AAP General News (Australia)
08-19-2011
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, Aug 19
EVENING ROUND-UP: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1630
HELICOPTER WRAP (ADELAIDE)
South Australian police say it could take some days to identify those killed in a helicopter
crash carrying three of the ABC's top newsmen.
Veteran reporter PAUL LOCKYER, cameraman JOHN BEAN and pilot GARY TICEHURST were working
on a documentary on Lake Eyre when their chopper went down last night.
Assistant police commissioner NEIL SMITH says disaster identification experts are on
their way to the crash site, which is spread over a large area surrounded by water and
boggy land.
A local tour guide who spoke to the crew has told of later seeing a large fireball
in the distance.
ABC boss MARK SCOTT has paid tribute to three news gatherers at the peak of their craft,
passionate about finding great stories from across Australia to bring to the public.
ECONOMY (SYDNEY)
One the nation's top bankers believes the global economy is on the brink of another
economic crisis.
The warning came as Australia's share market dropped almost three-and-a half per cent
today after more falls on Wall Street and European bourses overnight.
NAB Capital chief economist ROB HENDERSON says after a nervous calm for much of the
week, global stock markets have turned into a sea of custard.
ANZ chief executive MIKE SMITH says policymakers in Europe and the US have failed to
show leadership in dealing with massive debt problems, and risk causing serious financial
and social pain around the world if the trend continues.
Federal Trade Minister CRAIG EMERSON says the US and European economies used to be
anchors of stability, but are now struggling.
THOMSON/FREEBODY (CANBERRA)
Embattled federal Labor MP CRAIG THOMSON says he hasn't done anything wrong, as a credit
scandal threatens to engulf JULIA GILLARD'S minority government.
Mr THOMSON is already facing scrutiny over the alleged use of a Health Services Union
credit card to pay for prostitutes when he was union secretary and now reports say phone
calls were made in 2006 to brothels from Melbourne hotel rooms hired by Mr THOMSON, but
he says the allegations are untrue.
Prime Minister JULIA GILLARD says she continues to have full confidence in the MP.
Meanwhile, Queensland's Liberal National Party has expelled a candidate who sent an
email saying he hoped Prime Minister JULIA GILLARD "follows the history" of assassinated
US President JOHN F KENNEDY.
And, the Victorian opposition wants a full investigation by the Ombudsman into links
between Liberal Party donations and the coalition's green wedges planning policy.
COAG WRAP (CANBERRA)
Mental health experts have addressed the country's leaders in Canberra and called on
them to adopt a national approach to improving well-being with a 10-year reform roadmap.
Former Australian of the year PATRICK McGORRY, Mental Health Council of Australia chief
executive FRANK QUINLAN and Catholic Priest and social policy expert Monsignor DAVID CAPPO
briefed the COAG meeting in Canberra for about an hour this morning .
They say poor access to coordinated, quality care leads to increased social exclusion
of Australians with severe and persistent mental illness.
Former Australian of the year PATRICK MCGORRY says following the GILLARD government's
first payment on mental health in the May budget it's now up to the states and territories
to get on board.
The briefing came as Prime Minister JULIA GILLARD faces a hostile meeting, with a bloc
of three Liberal premiers pushing for her to scrap the planned carbon tax.
SHOOTING (MELBOURNE)
Police say a double homicide in a Melbourne smash repair workshop is the result of
a failed business deal involving the two dead men and a third who was shot in the same
incident.
Police are quick to reject suggestions the killings have anything to do with feuding
families under investigation over shooting incidents in nearby suburbs.
Speculation was fuelled by both the location of yesterday's shooting in Brunswick and
the attendance at the scene of the police task force investigating a series of shootings
involving Lebanese families.
The three men are known to police, and to each other, while the victims are believed
to have been related.
PETERS (LOS ANGELES)
An American legal expert says the extradition process for Australian collar bomb suspect
PAUL DOUGLAS PETERS could take years if he decides to fight it.
50-year-old PETERS, who is currently locked up in a Kentucky prison, was arrested in
the US earlier this week in relation to the bomb hoax targeting Sydney schoolgirl MADELEINE
PULVER.
QANTAS ENGINEERS (SYDNEY)
Qantas engineers have announced industrial action - with a twist.
They say they'll stop work for one hour every weekday, starting next Thursday, until
the week before Christmas.
But they've offered to organise union members to work overtime, in place of the stopped workers.
BLAKE (MELBOURNE)
A Victorian judge says it's a travesty she's forced to register a young Australian
soldier as a sex offender.
MITCHELL JOHN NEVILLE BLAKE was 19 when he had sex with two underage girls, aged 15
and 14, after a night out in Malsmbury last year.
Judge LISA HANNAN says she has no choice but to register BLAKE as a sex offender, despite
the fact the sex was consensual - an order she doesn't consider just.
US EXECUTION (JARRATT)
A US man convicted of the 2001 rape and murder of an 88-year-old woman has been executed
by lethal injection in the US state of Virginia today.
Authorities from Virginia's Department of Corrections have confirmed 31-year-old JERRY
JACKSON was pronounced dead at 9:14pm local time.
It was the first time Virginia used the anesthetic pentobarbital during execution,
a substance generally used by veterinarians when euthanising animals.
RUSSIA USSR (MOSCOW)
Today Russia marks two decades since Soviet hardliners precipitated the demise of the
USSR with a botched coup.
Conservative top Soviet officials known as the Gang Of Eight sought to seize power
on August 19 in 1991 from MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, but failed.
BRIEFLY IN OTHER NEWS ..
QUAKE JAPAN (TOKYO)
Japan has been hit by by another strong after shock, with a 6.8-magnitude earthquake
hitting off the northeast coast, causing buildings to sway in Tokyo, but no damage.
DRIVEBY (SYDNEY)
A second Hells Angels bikie has been arrested as police attempt to solve two drive-by
shootings targeting the IBRAHIM family.
US ALQAEDA (WASHINGTON)
The American government says al-Qaeda remains the most pre-eminent terrorist threat
to the United States, especially with its cooperation with militants in Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
SINGH (MELBOURNE)
An Indian national who impersonated an immigration officer to extort thousands of dollars
from a female student has been jailed for two years.
IN SPORT ..
CRI REPORT (MELBOURNE)
Chairman of selectors ANDREW HILDITCH has lost his job as part of a wide-ranging review
into Australian cricket.
The seven-month review, headed by former BHP Billiton chief DON ARGUS, recommended
that coaching and selection at the elite level needed a major overhaul.
SUPER WARATAHS (SYDNEY)
Axed Wallabies skipper ROCKY ELSOM could be heading back to the NSW Waratahs after
the Super Rugby team announced MICHAEL FOLEY as their new head coach.
AFL PORT (ADELAIDE)
Port Adelaide coach MATTHEW PRIMUS says the career of KANE CORNES at the Power isn't
over, despite the club's triple best and fairest winner being dropped.
TEN US (CINCINNATI, Ohio)
SAM STOSUR is continuing her good form in the lead up to the US Open tennis with a
win over fifth seed LI NA in the WTA event in Ohio.
Tenth-seeded STOSUR won 6-4 3-6 6-4.
ENDS EVENING ROUND-UP
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