as the plane was full he could not be assured a free seat next to him. Instead he was told to buy the extra ticket.
"The court recognised the humiliation I suffered. Now Air France is going to have to say clearly what is its commercial policy. Does it carry people or kilos?" he said.
AFP
http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/obese-passenger-wins-airline-case/2007/11/23/1195753250319.html
New Zealand Herald
…and indigenous people don't matter...the Sami's culture and way of life are endangered by Climate Change.
Sweden's Sami and a reindeer take to the streets (+photos)
12:52PM Saturday November 24, 2007
Dozens of Scandinavia's indigenous Sami people, and one reindeer, marched through the streets of Stockholm on Friday to demand protection of their rights to herd reindeer freely in the Scandinavian north.
About 70 Samis from northern Sweden delivered a petition to the Norwegian embassy complaining the country does not respect Swedish Samis' rights, as documented in an 18th-century treaty, to herd reindeer in the Norwegian highlands in the summer.
"The Sami villages are again about to lose rights to some of its herding lands on the Norwegian side," said Olov J Sikku, spokesman for Sami village Saarivuoma which owns 15,000 reindeer.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10478134
Politicians act to avert Belgian split
8:15AM Saturday November 24, 2007
Politicians from Belgium's Flemish north and French-speaking south yesterday teamed up to block a bill to split the country in a vote that may ease tension between them and clear the way for a new government.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10478011
Election boycott
6:15AM Saturday November 24, 2007
Lebanon was plunged deeper into political turmoil yesterday after the Syrian-backed opposition said it would boycott a presidential election, hours before the term of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud ended.
- Agencies
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10478008
Australians head to the polls
3:07PM Saturday November 24, 2007
By Michael Perry
SYDNEY - Australians began voting today in national elections to decide whether to end more than 11 years of conservative rule or give Prime Minister John Howard, who trails in opinion polls, a fifth term.
"Its in the hands of the people," Howard said as he took his morning walk from his Sydney Harbour-side residence.
Howard, 68, again warned voters that if they elected a Labor government it would threaten Australia's economic prosperity.
"The government to be chosen today will set the direction of the country for years into the future," Howard said on YouTube website, in a pitch to young voters he has struggled to woo.
"So if you think the country is heading in the right direction don't risk that right direction by changing the government," he said.
Howard, a staunch US ally, has made a commitment to keep Australian troops in Iraq if re-elected. He has offered voters A$34 billion ($29 billion) in tax cuts, but few new policies.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10478144
Soldier dies as vote looms
5:00AM Saturday November 24, 2007
An Australian commando was killed in a clash with Taleban militia in Afghanistan yesterday, a day before Australians vote in national elections.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been a leading issue in the election campaign.
The 26-year-old soldier was the third Australian killed in recent months in Afghanistan's restive Uruzgan province.
Australia, a close US ally, was one of the first nations to commit troops in late 2001 to the US-led war to oust the Taleban and al Qaeda militants from Afghanistan. It also has about 1500 troops in and around Iraq.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10478112
Change is on the ballot cards for Australia
5:00AM Saturday November 24, 2007
By Greg Ansley
There was something of Banquo's ghost at the National Press Club in Canberra on Thursday. Prime Minister John Howard could see the spectre, determined as he was to be king again. Most of those at the lunch could only see a dead man talking.
Eleven months of exhaustive and detailed polling - producing consistent results until the final hours of the campaign for today's election - have predicted that Australia's second-longest serving prime minister is about to meet his political maker.
The two latest polls confirmed the trend.
It is true that with Howard, blend of Houdini and Lazarus that he is, nothing is for certain.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10477988
Secret toll of uranium weapons
5:00AM Saturday November 24, 2007
By David Rose
It is 50 years since Tony Ciarfello and his friends used the yard of a depleted uranium weapons factory as their playground in Colonie, a suburb of Albany in upstate New York.
"Inside was a big open ground, and nobody would chase us away," remembers Ciarfello.
"We used to play baseball and hang by the stream running through it. We even used to fish in it - though we noticed the fish had big pink lumps on them."
Now Ciarfello has lumps on his chest - strange, round tumours that protrude 2 cm.
"No one seems to know what they are," he says. "I've also had a brain aneurism caused by a suspected tumour. I'm constantly fatigued, and for years I've had terrible pains, deep inside my leg bones. I fall over without warning and I've got a heart condition."
Ciarfello's illnesses have rendered him unable to work for years. A father of five, he is aged 57 but looks much older.
The US Government and the firm that ran the factory, National Lead (NL) Industries, have for decades been assuring former workers and residents around the 7 ha site that, although it is true that the plant used to produce unacceptable levels of radioactive pollution, it was not a serious health hazard.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10477996
Oil-rich land short of milk and honey
5:00AM Saturday November 24, 2007
By Ian James
Venezuelans face shortages despite the promises of a rosy future by President Hugo Chavez. Photo/ Reuters
The lines formed at dawn and remained long throughout the day - hundreds upon hundreds of Venezuelans queuing up to buy scarce milk, chicken and sugar at state-run outdoor markets staffed by soldiers in fatigues.
President Hugo Chavez's Government is trying to cope with scattered shortages of some foods, and long lines at state-run "megamercal" street markets show many Venezuelans are willing to wait for hours to snap up a handful of products they seldom find in supermarkets.
"You have to get in line and you have to be lucky," said Maria Fernandez, a 64-year-old housewife who was buying milk and chicken.
She said trying to find milk was a constant frustration. She had almost managed to get powdered milk at a private supermarket - only to watch someone else walk away with the last can.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10477974
Religious trinkets made under 'horrific' sweatshop conditions
5:00AM Saturday November 24, 2007
A labour rights group has alleged that crucifixes sold in religious gift shops in the United States are produced under "horrific" conditions in a Chinese factory with more than 15-hour work days and inadequate food.
"It's a throwback to the worst of the garment sweatshops 10, 20 years ago," said Charles Kernaghan, director of the National Labour Committee.
Mr Kernaghan held a news conference in front of St Patrick's Cathedral to call attention to conditions at a factory in Dongguan, a southern Chinese city near Hong Kong, where he said crosses sold at the historic church and elsewhere are made.
Spokespeople for St Patrick's and another New York landmark, the Episcopal Trinity Church at Wall St, said the churches had removed dozens of crucifixes from their shops while they investigate the claims.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10477981
Obituary: Ian Smith
4:59AM Saturday November 24, 2007
Ian Smith denied being a racist but insisted that separate development was necessary for Rhodesia.
Ian Smith was the Prime Minister of Rhodesia and an ardent advocate of white rule.
In 1965, he unilaterally declared independence from Britain and, over the next 15 turbulent years, fought an increasingly bitter war against African nationalist guerrillas, a war that cost between 30,000 and 40,000, mainly black, lives.
But it was a struggle he eventually lost, paving the way for the country's independence as Zimbabwe.
To his supporters - white Rhodesians and many in Britain - "Smithy" was a political visionary, the simple farmer who had stepped forward reluctantly to defend his country against communism.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10478037
Neo-Nazis slash swastika into girl's flesh
2:54PM Saturday November 24, 2007
A 17-year-old German girl says four suspected neo-Nazis attacked her and carved a swastika into her skin, police said Friday.
Police were investigating the teenager's allegation that the men attacked her after she tried to help a 6-year-old girl from the former Soviet Union who was being harassed by the group in the eastern town of Mittweida.
The four suspects allegedly threw the teenager on the ground and three of them pressed her down while the fourth one carved a swastika on her hip with a scalpel-like knife, police said.
The incident occurred on November 3, but the 17-year-old girl did not immediately report it, police said. The younger girl confirmed the attack, they said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10478141
Women admit killing 'irritating' girl, 16
1:58PM Saturday November 24, 2007
Two young women have admitted cold-bloodedly killing a 16-year-old girl because she irritated them.
They dumped Stacey Mitchell's body in a wheelie bin and were still debating the merits of using chainsaws and lime to dispose of her body when they were arrested in Perth days later.
Jessica Ellen Stasinowsky, 20, and her girlfriend Valerie Paige Parashumti, 19, pleaded guilty to the wilful murder in Perth Magistrates Court.
They killed Stacey Mitchell between December 17 and 21, 2006 while the girl was staying with them at a house in Lathlain in Perth.
Details of the murder emerged during the District Court sentencing in August of David Ross John Haynes, 27, who had pleaded guilty to being an accessary after the fact to the murder, which took place at his father's house.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10478137
Swimsuit discrimination ... women won't wear it any more
5:00AM Saturday November 24, 2007
Men are allowed to swim topless in public.
A group of Swedish women are making waves by taking their tops off at public swimming pools in a protest against what they call gender-biased rules on swimwear.
About 40 have joined the network, said Sanna Ferm, 22, one of the founders of the group called Bara Brost, or Bare Breasts.
"The purpose of the campaign is to start a debate about why women's bodies are sexualised," Ferm said.
She said the fact that men can be bare-chested in public swimming pools but not women is "a concrete example of how women have fewer rights than men."
The network was formed after two women who were swimming topless in a public swimming pool were asked to cover up or leave.
- AP
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10478019
A 30-year love affair with the brain
5:00AM Saturday November 24, 2007
By Errol Kiong
Richard Faull
When Professor Richard Faull saw a human brain for the first time, it was love at first sight.
He remembers the moment clearly - he was a third-year medical student on his way to a sparkling international career in neuroscience.
"I thought that was absolutely incredible," says Professor Faull. "I loved it but I discovered we just didn't know very much about the brain."
From those early moments of fascination and curiosity spun 30 years of discoveries and international research on neurodegenerative diseases, work which this week was recognised with Professor Faull being awarded the nation's top science award, the Rutherford Medal.
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