AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, Dec 26Evening Round-Up: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1630
Terror Security (CANBERRA)
Australia is moving to beef up security at 80 overseas missions and even relocate somein dangerous locations.
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister ALEXANDER DOWNER's confirmed the governmentis reviewing overseas mission security arrangements.
The spokesman says the Australian embassy in the Philippines capital Manila is theonly mission so far which will be relocated.
Australia's mission in Manila is located in a high-rise building above a multi-levelcarpark, making physical security against car bomb attack difficult.
The embassy was closed on November 28 following a credible threat of a terrorist attack.
It's expected to reopen on January 2.
Meanwhile, a treasured feature of Australian democracy -- being able to walk all overour federal politicians -- could soon become a casualty of heightened security concerns.
Tourist access to the roof of Parliament House is expected to be banned under tightersecurity measures next month.
Bodies (SYDNEY)
Queensland Police are expected to request the extradition of a woman and two men whenthey reappear at Bathurst Local Court tomorrow over the murder of a Goondiwindi couple.
The bodies of SHARON MAY CLARK, aged 29, and her lover JAMES GARETH HUNT, aged 20,were found in the boot of a car, 35 kilometres from Goondiwindi, south-west of Brisbane.
Her estranged husband, unemployed 31-year-old GUYON RONALD CLARK from Port Macquarieon the New South Wales north coast, faced Bathurst Court over the shooting deaths afterhe walked into the police station accompanied by an eight-year-old boy.
A 37-year-old man and his 30-year-old wife from Goondiwindi were also charged withthe couple's murder.
They last appeared at a special late night sitting of Bathurst Court on Tuesday.
Toll NSW (SYDNEY)
New South Wales has been fatality free since Monday but a spate of serious accidentshas left many spending the Christmas break in hospital wards.
Boxing Day is traditionally the busiest day on the state's roads and rain, combinedwith driver frustration, has contributed to a series of serious crashes, particularlyin the country.
The worst was on the Pacific Highway about 20km north of Kempsey this morning whenthree cars collided leaving 12 people injured, five of them seriously.
Among the victims are a five-year-old who's been airlifted to Westmead Children's Hospitalsuffering abdominal trauma.
The ambulance service says it attended more than 20 serious accidents this morningas rain fell, playing havoc with traffic.
The national holiday road toll stands at 20.
Xmas Trade (SYDNEY)
Huge crowds have filled shops around the country, hunting for bargains in the traditionalBoxing Day sales.
Hundreds of people queued on Sydney's Pitt and Elizabeth streets to be the first throughthe door to take advantage of the big savings.
Retailer groups in Victoria say crowds are the largest in several years, with hundredsof thousands of shoppers expected through Melbourne's Bourke Street Mall's retail outlets.
And retailers across Brisbane are also smiling, as crowds flock to make the most ofBoxing Day sales in the city centre and across the suburbs.
Xmas (LONDON)
Bloodshed has marred some of the world's Christmas celebrations, and social tensionshave shadowed others.
Most tourists and religious pilgrims stayed away from Bethlehem yesterday, but a smallnumber of Palestinian Christians attended Mass in the town of Jesus' birth.
It was the first time since 1994 that Christians there celebrated under Israeli military control.
In Pakistan, two assailants shrouded in women's robes threw at least one hand grenadeat a small Christian church in Punjab, killing three worshippers and wounding more than10.
Thousands of police were deployed in the Indonesian capital Jakarta yesterday as Christiansflocked to churches to celebrate Christmas despite warnings that Islamic extremists mighttarget places of worship.
Korea Nuclear Fuel (SEOUL)
North Korea has reportedly begun moving fresh fuel rods into a mothballed nuclear reactorat the centre of a diplomatic standoff with the United States.
The news report has raised concerns it's preparing to restart facilities, which expertssay could produce nuclear weapons within months.
The Yonhap news agency's quoted an unidentified South Korean government official assaying that the isolated communist nation's begun moving fuel rods into the 5-megawattreactor at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon, north of its capital, Pyongyang.
The South Korean official didn't say whether North Korea's actually begun loading fuelinto the Soviet-designed reactor.
Iraq (MOSCOW)
Russia's widened a rift on the UN Security Council over Iraq by openly disputing Washington'sclaim of having proof that Baghdad's hiding weapons of mass destruction.
Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister YURY FEDOTOV has been quoted by ITAR-TASS news agencyas saying that no-one can provide the slightest evidence that Iraq represents a terroristthreat.
The United States and its closest ally, Britain, claim proof exists Iraq has attemptedto foil weapons inspections, a claim Baghdad vehemently denies.
Zoe (AUCKLAND)
A cyclone is heading toward an isolated Polynesian atoll called Tikopia, as well as to Vanuatu.
Hawaii's Joint Typhoon Warning Centre says Cyclone Zoe former out of a tropical stormnorth of Fiji early today.
It's now moving westward and is intensifying.
Meteorologists say that by late tomorrow Zoe will be over Tikopia, part of the Solomon'sSanta Cruz islands, blowing at almost 170 kilometres per hour and gusting beyond 200 kilometresper hour.
Venezuela (CARACAS)
Venezuela's opposition's pledged to pursue its crippling strike, but eased up on ademand that President HUGO CHAVEZ step down now, saying instead he must quit if he losesa February referendum.
Although the request's not new and CHAVEZ has rejected it in the past, the ChristmasDay statement's come as a surprise after weeks of increasingly militant demands by governmentopponents.
Last month, opposition leaders collected the signatures needed to call the referendum,but have since hardened their position as the strike launched on December 2 tightens itschokehold on the vital oil sector.
They say the protest action's clearly demonstrated a majority of Venezuelans want CHAVEZto resign.
BRIEFLY..........
Lord of the Rings fans have got their second fix of fantasy, with sell-out crowds stampedingcinemas across the country. Thousands of movie buffs are venturing out to catch The TwoTowers on its opening day in Australia.
Holidaymakers have been urged to take care in Queensland national parks and observefire warnings, including the banning of barbecues in some areas.
Police say a man has broken into a bank in the western Japanese city of Kyoto and takenthree employees hostage.
AND IN SPORT..........
Cricket Aust (MELBOURNE)
Australian openers MATTHEW HAYDEN and JUSTIN LANGER have both made centuries on thefirst day of the fourth Ashes Test against England at the MCG.
HAYDEN was dismissed for 102 while LANGER was not out 116 a short time ago with thetotal two for 247.
Cricket India (AUCKLAND)
India was beaten 2-0 by New Zealand in the Test cricket series and is on the way toa similar flogging in the limited overs matches.
Batting first in the opening game in Auckland, India was dismissed for 108 off 32.5overs as JACOB ORAM took five for 26.
Sail SydHob (SYDNEY)
Two men have fallen overboard and two yachts have been forced to retire within thefirst hour of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
Queensland's only entry TRUMPCARD and Tasmanian boat VALHERU withdrew after separatecollisions and both the damaged boats had crew fall overboard.
Line honours favourite ALFA ROMEO was first out of Sydney heads followed by CANON LEOPARD.
ENDS EVENING ROUND-UP
AAP RTV jas/rp
KEYWORD: EVENING ROUND-UP
No comments:
Post a Comment