AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Midday, Aug 20

AAP General News (Australia)
08-20-2009
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Midday, Aug 20
Midday Round-Up: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1130


Climate (CANBERRA/ADELAIDE)

Federal parliament's expected to approve a huge boost to renewable energy today ..

after the opposition agreed on a scheme to have 20 per cent of our electricity come from
renewable sources within 10 years.

However the RUDD government says carbon emissions will continue to grow .. if Australia
doesn't also adopt an emissions trading scheme.

Assistant Climate Change Minister GREG COMBET says the coalition must pass the emissions
trading scheme .. which they voted down in the Senate last week.

The Greens say the cross-party support for the government's renewable energy target
means there's some chance Labor and the Coalition could agree to pass the emissions trading
scheme later this year.

Meanwhile .. Premier MIKE RANN says South Australia intends to become the green power
hub for the eastern states .. setting a target of 33 per cent of the state's power to
be generated from renewable sources by 2020.



Afghan Vote Wrap (CANBERRA/KABUL)

Afghanistan's 17 million voters are heading to the polls today .. to elect a president
for just the second time in history .. with a sweeping security clampdown in force to
prevent threatened Taliban attacks.

But Australia's bracing for an expected rise in violence .. with Foreign Minister STEPHEN
SMITH saying the threat to the lives of our soldiers there is increased.

Mr SMITH says Australia will take a wait-and-see approach to the elections on two fronts
.. the threat of violence and the election process itself which has also come under question.

Accusations of illegitimacy and fraud have been rife in the lead-up to what will be
Afghanistan's first state-run presidential elections in 30 years.



Flu Aust Roxon (MELBOURNE)

Federal Health Minister NICOLA ROXON says a swine flu vaccine hasn't yet been officially
approved .. and will be available by mid-September at the earliest.

The government's receiving two million doses by the end of next week .. but Ms ROXON's
told ABC Radio reports claiming it'll be ready by September 7 are premature.

She says health officials hope to begin vaccinating the most vulnerable by mid-September
.. that's pregnant women .. the chronically ill .. children in special schools and the
health workforce.

There've been 121 swine flu-related deaths to date.



China Aust Smith (CANBERRA)

Foreign Minister STEPHEN SMITH has denied reports Australia's ambassador's been rushed
back from China to attend crisis meetings in Canberra .. saying it's a routine visit.

Ambassador GEOFF RABY cancelled media engagements in Beijing yesterday to fly to Canberra
.. where one official said a series of emergency meetings have been scheduled.

Mr SMITH'S told ABC Radio tensions exist over China's arrest of Rio Tinto executive
STERN HU .. and the visit here by exiled Uighur leader REBIYA KADEER .. but he says the
government's committed to a positive long-term relationship with Beijing.



House Letter (SYDNEY)

New South Wales Police are refusing to comment on an anonymous letter reportedly naming
two people as the alleged killers of Sydney newsagent MIN LIN and his family.

They say speculation in the media could undermine the investigation into the murders.

The Daily Telegraph says the two-page letter .. written in English .. was received
by the family's lawyer DANIEL SHEEN.

Five members of the LIN family were bashed to death in their home last month in Epping
.. where they ran a nearby newsagency.



Fromelles (FROMELLES)

Australians who believe they're related to World War One diggers discovered in a mass
grave in France .. will begin DNA tests next month to help unlock the mystery of the soldiers'
identities.

About 30 forensic archaeologists and anthropologists have been working since May to
recover an estimated 250 Australian and British soldiers from the site at Fromelles ..

so they can be identified and reburied at a military cemetery nearby.

So far 222 members of the Australian and British armies have been unearthed .. along
with a range of artefacts including uniform buckles .. boots .. badges and handmade metal
rings.



Scare (MELBOURNE)

Federal Police are investigating a security scare on a Singapore Airlines flight this morning.

The airline received a bomb hoax call about flight SQ 227 from Singapore to Melbourne
just before one this morning.

Crews informed the 197 passengers of the threat and conducted a discreet search of
the plane .. but didn't find anything.



Key (CANBERRA)

New Zealand Prime Minister JOHN KEY has been officially welcomed with a 19-gun salute
at Parliament House today.

Mr Key began a five-day tour of Australia in Melbourne earlier in the week and is meeting
his Australian counterpart .. KEVIN RUDD .. in Canberra .. with the economy .. politics
and security on the agenda.



Briefly in other news ..



UK Robbery (LONDON)

London police have arrested two men in connection with what is thought to be Britain's
biggest jewellery heist .. although police won't say whether they're the same two captured
on video pulling off the raid earlier this month.



Argentina Nightclub (BUENOS AIRES)

A music promoter in Argentina's been sentenced to 20 years in prison .. after being
found responsible for a 2004 discotheque fire that left 194 people dead and 14 hundred
injured.



US Penn (SAN RAFAEL)

Hollywood couple ROBIN WRIGHT and SEAN PENN have filed for divorce again .. and have
agreed to share custody of their 16-year-old son HOPPER JACK PENN.



World Women (NEW YORK)

GAIL KELLY is the only Australian to make the top 30 of Forbes magazine's new list
of powerful women .. the Westpac boss came in at number 18 in a list dominated by businesswomen
.. although German chancellor ANGELA MERKEL topped it for the fourth year running.



UK Python (LONDON)

The five surviving members of Britain's famed Monty Python comedy troupe are to reunite
for a 40th anniversary bash in New York .. where they will be presented with a BAFTA Special
Award.



in Finance ..




At 1114 AEST .. the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was UP 17.4 points at 4391.2 .. while
the broader All Ordinaries Index ROSE 17.7 points to 4405.2.

The Australian dollar was at 82.84 US cents .. UP from yesterday's local close of 82.08 US cents.

The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US941.40 .. UP $US4.30 from $US937.10 per fine
ounce yesterday.



in Sport ..



Cricket Aust (LONDON)

Australian captain RICKY PONTING will be playing what could be his last Ashes Test
on English soil starting tonight.

But he's not counting on a send-off like the one SHANE WARNE received at the same ground in 2005.

With the series locked at one-all and England needing a victory to wrest the Ashes
from Australia .. PONTING believes he's under far less pressure than opposite number ANDREW
STRAUSS.



Aths World Aust (BERLIN)

Australian SALLY MCLELLAN has defied a preparation cruelled by a painful back injury
to finish fifth in the women's 100m hurdles final at the world athletics championships.

After powering home to claim silver at last year's Beijing Olympics .. MCLELLAN had
been touted as one of Australia's few genuine medal hopes at the world titles.

But after the final .. the Queenslander revealed that she had been forced to miss nine
days of training due to a painful back problem suffered.



Tennis Open WildCard (NEW YORK)

Australian CHRIS GUCCIONE has been awarded a wild card entry into the US Open .. just
hours after ousting French seventh seed JO-WILFRIED TSONGA from the ATP Cincinnati Masters.



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