From the World-Wide Resourses of the Western Australia Reserch Senter(*) OIL THE NEWS THAT FITS MY VIEWS #35 =============================== In the Run-Up to World War III, Reliably Reporting the News Relevant to Extreme Right-Wing Democratic Socialists Everywhere (validated for RiteThink(tm) by the Office of Our Man in Can-berra). Visit Our Home Page At: http://www.chickenhead.com/loserscopes/ See the Undeniable Evidence At: http://www.evil-doers.org/evidence This Stuff Blogged At: http://kymhorsell.blogspot.com/ Also Kindly Archived At: http://www.kymhorsell.com/OIL/ Iraqi Body Count: http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Selecting latest news stories and other data for you... ------------------------------------------------------------ If he is alive... I would suggest he not pop his head up. -- Pres Bush Jr, 20 Apr 2003. Asked about the fate of Saddam Hussein, the Pres changed his mind again. Analysts say the public trial might be embarrassing for the US. When people are free they express their opinions. -- Pres Bush Jr, 20 Apr 2003. Calls for an Islamic state in Iraq? We hope a system that will be democratic... and have free speech... free press... and freedom of religion. -- Don Rumsfeld, Pentagon, 21 Apr 2003. Commenting on calls for a fundamentalist Islamic state in Iraq, Don told reporters what kind of state he was prepared to see develop spontaneously there. They're gunna fix their country theirselves. -- Gov Lt Gen J Garner (ret), Baghdad, 21 Apr 2003. Asked whether he was the governor of Iraq. ---------------------------------------- Wed, 16 Apr 2003 8 killed by land mine 4 die in capsize Victory in Iraq certain but not yet complete: Bush Assassin jailed for 18 y UN to investigate DRC massacre NK talks scheduled US, N Korea to hold talks with China N Korea vets the guest list for talks Nauru, you're next US shut down oil pipeline to Syria Syrian Govt condemns US 'threats' Powell insists Syria not a target Syria is not a target Coalition failing its Geneva duty: Min Czechs send medics to Iraq Aussies capture Iraqi town Liar, liar US military angered at Iraqi protests US forces defend Mosul shooting Security alert in Baghdad Suicide bombers remain real threat in Iraq: US Post-Saddam unrest "inevitable": Howard Summit outlines new plan for Iraq Upsurge in Iraqi religious violence Brit, Germany agree UN must play key role in rebuilding Iraq Italian peacekeepers to help in Iraq Last oil well blaze extinguished: US Aust's asylum policy under attack in Iraq AOL takes spam fight to court Aust soldier charged with kicking corpse Bomb blasts rock Turkish eateries Ferry capsizes, 39 Haitians missing at sea Lebanese PM resigns Mns treated for depression each y New SARS outbreak feared in Toronto SARS claims 2 more victims in Singapore Beijing denials worsen SARS fears Liners to operate from AUS on SARS fears Qatar to hold referendum on constitution S Africa plans one-off payment to apartheid victims SAS plays key role in surrenders Sharon pledges to grab next shot at peace 6 dead in Middle E violence Netanyahu's nephew refuses to join army Power struggle may derail peace move Nauruan passports found on terrorists Ruling could free asylum-seekers Textile firms face collapse as tariffs withdrawn "Faked" footage puts Aussie in eye of Oscar storm HIH inquiry finds dozens of potential offences Markets Medicare challenge Imports up 7 foreign criminals caught Continuous war-related news Patna. 8 KILLED BY LAND MINE! A land mine apparently triggered by communist guerrillas has blown up a police jeep in India, killing 8 police officers and seriously wounding 3 others. The blast occurred in the dense forests of the Cherki Valley when the police patrol was returning to its base at Govindpur. Insp Gen of Police Ac Verma says militants of the outlawed Maoist Communist Centre are suspected of involvement in the attack. He says the attackers fled after taking the officers' weapons and ammo. Santo Domingo. 4 DIE IN CAPSIZE! A wooden boat overloaded with about 150 Haitian migrants has struck a reef, killing at least 4 people and leaving dozens missing. The Dominican navy says the accident happened about 200 m off Punta Rusia in the NW Dominican Rep. A Dominican coast guard vessel patrolling the area has arrived and about 110 people have been rescued. A US coast guard rep says a fisherman who saw the 9-m sloop hit the reef rescued dozens of people by ferrying them to shore. Victory in Iraq certain but not yet complete: Bush Washington. Victory in Iraq "is certain but not yet complete," US Pres George W Bush said. "In Iraq, the regime of Saddam Hussein is no more," Mr Bush said in a speech in the Whitehouse rose garden. "One m ago that country was a prison to its people, a haven for terrorists and an arsenal of weapons that endanger the world," he said. "Today the world is safer, and the terrorists have lost an ally." Amsterdam. ASSASSIN JAILED FOR 18 Y! The killer of RW Dutch politicians Pim Fortuyn has been jailed for 18 y for the country's 1st political assassination for more than 300 y. Volkert Van Der Graff admitted shooting Fortuyn 9 days before a May 2002 election that swept the politician's party into power. The 33 yo animal rights activist said he saw Fortuyn as a danger to democracy. The public prosecutor had demanded a life sentence for the accused, saying the murder was an attack on democracy. Geneva. UN TO INVESTIGATE DRC MASSACRE! The UN says it's sending a team of experts to investigate the massacre of 100s of civilians in the DRC 2 wks ago. The UN mission in the DRC reported that between 150 and 300 people were killed by rival tribesmen in the NE of the country on Apr 3. The 15-member team will begin its probe to try to determine exactly how many were killed and to bring the people responsible to justice. Washington. NK TALKS SCHEDULED! US diplomats say there'll be high-level talks next wk between the US, China, and NK. The talks will be the first direct dialogue between the US and North since the start of a stand-off over Pyongyang's nuclear program. The move appears to be a compromise between the US demand for multilateral discussions and NK's insistence on a one-to-one dialogue with the US. US officials speaking anonymously say Japan and SK won't be at the talks, to be held in the Chinese capital Beijing. US, N Korea to hold talks with China Seoul. High-ranking diplomats from the US, China and N Korea will meet next wk in Beijing for talks on a simmering nuclear crisis. The meeting -- which will be the 1st direct high-level talks between Washington and Pyongyang since the crisis erupted in Oct -- appears to be a compromise between the US demand for multilateral discussions on the crisis and N Korea's insistence on a one-on-one dialogue with the US. However, the talks will be notable for the absence of the 2 closest US partners in dealing with N Korea, Japan and S Korea. Officials say Pyongyang, which has alarmed north Asia with its drive for nuclear weapons, has insisted that the three-way format was the only option it would accept. An official says that an agreement on the 3-way meeting had been brokered by China in a "counter-proposal" to US suggestions for a larger group of participants presented to N Korea. In the proposal, Beijing also agreed to take an active role in the talks, a move that appeals to Pyongyang which has long relied on China as its closest ally. US acceptance of the N Korean requirement seems to signal a major concession but Sec of State Colin Powell said earlier that "ultimately" the concerns of all N Korea's neighbours would be addressed. Officials say Washington "reserves the right" to add other participants to the talks as they continue, including Russia. They say US officials have assured both Seoul and Tokyo that they will be consulted on a daily basis. The US delegation will be led by Assistant Sec of State for E Asia and the Pacific James Kelly, whose visit to Pyongyang last Oct precipitated the crisis when he accused N Korea of pursuing a nuclear program based on enriched uranium in violation of a 1994 anti-nuclear deal. Since then, Pyongyang has ratcheted up tension, expelling internat'l nuclear inspectors, testing missiles and announcing its withdrawal on Jan 10 from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The exact dates for the Beijing discussions are not immediately clear. N Korea vets the guest list for talks Tokyo. North Korea wants Japan and Russia frozen out of any multilateral talks on its resurgent nuclear ambitions, S Korea warned yesterday. Pyongyang, backed by China, believes Japan and Russia are not directly related to the nuclear stand-off with the US and deserve no say in the security concerns on the Korean Peninsula, a senior S Korean Foreign Ministry official said. After m of bellicose anti-US rhetoric, N Korea last weekend backed away from its demand for one-on-one talks with Washington, indicating it was prepared to consider multilateral negotiations if the US made a "bold switchover" in its policy towards the communist state. Spooked by events in Iraq, Pyongyang is understood to be increasingly anxious to extract a non-aggression agreement from Washington. But it faces a resolute Bush administration buoyed by the swift Iraq campaign. The US is calling for a broad church to discuss N Korea's nuclear ambitions and ways to reduce security tension in the region. Beyond itself and the 2 Koreas, Washington also wants the involvement of the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council, the European Union, Canada and AUS. South Korea is pitching for the middle ground of a "two plus four" formula of the 2 Koreas alongside the US, China, Russia and Japan. Japan takes issue with N Korea's suggestion it has no security concerns. Its intelligence agencies warn that Pyongyang has dozens of Nodong ballistic missiles targeted at key Japanese cities and US military sites dotted across Japan. With an eye to its dwindling coffers, N Korea is prepared to include the EU in any talks at the expense of Russia and Japan. The UN has predicted N Korea has enough food to last only until Jun. Analysts believe N Korea will be forced to accede to a US demand to "fully and transparently" dismantle its suspected nuclear weapons program as a precondition to any new deal that might include some lesser form of security guarantee and the resumption of some energy assistance. Washington cut off fuel oil aid last Dec after US officials said N Korea admitted to carrying out a covert program to enrich uranium to produce atomic bombs. It had promised to halt its nuclear weapons program in 1994 in exchange for economic and energy aid. Washington. NAURU, YOU'RE NEXT! The latest US target is Nauru, with the US Treasury recommending the island nation from US support because it has not acted to curb money laundering. The proposal would bar US fin'l inst's from holding accounts for fin'l inst's in Nauru. Nauru has recently been a focus of int'l concern because of allegations its banking system is being used by terrorists to finance their operations. Also, some recently-captured fighters in Iraq had Nauruan passports. US shut down oil pipeline to Syria Washington. US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld says the coal'n forces in Iraq have shut down an oil pipeline between Iraq and Syria. The US alleges the pipeline was used to supply Iraqi oil to Syria, in violation of UN sanctions. Mr Rumsfeld says the US military will not destroy the pipeline, but will stop its current operation. "We have been told that they have shut off a pipeline, whether it is the only one, and whether that has completely stopped the flow of oil between Iraq and Syria, I cannot tell you," Mr Rumsfeld said. "We do not have perfect knowledge, but we do know that they were instructed to shut it down, and they have told us that they have." Syrian Govt condemns US 'threats' Damascus. The Syrian Govt has condemned and rejected what it called "threats and accusations" against it by US officials, saying they were inspired by Israel. "The council of ministers condemns the threatening language and the baseless accusations levelled by certain American officials against Syria with the aim of striking a blow at its firm position, influence its decisions and its commitment to internat'l legitimacy," the official news agency SANA reported. US officials, including Pres George W Bush, Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld and Sec of State Colin Powell, have variously accused Syria of possessing weapons of mass destruction, helping remnants of the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq to escape and supplying the regime with military equipment. Mr Powell said that Washington was considering implementing economic and diplomatic sanctions against Damascus. Powell insists Syria not a target Washington. US Sec of State Colin Powell has moved to ease fears in the Arab and Muslim world that the US would follow the Iraq war by invading other Middle E nations. Mr Powell said Washington had concerns about policies pursued by Iran and Syria but insisted there was no plan to attack any other country to topple its leadership or impose US-style democracy. Pres Bush Jr, Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld and Mr Powell have in recent days stepped up warnings to Syria in particular that it could face consequences if it did not change its policies. On Mon, Mr Powell said Washington might impose diplomatic and economic sanctions on Damascus for allegedly allowing members of Saddam Hussein's regime safe haven, its support for groups designated terrorist organisations by the US and its pursuit of WMD. Syria has denied the charges and other nations, particularly in Europe, have urged the US to tone down its rhetoric. Mr Powell did not repeat his threat of sanctions, but made clear that Syria had to adapt to the new environment in the region resulting from Saddam's ouster and the US intent to forge a functioning democracy in Iraq. Canberra. SYRIA IS NOT A TARGET! For Min Alex Downer says Syria must understand the troikas resolve to deal with WMD. But he says nobody is suggesting there will be a war in the Middle E country. Mr Downer says it's possible that some WMD have been smuggled across the border from Syria to Iraq. But he says the info is impossible to very. Hell, it's almost like no info at all! Mr Downer also says Syria may have given refuge to some of the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime. [In an SBS Dateline interview, the Syrian For Min replied that it was not credible Iraq would have smuggled out WMD across the Syrian border. He also rejected claims that Syria was harbouring former members of the Iraqi regime. But he didn't rule out Syria having been interested in a WMD program of its own. But he offered a deal to sign up the Middle E to a UN-sponsored treaty banning all WMD in the region]. Coalition failing its Geneva duty: Min London. A Brit Cabinet Min says the coal'n forces in Iraq have failed their Geneva Convention obligations to maintain order and keep civil administration running. Clare Short almost resigned as Brit's Sec of State for Internat'l Development over the war. She says the coal'n clearly was not sufficiently prepared and should have done better in managing Iraq after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime. Ms Short says the humanitarian situation in Iraq is worrying and urgent. Amnesty Internat'l says AUS, as a combatant, is equally responsible, regardless of the size of its military force. Prague. CZECHS SEND MEDICS TO IRAQ! The Czech parliament has approved a plan today to send a field hospital with 250 staff to Iraq to provide medical care to Iraqis in the S city of Basra. The news agency CTK says the lower house of parliament also voted to send a Czech chem detection unit based in Kuwait to the hosp and work to improve drinking water supplies. CTK quotes Def Min Jaroslav Tvrdik as saying the first doctors will fly to Kuwait on Thu, and they'll be able to start working in Iraq on Fri. Canberra. AUSSIES CAPTURE IRAQI TOWN! Aussie SAS troops have helped the US capture the Iraqi town of Al Ramadi. Def Forces rep Mike Hannan says an SAS unit made contact with the town's leaders o'night, then helped US forces secure the area around the town. He says the SAS forces provided local security and a linguist to assist the US cmdr to negotiate the surrender of the Iraqi forces with their cmdr, Maj Gen Mohammed Thurray. He says the surrender took several days to complete. London. LIAR, LIAR! An English newspaper says Brit war correspondents were easily misled by a Royal Marine who allowed them to belive his helmet had stopped 4 bullets. The Sun says Commando Eric Walderman's kevlar helmet had in fact been lying on top of his pack when it was peppered by fellow marines trying to hit an UXB tank weapon. 28 yo Walderman put the helmet back on after the incident and willingly posed for photographs that were beamed around the world with an "explanation". US military angered at Iraqi protests Baghdad (AFP). US forces yesterday tried to stop the media from covering a 3rd day of anti-American protests by Iraqis outside a hotel housing a US operations base, according to a reporter at the scene. Up to 300 Iraqis gathered outside the Palestine Hotel to express rage at what they said was the US failure to restore order after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. For the 1st time, visibly angered US military officials sought to distance the media from the protest, moving reporters and cameras about 30 m from the barbed-wired entrance to the hotel. "We want you to pull back to the back of the hotel because they (the Iraqis) are only performing because the media are here," said a marines Col who would not give his 1st name or title. The crowd later moved to the nearby square where a statue of Saddam was toppled last Wed, signalling the end of the regime. The Iraqis chanted: "No, no, USA." Tension has been rising in front of the hotel, where Iraqis protest against a lack of police protection, water, electricity and other basic services. As the protest grew more vocal, a marines Cpl held an impromptu briefing for a few reporters about progress in bringing Iraq back to normal. Cpl John Hoellwarth said the US forces planned to boost joint police patrols, bring more hospitals back into service and restore power to parts of Baghdad within 72 hr. US forces defend Mosul shooting Mosul. US forces accused of shooting on an angry crowd in the N Iraqi city of Mosul in N Iraq said they had come under fire from at least 2 gunmen and fired back, but did not aim at the crowd. The shooting happened as the newly-appointed governor of the city was making a speech from the building housing his offices which was deemed too pro-US by his listeners, witnesses said. "There were protesters outside, 100 to 150, there was fire, we returned fire," a US military rep said. The fire came from a roof opposite the building, about 75 m away, he said. "We didn't fire at the crowd, but at the top of the building," the rep added. "There were at least 2 gunmen, I don't know if they were killed." The firing lasted up to 2 minutes, the rep said. A hospital doctor said earlier that at least 10 people were shot dead and scores wounded nr the local govt offices in a central square, and witnesses accused US troops of firing on the crowd. 3 witnesses questioned by AFP and casualties who spoke to hospital staff said US troops had fired on the crowd, which was becoming increasingly hostile towards the new governor, Mashaan al-Juburi, as he was making a pro-US speech. At the hospital, where angry relatives of the dead and wounded voiced hatred of Americans and Westerners, a doctor gave a similar account from patients. "Juburi said the people must cooperate with the US. The crowd called him a liar, and tempers rose as he continued to talk. They threw objects at him, overturned his car which exploded," said Dr Said Altah. "The wounded said Juburi asked the Americans to fire," he said. Security alert in Baghdad Baghdad. US troops have tightened security around their main base in Baghdad, amid fears of a possible attack. US marines have also raided the main Baghdad hotel used by foreign correspondents in a search for weapons. The marines say the raid on the Palestine Hotel was based on reliable intelligence reports. It is believed the marines were searching for a large stash of weapons hidden inside the hotel, which is full of foreign media. US troops have also increased security around their base at the hotel, fearing a possible bombing or rocket attack. Meanwhile, at least 10 people have been reported killed, after US troops opened fire in the N city of Mosul. A US military rep rejects claims that soldiers fired at a crowd, saying soldiers were responding to an attack by 2 gunmen on the roof of a nearby building. Suicide bombers remain real threat in Iraq: US Doha. US forces say the war against Saddam Hussein's regime is far from over, with military missions still underway across Iraq. Brig Vincent Brooks says the operations are intended to locate former regime leaders and facilities. Brig Gen Brooks says coal'n forces are still facing pockets of resistance. "We still have individuals, we have regime death squads," he said. "We still have 80 suicide vests that are unaccounted for, that may have been distributed for use and there is still a military hazard that exists." Post-Saddam unrest "inevitable": Howard Canberra. The PM says it was unavoidable that once Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed there would be a period of civil disorder. For the past wk, Iraq's cities have been looted and buildings have been ransacked. John Howard says the 1st obligation of the coal'n forces was their own security, and they have now turned their attention to the safety of the population and getting humanitarian supplies into hospitals. Mr Howard has told S Cross radio it will take a while. "When you topple a tyrannical regime and you took the lid off, it was inevitable there was going to be a period of some upheaval," the PM said. Meanwhile the PM has ruled out supporting a US-led invasion of Syria. The US has accused Syria of developing chemical weapons and supporting terrorism and has warned it not to harbour Saddam Hussein loyalists. Mr Howard says there has been an overreaction to America's accusations and says he certainly supports the warnings the US has given Syria about not cooperating with terrorism. "I certainly don't expect for a moment and would not support any invasion of Syria. That's not something that's on our agenda", Mr Howard said. Summit outlines new plan for Iraq Nasiriyah. Iraq's opp'n has adopted a statement stressing a future Iraqi govt must be democratic and based on the rule of law, and that no leader should be imposed from outside of Iraq. The statement approved at a meeting organised by the US in Ur, just outside the S Iraqi town of Nasiriya, also said that ousted Pres Saddam Hussein's Baath party must be dissolved. It further stated that "Iraqis and the coal'n must work together to tackle the immediate issues of restoring security and basic services." A senior US official said delegates had voted to convene again in 10 days after the meeting, which saw one exile kiss the ground in tears after returning to his home soil for the 1st time in ys. The gathering was also attended by officials from AUS, Brit and Poland, 3 countries which backed the US-led war launched March 20 to root out Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction and overturn his 24-y rule. Even as the US and coal'n partner Brit said they were working quickly to bring about a representative govt, the meeting was held at a secluded nearby air base and only a small list of invitees was allowed in. The special Whitehouse envoy to the Iraqi opp'n, Zalmay Khalilzad, told the meeting that the US had "no intention of ruling Iraq" after the fall of Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein. Many Iraqis fear US plans for the future of Iraq and popular anger has been mounting over the widespread anarchy and chaos since Saddam was toppled. A massive protest against US influence on Iraq's future was staged nearby. The rally of around 20,000 mostly Shiite Muslims, unthinkable a wk ago under Saddam's Sunni Muslim regime, underscored the scope of the changes sweeping Iraq as well as the pitfalls facing Washington's effort to re-make the country. Iraq's leading Shiite opp'n group -- representing about 80% of the Shiite population and about 65% of the Iraqi population -- boycotted the meeting amid distrust over the US role and internal division on how to craft a representative govt. In addition, the man flagged as the Pentagon's choice to rule the country, Ahmad Chalabi, sent only a rep. There has been widespread concern over a possible US bid to control the nation and its vast oil resources, while Iraq's neighbours -- particularly close US ally Turkey -- fear the nation will split apart along ethnic or factional lines. Elsewhere, the US has dismissed the Shiite boycott of the talks. US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld says the protest is a part of freedom. The US is unperturbed by Shiite Muslim protests at its occupation of Iraq and its role in the formulation of an interim authority. Mr Rumsfeld says nobody should be surprised at division in Iraq. "People demonstrate in the US and boycott political rallies and things -- that's what free people do," he said. Upsurge in Iraqi religious violence Nasiriyah (AFP). Iraq has witnessed a surge in religious violence since Saddam's fall, with a leading cleric seen as pro-US assassinated in the holy city of Najaf and another threatened by armed gangs who called for him to flee the country. Religious figures led a rally in downtown Nasiriya today, which called for the school of Islamic leaders in Najaf, the Hawza, to lead the nation. The Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), the main Shiite opp'n faction whose presence in neighbouring Iran was long a source of tension between Tehran and Saddam's Baghdad regime, declined to take part. Ahmad Chalabi, the man long tipped to be the next leader of Iraq, also declined to attend but sent a rep, even though he has HQ little more than a stone's throw from the air base. Brit For Sec Jack Straw, speaking at Centcom's war headquarters in Qatar, played down talk of the potential divisions and also had words of warning for the deeply fractured UN Security Council. He insisted the UN would play a "vital role" but again cautioned that the fractured UN Sec Council, deeply divided over the war, would have to "accept that there is a new reality" in Iraq. Brit, Germany agree UN must play key role in rebuilding Iraq Hanover. PM Tony Blair said Brit and Germany agreed that the UN should play a "key role" in the reconstruction of Iraq, after talks with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Hanover. "There is an agreement that, in principle, the UN must have a key role," in the reconstruction of the country after the US-led war which ousted Saddam Hussein's regime, Mr Blair said. While Brit has been the US' main ally in the war, Germany joined France and Russia in steadfastly opposing the conflict. Italian peacekeepers to help in Iraq Rome. The Italian Parliament has voted to send a contingent of peacekeepers to Iraq, as well as civilians to help with reconstruction. The Italians plan to set up a complete field hospital and will carry out mine-clearing operations in the port of Umm Qasr and help repair water distribution systems. In the 1st stages of the operation, they will deploy only in the S of Iraq, not in Baghdad. The Italian For Min, Franco Frattini, told Parliament that Italy had a moral duty to help the Iraqi people immediately. An Italian liaison officer will be stationed at the Pentagon to help coordinate Italian aid with the American military command. Last oil well blaze extinguished: US S Iraq. The US military says the last blazing oil well in Iraq has been put out. An oil well fire reported yesterday in the N Kirkuk field has been extinguished, while the last S wellhead blaze in the Rumaila oilfield has also been doused. US Brig-Gen, Vincent Brooks, says coal'n forces control all oil wells. "All the oil fields do remain secure in the north and the oil fire I reported yesterday has been extinguished," he said. "At this point there are no burning oilwells in Iraq." Aust's asylum policy under attack in Iraq Nasiriyah. AUS's policy of mandatory detention has come under attack at a meeting to map out Iraq's political future. About 80 delegates representing Iraq's ethnic and religious leaders have agreed to a 13-point statement on the country's future after meeting outside Nasiriyah. A delegate at the meeting has called on the AUS representatives present to treat Iraqi asylum seekers held in detention in a human fashion. The comments are being seen as an embarrassing criticism of AUS's policy of mandatory detention. Shiite Muslim cleric Sheikh Sayed Jamaluddin has said that if the AUS Govt tells Iraq to build democracy, it should respect the rights of Iraqis who are being kept in what he called prisons. AOL takes spam fight to court Washington. America Online has taken its battle with junk e-mailers to court. The largest US Internet provider has filed 5 lawsuits against a dozen companies and individuals it says fill users' in-boxes with unsolicited spam. In a statement, AOL vice president Randall Boe said: "Spammers take note -- you can run but you can't hide." AOL has set up a sort of neighbourhood watch program among its members and has installed a special "Report Spam" button in the latest version of its software. Other e-mail services, such as Yahoo, have already established similar processes to allow users to report spamming. AOL's lawsuit is demanding $US10 mn and an end to the practice of spamming. AOL claims in the lawsuit that the defendants sent 1 bn pieces of spam, which generated about 8 mn complaints from its 27 mn customers. AOL has a published policy on unsolicited e-mail and the company says the defendants have systematically violated it. The lawsuit claims that the defendants evaded anti-spam filters set up by AOL and by its customers. AOL identified most of the defendants as "John Doe" and said they advertised steroids, pornography, home mortgages, college degrees, TV descramblers and "male organ growth and enhancement products". Aust soldier charged with kicking corpse Canberra. An AUS special forces soldier will face trial after a 2 1/2 y investigation into claims that troops mistreated detainees in E Timor in 1999. The army and fed police investigated 19 allegations against AUS troops in E Timor, ranging from workplace harassment to unlawful killing. The chief of the Army, Lt Gen Peter Leahy, says one special forces soldier will face an open trial by a defence magistrate, charged with kicking a dead body. Lt Gen Leahy says administrative action has been taken against another serviceman over workplace and gender harassment. Lt Gen Leahy says it has been determined that no other offences were committed, even though elements of another 4 allegations were substantiated. He says some of the army's operational procedures will be changed as a result of the investigation. Bomb blasts rock Turkish eateries Istanbul. Bombs have exploded at a US fast food restaurant and a guesthouse for public servants in Istanbul, Turkey. Police have detonated a device planted in another restaurant. Officials say there are no injured or dead. Police say explosives planted in a restaurant toilet caused the eatery blast, smashing windows and partially destroying one wall. Security forces detonated a bomb in a 2nd restaurant, after a person called police to say he had planted explosives there. Shortly earlier, an explosion had rocked a guesthouse in another quarter of the city, again causing only material damage. The Anatolia news agency reports there is no immediate indication why the bombs were planted. Ferry capsizes, 39 Haitians missing at sea DR. A boat carrying about 150 Haitians sank overnight off the coast of the Dominican Republic, with 39 passengers listed as still missing. The small craft was located by a navy patrol boat after midnight, local time, nr Manzanillo. One of the survivors has said the vessel suffered mechanical failure, before being capsized by heavy winds about 300 km NW of Santo Domingo. The injured have been taken to hospitals in 4 Dominican cities. Lebanese PM resigns Lebanon. The Lebanese PM, Rafiq Hariri, has submitted his resignation without immediately giving any reason. Pres Emile Lahoud has accepted Mr Hariri's resignation and asked him to stay on in a caretaker role. Pres Lahoud says he will now begin consultations to form a new govt. Mr Hariri has headed the country's govt for 9 of the past 11 ys. Highly placed gov'tal sources say he will probably stay on in the job. Mns treated for depression each y Canberra. People seeking treatment for depression account for more than 3.5 millions visits to AUS GPs each y, a new report has found. The study was conducted by the AUS Institute of Health and Welfare. In the 12 m to July 2001, almost 11 mn visits were made to GPs by people seeking help for a mental health-related condition. One in 3 of those visits was for depression. The study found GPs treated a larger number of female patients than male patients for mental-health problems, while the majority were aged between 35 and 54. In addition, another 2 mn visits were made to private psychiatrists. New SARS outbreak feared in Toronto Toronto. A religious group has possibly been infected with SARS in Toronto. The infection has triggered concerns that the fatal illness could spread to parts of the general population. All 13 Canadian SARS deaths have been reported in Toronto. Toronto is the region hardest hit by SARS outside Asia. A 78-yo woman returned to the city from HK, unwittingly spreading SARS to her family. They then infected health care workers and hospital patients. Since the start of the SARS outbreak in mid-Mar, Canadian health officials have been able to trace back the majority of cases to that index case and stressed that SARS was not being transmitted in the general population. Most of the more than 200 people infected and the 1000s in voluntary quarantine in Ontario province are health care workers or patients who had contact with the 2 hospitals 1st affected by the outbreak. Only about 10 possible SARS cases are travel-related in the Toronto region, while the majority of cases outside of Toronto have been in travellers returned from Asia. But with the possible SARS infection of 29 members of the Catholic group Bukas-Loob Sa Diyos (BLD) Covenant Community of Toronto, many in the community are concerned that tracking and containing the illness could already be out of hand. In an Apr 13 letter, Toronto medical officer Sheela Basrur told 500 members of the Catholic group to go into voluntary quarantine for 10 days. The development is a severe setback to local health officials, who after the closure of 2 hospitals and 3 schools watched as only small increases of 10 or fewer possible SARS cases were reported over the past few days. Now, they have to try to trace the steps of these 500 individuals to see if they have infected others at the workplace or in the public settings. With the latest development, one Toronto doctor told hospital officials, according to an email obtained by the newspaper: "We are on the cusp of community spread ... Many (of those exposed) have had extensive mobility in the community." Within Canada, there are about 287 probable (with respiratory x-rays showing respiratory distress) and suspect cases, the majority of these (236) are in Ontario, whose provincial capital is Toronto. Other cases were reported in the Canadian provinces of Brit Columbia (39), New Brunswick (2), Saskatchewan (1), Alberta (5) and Prince Edward Island (4). The worldwide death toll from the disease now stands at 152, with more than 3,500 confirmed or suspected cases in more than 30 countries. SARS claims 2 more victims in Singapore Singapore. 2 more people have died of the SARS virus in Singapore, raising the death toll in the city-state to 12 since the outbreak last m. Reports say 1 of those who died recently visited HK while the other was a doctor at a Singapore hospital. Singapore has the 4th-highest SARS death toll in the world behind China, HK and Canada. It is also among a list of the most affected areas listed by the WHO, which includes Vietnam and Taiwan. Meanwhile WHO experts have visited 2 military hospitals in Beijing where some doctors allege there are many more victims than are acknowledged officially. It is not known what they found. Beijing denials worsen SARS fears Beijing. Fears that the killer mystery virus SARS was spreading out of control in mainland China deepened yesterday as the number of cases escalated and govt efforts to quell rumours the virus was running wild in Beijing appeared to backfire. Worldwide, the illness has now killed 144 people and infected more than 3000 in 21 countries. The WHO has described as a "major step forward" the completion by Canadian scientists of the genetic sequence of the coronavirus that is believed to cause the disease. The finding will boost the development of better diagnostic tests and enable work on a vaccine. But in China, which accounts for almost half the cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the official number of infections has risen by 143 in the past 5 days to 1432, with infections now recorded in 7 provinces as well as in Beijing. WHO officials have warned that "questions remain" about the capacity of some provinces to cope with the spread of the disease. In Beijing, where the number of cases rose sharply from 22 to 37, a WHO team that had been invited to report on the outbreak in response to claims of a govt cover-up was due to wind up its 5-day investigation. But a rep confirmed that as of late yesterday, the WHO had been kept out of military hospitals where 100s of victims are rumoured to be held. Meanwhile a new cluster of 31 possible cases of the disease in Canada broke out among mourners who were at a victim's funeral on Apr 1. HK is also reeling after recording its biggest daily death toll -- 7 deaths on Mon -- since the outbreak began in the Chinese territory in March. 12 people have died in HK since Fri, including several who were otherwise young and healthy, health officials said. Doctors at the Prince of Wales Hospital, where about 70 doctors, nurses and medical students fell ill after treating their 1st SARS case in early March, reacted angrily to suggestions lax procedures at the hospital were to blame for the spread of the disease. Brisbane. LINERS TO OPERATE FROM AUS ON SARS FEARS! The operators of 2 of the world's most luxurious cruise ships are relocating them to AUS to weather the storm of the SARS virus. The Singapore-based Star Cruises says it's planning to relocate the SuperStar Leo and the Virgo to SYD and Fremantle, resp. The ships have been operating in HK and Sing since their delivery from Europe 4 ya. However, because of the SARS scare they will be based for 1 to 3 m in AUS, which has not yet recorded any deaths from the illness. Qatar to hold referendum on constitution Doha (AFP). Qatar has announced it will hold a referendum on Apr 29 to approve the gas-rich Gulf Arab state's 1st written constitution, a further step along the road to democratic reform promoted by the US. A commission would be set up at the interior ministry to supervise the vote when Qataris could "express their opinion on the plan for a constitution," the official Qatar News Agency said, publishing a decree from Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. No details were given, but a rep for the drafting committee, Mohammed Jahhan al-Kawari, told AFP the permanent constitution envisages the establishment of a Shura (Consultative) Council, two-thirds of whose members would be elected. The remainder of the 45 members would be named by Sheikh Hamad, Kawari said. Legislative elections could be organised for 2004, informed sources said. Under a draft, the council would have a 4-y mandate and the power to legislate, vote the state budget, monitor the govt and question ministers, although the emir would retain the power to dissolve it, Abdullah bin Saleh al-Khalifi, head of the drafting committee, said last Jul. Mr Khalifi said the draft gave women the right to vote and run for public office. The text, comprising 150 clauses, also provided for freedom of association, expression and religious practice and for an "independent judiciary," but it did not sanction the formation of political parties. The draft stated that "Qatar is an Arab and Islamic country," whose official religion is Islam but that Sharia, or Islamic law, is the "main," rather than sole, "source of legislation." The announcement of the referendum comes as the US pressures Gulf monarchies and other countries in the Middle E to promote democratic practices, and in the wake of the invasion of Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein's regime. US Sec of State Colin Powell has unveiled a $29 mn programme aimed at placing the US on the side of change, reform and a future of modernity in the region, citing moves by Qatar to open up politically. By hosting the US military's Centcom directing operations against Saddam's regime, Qatar has confirmed its status as one of Washington's key allies in the Middle E. The 11,000-sq-km gas and oil-rich state has a population of some 600,000, only 120,000 of whom are natives, according to estimates by foreign diplomatic missions. No official population figures are available. Kuwait was the 1st Gulf Arab state with an elected parliament, but women there are still barred from voting or running for office. Bahraini women took part in landmark legislative elections in Oct 2002 to restore the parliament scrapped in 1975. S Africa plans one-off payment to apartheid victims J'burg. South African Pres Thabo Mbeki says his Govt will make a one-off payment of 30,000 rand ($US3,890) each to more than 19,000 victims of apartheid ID-ed by the country's truth commission. But Mr Mbeki said the govt would not follow a recommendation by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to levy a wealth tax on S African business to help pay for reparations. He also signalled the govt's opp'n to a slew of class-action lawsuits filed in US courts by lawyers acting on behalf of apartheid victims seeking $bns in compensation from foreign and S African corporations accused of propping up or benefiting from nearly half a century of white-minority rule. S African mining giant Anglo American Plc and its diamond business De Beers are facing a claim of up to $US6.1 bn filed in a US court this month on behalf of tens of 1000s of apartheid victims. Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu had criticised big business for ignoring its role in apartheid when he handed down the TRC's final report last m after a nearly 7-y probe into murder, torture and other rights crimes committed by all parties during the apartheid era. The TRC identified 19,050 victims of gross human rights violations and urged immediate reparations. The govt has paid about 50 mn rand ($US6.45 million) in interim relief to 16,000 victims. Mr Mbeki said final reparations of 30,000 rand each to individuals or survivors designated by the TRC would be made during the current FY. The payout would be total 571.5 mn rand ($US74 million). The TRC was set up by former Pres Nelson Mandela in 1995 to look into the country's murky past and has since become a model for other countries emerging from internal strife, including Peru, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone and Kenya. But few of these countries have gone as far as S Africa, which gave the TRC power to grant amnesty to the perpetrators of rights crimes in exchange for telling the truth. SAS plays key role in surrenders Canberra. AUS's special forces have played a vital role in the peaceful surrender of Iraqi troops in a town W of Baghdad. The SAS initiated contact with the leaders of the Iraqi troops in the town of Ar Raamadi and assisted US forces to secure the area. AUS Defence Force rep Brig Mike Hannan says the SAS provided local security and a linguist to assist the US commander to negotiate the surrender of the Iraqi forces. In other operations, an AUS C-130 Hercules aircraft was sent to Baghdad to pick up 2 wounded US soldiers. They were delivered to a US hospital in Kuwait. It was the 1st fixed-wing medical evacuation out of Baghdad's newly opened airport. Sharon pledges to grab next shot at peace Tel Aviv. Israeli PM Ariel Sharon has told his Likud Party he will not miss another opportunity to make peace with the Palestinians. Speaking on the eve of Passover, Mr Sharon says if the Palestinians take serious action against terrorism, it will be possible to move the peace process forward. Mr Sharon's comments to the Likud Party follow hot on the heels of an interview he gave the Haaretz newspaper on the weekend, when he said Israel would have to part with some places considered connected to the course of Jewish history. He did not repeat those comments in the latest interview but stressed that if what he called "terrorism against Israelis" was halted, there could be progress with Palestinians. At the same time, US Sec of State Colin Powell has said that the long-awaited 'roadmap' for Middle E peace will be published soon, without any changes reflecting Israel's concerns. He says the publication will take place next wk, once the new Palestinian PM and his cabinet are confirmed. 6 dead in Middle E violence Gaza. The latest Middle E violence has left 3 Palestinians and 3 Israelis dead. 1 of the incidents took place at the Karni crossing where goods move between Israel and Gaza. 2 Israeli workers were injured when a Palestinian hurled hand grenades and sprayed automatic weapons fire, which killed 2 and injured 7 others. The gunman was then killed by security personnel. The militant group Hamas claimed responsibility calling the incident revenge for the killing of one its top commanders in Gaza City 1 wk ago. Earlier, a soldier was killed and 2 others injured in Nablus during a shootout in a house where 3 Hamas activists were holed up. 2 of the men surrendered, the 3rd man came out shooting, killing the Israeli soldier before being shot dead himself. Netanyahu's nephew refuses to join army Tel Aviv (AFP). Israel's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the nephew of hawkish Israeli Fin Min BB Netanyahu. He had asked to be judged in a civil rather than military court for refusing to serve in the army. The court deemed that Yoni Ben Artzi, who has been sitting in jail for the past 8 m for his refusal to serve, must appear in front of a military court, Israeli official sources said on Tue. The young man is a pacifist, who asked to be exempted from his military duty and fall under the army's conscientious objector category. But the army very rarely grants such dispensation, especially when it considers an Israeli citizen does not want to serve on political grounds. Israelis are called to arms when they turn 18. Men serve for 3 y and women for 21 months, while ultra-Orthodox Jews are exempted on religious grounds. Israeli Arabs are barred from serving in the army. The trial of 5 other refuseniks opened on Tue. The 5 men have already spent 2 to 6 m in jail but, unlike Ben Artzi, they only object to serving in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and are asking to perform a civil service instead. Only Israeli women can swap their military service for a civil one. In a letter to the Israeli Def Min'y, Hagai Matar, one of the 5 wrote that the army was "an instrument of violence that contravenes human rights and internat'l conventions". 18 Israelis are serving m-long sentences in jail for refusing to serve in the army or in the Palestinian territories. In Dec 2002, the London-based human rights group Amnesty Internat'l issued a statement condemning the army for its treatment of conscientious objectors. Power struggle may derail peace move Gaza (The Boston Globe). Palestinian politicians are locked in a fierce struggle that could thwart an expected US move to restart Middle E peace talks, Palestinian and Israeli officials and observers say. On the surface the struggle is over the proposed cabinet of the PM-designate, Mahmoud Abbas. Mr Abbas has nominated prominent reformers and critics of Yasser Arafat, and has dropped or demoted the most prominent Arafat loyalists. But all concerned agree that the fight is really about whether Mr Arafat, who agreed only in Feb to name a PM to administer the Palestinian Authority, will lose his control over Palestinian affairs. Mahdi Abdul Hadi, head of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of Internat'l Affairs, a think tank, said Mr Arafat had been shocked by Mr Abbas's efforts to push out some Arafat loyalists. But Dr Hadi predicted that the same survival instincts that led Mr Arafat to try to scuttle those personnel changes would lead him to accept them. 2 1/2 y after leading the Palestinians into their bloodiest period of struggle with Israel, Mr Arafat is trapped by the refusal of the Israelis or the Americans to meet him. Israelis watching the political drama are deeply divided over its significance, with the political right dismissive and the left feeling a mix of hope and fear. Gershon Baskin, head of a joint Israeli-Palestinian environmental centre, said it would be a tragedy if Mr Abbas resigned because Mr Arafat blocked his cabinet. Nauruan passports found on terrorists Washington (The Australian). Investigators have arrested 6 alleged terrorists carrying passports issued by Nauru under a passport-selling scheme sanctioned by the tiny republic's cash-starved Govt. The arrests are being hailed by police in SE Asia and the US as the 1st "smoking gun" in a campaign to prove the atoll state has been a major lure for terrorists looking to launder millions or buy new identities. Of most concern is how 2 alleged Al Qaeda operatives, arrested in Malaysia in Feb, came to be carrying Nauruan passports. The pair's arrest prompted a stern warning to Nauru from US Sec of State Colin Powell that Nauru's economy would be crippled if it continued to sell passports to people with non-legitimate claims to citizenship. Nauru, under pressure from the US, agreed to shut down its offshore banking registry and to quit the passport market. However, investigators fear Nauru may renege on the executive order signed by the late president Bernard Dowiyigo in Feb -- which brought the bans into effect -- and have now released details of other alleged terrorists linked to the Pacific nation. They include 2 members of the E Turkestan Liberation Organisation. who were arrested carrying Nauruan passports issued without any background checks. Another suspected terrorist from Azerbaijan was arrested in S China earlier this y after allegedly stabbing a US citizen to death. Mr Powell has threatened in writing to expose the full extent of Nauru's complicity in terrorist financing if it attempts to back away from its fledgling reforms. Investigators say Nauru's Citizenship Investment Scheme and the once notoriously lax offshore banking system attracted terrorists and organised criminals, particularly from Russia, Indonesia and Israel. Documents obtained by The Australian show those wanting to buy passports were required to undergo no more than a medical and HIV test. After approval was granted, $US30,000 ($50,000) was wired to a bank registered in HK. In light of complaints from 2 Nauruan ministers that the island's revenue stream has been crippled by stopping the 2 controversial programs, the US has again threatened to bring Nauru to its knees if it fails to honour the agreement. Ruling could free asylum-seekers Canberra. About 100 failed asylum-seekers could be released into the community after the full bench of the Fed Court yesterday upheld a ruling that people judged not to be refugees but who could not be sent home were being held illegally in detention centres. Chief Justice Michael Black, Justice Ross Sundberg and Justice Mark Weinberg dismissed the Govt's appeal against a Fed Court judgement in Aug that ordered the release of 25-yo Palestinian Akram Ouda Mohammad al Masri. Mr al Masri volunteered to return to the Gaza Strip in late 2001 after failing in his bid for refugee status. But a Fed Court order for his release was sought because the Govt continued to hold him at the Woomera detention centre when he could not get transit visas to travel through Jordan, Egypt and Israel, and Syria refused to take him. Mr al Masri was deported to the Gaza Strip in Sep after immigration officers succeeded in arranging a visa. But the solicitor who acted for him, Jim Douglas, said yesterday's decision could affect as many as 100 stateless people, particularly Palestinians and Iraqis. Mr Douglas said the decision might also give Mr al Masri grounds to take a case against the fed Govt for unlawful imprisonment. Mr al Masri had offered to return to his country the day his application for asylum was rejected. He wasn't "playing the system", Mr Douglas said. The Govt indicated yesterday it was likely to appeal to the High Court. A rep for Imm Min Philip Ruddock said there were "very few" detainees, mostly from the Middle E, who could be affected by the judgement. The rep said about 6 detainees had been released on similar applications to Mr al Masri's since the original Fed Court decision. SA Legal Services lawyer Claire O'Connor is representing 3 stateless Palestinians -- 2 on appeal before the full court of the Fed Court awaiting a decision in the al Masri case, and another appeal lodged recently. She said the Govt had been trying to obtain citizenships from Thailand and The Philippines for stateless detainees. Jeremy Moore, the lawyer behind the Woomera Lawyers' Group that took up Mr al Masri's case in 2001, said the Fed Court decision would immediately affect at least 15 people in detention who had appeals lodged or whose appeals had been rejected. Textile firms face collapse as tariffs withdrawn Canberra. The Productivity Commission has found there is little that can be done to save many of the nation's textile firms from collapse. In a new report, the commission says the clothing and footwear industries can no longer be protected by high tariffs. The commission says intense internat'l competition, particularly from China, means the prospects of many textile firms is very limited. It has recommended the industry focus on niche markets, where it can be more competitive. The report says seeking to offset the collapse of businesses through higher tariffs is neither effective nor in AUS's interests, and tariffs should be reduced in 2005 and again in 2010. Michelle O'Neil from the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union says that will result in significant job losses. The Productivity Commission says the focus should now be on reducing the risk of disruption to the sector, as firms close down. "Faked" footage puts Aussie in eye of Oscar storm LA. An AUS film-maker's 1997 Academy Award is in doubt, after a US judge ruled his "revolutionary" camera lens does not work. Judge Gary Feess has ruled that AUS James Frazier faked a videotape to win a patent for the lens system, court officials say. The judge has nullified the camera's patent and Oscar officials say the case thrusts the future of Mr Frazier's award into doubt. The Panavision/Frazier system has been considered one of the most advanced pieces of camera equipment in Hollywood for the past decade. It has been hailed for its alleged ability to keep both nr and far objects in focus at the same time. John Pavlik of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which runs the Oscars, says the academy is examining the ruling. Mr Pavlik says he knows of only one instance when an Oscar has been taken back from its winner. In 1969, the academy took back the golden statuette from documentary winner The Young Americans because it was found that it had been released too early to be eligible for the 1968 Oscars. Judge Feess says Mr Frazier's design "defied the laws of physics" and that the video presented to patent officers was made with a completely different set of camera lenses, according to the LA Times. Mr Frazier made "false and misleading statements to the patent examiner" with "an intent to deceive", Judge Feess wrote in his ruling. Mr Frazier's lawyer, Alfred Fabricant, says he plans to appeal the ruling, according to the Times. The application for a patent for the lens system was submitted in 1994 and relied on a videotape of nature footage that Mr Frazier claimed to have shot using his lenses. The recording persuaded Panavision, the leading provider of cameras and lenses to Hollywood movie-makers, to sign an exclusive licensing deal for the lenses' technical design. "The design was heralded as an amazing accomplishment and dazzled filmmakers across town," the Times said, adding that it was used for 2001's animated feature Stuart Little 2. The camera-maker and Mr Frazier then launched a patent infringement suit against German firm P and S Technick GmbH Feinmechanik, which made a similar lens system. As the case progressed, the lens system's ability to do what it claimed was called into question, leading to a settlement of the suit and eventually to the patent's annulment last wk. HIH inquiry finds dozens of potential offences Canberra. Royal Commissioner Neville Owen has found under-reserving and under-provisioning were the primary reasons for the collapse of insurer HIH. Justice Owen has identified 56 possible breaches of civil and criminal law relating to the $5.3 bn collapse. In his 1,500-page report, Justice Owen describes the collapse of HIH as a "shambling journey towards oblivion" that began long before the company went under in March 2001. He has recommended a total of 56 possible charges be laid against individuals and organisations, significantly fewer than those suggested by counsel assisting the commission, Wayne Martin QC. Among those named is HIH's founder and chief, Ray Williams, whom Justice Owens says failed to stop information he knew to be wrong from being presented to the board and the stock exchange. The commission also found Mr Williams acted recklessly when he paid over the odds for a home security subsidiary. Former FAI chief and HIH director Rodney Adler also came in for criticism, with recommendations he face one criminal charge and 8 civil charges. The Fed Govt has spent the past wk and a half dissecting the Royal Commissioner's report. Sydney. MARKETS! The All Ords added 12 pts to 2,944, lifted by a rally in AMP shares. AMP was up 39 c to $8.00. The AUD cracked the 61 c mark to 61.12 US c. Gold was trading around $US323.90/oz. Melbourne. MEDICARE CHALLENGE! Fed Labor, minor political parties, medical and community groups are to attend a union-run summit opposing the govt's proposed changes to Medicard. The ACTU is organising a 1/2-day summit in MEL on May 2 to start a campaign against the proposed changes. The AMA says the changes incl limiting incentives to doctors who bulk-bill concession cards to regional and outer-metro areas. ACTU Pres Sharan Burrow says there are no plans to invite the govt. Canberra. IMPORTS UP! New figures show merchandise imports increased to $10.7 bn in Mar. The ABS says imports climbed almost $1/2 bn over the prev m. Imports of food and live animals improved $23 mn to $429 mn, imports of crude material rose $171 mn and imports of fuels increased $300 mn to just over $1 bn. Imports of machinery and transport equipment continued to improve, climbing $200 mn to $4.64 bn and imports of beverages and tobacco increased to $79 mn. Brisbane. 7 FOREIGN CRIMINALS CAUGHT! 7 illegal immigrants have been detained in a joint government agencies operation in S Qld. A police rep says 5 men and 2 women were found today during traffic interceptions nr the town of Millmerran, SW of Bris. They're of Rumanian, Ukrainian and Fijian origins. Police say the 7 were discovered during a joint operation between Qld police, Centrelink and the Dept of Imm. {{ CONTINUOUS WAR-RELATED NEWS DAY TWENTY-SEVEN 9 pm 4 more civilians have been killed in Mosul tonight. Again, US troops are implicated. The death toll from a shooting incident yesterday has risen to 15. US troops opened fire when a crowd turned ugly. Military reps say both incidents are being investigated. On the spot where Saddam's statue was pulled down, there was a 4th straight day of protesters complaining about the looting of homes and fear at US intentions. nr Nasiriya. The building of a new Iraq is underway. Gen Jay Garner welcomed the beginning of a free & democratic Iraq at a US-sponsored meeting to outline the way forward. The meeting was meant to bring together all groups, but key figures were absent and distrustful of US intentions. A Shiite cleric told the meting he didn't want a fake democracy. The US envoy to Iraq says the US has no interest in ruling Iraq. The meeting came up with a 13-pt plan, incl a fed system of govt to hold the country together. But no-one present has the power to decide anything and the frustrations are showing. It's said to be the 1st step in a long and difficult process, and one that doesn't incl UN. There are concerns undue American influence in shaping the country's future. Aussie Im Min ruddock said the comments of an Islamic cleric on AUS detention was "uniformed". The cleric has been speaking at a meeting in Iraq. Mr Ruddock also announced the the 3,000 Iraqis on temp protection visas may be offered a quick trip home. 31 Iraqis are presently held in detention in AUS, with 108 more held in Nauru. The death toll from SARS has risen to 159 world-wide. HK says they have mapped the genome and confirmed it came from animals. They are now going to trace which ones. Of more concern, they suspect it may have already mutated to a more deadly form. They report there is a new viral strain at an appt complex in HK. Elsewhere, a German company has started distributing the first diag test. But the first treatment could be m away. The NSW election computer finally was working right today. Counting in the Upper House had been delayed due to "technical problems". The machine started up and immediately rejected Ms Hansen's bid for an upper house seat. The machines gave the final place to Bud Tingwell from the Shooters' Party. }} ---------------------------------------- Thu, 17 Apr 2003 Markets Syria proposes "WMD-free zone" US doesn't expect talks to end N Korea crisis US sees no swift breakthrough with N Korea US admits to Mosul killings Food aid trucked into N Iraq Franks inspects war zone in person INC general proclaims he's "Mayor of Baghdad" Iraqi families welcomed us: "human shield" Chirac says EU to airlift wounded Iraqis to Europe Gulf troop deployment to be halved: PM American airlines staff take cuts to save jobs Baxter centre prepared for protest Bulk billing in death throes under Howard Govt: Crean Car sales driving economy AUD climbs against heavy greenback Explosion leaves crater in SYD yard HK boarders at school for Easter Howard backs Reith appointment Nauru doesn't need election "monitors": Pres Nauruan leader unaware of suspected terrorist arrests Nauru faces US finance ban despite law changes Nigerian poll in crisis as opp'n threatens "mass action" Shareholders pursue HIH claims Surat gas fire extinguished Tooth decay on rise in Aussie kids Travel alerts issued for Middle E Wheat virus costs CSIRO y of research Woomera detention centre mothballed Geologists doubt NASA warning over Peru glacier Armless boy undergoes op Tomb raiders sentenced to death Chinese quake Yellow alert EU expanding Teens killed by radiation France: to punish or not to punish Franks visits Baghdad Rebels kill 10 in Uganda Export grants slashed Bomb blast on SYD front lawn People smuggler to be intercepted PM rejects Aussie peacekeeping role Plastic factory burns in Bris Aussie prisoner to be released mid-y GM moratorium to be dropped: NZ Continuous war-related news Sydney. MARKETS. Falls in major blue-chips have left the Aussie market weaker at the close, in a shorted trading session. The All Ords closed down 27 pts (0.9%) to 2,917. In NY, the Dow dived 145 pts (1.8%) to 8,258 on some bad profit news. But the Nasdaq closed higher, following good news from Intel and M/S. The FTSE closed down 62 pts to 3,855. The Dax was also down 0.3%. But in our region, the Nikkei and Hang Seng both closed up 0.5%. Gold is trading around $US324.80/oz. Oil was up 20 c to $US29.39/bbl. Syria proposes "WMD-free zone" NY. Syria has asked the UN Sec Council to help transform the Middle E into a "zone free of weapons of mass destruction". Accused by the US of developing chemical weapons, Syria insists it is not doing so but charges that Washington is ignoring Israel, which is widely assumed to have nuclear weapons. Syria has circulated a draft resolution in the 15-nation Sec Council, welcoming all initiatives to create a "zone free of weapons of mass destruction, in particular nuclear weapons". But the US ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte, says Syria is jumping the gun. "We think the focus at the moment is the search for WMD in Iraq," he said. The US would be prepared to consider any resolution on WMD, he added. US doesn't expect talks to end N Korea crisis Washington. The US says it is not expecting next week's trilateral talks with North Korea and China to end the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. The discussion is a compromise between North Korea's demand for bilateral talks with the US, and Washington's insistence that South Korea and Japan be included. State Dept official Phil Reeker is indicating this will not be the last meeting. The US says it is grateful for China's participation. While China is a long-term ally of North Korea, it's also trying to improve its relations with the Bush Administration. US sees no swift breakthrough with N Korea Washington. The US does not expect an immediate breakthrough in talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program to be held as early as next week in China, the White House said. US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly will lead the US team for talks in Beijing about ending Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. He may also visit Japan and South Korea. A rep for the White House National Sec Council said the US was still prepared to consider a bold initiative for improved relations with North Korea if Pyongyang gives up its nuclear weapons program. US plans for the bold initiative were scuttled last autumn upon discovery that North Korea was pursuing nuclear weapons. US officials said the countries had discussed the possibility of meeting as early as Apr 23, but he said the date was not yet definitely fixed. US admits to Mosul killings Qatar. Coal'n cmdrs have admitted American troops shot and killed a number of Iraqis during a protest in the N Iraqi city of Mosul. US forces had earlier denied responsibility for the killings. Conflicting accounts still surround the incident, with some reports putting the number killed as high as 15, with up to 100 wounded. US Brig Vincent Brooks says US marines and special forces soldiers fired at demonstrators on Tue, after they came under attack from people shooting guns and throwing rocks. However, the Pentagon has sought to downplay reports US soldiers acted inappropriately during the incident. Pentagon rep Maj Gen Stanley McChrystal says it is too early to tell whether US troops showed a lack of fire discipline. McChrystal says the incidents confirm how complex the situation has become in Iraq, both for those trying to bring stability to the region and those elements still opposed to them. Witnesses say US troops fired into the crowd as it turned increasingly hostile towards a pro-US speech being given by the town's newly appointed governor. Mosul remains tense, with the city's dominant Sunni Arabs fiercely opposed to Kurdish control and American influence. Food aid trucked into N Iraq Ankara. The UN World Food Program has begun an operation to deliver a weekly order of more than 10,000 tonnes of food aid to N Iraq. A hundred UN trucks have set out from Turkey, bound for the Kurdish-controlled regions of Iraq. The World Food Program says the convoy heading to the N cities of Erbil and Suleimanya is carrying enough food to feed more than 150,000 people for a month. It is the start of a massive operation, in which at least 100 program trucks will cross the Turkish border into N Iraq each day, carrying wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oil, chickpeas and high energy biscuits. Prior to the war, the UN estimated that 60% of Iraq's 24 mn people depended on Govt food rations to survive. With military conflict disrupting agricultural activity and food distribution, the food program says the aid is sorely needed. Franks inspects war zone in person Baghdad (Reuters). US General Tommy Franks, who commands US-led forces in the war on Iraq, has paid his 1st visit to Baghdad. He has briefed US Pres George W Bush by teleconference from one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces. Gen Franks, speaking to reporters briefly during the one-day visit, said the trip was partly an "emotional event" to show appreciation to cmdrs "who have done the bone-crushing hard work". The US Central Command chief flew into Baghdad's airport, one of the 1st sites in the Iraqi capital secured by US troops. Gen Franks rode in a dozen-vehicle motorcade, which included Humvees and Bradley fighting vehicles, to Saddam's Abu Ghurayb North Palace, which has been converted into a US military centre. The General toured the ornate rooms of the palace, including a bathroom where the sink fixtures, toilet-paper dispenser and toilet-bowl brush were all made of gold. "It's the oil-for-palace program," Gen Franks said, referring sarcastically to the "oil-for-food" program under which Iraq was able to sell oil under UN supervision for food, medicine and other necessities. Smoking a cigar in the palace, Gen Franks spoke by telephone with US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld before he and other cmdrs held a closed-door teleconference with Pres Bush. Gen Franks declined to give details about his talks with Mr Bush, saying that he "simply provided the Pres and the National Sec Council a statement of where we are in the operation". Gen Franks cautioned that there was still fighting going in on Iraq. Franks had earlier stressed that his trip to the Iraqi capital was meant to meet with troops and that he was "not looking to have a victory parade in downtown Baghdad". INC general proclaims he's "Mayor of Baghdad" Baghdad. 2 close associates of the head of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), Ahmad Chalabi, have proclaimed themselves leaders of the interim local govt in Baghdad. A so-called general in the INC, Jaudat Obeidi, told a news conference he had been chosen as mayor of the capital. He says Mohammed Mohsen Zubeidi has been elected as head of the provisional admin. The voters were supposedly an assembly of officials and religious leaders. Meanwhile, pro-US Iraqi politician Mr Chalabi has returned to Baghdad on his 1st visit to the city since the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958. Mr Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress, is the 1st major exiled politician to reach Baghdad since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's govt. Chalabi will start meeting Iraqis soon, including community leaders, religious leaders and businessmen. He will coordinate his activities with Jay Garner, the retired US general leading the drive to rebuild Iraq, and the US authorities. The US military flew Mr Chalabi to Nasiriyah 10 days ago, giving him a head start over other exiles trying to establish a power base among the Shiite population of the south after y of Baathist repression under Saddam. However, when asked if he intended to play a political role in Iraq, he was quoted as telling French daily Le Monde earlier this week: "Absolutely not. I am not a candidate for any post." Iraqi families welcomed us: "human shield" Perth. A Perth woman who was in Baghdad as a 'human shield' says she was welcomed into Iraqi homes, despite AUS's role in the war. Michelle Pule returned from the Middle East last night, after making the dangerous journey from Baghdad to Jordan earlier this week. She believed her mission was a success, even though grain silos she and other peace workers were guarding were bombed 24 hours after they left the area. Ms Pule says the Iraqi people made her and five other members of her group feel very welcome. "Two were from the UK, 2 were from AUS and 2 were from the US, which were the 3 govts that were bombing this country," she said. "These families welcomed all 6 of us into their homes and we sat down with them and had a meal and we were virtually like family to them." Chirac says EU to airlift wounded Iraqis to Europe Paris. French Pres Jacques Chirac said the European Union planned to organise an airlift to allow wounded Iraqis, especially children, to receive medical treatment in Europe. Mr Chirac said the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, would arrange the airlift "as quickly as possible" in cooperation with "the occupying powers" -- the US and Brit. Speaking after an EU summit in Athens, Mr Chirac said he had discussed the idea with Brit PM Tony Blair who was "in favour of this initiative". The airlift would cover Iraqis wounded in the US-Brit war, notably children, who "need treatment which can only be found in our countries", the Pres said. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he backed the idea. Gulf troop deployment to be halved: PM Canberra. PM John Howard has all but ruled out a request from Brit and the US to send a battalion of troops to Iraq as peacekeepers. Mr Howard says 1/2 of the 2,000 troops AUS sent to Iraq will be home by the end of next month. He says while he does not want to commit peacekeeping troops to Iraq, he will contribute some forces to serve in post-war Iraq. He says AUS is already heavily committed in its own region. The PM says AUS's special forces, F/A-18 Hornets, the navy's clearance diving teams, HMAS Darwin and HMAS Anzac will arrive home in the next five to 6 weeks. HMAS Kanimbla will return in June. Opposition leader Simon Crean says the PM keeps changing his mind about AUS's military commitment. Meanwhile Defence Min Robert Hill and the chief of the Def Force Gen Peter Cosgrove will visit AUS troops in the Middle East next week. Sen Hill and Gen Cosgrove will leave early next wk and they will spend Anzac Day in the Persian Gulf on board one of AUS's navy ships. American airlines staff take cuts to save jobs Washington. Flight attendants at the world's biggest airline, American Airlines, have voted in favour of cost-cutting measures to try to avert bankruptcy. American Airlines managers had said that the company would file for bankruptcy unless all staff voted for the measures, which involve pay cuts. The flight attendants, who had rejected the plan the day before, have now joined pilots, mechanics and other ground workers in ratifying the cost-cutting deal. However, the airline's management says the danger is not yet over. The global airline industry is in the midst of its worst crisis in history, after taking multiple hits from the Sep 11 attacks, high security costs, the Iraq war and now the SARS virus. Baxter centre prepared for protest Adelaide. 100s of police and emergency service personnel have converged at Port Auga in preparation for this weekend's expected protest at the Baxter detention centre. The streets around the Port Auga police station are filled with dozens of emergency vehicles including police cars, paddy wagons and support vehicles. Around 300 police, ambulance officers, State Emergency Service volunteers and firefighters are in a briefing by police cmdrs as well as AUS Fed Police, immigration officers and AUS Protective Services. Estimates of the number of protesters expected to converge at Baxter range from 1,000 to 3,000. However so far there is no sign of them. Many are expected to arrive by bus tomorrow but Port Auga mayor, Joy Baluch, says some residents are scared and she has got a simple message for the protesters, "Don't come". SA's Prem Mike Rann says his Govt will not tolerate violent demos at Baxter over the weekend. Bulk billing in death throes under Howard Govt: Crean Canberra. It has been claimed AUS's bulk billing system will die a slow death under current Govt policies, forcing the country into user-pays American style health care. Fed Opposition leader, Simon Crean, says under the Howard Govt bulk billing rates have fallen to an all time low, especially in regional areas. Mr Crean says there needs to be incentives to retain doctors in regional AUS and an increase in patient rebates to save the crumbling Medicare system. "Yes, you have to get doctors into the regions and there have to be incentives for that but you also have to improve the patient rebate so that the return for the doctors is there," Mr Crean said in Tasmania today. "The other thing that you find, of course, is that with bulk billing disappearing, more pressure comes on the hospitals." Car sales driving economy Canberra. New car sales are providing a solid engine of growth for the AUS economy. The number of new motor vehicles sold in Mar has risen a seasonally-adjusted 2%. Figures from the Bureau of Statistics show 72,900 new vehicles rolled onto the nation's roads during the month. That follows a 24% surge in Jan and a modest 8% fall in Feb. Economists say that across the entire March quarter car sales are up almost 10%, promising a significant contribution to GDP growth. AUD climbs against heavy greenback Sydney. Pre-Easter weakness has afflicted both American share prices and the USD overnight. A broad-based slide in the greenback's value has allowed the AUS dollar to climb back above 61 US cents. The heavy tone to the US currency is a little surprising, given a stronger-than-expected recovery in American housing starts, which have jumped 8.3% in March. Inflation in the US remains contained. The CPI measure is up 0.3% in Mar and the underlying rate is unchanged, the lowest outcome in 4 y. But currency dealers suggest the market is squaring up ahead of the Easter break and that has put downward pressure on the US dollar. The AUD has been to an overnight high of 61.35 US cents, the strongest it has been in more than 5 wks. The Dow Jones industrial average finished the session 145 points down at 8,258, a slide of 1.7%. Somewhat encouraging results from Intel and Microsoft have seen the high-tech Nasdaq composite index end 4 points ahead at 1,395. Across the Atlantic, the Brit market has given up substantial ground. London's FT100 index has lost 62 points to 3,855, a drop of 1.6%. There were moderate gains yesterday on the AUS market, led by AMP. The All Ords rose 12 points to 2,944. The gold price is sitting at $US326.45/oz and W Texas crude oil is at $US29.16/bbl. Explosion leaves crater in SYD yard Sydney. An explosion has damaged a home and left a large crater in the front yard of a home at Bonnyrigg, in SYD's west. Police say an explosive device was detonated in the front yard last night. There are small shrapnel holes in the eaves, guttering and roof of the home. No-one was hurt in the incident. HK boarders at school for Easter Brisbane. A north Qld school has stopped boarders from HK from returning home over the Easter break to prevent them from returning to Townsville with severe acute respiratory system (SARS). The Cathedral School has 4 students from the Chinese territory and will welcome 2 more shortly. The new arrivals will be isolated from the city and the school for up to 10 days. Principal Jim Raw says he has to make sure the school's 850 students are safe. Mr Raw says the students and their families understand the cautious approach. Howard backs Reith appointment Canberra. PM John Howard has defended the Govt's decision to nominate former snr minister, Peter Reith, for a job in London. Mr Reith has been nominated as AUS's executive director to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for 3 y on a tax free salary of $250,000 a year. Labor has described the appointment as "jobs for the boys" but Mr Howard says Mr Reith is very well qualified. "Whenever you appoint a former politician, people always say it's a job for the boys," he said. "But what you've got to ask is, 'Is the boy qualified?'. I always found Peter Reith a very honest person, I found him a very able person, and if you look at the qualifications for the job I think he's well qualified." Nauru doesn't need election "monitors": Pres Canberra. The Pres of Nauru, Derog Giora, has reprimanded his education minister for inviting AUS and New Zealand to send observers to monitor next m's elections. Nauru's Ed Min, Anthony Audoa, has written to the PM's of AUS and New Zealand, asking John Howard and Helen Clark to send electoral officers to Nauru for the elections on May 3, alleging the Nauru Govt, of which he is a part, could not be trusted to run a free and fair election. Pres Gioura is annoyed. "The minister for education should not take the matter up on his own volition, cabinet as a whole should decide," Pres Gioura said. Pres Gioura also is not keen to have journalists around. "I'm not saying that we don't need media to cover the election but it's not a big election, you know." Nauruan leader unaware of suspected terrorist arrests Canberra. Nauru's Pres says he knows nothing about the arrest of 6 suspected terrorists in Asia, allegedly carrying Nauruan passports. Derog Gioura learned of the arrests while on a visit to AUS, which wound up last night. The Australian newspaper reported from Washington yesterday that investigators in the US had released details of 6 alleged terrorists, including 2 alleged Al Qaeda operatives, who had been arrested in SE Asia in recent m carrying Nauruan passports. The new Nauruan Pres, whose govt last m passed legislation to close down its offshore banks because of alleged terrorist money laundering, says he knows nothing of the matter. "I was surprised, I read in the papers about some elements of terrorists using Nauruan passports, but this is a matter that I was not aware of it and I shall certainly look into it as soon as I get back to Nauru," Mr Gioura said. Nauru faces US finance ban despite law changes Washington. The Pacific Island of Nauru could be cut off from American finance within a m. In a statement issued in Washington, the US Treasury says that under the Patriot Act signed into law by Pres Bush Jr, the Sec for the Treasury is empowered to take countermeasures against countries he designates to be of primary money laundering concern. The Secretary declared Nauru to be such a concern in Dec. Following that, the late Pres Bernard Dowiyogo flew to Washington to negotiate with the State Dept. He died of a heart attack in the US, but the Nauru Parliament has since passed the legislation to close down its shell banks that the Americans appeared to want. However, the US statement makes no mention of the new law, simply noting that the fed register will publish notice this wk of the proposed rule to cut Nauru off from the US financial system and that comments may be submitted within 30 days. Nigerian poll in crisis as opp'n threatens "mass action" Abuja. Nigeria's main opp'n leader has called for "mass action" to deter ballot-rigging, as the country's political crisis deepened 3 days ahead of a key presidential poll. Former coup leader Muhammadu Buhari accused supporters of Pres Olusegun Obasanjo of stealing victory in last wk's parliamentary elections, and demanded races be re-run in much of the country. "We are not boycotting the election. We are calling for mass action. We're asking for Nigerians to defend their vote," the one-time military dictator told reporters in the Nigerian capital Abuja. Mr Buhari did not say what he meant by "mass action", but the term is often used in Nigeria to refer to large-scale, often violent, demos. His threat was rejected by Mr Obasanjo's camp and the state electoral commission, but it will raise tensions in Africa's most populous country as it prepares for Sat's presidential poll. Nigeria has never passed power from one civilian govt to another in its 43-year history of independence, and the weekend's disputed polls sparked anger and violent clashes in many areas. Rioters burned an electoral office, and a home and a shopping centre belonging to leading Obasanjo supporters in 2 towns in the N state of Katsina in protests on Mon and Tue, witnesses and police said. And yesterday an attempt to re-run polling in the SE state of Enugu, where Sat's election was curtailed amid bloody clashes, was boycotted by angry opp'n parties. Mr Obasanjo's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was on course for a clear victory in the parliamentary poll, Nigeria's 1st civilian-run vote in 20 years, as the results continued to trickle in Wed. With declarations in from more than 4/5 of constituencies, the PDP had a healthy lead with 53% and was just 3 seats short of an absolute majority in Nigeria's 360-seat lower house. Mr Buhari's All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) was trailing on 81 seats and 27% of the vote. But Mr Buhari -- who held a press conference flanked by officials and candidates from around 10 opp'n parties -- said that the elections had been stained by "greed, disloyalty and dishonesty". He said vote should be re-run in areas where Obasanjo supporters and electoral officials had faked the results, a climb-down from his party's position Tue, when they rejected the poll "in its totality". However, the list of states where he claimed fraud had taken place was long, and included all Nigeria's main population centres including Abuja and Nigeria's densely populated SW. In the troubled SE, attempts had already begun to re-stage some polls which were disrupted at the weekend by violence and theft of ballot boxes, election officials said. But a broader exercise such as that demanded by the opp'n would be impossible, said Abel Guobadia, chairman of the Independent National Election Commission (INEC). Shareholders pursue HIH claims Sydney. A lawyer representing 1,200 shareholders involved in a class action against HIH says his next move will be to get financial compensation for his clients. Bruce Dennis is seeking compensation from the company's directors, auditors and several other groups who had contracts with the failed insurer. Mr Dennis says he will return to court today to try to resolve the matter. "I believe there's a very reasonable prospect of compensation," Mr Dennis said. Mr Dennis claims his clients were misled about the state of the company's finances. Surat gas fire extinguished Brisbane. A gas well that has been burning out of control for more than a wk nr Surat in S inland Qld has been extinguished. A drilling contractor died and 2 other men were flown to the Royal Bris Hospital with serious burns when the well exploded on Apr 7. Qld firefighters tried to stop the fire but decided to pull out for safety reasons. Yvette Reade, from Origin Energy, the company that manages the gas well, says mining experts from the US put the fire out yesterday. Tooth decay on rise in Aussie kids Canberra. There has been an increase in tooth decay among AUS children, according to a report released today by the AUS Institute of Health and Welfare. The report, which covers the decade of the 1990s, shows the number of decayed, missing or filled baby teeth is on the increase, after 2 decades of decline. The report says the problem is worst among 5-yos, where there was a 22% increase in decayed teeth between 1996 and 1999. The survey also found the number of decayed teeth for six-yo was lowest in the ACT and SA, and highest in Qld, the NT and Vic. Report author Jason Armfield says tooth decay among AUS children is still significantly lower than many other countries, but he says the results show there is no room for complacency. Travel alerts issued for Middle E Canberra. The For Aff Dept has updated its travel warnings for 9 countries in the Middle E due to the war in Iraq. Aussies are now being urged to defer any non-essential travel to Syria and Kuwait due to the continuing military action in Iraq and the possibility of terrorist attacks against W interests in those countries. Similar warnings have been reissued for Iran and Lebanon. The Dept has also updated its travel advice for Israel, telling Aussies to exercise extreme caution there and not to travel to the West Bank or to the Gaza Strip. The dept is also now advising extreme caution in Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It says in those countries, particular care is needed in commercial and public areas frequented by foreigners. Wheat virus costs CSIRO y of research Canberra. A virus eradication program at the CSIRO has halted the world's 1st commercial release of a revolutionary disease-resistant wheat. Labs at Black Mtn and Ginninderra in the ACT are in the process of destroying more than 30,000 plants that could host the wheat streak mosaic virus. Traces of the virus were detected at the laboratories last week. CSIRO researcher Richard Richards says the eradication program will set research back up to 3 years. He says some of the destroyed plants include an innovative breed of wheat, resistant to another damaging virus. Jim Peacock from the CSIRO's Plant Industry Division says the decision to destroy all plants that could host the virus may cost 100s of 1000s of dollars in lost research. Mr Peacock says the clean-up will also include other potential hosts such as barley, rye, pasture grasses and even the lawns outside the greenhouses. He says it is a necessary step to maintain the integrity of the research facility. Woomera detention centre mothballed Canberra. The controversial Woomera detention centre will be mothballed from today. The centre, in SA's far north, opened in Nov 1999 and at its peak held more than 1,400 detainees. Today, only 6 remain. The Imm Dept says they are expected to join the 300 detainees at the Baxter detention centre, nr Port Auga, before the Easter long weekend. Meanwhile, 15 asylum seekers remain in the Woomera Housing Project, nr the defence town. Geologists doubt NASA warning over Peru glacier LA. NASA has warned that a glacier in Peru's Andes mountains could break apart and cause an avalanche in a populated valley, but geologists say the US agency is being alarmist. NASA says its Terra satellite had detected an "ominous crack" in the Cupi glacier, calling it a "potential glacial disaster-in-the-making" nr the tourist town of Huaraz, 270 km north of Lima. The NASA warning was splashed across the front pages of several tabloid newspapers in Peru, reviving memories of an earthquake and avalanche which killed about 70,000 people nr Huaraz 25-years-ago. Benjamin Morales, head of the Andean Geological Institute and considered Peru's leading expert on glaciers, says it is normal for Andean glaciers to have "1000s of cracks" but inaccurate that an avalanche would reach Huaraz in 15 minutes. Mr Morales says he has asked officials from NASA's JPL for further information. Huaraz, surrounded by the spectacular snow-capped Cordillera Blanca mountain range, is a prime climbing and hiking destination for both Peruvian and foreign tourists. Ronald Woodman, head of the Peruvian Geophysical Institute, agreed the news of the glacial crack was exaggerated. Mr Kargel, chief investigator of Global Land Ice Measurements from Space, a 23-nation consortium which monitors the world's glaciers, says he was "puzzled" by NASA's statement, but acknowledged the Cupi glacier should be watched. Alan Buis, rep at the JPL, said NASA had not meant to alarm the population. Kuwait City. ARMLESS BOY UNDERGOES OP! Doctors have performed plastic surgery on a 12 yo Iraqi boy who lost both arms during the US bombing of Baghdad. Ali Ismael Abbas has become a symbol of Iraqi suffering during the war. Ali underwent a 75 min operation in which doctors scraped away infected and dead tissue and replaced it with temporary grafts of skin from a donor. Ali suffered burns to about 35% of his body and lost both arms when a US missile stuck his home in Baghdad last m. The blast also killed his father, pregnant mother, and brothers and sisters. HK. TOMB RAIDERS SENTENCED TO DEATH! 3 tomb raiders who plundered 1,700 yo graves in China have been sentenced to death. The South China Morning Post says the men stole paintings from the graves in Jilin, dating back to 300 AD, and sold them for more than $A160,000. Beijing. CHINESE QUAKE! A strong quake measuring 6.6 has toppled houses in NW China. The Seismic Bureau says the quake hit just before 9 am local time, rattling 2 townships close to Delhi city. Officials in the city, in Qinghai prov, say the epicentre was about 30 km away in 2 townships -- Hoit Taria and Da Qaidam. Delhi's civil affairs bureau says they've been told houses have collapsed around the epicentre. The area is largely populated by Tibetans. Washington. YELLOW ALERT! The US has lowered its paranoia level to "yellow" from "orange", saying the end of the heavy fighting in Iraq has reduced the threat of terrorist attacks. Either all the terrorists are now dead, or it's now definitely established there were none to start with. Officials say some security measures around the US will be relaxed but say a significant threat remains. That guy with the anthrax power, for one. The yellow level still signifies an "elevated risk of terrorist attacks", but is the middle level of the 5-level national danger scale. Athens. EU EXPANDING! Leaders of 25 countries have signed treaties expanding the EU beyond the the old Iron Curtain, as policed used tear gas on about 15,000 anti-war protesters hurling petrol bombs outside. The 10 new countries have signed up for EU membership in a ceremony held in the shadow of the Acropolis, incl 8 from the former Communist bloc. All the new members are said to be distinctly pro-US, unlike some of the reps from "old Europe". Poland, Hungary, the Czech Rep, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Cyprus, and Malta will formally join on May 1, 2004. Vladikavkaz. TEENS KILLED BY RADIATION! 2 teens have died from radiation poisoning after they stole a container from a chemical plant in the capital, Grozy. A rep says authorities have found an unprotected cache of radioactive material on the grounds of a bombed plant. A director of the Rodon Plant in Grozny's Zavodskoi district has told the Interfax news agency the material was found in a workshop there. The substance has not been ID-ed, but the rep says it was kept in 17 containers. Washington. FRANCE: TO PUNISH OR NOT TO PUNISH! The Whitehouse says snr US officials will meet to determine whether France will be punished for its anti-war stance. Sec of State Colin Powell, Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld, and nat'l security advisor Connie Rice say they will meet tomorrow. They say they'll decide whether France should be punished for its anti-war stance. There's been a division over how to approach France after a bitter dispute over the Iraq war. [Russia, Germany, China: YOU'RE NEXT!] Baghdad. FRANKS VISITS BAGHDAD! Gen Tommy Franks, who commanded the US forces in Iraq, has paid his first visit to Baghdad. He briefed the Pres via teleconf from Saddam's palace. The US Centcom chief says the 1-day visit was to pay respect to those soldiers that did the main work. Franks' military plane landed on the taxiway at Baghdad airport as the runway's been damaged by US bombing. Kampala. REBELS KILL 10 IN UGANDA! At least 10 people have been killed in a remote camp in N Uganda by suspected Lord's Resistance Army rebels. Local admin sources in the reg'l capital Gulu say more than 10 people were killed and up to 200 grass-thatched houses were torched during the raid. The sources say a group of rebels raided the camp and rounded up some people after accusing residents of having grabbed a gun from an LRA fighter. Canberra. EXPORT GRANTS SLASHED! Grants to help companies find export markets are to be slashed ahead of next m's fed budget, Trade Min Mark Vaile has revealed changes to the Export Market Development Grants scheme which provides funding to firms looking to develop overseas markets. Total spending on the scheme has been retained at $150 mn pa. However the annual turnover of firms able to apply for grants has been cut to $30 mn from $50 mn. Also the maximum number of grants has been reduced to 7, and the max grant will be cut from $200,000 to $150,000. Sydney. BOMB BLAST ON SYD FRONT LAWN! A bomb exploded on the front lawn of a house in SYD's W last night, causing extensive damage to the property. Police say the explosive device detonated on the front law of Diamond Cres, Bonnyrigg, home about 11.45 pm. They say 2 family members at home at the time were not hurt, but the boast left dozens of shrapnel holes in the eaves, guttering and roof tiles. Is also damaged a car that was parked in the driveway. Canberra. PEOPLE SMUGGLER TO BE INTERCEPTED! The fed govt says Aussie authorities are poised to intercept suspected people smuggler Abu Quassey as Indon deports him to Egypt. Indon plans to deport Mr Quassey later this wk, snubbing a request by Canberra to try him in AUS. Mr Quassey, an Egyptian citizen, was arrested in Indon on visa violation charges in Nov 2001. His arrest came 1 m after 353 asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Iraq drowned when their AUS-bound boat sank. Perth. PM REJECTS AUSSIE PEACEKEEPING ROLE! PM John Howard says the Aus govt hasn't been asked by the US or Brit to provide peacekeeping troops in post-war Iraq. Mr Howard has denied a report in today's Australian newspaper that the US and Brit has specifically requested a light infantry battalion based in Townsville with the Ready Brigade. Mr Howard told Perth radio 6PR the report must be based on some inquiries that have been made at a sort of military and departmental level. [IOW, "yes"]. Brisbane. PLASTIC FACTORY BURNS IN BRIS! A plastics factory has been completed destroyed by fire in Bris's S, with toxic smoke causing the area to be evacuated. The Qld Fire and Rescue Service says 30 firefighters were called to the fire at about 9 am, and managed to bring the fire under control just before 11 am. A rep says surrounding businesses in the ind'l area were evacuated because of the risk from toxic smoke. Fire crews are still trying to determine the cause of the blaze. Melbourne. AUSSIE PRISONER TO BE RELEASED MID-Y! An Aussie hospital worker who's in prison in Saudi Arabia for his wife's crimes has been told he'll be released in Jun. 56 yo Robert Thomas was sentenced to 16 m jail and 300 stokes of the cane after his wife was convicted of stealing hospital equipment last Jun. The anaesthetics technician, who had been working in Saudi hospitals for a decade, was found guilty by association in Sharia law. Wellington. GM MORATORIUM TO BE DROPPED: NZ! The NZ govt has confirmed it will lift a moratorium on the release of GM crops in Oct, saying they can co-exist with conventionally grown plants. Ag Min Jim Sutton says cabinet papers confirm it's safe to lift the moratorium with a robust regulatory system ensure only GM foods deemed safe are grown or sold. NZ is one of the world's leading exporters of meat and dairy products and its growing organic foods ind'y has opposed the introduction of GM crops. {{ CONTINUOUS WAR-RELATED NEWS DAY TWENTY-EIGHT 6 am The US has signalled it wants to have a new UN res that would allow Iraq to freely sell oil on the world markets. The announcement came in a single sentence in a 27-min speech to a group of workers. Selling oil will help for paying the cost of post-war reconstruction. Unanswered is a resolution over Iraq's alleged WMD and who will control the country's resources. The Sec Council is expected to look at the issue next wk. There could be significant opp'n to US-backed ideas. Mosul. The US has admitted its soldiers shot into a crowd after the it threw rocks during an anti-US protest. Brig Gen Brooks admitted it today at the Centcom briefing. He called the US action "lethal fire" and said it resulted in "somewhere on the order of 7 dead". And some wounded as well, he added. Baghdad. As a BBC crew filmed, Iraqis stole food from a store today. Reporters said the people were hungry and said there was plenty of food in the store. There were no police or soldiers anywhere in sight. Water and electricity are progressively being restored but people still queue for bread rations. As the int'l community mobilises to avoid humanitarian disaster, others say its already upon them. In a Baghdad hosp they're burying patients in the grounds. Glass bottles are buried with the bodies, containing notes with with what little info they have about the corpse. The notes are in case relatives later claim the bodies. 2 toddlers were buried today. They had been injured in the bombing, and the ill-equipped hosp couldn't save them. 9.30 pm SBS says another 1/2-bro of Saddam, Bazaran al-Tikriti, has been arrested. He will be questioned in Baghdad. He was low down on the US list of 55, at number 52. He was an advisor to Saddam, but his loyalty was questioned by Qusay who said he was plotting to overthrow the regime. Bazaran was alone when captured. Human rights groups want him tried for crimes against humanity. He was a past head of Iraqi intel. He was also Iraqi Amb to the UN in Geneva. His home was targeted last wk by 6 smart bombs. This time, there were no casualties. The capture came after a tip-off from an Iraqi citizen. The Iraqi opp'n says he was under house arrest, which may explain why he was at the bottom of the US list. But it's a big catch from human rights people. Witness said he personally torched people and pulled out finger nails, threw boiling water on them, and beat them with electric cables. After the AUS mil confirmed a formal request had been received for Aussie peacekeepers, PM Howard has called them "niche forces", not peacekeepers. He had previously denied a request had been received from the US or Brit for peacekeepers. Hence the rename. As 1 of the 3 occupying powers, AUS is required under the Geneva Convention to provide security for the civilian pop'n. Crean says the PM is again not telling Aussies the full story. The "capture" of a terrorist suspect may be short-lived. Mahmoud Abbas can't be held by the US because of an amnesty deal with the Palestinians. Abbas was the former leader of the PLF. The deal was brokered by US and essentially gave terrorists before 1985 amnesty. But he is also wanted in Italy. He'd lived in Baghdad quietly for y and been in and out of Israel over the past decade. His house had been given to him by Saddam Hussein, and Gen Brooks says this was proof there was a link between Iraq and terrorism. Analysts say that's a stretch, and Abbas is no longer a big fish and is certainly not closely connected with Al Qaeda. A 16 yo boy has been killed in Tulkarem. The Israeli army shot into a crowd of stone-throwing youths, killing 1 and wounding others. Another man, a peace activist, is suspected of being shot while resisting arrest by Israeli troops. There's a complete shutdown of Palestinian areas for Passover. Israeli intel warns of attacks planned for the period. It was marked last y by a bombing that killed 29 in Netanya. China is accused of under-stating its SARS cases by a factor of 5. It has not been declaring the cases in its military hospitals. There is also a problem of definition. The WHO uses the term "probable cases", while China insists on using "proven cases". China has agreed to co-operate with the WHO are re-state its figures. We're in for a big shock. Oxfam Community Aid Abroad has called on the AUS govt for Iraqis on temp visas to be given Permanent Residence. Imm Min Ruddock has not responded to the call. Meanwhile, activists are travelling to the Baxter detention centre in SA from most major Aussie capitals. They expect to arrive tomorrow and will set up camp and then march to the centre. The Royal Commission has handed down its long-awaited findings on the HIH collapse. The insurer folded in the biggest corporate collapse in AUS history last y. About 1,200 shareholders are owed $A70 mn. They have launched legal action to recover their money. The collapse last y left $5.3 bn in debts. A lawyer says the group will get its money back from dirs, auditors and several others with contacts with the group. Shareholders have been misled, he says, and auditors have been negligent. The matter is set down for hearing on May 30. The Royal Commission found there had been 56 breaches by 20 people. While most had been a result of negligence, some were criminal actions, said the Commissioner. Fed Treas Peter Costello promised prosecution, and said a jail term would be appropriate. The regime of Robert Mugabe has been training thugs to carry out atrocities against political opponents and critics. This is not news. But 3 of the infamous Green Bombers, named after their uniforms, have now blabbed to the BBC. They say they were involved in beatings, rapes, murders and burning down farms in Zimbabwe. They have since fled to S Af. They say they were trained by the Mugabe regime to terrorise supporters of the opp'n. They had been promised money and land, but given drugs and alcohol. S Af and the Af Union have refused to comment on the Mugabe regime. 11 pm There are reports the Iraqi Info Min killed himself the day Baghdad fell to US troops. US troops have foiled a bank robbery in Baghdad. 10 suspects dragged out of the bank, while on-lookers cheered. They also yelled abuse at the Baghdad police who arrived late. The US had to calm down a police chief who threatened to shoot the by-standers. Free people act like that, says Don Rumsfeld. Fighting is still underway in Tikrit. The US says it's finding some resistance. Tanks have been sent there. Marines say it's one of the most heavily-armed towns in the country. One cache in a military hospital was found with 50,000 AK-47s. They've since been burned and bull-dozed. A previously-secret report says dozens of US athletes over a period of decades were cleared to compete in the Olympic games even after they had tested positive for banned drugs. The report specifically mentions Carl Lewis, who was critical of Canadian Ben Johnson who tested positive after the 100 m. Following Johnson's disqualification, Lewis was awarded the Gold. Aussie athletes say if the documentation turns out to be correct, all the US athletes involved should be stripped of their medals. Oly chief and Canadian Dick Pound and some others have gone further, indicating if the reports are true, the US Olympic Committee should be disqualified from fielding athletes at future Olympic Games, incl the up-coming Athens games. }} ---------------------------------------- Fri, 18 Apr 2003 Markets 20 die in bus crash 8 killed in chopper attacks 1 killed by Israeli army Political assassination US unemployment on the rise Missing tourists located EU calls for UN role in Iraq Suspected mass grave found in N Iraq US captures another Saddam 1/2-brother Syria rejects arms inspectors Afghans arrest Taliban official Afghans broker N cease-fire Aussie peacekeepers Asian leaders meet on SARS SARS test Obasanjo secures power Cuban resolution Easter toll reaches 3 on day 1 Grain virus under investigation Bridge referred to ICAC Asylum-seekers released Protesters outnumbers by police Police stop protesters Ruddock to handle $bn purse Continuous war-related news NY. MARKETS! Markets ended the short trading week higher. The Dow climbed 80 pts (1%) to 8,338. The Nasdaq rose 30 pts. Gold was also 70 c higher to $US327.15/oz. The FTSE was 34 pts (0.9%) higher at 3,889 and the Dax was 75 pts (2.5%) up at 2,900. Lima. 20 DIE IN BUS CRASH! Peru police say at least 20 people were killed and 28 injured when a bus slammed into a hillside and burst into flames in the country's S. A highway police officer, who helped rescue survivors, says the bus drove off the highway and crashed at high speed into a hill, immediately bursting into flames. The accident occurred this morning on a main highway about 1,000 km S of Lima. The cause of the crash is not immediately known. Abidjan. 8 KILLED IN CHOPPER ATTACKS! 8 civilians, incl 3 children, have died of injuries sustained when helicopter gunships attacked towns in W Ivory Coast this wk. The deaths come as a unity govt held its first full meeting in the economic hub, Abidjan. The govt is seen as vital in ending the W African country's 7-m war. Aid agency Doctors Without Borders says at least 50 civilians all claim to be victims of attacks on Tue by combat choppers on the towns of Danane and Mahapleu. Tulkarm. 1 KILLED BY ISRAELI ARMY! Israeli troops enforcing a curfew on Palestinians during the Jewish Passover holiday have killed a young man in the W Bank city of Tulkarm. Witnesses and medics say the 21 yo man was shot several times after being spotted on a street by Israeli forces. They say the man had no connection with militants fighting against Iraqi for independence since Sep 2000. Moscow. POLITICAL ASSASSINATION! Liberal Russian lawmaker Sergei Yushenkov, an outspoken critic of Pres Vladimir Putin, has been shot dead in Moscow. Fellow legislators immediately branded the killing as political. A Moscow police rep says Yushenkov, a leader of the Liberal Russia party, was shot 3 times in the back nr his home in NW Moscow. Police say he died later of his wounds and a pistol with a silencer was found nr the scene. Washington. US UNEMPLOYMENT ON THE RISE! More Americans than expected signed up for unemployment benefits last wk, reflecting increased layoffs in the auto industry. A govt report shows first-time jobless claims rose 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 442,000 for the wk ending Apr 12. The Labor Dept says it's the 9th wk in a row that claims held above the key 400,000 level, regarded by economists as a sign of an unhealthy labour market. Vienna. MISSING TOURISTS LOCATED! Algerian authorities say they have located 11 of 31 tourists missing in the Sahara desert, and have opened talks with kidnappers. Aussie weekly Profil reports that Bedouins have seen the kidnappers and 11 hostages striking camp. Profil says Algerian authorities have not used the word "hostage-takers" to describe the kidnappers, to be able to open negotiations. Profil says talks have already started. Athens. EU CALLS FOR UN ROLE IN IRAQ! The EU has called for a central role for the UN in rebuilding Iraq. The 15-nation bloc has sought to heal deep divisions opened up by the campaign against Saddam Hussein. In a statement agreed at a meeting in Athens today, the EU has also re-affirmed its commitment to play a significant role in the political and economic reconstruction in the country. It says the UN must play a central role, incl in the process leading towards self-govt for the Iraqi people. Meanwhile, a Spanish oil company says it's well-positioned to land a contract in the Iraqi oil industry. The company was previously locked out of Iraq. A company rep said the Iraqi pie was huge, and even a small slice would be significant. Kirkuk. SUSPECTED MASS GRAVE FOUND IN N IRAQ! Iraqi Kurd say they've discovered what they suspect might be a mass grave nr the N city of Kirkuk. The Patriotic Union for Kurdistan, which seized control of Kirkuk last wk [funny, I thought it was supposed to have gotten out!], says the site might be for victims of deposed-leader Saddam Hussein's anti-Kurd campaign in 1988. PUK says the suspected mass grave is a collection of over 2,000 mounds and about a dozen unmarked concrete tombs. Kurds, who live mostly in N Iraq, estimate that about 180,000 people were killed and 4,500 villages destroyed during Saddam's Kurdish purge. Baghdad. US CAPTURES ANOTHER SADDAM 1/2-BROTHER! US forces have captured No 52 on their "most wanted" deck, Bazaran al-Tikriti. His capture is said to be a major coup in the coal'n efforts to round up members of the Iraqi leader's toppled regime. Centcom's Brig Brooks described Barzan as an advisor to Saddam with extensive knowledge of the regime's inner workings. Analysts say Barzan, another of Saddam's 1/2-brothers, had been out of favour with the regime for years. He'd been accused of plotting to overthrow Saddam by Qusay, and had been under house arrest of some time. They doubt he now has any current knowledge. Barzan's capture comes more than a wk after the fall of Baghdad to US troops. Cairo. SYRIA REJECTS ARMS INSPECTORS! Syria says it will not allow arms inspectors on its soil but will join forces with the world to ride the whole Middle E of WMD. The decision is in line with its proposal to the UN. Washington accuses Syria of developing chem weapons, a charge rejected by the Arab state. On Wed, Damascus asked the UN Sec Council to help transform the whole region into a WMD-free region. Kabul. AFGHANS ARREST TALIBAN OFFICIAL! Afghanistan's govt says it has arrested a notorious member of the former Taliban regime who served as the deputy head of its feared religious police. State-run Radio says Maulawi Qalamuddin has been arrested by govt security agents, but gave no details about when or where the arrest took place. Qalamuddin served as deputy head of the religious police and of the Religious Affairs Ministry in the fundamentalist Taliban. Kabul. AFGHANS BROKER N CEASE-FIRE! Afghan authorities have brokered a ceasefire between 2 rival factions in N Afghanistan after several days of clashes that killed at least 5 people. A UN rep says fighting between the 2 minority Shi'ite parties erupted on Apr 10 in Surk Den in the N prov of Samangan. Hostilities lasted 4 days and 4 civilians -- incl a 6 yo child -- and a cmdr were killed. Canberra. AUSSIE PEACEKEEPERS! The fed govt has issued conflicting statements over whether it's been asked to send peacekeepers to Iraq. PM John Howard and Def Min Robert Hill have announced a broad timetable for the withdrawal of the bulk of Aussie troops before the end of Jun. Mr Howard says he hasn't been approached by Pres Bush Jr about contributing peace keeping forces in Iraq. He says a report about such a request is based on inquiries at the military dept level. But reporters at the daily military briefing in CBR were told AUS had been officially approached to provide the forces. HK. ASIAN LEADERS MEET ON SARS! Beijing has been pressured to reveal the full extent of its SARS epidemic as the virus claimed 4 more lives in HK and 1 in China. SE Asian leaders meanwhile have called an emergency summit to combat the crisis. Fears are growing that SARS is spreading across China, the world's most populous nation. A first case has been confirmed in India which has the world's 2nd largest pop'n. Rome. SARS TEST! A test to screen people for the deadly pneumonia virus SARS should be available to scientists within 10 days. US Sec of Health Tommy Thompson told journalists in Rome that the test should be ready in a wk to 10 days. Thompson says after that, it will be available to scientists and laboratories worldwide. In the past 2 m the virus causing SARS has spread around the world, killing more than 160 people and infecting over 3,000. Abudja. OBASANJO SECURES POWER! Nigerian Pres Olusegun Obasanjo's party has secured control of parliament, 2 days before a landmark pres'l election. Obasanjo's victory in last wk's parl'y elections confirms him as the front-runner for Nigeria's first pres'l poll since the end of military rule, a key test of the country's young democracy. Opp'n leader Muhammadu Buhari has accused the pres's party of rigging the parl'y vote and has urged his supporters to resist further fraud. Geneva. CUBAN RESOLUTION! The UNHCR had adopted a resolution on Cuba which omits any reference to Havana's recent crackdown on political dissidents. 24 of the 53 countries on the UN body backed the resolution. It urges Havana to allow a rep of the UN high commissioner for human rights to visit the Communist Caribbean country. The text, presented by Uruguay, Peru and Nicaragua, was rejected by 20 countries, while 9 abstained. A strongly-worded amendment proposed by Costa Rica was rejected. Sydney. EASTER TOLL REACHES 3 ON DAY 1! On the first day of this y's Easter hols 3 people have died on Aussie roads. In Vic, a man was killed when his car collided with a truck in Gippsland. The Orbost man, believed to be in his 70s, died when his car hit the truck at the intersection of Lk Tyers Rd and the Princes Highway, E of Lakes Entrance. In WA 2 men died when the car they were travelling in rolled over on the Great N-ern Highway nr Paynes Find, 570 km NE of Perth. Canberra. GRAIN VIRUS UNDER INVESTIGATION! An investigation is proceeding into how a foreign grain virus infected crops grown by the CSIRO for research. The crops at the organisation's Black Mtn centre in Canberra have been destroyed to ensure an outbreak of wheat streak mosaic virus does not spread. Years of grain research have been lost in the process. The virus is carried by the wheat curl mite but is not found in AUS. It's not know how the virus got to Black Mtn and a nearby experimental farm. Rail. BRIDGE REFERRED TO ICAC! The NSW govt has referred the Menangle Bridge scandal to the Indep Comm'n Against Corruption. The decision comes after an internal investigation raised questions about mgt processes. Tranp Services Min Michael Costa says Coordinator General of Rail, Vince Graham, has referred the matter to the ICAC after Crown legal advice. Wollongong U engineer Michael West recommended on Mar 6 that the 140 yo wrought iron bridge, located SW of SYD, be closed because of dangerous structural problems. Sydney. ASYLUM-SEEKERS RELEASED! 6 more asylum seekers have been released from detention after this wk's landmark finding by the Fed Court. The Court found that immigrants cannot be detained indefinitely as they await deportation. Yesterday, Fed Court Justice Arthur Emmett ordered the release of the 6, 3 of whom are from SYD's Villawood foreigners' jail and 2 from Baxter in SA. Another is from Maribyrnong in MEL. Adelaide. PROTESTERS OUTNUMBERS BY POLICE! Asylum seekers at the Baxter foreigners' jail outside Pt Augusta have been outnumbered by police awaiting the arrival of 1000s of protesters. About 300 police have been deployed to Pt Augusta to monitor the mass protest against the treatment of asylum seekers. A further 200 police have been placed on standby should the protest mirror last y's at the Woomera detention centre, which resulted in violent clashes and the escape of 50 detainees. Locals have marked most of the countryside "no camping" to prevent protesters from staying. All accommodation in Pt Augusta is said to be taken by police and reporters. The protest has been good for business, reps say. Adelaide. POLICE STOP PROTESTERS! Police have blocked 100s of protesters from approaching the Baxter detention centre, amid fears of violence during mass demonstrations this weekend. About 500 protesters from around AUS today began converging on Pt Augusta, in SA's N, to rally against the govt's treatment of asylum seekers. Police have established road blocks around the centre and the protesters were stopped from coming within 2 km of the camp, which refugee advocates have likened to Camp X-Ray at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Canberra. RUDDOCK TO HANDLE $BN PURSE! Indigenous Af Min Philip Ruddock has appointed himself overseer of ATSIC's $1.1 bn budget, removing the Commission's elected politicians from the purse strings. Mr Ruddock says ATSIC's bureaucracy will become a separate agency from Jul 1, answerable to him on how the budget is spent. ATSIC's board of elected commissioners will become advisors and policy makers with a tiny budget covering their own offices and travel. Mr Ruddock says the changes will end perceptions of conflicts of interest within ATSIC. {{ CONTINUOUS WAR-RELATED NEWS DAY TWENTY-NINE 0.15 am BBC radio. The Philippines has announced it will send 500 police, peacekeepers and humanitarian workers to Iraq. The personnel would be sent in 2nd 1/2 of May, but they don't know where yet. Officials also don't know who would pay for it -- the "coal'n" or the US. Def Sec Gen Angelo Rais said the Philippines was part of the "coal'n". "We're going in there to contribute", he said. The Philippines would be ridding Iraq of propagating terrorism, he added. 0.30 am The 10 ASEAN leaders will meet in Bangkok within weeks to discuss the impact of SARS. In N Iraq, 2,000 unmarked graves have been found by US forces nr Kirkuk. The graves were nr an abandoned Iraqi military camp. TV pics show blood-covered human remains. The bodies may date to the 1980s when 1000s of Kurds were killed in an Iraqi offensive in the N of the country. Colin Powell says he expected to travel to Damascus to meet the Syrian President. But Powell didn't mention a specific date. The announcement follows a suggestion by Syria to make the Middle E a WMD-free zone. Powell said he's been to Syria twice to have frank discussions with the For Min and the Pres. Elsewhere, Assad said Powell was welcome but he hadn't heard officially that the US Sec of State was coming. 3 people in Tamil Nadu have been sentenced to life in jail for killing a baby girl. It's the first time in India that people have been sentenced to life for female infanticide. Often poor families know they can't raise the dowry pice, and kill their female children. 1 am UNESCO is meeting in Paris about reconstructing and finding archaeological and cultural artifacts in Iraq. They've talked about the vandalism and looting, swapping rumours since there are no hard facts. Some of the thefts were deliberate action, some delegates said, probably by the same gangs paying for the destruction of sites of Iraq over the past 12 y. 3 days after the events in Baghdad and elsewhere, there were rumours of objects for sale in Paris. In the past 24 hrs some delegates rec'd email objects are in Iran and other places in Europe. The consensus is it's a very mysterious case of cultural vandalism. People have gone and targeted cultural sites. Delegates were told even the little-known Gulbakian Institute was destroyed. It containing modern Iraqi art. An armed gang tore seals off the doors and went in and burned it. There was no attempt to steal anything. An AFP wire says Russia has announced it won't support the lifting of sanctions against Iraq unless the US confirms Iraq has no WMD. Meanwhile, Americans are pressing for sanctions to be lifted. This is a complete turn-around from the 2 countries' prev positions. 1.05 am A mosque in Baghdad has set itself up as a point to return stolen goods. Witnesses said stuff is coming in. The imam said it would be turned over to the Iraqi govt. A fatwah was issued that public property theft is a crime. The return process has been underway for several days. 1.10 am Baghdad. The power is still not on, and there are no newspapers. The arrest of al-Tikriti was reported widely by word-of-mouth. People are now waiting to see if there are more tip-offs to the US. What happened to Saddam and Tariq? There are few shops open, and there are no telephones. There is still some looting, but much less than before. Some Shiite clerics have been seen returning hospital equipment. There are some cars on the street. There is no water in some areas. The US says electricity will be restored to 1/2 the city tomorrow. No-one has been working for weeks and people want wages. 3.30 am Well-known liberal politician Sergei Yushenkov has been shot dead in Moscow. He'd been known to speak out about human rights issues, and was against the war in Chechnya. A colleague said he had no doubt it was a political killing. Yushenvok becomes the 9th member of parl to be killed since 1994. 11.40 am Don Rumsfeld rejects any responsibility for the loss of Iraqi cultural property. But the head of Bush's Committee on Culture has resigned in protest, and another member of the committee is talking about quitting. The Committee had warned the Admin about looting and destruction of important sites, and claims the military did nothing about it. 6 pm A Ministry of Health building in Baghdad has been raided and virus and bacteria stolen. The haul incl cholera and smallpox. The Americans were reportedly guarding the building, after it had been discovered days ago. But the thieves apparently got away clean. Who knows who now has the deadly samples. In the Baghdad zoo, rare monkeys and birds have also been stolen. The rest have been badly neglected. The dead ones are being fed to those still living. In a new slight to the UN, the US has said it will send in 1,000 of its own weapons inspectors into Iraq, incl former UN weapons insp. Earlier in the day, Hans Blix said his team could go back in on short notice. The UN Sec Council has passed a Res that requires the US to verify that Iraq possesses no WMD before US-sponsored sanctions can be lifted, allowing Iraq to freely sell oil on the world markets. The FBI chief Robert Mueller said today agents would be sent to Iraq to track down stolen Iraqi artifacts. Baghdad. The al-Rashid mental hosp is the country's only mental hospital. It held 1,400 patients before the war, but only 300 have returned after fighting in Baghdad broke out. Like most other govt facilities, the hosp has been ransacked. Many patients were beaten and raped. 100s of patients are missing. Looters took everything a few days ago. They stole pumps from the water well, they took medicines and beds and mattresses. The doctors estimate the country has 1/3 mn schizophrenics. 1.30 am BBC radio says NK has announced it needs to take further steps to protect itself against aggression, implying it will work on obtaining nuclear weapons. The North says it's "reprocessing" 8,000 fuel rods. Reprocessed in the right way, analysts say they would be enough for 6 to 8 nuclear weapons. NK's already believed to possess 1 or 2. NK says the war in Iraq has convinced it it needs a "powerful deterrent" to ensure its security. [Although the North issued the statement in English, a later re-translation and re-release corrected the wording to "is poised to begin reprocessing"]. Baghdad. There's been a big demo against the US today. After Fri prayers, the traditional time for demos, 1000s carried banners in the streets proclaiming "No to occupation". Both Sunni and Shi'ites marched. A Sunni cleric led them. He had addressed his mosque on the topic of US occupation. The demonstration was low-key, with mullahs appealing for calm. In Mosul there were demos, too. In Baghdad there was also an American appeal for former Iraqi army officers to come forward to help them keep order. It saw a large line of men queue outside the US army HQ. Jericho. Co-operation with Israel is a dangerous idea here. But a "quiet understanding" is another matter. Palestinians have handed over a number of home-made weapons, including pipe and gas-canister bombs, to the Israelis. It was a good-faith move. The army detonated them harmlessly. Israel has indicated certain restrictions will be eased in the city as a result. A convoy of 50 vehicles has crossed into Iraq from Jordan, carrying humanitarian aid. It's the first convoy to Baghdad since the fall of the capital. }} ---------------------------------------- Sat, 19 Apr 2003 100 kids hit by food poisoning Floods kill 2 Looters return antiques Minister charged with bank robbery Aussie NGO aid to N Iraq Aussie govt aid to Iraq Anti-US protests in Iraq Anti-nuke protests in WA Anti-detention protests in SA Aussie troops set for big welcome home Saddam's last TV appearance 900 POWs released by US Aussie ADF teams to Iraq Aussie to Afghanistan Aussie WWI remains found in France 11 prisoners die in rioting 31 kidnapped tourists located Ferry hits the wall Easter ceremony in Rome 2 die in Easter procession attack Tallest horse at the Easter show Good Fri appeal raises $10 mn Easter procession draws 1,000 Aussie Easter toll hits 9 Nazi hunter retires NASA postpones telescope launch Thieves steal mobiles Vandals damage water pipe Forced landing on suburban roof Plastic bag committee sets up shop Continuous war-related news Beijing. 100 KIDS HIT BY FOOD POISONING! About 100 children have been poisoned in C China's Hubei prov after eating dried bean curd that had passed its sell-by date. The state Xinhua news agency has reported that elementary school students in the prov'l capital Wuhan have been treated in hosp and all but 20, who suffered relatively severe symptoms, have been discharged. They had all eaten the same brand of bean curd during their snack break. One student said it had been produced in 1999 with a shelf-life of 6 m. Rio Grande. FLOODS KILL 2! Floods in Puerto Rico have killed at least 2 people and damaged 100s of homes. Sec of State Ferdinand Mercado says rescue teams are stoll searching for 1 man swept away by floodwater. He says 3 men were carried away by a swollen river in E PR, but only 2 were later found alive. A 75 yo man was rescued from a landslide last night, but died less than 1 hr later from injuries. A 65 yo man drowned yesterday when he fell off his roof into a flooding river. Baghdad. LOOTERS RETURN ANTIQUES! Prodded by clerics and their own guilty consciences, some Baghdad residents have returned 20 looted relics from the ransacked nat'l collection which once held some of the earliest artifacts of human civilisation. Iraq's antiques chief, Jabar Hilil, called looting of Iraq's national museum "the crime of the century" and questioned why US forces hadn't moved to safeguard it in the days of chaos that followed the toppling of Saddam's govt. But Hilil has left open the possibility the loss wasn't as catastrophic as first thought. Oklahoma City. MINISTER CHARGED WITH BANK ROBBERY! A US fed agent says an church minister has been charged with bank robbery after he allegedly held up several banks nr his parish and used the church van to escape. FBI Special Agent Gary Johnson says Warren Preston Brown, aged 41, a minister of the Bible Baptist Church in Norman, Oklahoma, was arrested yesterday for allegedly robbing a local credit union. Johnson says Brown was charged with bank robbery in fed court a few hrs later. Canberra. AUSSIE NGO AID TO N IRAQ! World Vision AUS workers have been given the responsibility to supply the still-dangerous Nineveh-Mosul region of N Iraq. An assessment team is hoping to fly into the region on Sun or Mon to judge whether it's safe to begin moving aid. World Vision AUS CEO Lynne Arnold says the agency has aid trucks on the Iraq/Syria and Iraq/Jordan borders waiting for approval to enter Mosul. He says the main supplies aboard are water, water purifiers, foodstuffs and clothing. Canberra. AUSSIE GOVT AID TO IRAQ! For Min Alex Downer says AUS will immediately hand over $30 mn in aid to the UN Flash Appeal for Iraq and associated activities. The aid is the lion's share of AUS's promised $38 mn contribution and has a strong focus on meeting critical needs in water, sanitation and health. Mr Downer says the remaining $8 mn will be allocated to the Flash Appeal after more detailed assessments of critical needs. Baghdad. ANTI-US PROTESTS IN IRAQ! 1000s of Iraqis have staged anti-American protests and clerics have delivered ringing anti-US sermons on the first full Fri prayers held here since the fall of Saddam. About 10-12,000 protesters marched through C Baghdad to voice their resentment at the "occupation" by US forces who rolled in last wk. No violence was reported, but the demos and speeches delivered by imams at 100s of mosques t'out Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq crystallised popular reaction to the aftermath of the 3-wk war. Perth. ANTI-NUKE PROTESTS IN WA! Anti-nuke protesters gathered yesterday nr an American nuke-powered sub that's docked S of Perth. Around 133 crew from the USS Key West are on 7 days R&R in Perth after returning from Iraq, while their sub docks in Garden Is. About 30 Fremantle Anti-Nuclear Group protesters turned up at the site to speak out against AUS's role in the US-led war in Iraq. A rep says they;re part of a peaceful protest. Adelaide. ANTI-DETENTION PROTESTS IN SA! Around 500 protesters are still m away from the entrance of the Baxter Foreigners Jail. Despite attempts by police to ban camping and seize camping equipment, they just haven't packed up and gone away. A rep for Project SafeCom Inc, a WA protest group, says the protesters have marched through a human road block and are currently pressing against a temp fence, approx 10 m from the detention centre gates. The rep says mounted police and police bearing riot gear are on the other side of the fence. He says police confiscated kites and placards from protesters as they moved forward. Yesterday, there were a number of confrontations between mounted police and protesters. Canberra. AUSSIE TROOPS SET FOR BIG WELCOME HOME! Aussie SAS troops seem set for a big welcome back, along with AUS's other 2,000-strong military contingent. PM John Howard has revealed he wants a big welcome home for the service people, despite the risk of confrontation with anti-war protesters. US Pres Bush Jr has reportedly told Mr Howard that Aussies were the first into the action in the war. To date they've sustained no casualties despite their front-line activities. Doha. SADDAM'S LAST TV APPEARANCE! Abu Dhabi TV has aired what may be Saddam Hussein's last recordings he made as Iraq's dictator. One clip shows him waving to crowds as American forces were overrunning Baghdad elsewhere, and the other shows Saddam addresses his people in what may be his final speech. Abu Dhabi TV says it was told both were made on Apr 9. That was 2 days after US bombs were aimed at him, and the same day a bronze statue of him tumbled down in C Iraq in what was reportedly a stage-managed but iconic image of the war. Washington. 900 POWS RELEASED BY US! A US def officials says American forces have released more than 900 Iraqi POW's, beginning the process of sorting through the 1000s detained in the m-old war. Maj Ted Wadsworth, a Pentagon rep, says US forces stated from the beginning they didn't want to hold anybody longer than necessary. That's what Camp X-Ray is for! He says the process of sorting people to determine their status has begun. Wadsworth says after the 927 releases announced today, coal'n forces hold 6,850 prisoners. Doha. AUSSIE ADF TEAMS TO IRAQ! The ADF contingent in the Middle E has sent advanced teams to Baghdad to prepare for possible larger groups. The larger contingents may be needed if the fed govt decides on a significant AUS presence during the reconstruction phase. The Fed Opp'n says AUS is already committed under int'l law as one of the belligerent powers to rebuild Iraq, but the Govt says it had not yet been invited by the US and Brit to take part. Cmdr of AUS forces, Brig Maurie McNarn, says he has sent a reconnaissance to Baghdad airport. He says they will pace the way for the arrival of AUS air traffic controllers some time in the next wk. Canberra. AUSSIE TO AFGHANISTAN! The Def Dept says an Aussie army officer will soon take up a military liason position with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Apart from the new liason officer, Lt Col Christopher Mead, no other ADF are currently working in Afghanistan. Def rep Brig Hannan says the ADF has already played a "significant and successful role" in Afghanistan as part of the int'l coal'n against terrorism. Canberra. AUSSIE WWI REMAINS FOUND IN FRANCE! Veteran's Aff Min Danna Vale says the remains of 4 unknown WWI Aussie soldiers have been found nr Hazebrouck in Freedom. Ms Vale says every effort is being made by the AUS govt to ID the names of the First AIF soldiers, but she says that seems most unlikely. In the event they're re-buried as Aussie unknown soldiers, the Commonwealth War Graves Comm'n will arrange for their burial in an appropriate cemetery in France. Caracas. 11 PRISONERS DIE IN RIOTING! Officials say 11 Venezuelan prisoners have been hacked and shot to death, 2 of them be-headed, when rival gangs clashed with pistols, knives and homemade shotguns at 1 of the nation's largest prisons. Prison authorities called in nat'l guard troops and police to restore order after the gangs battled in the Yare 2 Prison in Miranda state. Carlos Alberto Sutrun, dir of the nat'l prison system, says there was a war between gangs for control of the prison, resulting in 11 deaths and 40 injuries. Vienna. 31 KIDNAPPED TOURISTS LOCATED! Algerian authorities have now located all 31 European tourists missing for wks in the Sahara, but have yet to intervene to rescue them from kidnappers. Austrian state TV has reported that Algerian officials know where the tourists are but have so far only observed their movements. A corresp reporting from Algeria says the group has been split into 2 by their captors. The report says there's no liklihood of a swift resolution to the crisis. London. FERRY HITS THE WALL! An officials say a ferry carrying more than 600 people from France to England has hit a wall as it entered Dover harbour, injuring 28 people, none of them seriously. Chris Laming, rep for vessel owner P&O Ferries, says the Pride of Provence ferry had just crossed the Channel from Calais to S Eng when the accident occurred. He says 18 passengers and 10 crew suffered injuries in the accident at 3.30 am, incl whiplash, bruising and shock. Rome. EASTER CEREMONY IN ROME! A tired Pope John Paul II, presiding at the trad'l Good Fri Colosseum procession, has recalled the victims of hate, war and terrorism and prayed for justice and peace in the world. As the white light of 1000s of torches held by the faithful flickered in the darkness surrounding Rome's most famous ancient monument, the ailing 82 yo pontiff addressed thanks to God that he was able to keep his annual appointment on the Catholic Church's most sorrowful day of the y. Bogota. 2 DIE IN EASTER PROCESSION ATTACK! a police officer and a civilian have been killed today when armed men opened fire on soldiers and police protecting a Good Fri process in the S Colombian town of Dolores. Police blamed leftist rebels for the attack. Col Wilson Prada, police cmdr in Tolima prov, says an adult and a minor were also wounded in the attack, which lasted less than 20 mins. Prada's blamed members of the Revol'y Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest armed rebel group, for carrying out the attack in his town about 200 km from the capital. Sydney. TALLEST HORSE AT THE EASTER SHOW! AUS's tallest horse has made his debut at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. He towered over onlookers at 19 hands, and weighed in at more than 1 tonne. Meanwhile, Aussie Wool Fashion Award finalists are strutting their stuff 5 times a day over the Easter long weekend. Good Fri is traditionally the busies day of the show calendar, followed by Easter Mon. Around 410,000 people visited the show in the 1st wk and organisers are expecting to top that figure this wk. Melbourne. GOOD FRI APPEAL RAISES $10 MN! The annual Good Fri Appeal has raised a record $9.8 mn for the Royal Children's Hosp. The figure's an increase on last y's $8.2 mn. An RCH rep says the appeal has always topped its prev y's tally. She speculates that people may have dug deeper this y because of "world events". The money raised in the appeal will go to research and new equipment. And what's left over pays for the champers at the end of y party in Majorca. Sydney. EASTER PROCESSION DRAWS 1,000! A re-enactment of the Crucification draw large crows in SYD yesterday. Now in its 12th y, around 500 people attended the march organised by students from the Wesley Institute. The procession travelled from Martin Place Amphitheatre along Pitt St to the Wesley Theatre. Rep Graeme Cole says after the re-enactment, around 1,000 people watched the students present a multi-media production about Jesus. I'm sure Jesus would not have approved. Sydney. AUSSIE EASTER TOLL HITS 9! Accidents in Qld and Vic yesterday have brought this Easter's nat'l road toll to 9. 1 woman aged in her 20s was killed and 2 others critically injured in a coastal town S of MEL when a car ploughed through a fence. Police say the accident happened late last night. The fatality brought the toll for Vic this Easter hols to 3. 2 critically-injured females in the accident were taken by ambulance to the Alfred hosp. Vienna. NAZI HUNTER RETIRES! Famed Nazi hunter and concentration camp survivors Simon Wiesenthal has told an Austrian magazine he's retiring from the 60-y chase for those responsible for the Holocaust. Wiesenthal told the weekly Format that his work is done. He says he's found the mass of murderers he was looking for and survived all of them. The 95 yo says those he didn't look for are too old and sick today to be pursued legally. Washington. NASA POSTPONES TELESCOPE LAUNCH! NASA has postponed the launch of its infrared telescope. The Space Infrared Telescope Facility was originally due for launch on Thu from Cape Canaveral, but the launch was postponed to Apr 27. The telescope is now due to be launched mid-Aug. NASA says the delay is necessary to give engineers enough time to change 1 of the 9 SRB's attached to the Delta II. Sydney. THIEVES STEAL MOBILES! Thieves have stolen more than $1 mn of mobile phones from a warehouse in SYD. Police say the thieves broke into the Mitchell Rd warehouse in Alexandria some time between Thu night and yesterday morning. Several pallets of phones were loaded onto a semi and driven away. Anyone who is offered a mobile phone is asked to use it and ring Crime Stoppers. Melbourne. VANDALS DAMAGE WATER PIPE! More than 15 houses in MEL's outer E have been left water damaged after vandals smashed a vale from 1 of the city's main water arteries yesterday. Police say vandals deliberately crashed a car through a cage protecting an above-ground valve at Pipeline Reserve, Mooroolbark, early yesterday morning. Their destruction sent a 50-m gusher into the air. Melb Water says about 15 mn L of water -- 1.5% of the city's daily supply -- was wasted. The supply couldn't immediately be turned off because it would affect water supplies to a large section of the MEL population. Melbourne. FORCED LANDING ON SUBURBAN ROOF! 10 passengers have made a forced landing on a MEL sub'n house. Police said a hot air balloon landed in Eskdale Rd in Caulfield N about 12.30 pm. There were 10 people and the pilot [a chimp?] on board. No one was seriously hurt. A woman was taken to hosp as a "precaution" with mild neck injuries, but she's not considered to be badly injured. They hammered that bone sticking out her neck back in, and she perked right up! The passengers were rescued from the rooftop by the fire brigade. Canberra. PLASTIC BAG COMMITTEE SETS UP SHOP! A Fed Govt committee has opened it doors for submissions on the pros and cons of a 20 c levy on plastic bags in supermarkets. Greens Sen Bob Brown has proposed a bill for the levy with the aim to reduce the number of plastic bags littering the environment by 3 bn pa. The Senate Env, Comm'n, Info'n Tech'y and Arts Legis'n Committee is to receive submissions from today until Jun 13 and will report on the bill in Oct. {{ CONTINUOUS WAR-RELATED NEWS DAY THIRTY 6 pm Baghdad. 100s of people crowded in a subway tunnel today, ripping out covers on air ducts. There were rumours that there was a secret prison there. No-one was found, living or dead. Saddam and son have been shown in the streets of Baghdad, on the same day American troops stormed into the capital. The TV footage was b'cast on the Abu Dhabi network, and showed Saddam and someone that looked like Qusay being greeted in the streets of Baghdad by 100s of supporters. Saddam is shown being kissed. They both get into a car. Why show this when facing defeat? The film is supposedly dated 2 days before Saddam's statue was torn down. The network also aired an audio tape made by Saddam on the same day. 20 NK scientists and officials have defected to the W in the past 6 m, providing valuable info on the country's nuclear program. Reading like the plot of a James Bond novel is was part of an operation that's been dubbed "Operation Weasels". It involved shadowy figures linked with the US, and also the Nauru govt to encouraging NK officials to defect to the West. 6.30 pm The US says Iraqis are now free to protest. But just not nr US patrols. Soldiers told demonstrators to back up when they marched down a Baghdad street. Protesters in the crowd said the didn't want the Saddam regime to be replaced by a new dictatorship. Many Iraqis welcome the US presence, especially those Iraqis courted by the US while they were in exile. SBS TV showed the US mil trying to break up the anti-US demo in Baghdad. A protester told soldiers to shoot him if they didn't like what he was saying. They said they wouldn't shoot him, and it was the US forces that eventually backed off. A US rep said they were only there to make the people happy and provide food aid. Ahmed Chalabi said again he was not a candidate for any position. He again said all he wanted was to help build civil society in Iraq. There's a lack of respect for Chalabi among ordinary Iraqis. On the street he's seen as out of touch. He's been living abroad for decades while they suffered under Saddam. Basic services are slowly being restored in Baghdad. Some shop keepers and street vendors have gone back to work, while water and electricity have been restored in some areas. SBS TV showed that subs in SE still get their water from a local reservoir. On the 9th Apr Saddam apparently gave his last street walk as dictator of Iraq. A tape shown on Abu Dhabi TV was reportedly shot nr the Aadhamiyah mosque, in W Baghdad. That was the location the us had a fire-fight that resulted in dozens of black-clad bodies being brought out from a damaged mosque. But Saddam seemed to disappear from the area without trace. Another Iraqi official has been handed over to the US by Iraqi Kurds in the N. He was number 5 on the deck of 55 cards. 6.35 pm Iraq's Fin Min under Saddam has been captured. Heimat al-Azzawi was caught by police. 2 trucks of medical supplies have finally arrived in Basra for local hospitals. In Basra, SBS TV showed Brits hunting for a "suspect" Baathist. Neighbours said the family had also been involved in looting. Brit troops looked through the house. A woman living there burst into tears. It was probably a sign of guilt, said the Brit reporter with the troops. In the pigeon coop they found a box of fluorescent lights. Probably stolen from the local hospital, the rep said. Then they came across something more sinister -- a loaded magazine. Next they found a pledge of loyalty to Saddam. But the wanted man wasn't home. Brit troops say they are trying to send a message that looting is not acceptable. And they are trying to end the reign of fear from Saddam loyalists. In Rihad, Arab nations have again called on the US to withdraw from Iraq ASAP. Adelaide. Human Shield Ruth Russell has arrived back in Adel. She was stationed at a food silo in the subs of Baghdad for the whole period of the war. She says he saw bodies of children, and burned-out cars all along the rd. She's now reviewing 100s of photos she took, ahead of a public meeting to tell her story. There have been 7 arrests outside of Baxter, SA. More than 400 anti-detention advocates resumed their protest today, and there was another confrontation with police and security forces. Protesters stormed through 2 barriers before marching 2.5 km to the Baxter camp. 150 police looked on. Demonstrators destroyed 100 m of barbed-wire fencing. The centre's gates were then blocked for 2 hrs. Imm Min Ruddock said the protesters were trying to demonise a system that provided humanitarian care for detainees. 7 protesters were arrested on charges ranging from destruction of property to assaulting police horses. Detainees are not allowed visitors this weekend, and some are not allowed phone calls. Officials said the prisoners were very relaxed and didn't care about the protests outside. }} ---------------------------------------- Sun, 20 Apr 2003 13 drown in capsize 6 killed in chopper crash 5 shot by Israeli army Red Cross calls for law and order 4 soldiers injured in accidental bombing Saddam's Fin Min captured Former US POWs return to Texas NK rings South for meeting India offers Kashmir talks Accused terrorist goes to trial ETA rejects autonomy Singapore SARS crisis Canada SARS deaths reach 14 Medical certificates needed to return to school Brit forest fires rage Easter in Rome Easter in MEL Easter in SYD Easter road toll hits 14 Toll rises to 18 Aussie peacekeepers to withdraw from Bougainville 8,639 Easter speeders nabbed 7 arrested at Baxter protest Tripod sparks more Baxter clashes Refugees may be tricked home Mystery boat to be boarded Carr best choice for ALP leader Sun trading confuses Oppn Continuous war-related news Rio. 13 DROWN IN CAPSIZE! A tourist boat with 64 people on board has capsized and sunk, killing at least 13 people. Local authorities say the dead incl 10 women and a child. They say 9 people are still missing. Survivors told GloboNews TV the vessel had stopped in the Itajuru canal nr Cabo Frio in Rio de Janeiro state so some of them could go swimming and snorkeling. 5 mins after the schooner had restarted its trip, a large wave hit one side and it turned over. Rome. 6 KILLED IN CHOPPER CRASH! Officials say 6 people were killed when a chopper they were in crashed in NW Italy. The helicopter, belonging to a private company, was carrying a group of skiers when it crashed into the side of a mtn in the Sestriere region, W of Turin and nr the Freedom border. 1 other person was seriously injured in the accident. Army, police and rescue teams were on the scene to aid in the recovery operation, but strong winds and low clouds were hindering their efforts. Nablus. 5 SHOT BY ISRAELI ARMY! Witnesses and medics say Israeli troops have shot dead 5 people, incl a TV cameraman, in violent clashes in the W Bank and Gaza Strip. Witnesses say dozens of soldiers who raided Nablus' historic old city, or Casbah, encountered scores of youths who began throwing stones. Reporters and medics say cameraman Nazih Darwazeh, who also free-lanced for America's AP, was hit during return fire and died on the way to hospital. Geneva. RED CROSS CALLS FOR LAW AND ORDER! The ICRC says coal'n forces must do more to restore law and order and stability in Iraq. The Red Cross says looters have responded to calls from religious leaders in the mosques to hand back stolen medicine and equipment to hospitals -- and these returns are now the main source of supply for health institutions. Baghdad. 4 SOLDIERS INJURED IN ACCIDENTAL BOMBING! American military sources say 4 soldiers on patrol and an Iraqi girl were wounded when the girl handed them a bomb and it exploded. They say they believe it was an accident. Col Michael Linnington, cmdr of the 101st 3rd Brig, the wounded soldiers' unit, says none of the injuries was life-threatening. The girl, who appeared to be about 7 yo, suffered a hand injury and was taken away by her family, apparently to hospital. US forces were searching for her to make sure she was safe. Camp As Sayliya. SADDAM'S FIN MIN CAPTURED! US troops have taken into custody Saddam Hussein's Finance Minister, who they say could shed light on $bns the ousted leader and his govt have stashed O/S. Iraqi police captured Hikmat Ibrahim al-Azzawi who was also a dep PM and who is number 45 on the American list of the 55 most wanted Iraqi leaders. He was handed to US Marines. Ft Bliss, TX. FORMER US POWS RETURN TO TEXAS! 7 former POW's have arrived home to a heroes' welcome from 100s of elated relatives, friends and well-wishers. 5 of the former prisoners -- specialists Edgar Hernandez, Joseph Hudson, Shoshana Johnson, Patrick Miller, and Sgt James Riley -- gained int'l notoriety after their unit of the 507th Maint Co took a wrong turn nr Nasiriyah on Mar 23 and was captured by Iraqi forces. 9 US soldiers were killed in the battle. Seoul. NK RINGS SOUTH FOR MEETING! North Korea has made a conciliatory gesture toward SK, proposing high-level talks 1 day after jeopardising planned negotiations with the US by announcing its intention to re-process nuclear fuel. NK officials telephoned SK officers at the Panmunjom village to propose cabinet-level talks on Apr 27-29 in Pyongyang. The N called off a similar meeting last wk. Srinagar. INDIA OFFERS KASHMIR TALKS! India's PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee has conditionally offered to negotiate with Pakistan over Kashmir and other key issues dividing the 2 nuclear powers. Vajpayee's comments have come at a news conf yesterday concluding a 2-day visit ti the state of Jammu-Kashmir, the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. The visits and comments have raised hopes for peace in the troubled region. Jakarta. ACCUSED TERRORIST GOES TO TRIAL! Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, accused of leading terror network Jemaah Islamiah, goes on trial in Indon this wk. He's charged with treason -- attempting to topple the govt in his capacity as emir or leader of JI and to install an Islamic state. Bashir is not accused over the Oct Bali attacks which killed 202 people. He's accused of authorising the bombings of churches and priests which killed 19 people in Indon on Xmas Eve 2000. Bilbao. ETA REJECTS AUTONOMY! The armed separatist organisation ETA has rejected proposals that would give Spain's N Basque region more autonomy. ETA, held responsible for 100s of deaths in a campaign of violence over more than 30 y, says the plan is an obstacle and a brake on independence. The plan, put forward by the moderate nationalist regional head of govt in the troubled Basque Country, envisages shared sovereignty between the Basques and the Spanish state, allowing Basques to set their own rules for internal govt. Singapore. SINGAPORE SARS CRISIS! PM Goh Chok Tong says the outbreak of SARS could be the worst crisis ever faced by the island nation. Goh also announced new strict measures to prevent those under home quarantine for SARS from flouting their orders to stay home, incl fines and prison terms. Goh says if SARS isn't contained in Sing it may well become the country's worst crisis. Toronto. CANADA SARS DEATHS REACH 14! Canada's death toll from SARS has risen to 14 with the death of a 99 yo man. The latest figured, updated before the weekend, show that Canada has 304 probable or suspected cases of the disease, most of them in Ontario, its most populous prov. All but 3 of the victims of SARS have been aged over 70 and had other illnesses. Canada is the only country outside Asia where people have died from SARS, which started in S China. Brisbane. MEDICAL CERTIFICATES NEEDED TO RETURN TO SCHOOL! Some Qld boarding schools are asking students who've been to Asia or Canada for the Easter break to be declared SARS-free before returning to school. They say such students will need a medical certificate or they may face time in quarantine or may even be refused re-entry. The Anglican Church Grammar School has adopted a "no medical certificate, no re-admission" policy. But it seems many borders were deterred from travel due to the mystery illness that's killed 185 people world-wide. London. BRIT FOREST FIRES RAGE! Several forest fires fuelled by strong winds are burning in Brit. The worst fires are in Wales and Scotland, where firefighters are using water-bombing choppers in the Scot Highlands. But large-scale fires in the SW Eng counties of Cornwall and Dorset have been extinguished or died out. Authorities believe some of the blazes have been caused by campers and picnickers, while others may have been deliberately set. Vatican City. EASTER IN ROME! Pope JPII has led the world's 1 bn RC's into the joy of Easter, commemorating what Xtians believe was Jesus' resurrection after his death on the cross. The 82 yo Polish Pope, looking frail but in good overall form, has presided at an elaborate 3-hr Easter vigil service in St Peter's Basilica. Wearing gold-coloured vestments, he carved the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet -- Alpha and Omega -- on a large candle in the church's atrium. Melbourne. EASTER IN MEL! 100s of people are expected to march through the streets of MEL today to celebrate Easter Sun. March organisers say the Easter March of Celebration will begin at the State Lib at 2 pm and proceed to Federation Sq for a festival. The first Eucharist of Easter was marked by the lighting of the Easter fire at St Paul's Anglican Cath'l in MEL this morning. The Dead of MEL, the Very Rev David Richardson, says Easter Sun is a special day. Sydney. EASTER IN SYD! Several 100s SYD-siders have celebrated Easter in the streets as they marched through the city's CBD today. A crowd of around 300 people gathered between Town Hall and St Andrew's Cathedral, bringing traffic to a standstill as they began their march through the city centre. A white Jerusalem donkey led the march against a backdrop of banners proclaiming "Kindness", "Peace", "Goodness" and Compassion. Christian outreach group Aussie Awakening jointly organised the Easter march. Sydney. EASTER ROAD TOLL HITS 14! A man killed when his car hit a pole S of Perth o'night has taken WA's Easter road toll to 6, and the national total to 14. Police say the accident happened about 1 am at Mandurah, about 70 km S of Perth. In Qld, an 11 yo boy who was injured in a 2-car crash at Labrador on the GC late last night died in hosp early today. Sydney. TOLL RISES TO 18! 2 people have been killed following a rd accident in Geelong, SW of MEL, taking the nat'l road toll for the hols to 18. Vic's Easter toll now stands at 6. In NSW, a 75 yo man died after being hit by a car in SYD's NW about 12.10 pm today. WA has had 6 fatalities, while Qld's toll is 3. 1 person has died in Tas. Canberra. AUSSIE PEACEKEEPERS TO WITHDRAW FROM BOUGAINVILLE! The fed govt says it's comfortable with the situation on the PNG Is of Bougainville and will withdraw its peacekeepers on Jun 30 as planned. A rep for For Min Alex Downer says the 100-strong Peace Monitoring Group has fulfilled its mandate on Bougainville, which has been wracked by secessionist war for 15 y. The withdrawal has already been postponed 6 m. Sydney. 8,639 EASTER SPEEDERS NABBED! A learner driver who reversed into a police car is 1 of 306 people caught drink-driving in the 1st 3 days of the NSW traffic blitz. Police have conducted 66,214 random breath tests and netted 8,639 speeding drivers as part of Operation Tortoise. There's been 1 fatality so far on NSW roads over E. 209 have been injured in 659 major crashes. Adelaide. 7 ARRESTED AT BAXTER PROTEST! 7 people were arrested yesterday after more than 350 protesters converged on the Baxter Reffo Jail in SA. Police say this brings to 12 the number of arrests made during the protests, which are expected to continue over the Easter break. The 5 men and 2 women were arrested after breaking through a perimeter fence and have been bailed to face Pt Augusta Mag Court on Jun 2. [Some reports say at least 1 was arrested for illegally flying a kite in restricted air space nr the concentration camp]. Police and protesters clashed earlier yesterday as demonstrators trespassed onto Commonwealth land. Adelaide. TRIPOD SPARKS MORE BAXTER CLASHES! A camera tripod thought by police to be a rifle has sparked further clashes between police and protesters outside the Baxter Foreigners' Jail. 3 people were arrested this morning before protesters started to pack their bags and return home after 3 days of rallying for the cause of asylum seekers. The arrests take the number of people arrested outside the SA centre, on the outskirts of Pt Augusta, to 32. All have received bail to appear in the local Magistrates Court on Jun 2. Sydney. REFUGEES MAY BE TRICKED HOME! Imm Min Philip Ruddock says Iraqi asylum seekers might be tricked to go back where they came from with an offer of $A2,000 cash each, or $10,000 for a whole family. He said it was now safe for them to return home since Saddam Hussein's evil regime has ended and peace is restored. Last y the fed govt gave Afghani asylum seekers threats and cash incentives to return home after the fall of the Taliban. Mr Ruddock said 1 of 39 detainees kept in AUS -- 100s more are stored in Nauru where they can't count against Australia's concentration camp totals -- has already asked the fed govt for financial assistance to return to Iraq. I guess the beatings work! Melbourne. MYSTERY BOAT TO BE BOARDED! A task force of customs, RAN, and police units is reportedly poised to seize a mystery ship at the centre of Vic's largest heroin bust. The Herald Sun newspaper says naval patrol boats were last night preparing to board a small bulk carrier in rough seas off the NSW coast. The ship, which has refused repeated requests to enter port, is believed to have come within 150 km of shore 14 km W of Lorne, on Vic's SW coast, on Wed last wk to unload 50 kg ($A80 mn worth) of heroin. Sydney. CARR BEST CHOICE FOR ALP LEADER! A newspaper poll says NSW Prem Bob Carr is the man to restore the fortunes of the federal Labor Party. The Taverner poll shows Carr should move to Canberra and become the ALP leader. Published in the Sun-Herald newspaper, the poll says 61% of respondents believe Mr Carr is either likely to be, or will definitely be, a successful party leader if he makes the move to CBR. The paper says even outside Mr Carr's NSW power-base, the Prem appears to have the support of voters. Melbourne. SUN TRADING CONFUSES OPPN! The Vic Opp'n says the new Sunday trading laws will cause confusion today. The laws allow small traders to remain open 7 days a wk. But larger business have already indicated they will also stay open, in defiance of govt threats to enforce restrictions. Shops can only open if they employ fewer than 20 people or if they fall into an exempt category -- milk bars, petrol stns, and newsagents. Businesses that flout the law risk prosecution and fines of up to $10,000. But Opp'n business rep Bruce Atkinson says the laws are ridiculous and will confuse both retailers and consumers. {{ CONTINUOUS WAR-RELATED NEWS DAY THIRTY-ONE 6 pm An NK freighter has been captured off the AUS coast. HMAS Stuart and 2 72-ft launches were involved in the operation that captured the 4,000 tonne ship. At first light the ship was boarded. Tonight it's under guard. The navy and police fought 10 m waves to board the ship that is suspected of being involved in Vic's largest heroin haul. It has been under surveillance for 4 days. 30 men are under arrest, incl the capt. John Howard said it sent a clear signal to drug smugglers they would be stopped. He welcomed the use of Aussie def forces to protect the coastline. 8.30 pm China has sacked its health minister. The news comes hrs after there was a 10-fold leap in SARS cases in Beijing. There and now officially 79 dead from the illness, with 2,000 confirmed cases. Police were forced to apologise to Baxter demonstrators after they raided the demonstrators' camp this morning, armed with machine guns. 4.30 am Shanghai, BBC radio. Despite high-level directives from Beijing to take the SARS outbreak seriously, a BBC reporter finds a saga of secrecy still surrounding the disease. Despite being a trading hub, Shanghai officials say there is only 1 confirmed case of SARS there. That is a woman. But she has been a known case for some time. Officials now add a relative is also a suspected case. Officials also haven't updated the death toll. There have only been 5 deaths here say officials. But there have been 30 according to the reporter's sources. That number was later confirmed. The local officials are trying to down-play the disease, but local restaurants are 1/2 empty. Pres Bush Jr says he sees positive signs that Syria is getting the message. His comments come 1 wk after the Pres and other US officials accused Syria of developing WMD and harbouring former members of Saddam's regime. Militia leaders have been meeting in Afghanistan for 2 days . They have agreed to create a strong central army, representing all ethnic groups. BBC World News. A consensus seems to have formed that the global economy had reached a situation of over-supply. Only 5 y ago this was a fringe idea. There is simply too much stuff in the world. With powerhouses like China coming into the manufacturing landscape, there is a continuing threat of global deflation caused by too much capacity. There are too many products with trivial variations. There is more than enough capacity in a world which can source anything globally. Double digit revenue growths have largely ended in the past couple of decades. Price cutting no longer leads to increased demand, but only to reduced profits. Over-capacity and price cutting has led to zero profit in some sectors. For memory chips and airlines, for example. But some companies see a way ahead. While they see it as a "solution", it may also be only a temp fix. GE has moved from 99% manufacturing to a sit'n now where 50/50 is split between manufacturing and services. It's putting a lot of emphasis on after-sales services. The company began the shift about 12 y ago. }} ---------------------------------------- Mon, 21 Apr 2003 5 killed in army raid Baghdad back to normal? Aussie officials leave for "thank you" tour China owes up to SARS cases Howard to talk post-war reconstruction Food aid arrives in Baghdad 2 more Iraqi officials seized Student strike paralyses Nepal 4,000 yo tomb found Ancient village found in Illinois Boat seized by RAN Medicare shake-up Drought is over Easter toll climbs to 20 Vic to fund Timor fruit Continuous war-related news Bishkek. 34 KILLED IN LANDSLIDE! Emergency officials say at least 34 people have died in a massive landslide that swept away houses in a village in Kyrgizstan over the weekend. They say the dead incl 17 children. 11 houses were destroyed in the disaster in the village of Kara-Teguit in the SW prov of Osh. It was the 2nd landslide in 2 days in the same region of the former SU. The first landslide caused no casualties. Jakarta. BUS CRASH KILLS 11! 2 buses have collided on a toll rd nr the Indon capital, killing 11 and injuring at least 25. Traffic police say it's not immediately clear what caused the early-morning crash 40 km E of Jakarta. The accident is the latest in a long series of high-death-toll smashes on the country's overcrowded roads. Gaza. 5 KILLED IN ARMY RAID! Witnesses and medics say the Israeli army has killed 5 people and wounded around 70 others, many of them civilians, in a pre-dawn raid on the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli military photographer was killed and 3 soldiers wounded during what an army general describes as an intensive firefight with gunmen in the camp. Rafah residents called the assault by a 40-vehicle armoured force the most powerful Israeli push into the camp since the uprising for Palestinian statehood began 30 m ago. The Israelis said they were hunting for bomb-making workshops they say are operating in the camp. They say the bombs are smuggled out in underground tunnels. Palestinians responded to the raid by firing a home-made rocket into Israel. It hit an appt building, but there were no reported injuries. Seoul. SK ACCEPTS TALKS! SK has accepted a NK proposal to hold Cabinet-level talks in Pyongyang later this m. The office of SK's Unification Min Jeong Se-hyun says he's accepted the NK offer for talks between Apr 27 and 29. SK hopes to use the high-level talks to persuade the North to give up its nuclear ambitions. The announcement comes just days before the US, NK and China were expected to hold talks to discuss the N's suspected nuclear weapons program. Seoul. EXPLOSION ROCKS NK TEST SITE! A US spy satellite reportedly monitored a strong explosion that rocked NK's test site for ballistic missiles last Nov. Yonhap news agency says Washington has passed info concerning the blast to SK military authorities. Seoul's Chosun Ilbo newspaper says the explosion occurred during a missile engine test and crippled operations and facilities at NK's missile launch site at Musudan-ri, NE of Pyongyang. Lagos. OLUSEGUN WINS! Nigerian Pres Olusegun Obasanjo appears to be on the verge of victory in the country's first civilian-run poll in 20 y. However allegations of ballot-rigging are raising political tensions. Obasanjo's supporters have ousted 3 state governors in Nigeria's densely-populated SW, while first results for the pres'l contest have him with 3/4 of the vote with a 1/2 of areas declared. Votes from just under 12 mn of Nigeria's 60 mn registered voters have been so far accounted for. London. THE QUEEN IS 77! The Queen of Australia is spending a quiet 77th birthday at Windsor Castle. 21-gun salutes are being fired at noon in Hyde Park, London, and from Stirling and Edinburgh castles in Scotland. QE2 braved a chilly morning to attend Easter Sun service at St George's Chapel in Windsor. Baghdad. BAGHDAD BACK TO NORMAL? The int'l community has turned its focus to the task of post-war reconstruction, as Baghdad began to recover an air of normality 11 days after US forces swept into the capital. The man who declared himself Mayor says 22 committees have been set up to run the capital, with responsibilities for civil, defence, foreign affairs and information issues. Meanwhile, Iraq's former finance minister Hikmat al-Azzawi is in the hands of US forces, after Iraqi police captured and turned him over in Baghdad. Canberra. AUSSIE OFFICIALS TO VISIT THE TROOPS! Def Min Robert Hill and Chief Gen Peter Cosgrove have left for a "thank you" visit to Aussie forces in the Gulf who helped defeat Saddam. Sen Hill and Gen Cosgrove will spend ANZAC day in the Gulf. Sen Hill says he wants to personally than Aussie soldiers, seamen and air personnel on behalf of the govt and all Aussies. He'll also meet snr govt and military reps of the Middle E nations that hosted the ADF units. Baghdad. FOOD AID ARRIVES IN BAGHDAD! The first food aid has arrived in the shattered Iraqi capital after a perilous 4-day journey. The World Food Program says a 50-truck convoy carrying 1,400 tonnes of wheat flour is being unloaded under US guard after a trip in which it came under attack. US forces have announced they will reopen Baghdad airport to humanitarian flights in the next few days. Baghdad. 2 MORE IRAQI OFFICIALS SEIZED! 2 more of the US's 55 card deck of wanted officials have been taken into custody, as the first food aid arrives in Baghdad. The US military says Iraq's former scientific research and higher ed minister Human Abd al-Khaliq al-Gharaf has been captured and is in US custody. The Iraqi Nat'l Congress says it's also holding Jamal Mustafa Abdullah, former dep head of the Tribal Affairs Office. The 2 captives bring to 7 the number of former Iraqi officials on the US most-wanted list now in custody. Baghdad. ONE OF SADDAM'S SONS-IN-LAW CAPTURED! An Iraqi opp'n group says it's hilding Saddam Hussein's son-in-law, Jamal Mustafa Abdullah al-Tikriti, and 1 of the toppled Iraqi leader's bodyguards. A rep for the pro-US Iraqi National Congress in London says the group has persuaded Saddam's son-in-law, married to the dictator's youngest and favourite daughter, and bodyguard to return from hiding in neighbouring Syria and turn themselves in. He says the men could have info on Saddam's where-abouts and will be turned over to the US in Baghdad. Canberra. HOWARD TO VISIT CHINA! PM John Howard's rep says the PM wants to visit China this y, but no date has been set. Today's Age newspaper says Mr Howard is planning to visit China next m despite the fears of the SARS virus. The newspaper says the PM will go after his early May visit to the US and Brit to meet China's new Pres Hu Jintao and Prem Wen Jiabao. Beijing. CHINA OWES UP TO SARS CASES! China has announced the sacking of its top health official ad the capital's mayor from key Communist Party positions after reporting a nearly tenfold increase in SARS cases in Beijing. The firings were announced just hrs after a snr health official told a news conf that SARS had killed 12 more people in China and that the number of infections in Beijing had soared from 37 to 346. The new numbers raised China's total number of deaths to 79 and its case load to 1,814. Canberra. HOWARD TO TALK POST-WAR RECONSTRUCTION! As leader of one of the belligerent nations, PM John Howard is set to talk post-war Iraq reconstruction with other nations in the US-led Coal'n. Mr Howard will talk to Pres Bush Jr and Brit PM Blair next m on a trip to the US that will also include a call on the UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan in NY. Heading the agenda will be reconstruction issues for Iraq, and the role of AUS, the US and Brit. The talks will follow a formal declaration of victory by the 3 nations. And the other 50 nations the US claims are also in the Coal'n, of course! Kathmandu. STUDENT STRIKE PARALYSES NEPAL! Police in Nepal have arrested 127 students for damaging govt property and vehicles during a strike that paralysed life in the Kathmandu valley. A home ministry officials says students called the 1-day strike to protest fuel price hikes and the police shooting of a student leader. Officials later said the govt lowered the price of some petroleum products following the protests by more than 200,000 students. Tokyo. SMALL QUAKE HITS C JAPAN! An earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale has shaken C Japan. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The Met Agency says the centre of the quake, which struck at 11.18 am AEST, was off the coast of Ibaraki, 100 km NE of Tokyo. Manila. TYPHOON WATCH! Philippine authorities are on alert for Kujira as it moves closer to the country's extreme N islands. They say that at 6 am AUS time, K was packing max winds of 160 kph about 390 km SE of Basco, the capital of the Batanes island chain. The 2nd level of a 3-stage storm alert has been tripped over the Batanes island, while the stage-1 alert is in place over the N prov of the Philippine island of Luzon. Cairo. 4,000 YO TOMB FOUND! Egyptian officials say a team of French archaeologists have unearthed a complex of tombs S of Cairo that date back to between 2,360 and 2,180 BC. Antiques chief Zahi Hawas says the discovery of the tombs hewn out of the rock in the Saqqara region, 20 km S of the capital, is the fruit of a 3-y dig. One of the tombs is believed to be that of a priest of the 6th Dynasty pharaoh Pepi I. Sculptures of the priest, his wife and 13 children, were found on the walls. Damiansville. ANCIENT VILLAGE FOUND IN ILLINOIS! Archaeologists have found an ancient village buried in an Illinois hillside. They say the discovery, about 56 km E of St Louis, is a significant site. State archaeologist Brad Koldehoff says the find includes a so-called keyhole house. Such houses are made of clay and logs with rooms 1/2 submerged in the ground and have a large, domed-shaped living area reached by a long, straight, covered entrance. Sydney. BOAT SEIZED BY RAN! In keeping with its deputy sherif role, a 4-day high seas pursuit had ended with ADF boarding a cargo boat allegedly involved in importing $A75 mn worth of heroin. Police say last wk the Pong Su landed 50 kg of heroin in Vic. The fed govt ordered the RAN to take action over the weekend. The ship's captain had ignored repeated police warnings to stop as it steamed N-wards from Vic. Something about being 150 km off the coast. Sydney. MEDICARE SHAKE-UP! The fed govt is reportedly set to unveil a shake-up of Medicare which will see middle- and high-income families pay between $2 and $20 to visit a doctor. The Daily Telegraph newspaper reports the package, worth $900 mn, will be unveiled by PM Howard next wk. The paper says for the first time, people will be able to take out private insurance for doctors visits. Doctors will also be paid between $1 and $6.30 extra to bulk-bill pensioners and low-income families in a bid to ensure Medicare remains a safety net. Canberra. DROUGHT IS OVER! Aussie farmers have decided the drought is over, with many holding on to stock and preparing for huge crop plantings. Good rain between 40 and 100 mm through much of E AUS in the past wk has prompted farmers to prepare for a return to normal weather conditions. Meat and Livestock Aus -- in its weekly market analysis -- says the good rain has directly influenced a spike in beef, lamb and mutton prices in recent days. Sydney. EASTER TOLL CLIMBS TO 20! The death of a 72 yo motorcycle rider in Tas's N has taken the nat'l Easter rd toll to 20. Tasmania's death toll now stands at 2. WA and Vic have recorded 6 fatalities each, Qld has 4 and NSW 2. SA, the ACT and the NT remain fatality-free this Easter. Melbourne. VIC TO FUND TIMOR FRUIT! The Vic govt will fund a $1/4 mn program to improve fruit and vegetable production in E Timor. The assistance and training program will be delivered through Vic's Dept of Prim Ind'ies, which has run similar schemes in various parts of Indonesia. State Ag Min Bob Cameron says problems in E Timor incl seed quality, pest and disease control, and crop wastage. {{ CONTINUOUS WAR-RELATED NEWS DAY THIRTY-TWO Saddam Hussein's son-in-law has reportedly surrendered. He was number 9 on the most-wanted list. He was apparently hiding in Syria, and somehow was encouraged to come back to Iraq where he surrendered to the INC. There has been more looting in Baghdad. It's an endemic problem, say reporters. The gunfire heard in Baghdad is store- and home-owners protecting their property. In Saddam's palace some archaeological artefacts were found. But they weren't actually missing. Saudi and Kuwait no longer fear Iraq and say they don't want US air-bases on their soil. The US have meanwhile designed 4 air-bases inside Iraq they want to set up as permanent bases. The US has made it clear. Syria is in the spotlight. Pres Bush Jr has called on Syria to hand over anyone hiding there. But insiders say a regime change is in the offing because Syria has chemical weapons. The US Admin says it made Iraq an example for removing terrorist regimes from the Middle E. But America may be faced with a bigger problem in NK. 30 members of a Korean ship crew will appear in a SYD court today on charges of drug smuggling. Pres Bush celebrated Easter at the largest US base in America. Flanked by 2 former POW's Mr Bush said Saddam Hussein had better remain in hiding. In China, the week-long Golden Week starting May 1 has been cancelled due to SARS fears. 5 pm Baghdad. A NY Times reporter has speculated Saddam Hussein night still be in Baghdad. John Burns says when he was in the Sunni-dominated area nr the Aadhamiyah mosque, in W Baghdad, he was told if Saddam was still there they would never give him up, no matter what reward was offered or what pressure was brought to bear. Saddam's last known appearance was nr the mosque. It was televised on Abu Dhabi TV yesterday. The mosque had been the site of a fire-fight after US forces were tipped off Saddam was hiding inside. Burns said when he talked with Tariq Aziz before the fall of Baghdad, the Dep PM told him by the time Tommy Franks got to Baghdad the US would be chasing shadows. He now understands that to mean a plan was already in place for the leadership to quickly disappear. Interpol says it's sending a team to Iraq to help trace and recover about 170,000 stolen artefacts. The SARS toll now stands at 171 world-wide, with almost 3,500 infected. 5.45 pm After 36 suspect sites have been searched, there are still no confirmed WMD in Iraq. Don Rumsfeld now says interviews with Iraqi scientists will be needed to lead the US to the caches. Victorians are living longer. Vic men now have a life exp of most 78 y, and Vic women can expect to live 82 y. An Oxford virologist says with the SARS virus' ability to mutate quickly a vaccine is around 3 y away. 1 mn Iraqi Shi'ites are on a pilgrimage to Karbala. Under Saddam they weren't allowed to observe such things. It's not just about freedom of religious expression. On Fri after clerics called for the establishment of an Islamic state, 1000s spilled out of mosques in Baghdad and confronted US troops. 6.50 pm The first significant refugee ship to head for AUS has reportedly stopped in Indonesia for refuelling. Indonesia says it has 42 Vietnamese on board. It was denied entry into one port in Indonesia, because of SARS fears. American forces have helped Iraqis break into a bank. People from a neighbourhood wanted to get their money out, but the bank had been closed up and the owners appear to have fled. US troops used a chain and an APC to pull the doors off the bank. A sledge hammer and a couple of Marines opened the vault. The money was taken into safe-keeping. The AUD is trading at a 6-wk high at 61.57 US c. 10.45 pm Kim Myong-Choi, unofficial rep for the NK regime, has told ABC Lateline that NK has 100 nuclear weapons, incl a hydrogen bomb, and is "quite prepared" to fight a nuclear war with the US. But he said the North would allow US officials to inspect the Yongbyon reprocessing facility, which he also described as "a joke". If America attacked the Yongbyon facilities, he said, the North would attack NY, London and Chicago. The Nikkei closed up more than 1% today. Most other markets were closed for Easter. Oil is trading around $US30.50/bbl. 2 semis have collided nr Tenterfield, killing both drivers and creating one Hell of a mess on the road. The semis burst into flame on impact. One semi was carrying 40 head of cattle. Only 4 were saved. The New England Hgwy will be closed until at least 9 am. The latest deaths bring the Easter rd toll to 23, nationally. There have been 4 deaths in NSW, 6 in WA and Vic, 5 in Qld, and 2 in Tas. WA is considering confiscating cars from speeding drivers. 29 crewmen and the capt of the Pong Su have been charged with drug importation. They were denied bail and will re-appear in a SYD court on Mon. None has a valid AUS visa. 3 of the crewmen have confirmed TB and are in hospital. 1 is also recovering from a heart attack. In the wake of sackings in Beijing over a SARS cover-up, Party officials have now headed for Shanghai, to see whether that city's claim of only 2 suspected cases checks out. }} ---------------------------------------- Mon, 22 Apr 2003 Markets ANZAC exhibit 80 killed in capsize 12 killed in bus attack Blast kills 4 LTTE suspends peace talks SARS out of control? 4 AUS possible SARS cases SARS experts warns of overload Easter rd toll rises to 24 Malaria breakthrough Tea may be basis for new drugs NK poses many threats: US cmdr Another Iraqi leader captured US blocks UN return to Iraq Syria A-OK Gen Garner arrives to survey his domain Aussie troops still on alert Bloody foreigners Bloody Aussies Dictator hints at retirement Chernobyl had defective equipment Happy 2,756th Telstra out-sourcing IT Govt report shows Aussie wildlife in trouble Murray on the fritz Aussie flag burning still legal Dems to block medicard changes Aussie business costs down AUS Markets NY. MARKETS! The Dow and Nasdaq closed almost unchanged overnight. The Nikkei has dived almost 2% in trade so far today. Gold is up $US6 to $US333/oz. Oil is trading around $US30.70/bbl. It's on the rise on speculation OPEC will cut production now the Iraqi war is over. But the UN has already stalled Iraqi oil coming back onto the market until the US can prove there are no WMD in the country. In AUS, the All Ords opened up 14 pts (0.5%) to 2,968 at 10 am. The AUD is holding around the 61.50 US c level. Brisbane. ANZAC EXHIBIT! With ANZAC day coming up this Fri, AUS's Nat'l Museum wants to hear from young backpackers who've made the trip to Gallipoli on ANZAC Day for an exhibit that will explore the reasons behind the pilgrimage. The museum's curator, Guy Hansen, wants to explore the new phenomenon, saying it's changed the way ANZAC Day and the diggers are celebrated. Mr Hansen is particularity interested in hearing from young people who have travelled to Gallipoli without having any family connection with the events there. The mementos, dairies and photos of the young ANZAC pilgrims will be exhibited later this y. Alipur. 80 KILLED IN CAPSIZE! At least 80 bodies have been pulled from 1 of 2 ferries that sunk during a storm in Bangladesh. Police also say the toll will definitely rise. One officer says more bodies are believed to be trapped inside the ferry, that sank in the Burigana R nr the capital, Dhaka, yesterday. It's been reported the double-decked ferry was dangerously overloaded with 400 or more passengers -- double its listed capacity. [Later reports say 215 people are still missing from the 2 separate ferry accidents]. Hanoi. 12 KILLED IN BUS ATTACK! Official reports in Laos say 12 people were killed and 31 wounded in a gun attack on a bus full of students. The state-owned Vientiane Times say the bus was carrying 69 people when it came under attack at dawn on Sun on Route 13 between the Lao capital Vientiane nd the N city of Luang Prabang. There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack, the 2nd in the area in less than 3 m. Srinagar. BLAST KILLS 4! Police in Indian Kashmir say a powerful early today has killed 4 people and injured a dozen others. The explosion occurred in Gulshanpora, S of Srinagar, the state's summer capital. All the dead and injured are said to be civilians. The police have been unable to immediately ID the cause of the blast. The region has been ravaged by an anti-Indian rebellion by Islamic guerrillas for the past 14 y. Colombo. LTTE SUSPENDS PEACE TALKS! Sir Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels say they're suspending peace talks with the Colombo govt. The LTTE say in a 4-page letter to PM Ranil Wickremesinghe they don't want to attend a crucial meeting that Japan is hosting in Jun to drum up int'l support for the island's peace bid. The rebels' decision will affect the 7th round of peace talks due to open in Thailand on Apr 29. HK. SARS OUT OF CONTROL? Fears over the spread of the SARS virus in China have deepened today as 6 new provinces report cases and the death toll continues to rise. At least 10 people died in China yesterday from the disease. According to the Chinese health min'y the mainland now has 2,001 cases of SARS. The death toll is now officially 92. The Ministry dramatically revised its numbers upward yesterday after incl 700 confirmed or suspected cases in Beijing. The world toll now stands at 220. Sydney. 4 AUS POSSIBLE SARS CASES! Health authorities say 4 people remain under investigation for SARS symptoms in AUS, but no new cases have been reported. The Commonwealth Dept of Health and Aging says 11 airline passengers have been referred to the AQIS during the past 24 hrs but none needed further investigation. Meanwhile, over 19,000 people have classed a nat'l SARS hotline since Mar 28. Sydney. SARS EXPERTS WARNS OF OVERLOAD! An infectious diseases expert says ICU's in AUS would be stretched to their limits in the event of a SARS outbreak. Dr of microbiology at SYD's Westmead Hosp, Lyn Gilbert, says ICU's would be at the front line of any treatment and AUS's units are already over-stretched. She says hosp staff from other areas should be trained to work in intensive care in the event of a SARS outbreak. [Dr Peter Cameron, from the Price of Wales Hosp, has also warned of what he sees as incredible complacency about SARS in AUS. Dr Cameron is presently in self-imposed quarantine after coming back to AUS for a rest from emergency work in HK. He warns that several 100 SARS cases, as in HK presently, would cripple the Aussie medical system. Although he won't let his family go back to Asia with him, he plans to go back to continue work in HK]. Sydney. EASTER RD TOLL RISES TO 24! AUS's Easter rd toll has risen to 24 with the death of 3 people in 2 separate accidents in NSW yesterday. Police say 2 drivers died when their semis collided around 2.15 pm on the New England Hgwy, S of Tenterfield. WA and Vic have recorded 6 fatalities each, while Qld and NSW have 5 each. 2 people have died on Tassie rds, while SA, the ACT and NT remain fatality-free. Edinburgh. MALARIA BREAKTHROUGH! Brit scientists say they've made a significant breakthrough in a permanent cure for one of the world's biggest killers -- malaria. They say they've ID-ed the element in the parasite which lets it build resistance to new treatments. The work may lead to a possible vaccine. Researchers at Edinburgh U's Inst of Cell and Molecular Biology have been working with scientists at the Biotec Inst in the Thai capital Bangkok to study the protein responsible. Washington. TEA MAY BE BASIS FOR NEW DRUGS! Researchers say a new study has found that tea boosts the body's defences against infection and contains a substance that might be turned into a disease-fighting drug. They say coffee doesn't have the same effect. A study in the Proceedings of the Nat'l Acad'y of Sciences shows that immune system blood cells from tea drinkers responded 5 times faster to germs than did the blood cells of coffee drinkers. Seoul. NK POSES MANY THREATS: US CMDR! On the eve of expected diplomatic talks with North Korea, the cmdr of US forces in SK says Pyongyang poses many threats to global stability. Speaking at a forum hosted by a civic group in Seoul, Gen Leon LaPorte says the threats incl an economy on the brink of collapse, an active nuclear weapons program, proliferation of missile technologies, large conventional forces, and special operations forces aimed at the South. He says Pyongyang is a "thorn to the passage of peace". [The NY Times says Don Rumsfeld has sent around a memo asking Pentagon officials to concentrate on schemes to force Dear Leader Kim Jing-Il from power. If the N falls, the South is expected to be flooded by 1000s of refugees]. Baghdad. ANOTHER IRAQI LEADER CAPTURED! The US military says a key member of Saddam Hussein's inner circle has been taken into US custody. The arrest of Mohammed Hamza al-Zubaidi came after Iraq's postwar US admin, Gen Jay Garner (ret), completed his first day on the job in Baghdad. Zubaidi is a former member of the Revolutionary Command Council, the central decision-making body of Saddam's regime, and is 1 of 55 Iraqi officials most wanted by the US. He is a former PM of Iraq, and was personally involved in the brutal repression of Shiites after GWI. Amman. US BLOCKS UN RETURN TO IRAQ! UN officials have expressed disappointment at the unexplained refusal by US forces to grant an air corridor to return much-needed int'l staff to Iraq. The UN says the refusal is crippling their attempts to get food and medicine into the paralysed country. UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Iraq Ramiro Lopes da Silva announced in Jordan 10 days ago that 31 int'l UN staff would return to the N provinces of Dohuk, Arbil and Sulimaniyah 2 days later. Washington. SYRIA A-OK! The US says it's pleased with steps taken by Syria to close its border to members of Saddam Hussein's former govt. However US authorities are now calling for Damascus to end all co-operation with the fallen regime. US State Dept rep Richard Boucher says Syria has taken seriously US concerns about individuals in Syria. However he says there's more to be done to ID where such individuals are and make sure the border is closed to those who might be truing to hide -- or hide things -- in Syria. Baghdad. GEN GARNER ARRIVES TO SURVEY HIS DOMAIN! Lt Gen Jay Garner (ret) has arrived in Baghdad. He immediately told reporters he wasn't in Iraq to rule, but to get the country back on its feet. Garner has taken his first look at the ruins of what was once one of the Arab world's most modern nations. He said he'll make water and electricity supplies top priorities as he begins the re-build after Saddam Hussein. He toured a damaged hospital and battered power stn as he made his first visit to the Iraqi capital. Garner arrived with a staff of 20, but that would expand to about 500 in the weeks ahead. Canberra. AUSSIE TROOPS STILL ON ALERT! Def rep Brig Mike Hannan says Aussie forces in Iraq still remain on alert for pockets of resistance. With news that a huge arms cache of AK-47's has been re-seized by Iraqis and have a street pice of $3 each Brig Hannan says the HMAS Anzac has moved to the N Persian Gulf to take over duty nr the port town of Umm Qasr. On land, Aussie SAS troops continue to guard and search Iraq's 2nd major airbase W of Baghdad, where they last wk found Iraqi weapons and 51 MiG jet fighters. Brig Hannan says the changing nature of the threat in Iraq means Aussie F/A-18 Hornets had a quiet Easter. Canberra. BLOODY FOREIGNERS! The fed govt says it's no surprise Indonesia has allowed a boat carrying 42 Vietnamese asylum seekers to set sail for AUS. Imm Min Philip Ruddock says AUS had taken the issue up with Indon, which has said it will see what it can do. Mr Ruddock told ABC radio Indon had always taken the view it has no specific obligation in relation to people in transit. Canberra. BLOODY AUSSIES! A lawyer for Indonesian Muslims living in AUS says they're still under suspicion 6 m after ASIO raids, despite no charges being laid. Stephen Hopper, who represents 6 of those raided by the AUS intel organisation, says his clients are victims of a govt strategy of intimidation post-Sep 11. Mr Hopper told ABC radio 6 m after the raids, no charges have been laid against his clients and 99% of their possessions seized by ASIO have been returned. Harare. DICTATOR HINTS AT RETIREMENT! Zimbabwean Pres Robert Mugabe has hinted he may be getting to retirement age. There's been mounting speculation that several officials in Mugabe's ruling party are jostling to position themselves as a replacement for the 79 yo leader, should he step down. Mugabe has said in the past that he'll consider stepping down when his govt completes the land reform program that has seen white-owned land redistributed to new black farmers. Kiev. CHERNOBYL HAD DEFECTIVE EQUIPMENT! Secret KGB archives released in Ukraine show equipment used at Chernobyl, the site of the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster in 1986, was known at the time to be defective. The documents, which cover the period 1971 to 1986, mostly concern events surrounding the catastrophe of Apr 26 1986. A report from 1984 noted the poor quality of the equipment sent to the plant from Yugoslav factories, as well as deficiencies in the 3rd and 4th reactors. An estimated 15-30,000 people have died in the aftermath of the disaster. Rome. HAPPY 2,756TH! 100s of gladiators and warriors have marched along Rome's Via Appia to the Colosseum to mark the city's 2,756th birthday. Organisers say it's a triumphant parade like those that greeted emperors returning from conquering new territories for the Roman empire. Participants dressed in hand-made leather sandals, red tunics and metal helmets beat drums and bore lances. Melbourne. TELSTRA OUT-SOURCING IT! Telstra is reportedly using Indian computer workers on sweatshop wages to replace higher-paid Aussies. According to the Herald Sun, Telstra has employed about 100 Indian programmers and analysts at $12,000 pa, about 1/4 of what Aussies demand doing the same work. An internal Telstra memo quoted by the paper says the scheme, managed by 2 of India's biggest companies, Infosys and Satyam, will cut the national carrier's IT costs by $15 mn to $18 mn pa. Canberra. GOVT REPORT SHOWS AUSSIE WILDLIFE IN TROUBLE! A leaked govt report says 1000s of Aussie birds, mammals and reptile species are in danger of extinction before the end of the C21. A copy of the govt's yet-to-be-released Bio-diversity Audit, obtained by the ABC, warns up to 3,000 Aussie ecosystems -- based on vegetation types -- are under threat, and half a doz are beyond saving. It finds 4 of 10 wetlands are in poor shape, 22 mammals have already become extinct -- the highest rate in the world -- and about 1/2 the native bird species are under threat. Dr Denis Saunders, former chief research scientist for the CSIRO's Wildlife & Ecology division, told ABC radio the 18-m assessment is a last wakeup call for AUS. The report paints a grim picture for the future prospects of Aussie wildlife, and lays the blame at the feet of 100 years of inappropriate farming practices and continued land-clearing. Green groups have called for the govt to immediately act on its own findings. Adelaide. MURRAY ON THE FRITZ! A case in point. The mouth of the Mighty Murray is in danger of closing over again despite a $2 mn dredging operation over summer. A narrow channel cut though sandbars nr Goolwa, S of Adel, is under threat due to lack of flow from the E states. The SA govt blames it on upstream water use and drought. SA Env Min John Hill says he'll get an urgent briefing about the state of the R mouth and what can be done to alleviate the sit'n. Canberra. AUSSIE FLAG BURNING STILL LEGAL! PM John Howard has ruled out banning the burning of the Aussie flag. He says he can understand some public anger at the burning of the flag during anti-war protests, especially by damn foreigners. However he says flag-burning demonstrators still have a right to express their feelings. The PM told SYD radio 2GB he loves the Aussie flag and there's no stronger supporter of the current one. Canberra. DEMS TO BLOCK MEDICARD CHANGES! The Aus Democrats say they'll move to block any changes by the fed govt to undermine the Medicare system. PM John Howard is expected to announce a $900 mn overhaul of the system in coming weeks. Media reports say the changes will see middle and high income families paying between $2 and $20 per doctor's visit. Dem leader Andrew Bartlett says of the reports are accurate, the party would block the changes in the Senate. Canberra. AUSSIE BUSINESS COSTS DOWN! New figures from the ABS show the stronger AUD has started pushing down business costs. However, higher petroleum, housing and ag goods, particularly beef, have pushed up production costs. The Mar Q producer price index (PPI) measures changes in 3 different stages of production, and is a precursor to inflation numbers due out tomorrow. The ABS says prices rose at each stage of production in the Mar Q. Sydney. AUS MARKETS! The All Ords closed almost 1% higher, led by the banks and media heavyweight News Corp. In Japan, the Nikkei plunged 2.3%, to levels not seen since 1982, on fears manufacturing in China would be hit by SARS. The AUD hit a new 3-y high against the USD, reaching 61.62 US c around 7 pm. There was a surge of buying late this afternoon, based on AUS's outstanding economic growth compared with Europe and the US. The Little Aussie Battler is holding is own against a rising Euro, and is gaining on the Yen. Oil and Gold were both up around 1%. Oil rose to $US30.82/bbl. It's refusing to go back to the levels of last Dec, despite all predictions it would after the war in Iraq was finished. {{ CONTINUOUS WAR-RELATED NEWS DAY THIRTY-THREE 3.30 am There's been another anti-us protest in Baghdad. About 2,000 Shiites demonstrated against the arrest of their leaders. A cleric said 3 mullahs had been arrested by US forces on Sun night. The demo came on the first day Jay Garner spent in Baghdad. Gen Garner said he'd called a meeting for Thu to bring together people from all walks of life. BBC radio. 100s of 1000s of pilgrims are heading to Karbalah for 4-day festival. It's part of a larger 40-day festival commemorating the death of Imam Hussein in 680 AD. The killing spilt Islam into Sunni and Shiite. The festival was banned under Saddam's pro-Sunni rule. Now Shias are a serious political force. On every main rd they're on the march. On the dual carriageway between Baghdad and Karbala every few m there are groups walking to Karbala, carrying flags and banners. In what used to be called Saddam City, in Baghdad, there's a Shia govt in all but name. It runs the police, a major hospital, and the local govt. They've re-named the area after a cleric martyred by Saddam. The local imam calls for an Islamic republic. He wants freedom in Iraqi, but under Islamic law. There would be a place for everyone, he says, even Christians and Jews. But they would not be able to wear shorts. In Sri Lanka the Tamil Tigers say they're suspending peace talks with the govt. 6 am (US) ABC has revealed another US military botch. In the dying days of the regime, tribal leaders and snr Iraqi officials were trying to arrange talks between Saddam Hussein and the US. But instead of sending a rep, the compound in which the meeting was planned was bombed, killing a tribal chief and 17 of his immediate family. The local people say they no longer trust the US. "We were trying to do the US a favour", they told ABC reporters. It's unclear whether US military officials understood a meeting was being offered. Apparently the compound was targeted because people there were using satellite phones. 4 pm As chemicals continue to be tested in the US, the NY Times reports a new possible chemical weapons find. An Iraqi scientist has reportedly led US officials to a site where chemicals are buried, and also nominated up to 4 other sites where chemical weapons are buried. He also says a portable chem weapons lab was destroyed on Mar 13, just before the war. 44 US pilots have graduated from shooting school. They will shortly head for the country's cockpits. Officials say passengers won't notice anything different. While the cockpit doors will also be sealed -- not normally a concern for passengers -- pilots will only strap on their sidearms after they bolt the door. 5 pm PBS, New Hour. American analysts are worried about what they see as "sabotage" of the reconstruction of Iraq. Some point to the pre-prepared signs seen in recent anti-US demonstrations in Baghdad. They call for a de-Nazification program, as was used in Germany after WWII. They say local people should point out who had been apparachicks under Saddam, and who had not. Some say the reformation of the police force for Baghdad might be a first step in taking the focus off the US. They say European police forces have helped in regime change in other countries, and they should be called upon again. Using US military or even civilian US police in Iraq would feed the suspicion that the US was there to control the country. Estimate of how long the US would be in Iraq range from 1 to 10 y. The median estimate was about 4 y. The Pentagon says the US military toll in Iraq so far stands at 128. 6 of them were not American citizens. They have all been granted posthumous citizenship. Last y Bush signed into law a bill that allowed non-citizens to immediately sign into the US military. Previously, people enlisting in the US forces had to wait 3 years. Under the new laws, non-Americans serving in the military can't be promoted to officer level, nor are allowed to access classified info. 7 pm Another mass grave has been found in Iraq, this time on the outskirts of Baghdad. SBS showed pix of about 1,000 numbered graves. According to grave diggers, political prisoners were killed and buried there by the Saddam Hussein regime. Bodies were brought to the graveyard in small groups of 4 to 8. Civilians were hanged, and military opponents were executed by firing squad. In news just to hand, HK has announced the SARS toll in HK and mainland China has reached 191. The WHO is predicting a "very big" outbreak of SARS in China. With new provinces reporting cases, the WHO says the spread of the virus into the countryside is too serious to contemplate. Beijing markets are reporting a 60-70% reduction in business. Anxiety levels are rising. In Singapore, 100s of workers at a market have been put into quarantine after one of them died from the disease. In HK, schools have been closed for 3 wks. Babies born to SARS victims are also showing signs of the illness. In Canada, a health-care worker that had been exposed to the disease refused to co-operate with authorities and attended religious services over Easter. Officials there say Canada is now in the position HK had reached about 3 wks ago. They fear the worst. }} ---------------------------------------- Tue, 23 Apr 2003 {{ CONTINUOUS WAR-RELATED NEWS 6 am The world-wide death toll from SARS has reached 235, across 25 countries. In HK, school students must have daily temp checks and tourism is down 67%. There is a terrorist alert for Aussie politicians. A Turkish newspaper reports Al Qaeda may be targeting officials from AUS, the US, Brit, Spain and Israel. According to the report, 35 terrorists have crossed from N Iraq into turkey. There is concern they may target AUS officials attending ANZAC commemoration services at Gallipoli. Fed Treas Peter Costello will be at Lone Pine for the service. He left AUS today. The Russian atomic energy Minister has warned the concrete shell built around the Chernobyl nuclear reactors destroyed in 1986 is in danger of collapsing. An anti-war Brit politician has been accused of taking almost 400,000 pounds from Iraq. The Daily Telegraph has published what it says are memos its reporters found in Baghdad. The memos indicated Saddam Hussein and other officials had arranged to pay a Labour politician money from oil sales under the guise of a commercial fee. The politician has today instructed his lawyers to sue for libel. He says it should be easy to check whether he has ever received a penny from Baghdad or anywhere else. He says there are glaring problems with the story, not the least of which is payments from the oil-for-food program are administered by the UN, not by Iraq, and payments would come from NY, not Baghdad. 2 RAN ships have been dispatched to intercept a Vietnamese boat carrying 42 asylum seekers. There are reports this morning a 2nd boat may also be on the way. The 2nd boat has reportedly just stopped in Singapore for re-supply. The Dow closed up 156 and the Nasdaq was 27 up. European markets also closed higher. Yesterday, the All Ords was up 25. Gold is presently around $US334/oz. Oil is just under $US30/bbl. The AUD is presently above the 62-c mark at 62.14 US c. 7.12 am Pressure is mounting for the US to find WMD in Iraq. There are still no firm indications WMD are in Baghdad, or anywhere else in Iraq. At the Centcom briefing yesterday, Brig Brooks said he was "confident" WMD would eventually be found. Reporters say by by now there should be more firm evidence. What has been reported -- chem suits and possible weapons sites pointed out by defectors -- is far from the smoking gun America knew it had to produce. In NY, Dr Blix says documents produced by the US to support its case for were were forged or fakes. He said his team of UN inspectors didn't take long to find out they were fakes. But the US is not interested in having him come back. The US has flown in a team of 1,000 of its own inspectors. They're presenting scouring the country. There's been a back-flip of sort over UN sanctions against Iraq. The US and France have now teamed up, and want them lifted. They want more aid coming in to Iraq, based on the UN oil-for-food program. That would see more Iraqi oil shortly available on world markets. Prices are presently unexpectedly high. But Russia doesn't want the sanctions lifted. It managed to pass a Resolution that requires the US to first prove there are no WMD in Iraq. Elsewhere, intel reports in Turkey says Al Qaeda is planning strikes against US, Brit, Israeli, AUS, and Spanish targets. }} ======================================== (*) Who is responcible for W.A.R.S? A small group of dedicated sandgrubbers, bannana-lickers and 5th columnists on the run from support payments and sundry legalese in their home countries. Mention us at any Uncle Harry's Suburban Bunker and get a 10% discount on cop-killers! All speling macroizated for correctitood by Mcrosotf Speelchek. *** Please stand by for further orders from The Leader ***