AAP IMAGE OUTLOOK FOR WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2009

AAP General News (Australia)
02-17-2009
AAP IMAGE OUTLOOK FOR WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2009
Good evening Picture Editors, News Editors and Chiefs of Staff,

The following is a list of news assignments AAP will consider for picture coverage tomorrow.

The full-day list is
preliminary and subject to change. However, to assist in your planning, we have firmed
most jobs before midday.

These are marked 'Assigned'.

A fresh advisory will be issued at 9.00am in case breaking news overnight takes priority
and changes the schedule.

A full day planner will be issued at 11.30am.

As always, your feedback is welcome. Please contact the Picture Desk on 02 9322 8707 for
further clarification.

Preliminary AAP IMAGE OUTLOOK FOR TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2009

SYDNEY
Opening of the new 135-bed Forensic Hospital - Assigned
Opening of the Woniora Development and clubhouse, featuring former federal opposition
leader Brendan Nelson - TBC
Flooding in the Bellingen area - Assigned

MELBOURNE
Bushfire aftermath - Assigned

View images at the following link <http://www.aapimage.com.au/> www.aapimage.com.au To
locate specific images
search the newsroom using keywords in caps below.

April Fonti | Deputy Picture Editor
<http://www.aap.com.au/> Australian Associated Press
L6 3 Rider Boulevard Rhodes Waterside, Rhodes, NSW, 2138
T +61 0293228705 | F +61 0293228717 | E FontiA@aap.com.au

KEYWORD: IMAGE OUTLOOK

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FANSHU.COM TRANSFERRING 40% STAKE

AsiaInfo Services
07-07-2011
Fanshu.com Transferring 40% Stake

BEIJING, Jul 07, 2011 (SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) -- Shanghai Founder Digital Publishing Technology Co., Ltd., the majority shareholder of Fanshu.com, is selling the subsidiary's 40% equities at a selling price of CNY 47.6 million, according to China Beijing Equity Exchange.

Zhongsou.com, which holds a 40% stake in Fanshu.com, has given up the preemptive right to take over such a 40% stake sold by Founder Digital. According to the seller, the potential buyers shall have at least CNY 100 million in registered capital and net profits of more than CNY 100 million last year. Also, they shall be licensed to be engaged in the Internet information sector for not less than five years. This means that only Baidu.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (SEHK: 0700) could be qualified.

Fanshu.com in 2010 achieved the operating revenues of CNY 1.14 million and suffered net losses of CNY 21.58 million in the year. During the first six months of this year, it gained the operating turnover of CNY 1.9 million and suffered net loss of CNY 11.4 million.

Source: www.sina.com.cn (July 07, 2011)

KEYWORD: BEIJING INDUSTRY KEYWORD: Internet & Online Services & Media SUBJECT CODE: Internet & Online Services
Online News/Business Information
SinoCast China Business Daily news
shareholder
stake
Internet information
loss
price
subsidiary
preemptive right

Copyright 2011 AsiaInfo Services (via Comtex). All rights reserved

QLD:Fourex faces industrial action this Xmas

AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-2011
QLD:Fourex faces industrial action this Xmas

Brisbane's Four-X brewery workers will take industrial action this Christmas over a
management demand they be nice and not naughty if they want bigger bonuses.

United Voice says more than 100 of its union members at the Four-X Brewery in Milton
have taken offence that future bonuses will depend on "good behaviour".

Lion Nathan, which own owns the Four-X brand, wants to add another tier of performance
review which will be linked to end of year bonuses.

United Voice state secretary GARY BULLOCK says the good behaviour demand made by brewery
executives was unfair and did not treat workers with respect.

AAP RTV dac/ar

KEYWORD: BEER (BRISBANE)

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Monito 2300 2UE Main Stories

AAP General News (Australia)
04-02-2011
Monito 2300 2UE Main Stories

- Pro- and anti-protesters rallies compete in Sydney

- Balmain's new Greens MP wants New South Wales planning laws changed

- Brisbane's Lord Mayor Campbell to move into state politics tomorrow

- Owners of unit in Sydney accused of invasion of privacy over smoking ban

- Police call for witnesses over stabbing in Sydney this afternoon

- Libyan government reject ceasefire offer by rebels

- Sport

AAP RTV wz

KEYWORD: MONITOR 2300 2UE

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW:Opera strike 'a last resort': unions

AAP General News (Australia)
12-12-2010
NSW:Opera strike 'a last resort': unions

Maritime workers threatening to disrupt the filming of the Oprah Winfrey Show in Sydney
on Tuesday say the action will be taken as a last resort.

Unions are meeting at ten tomorrow morning .. Sydney time .. to discuss whether they'll
stop work for 24 hours after wage negotiations with NSW Maritime broke down.

If the action goes ahead .. workers won't deploy the buoys necessary to ensure the
exclusion zone at the Opera House remains in place during the filming of the show.

PAUL McALEER from the Sydney branch of the Maritime Union of Australia says workers
have no faith or confidence in NSW Maritime's ability to negotiate a wage agreement ..

and had they met with them last Wednesday as promised the meeting tomorrow wouldn't be
taking place.

He says a strike will only take place if they can't get the Maritime's attention.

Workers are seeking a 15 per cent wage increase over three years and an improvement
in worker conditions.

AAP RTV ih/sw/

KEYWORD: OPRAH STRIKE (SYDNEY)

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED:Snapshot of campaign Wednesday, August 4

AAP General News (Australia)
08-04-2010
FED:Snapshot of campaign Wednesday, August 4

Daily snapshot of the 2010 election campaign, Wednesday, August 4.





GILLARD:

Campaigned in the Cairns-based marginal seat of Leichhardt, held by Labor's Jim Turnour.



Promise: An overhaul of the baby bonus payment system to ease cost-of-living pressures
on parents, including access to $500 of the $5294 baby bonus up front, in addition to
the first instalment.



Stunt: Led the media pack on a bushwalk before taking a cable car to announce a $9.4
million promise to build an observatory at Cape Tribulation, in the World Heritage-listed
Daintree Rainforest.



Quote: "Families know what it's like to come up against an unexpected problem. Families
know what it's like to have these costs come into the family budget."





ABBOTT:

Campaigned in the northern Brisbane seat of Dickson, held by opposition frontbencher
Peter Dutton but notionally Labor after redistribution.



Promise: Payments up to $3250 to employers to help unemployed older people get back
into the workforce.



Stunt: Played lawn bowls with an excited group of ladies at the Kallangur Memorial
Bowls in Brisbane.



Quote: "I want seniors to be economic contributors, not just social and cultural (ones)."



AAP jlw/jl

KEYWORD: POLL10 SNAPSHOT WEDNESDAY

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Man fights with police and later dies in custody

AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-2009
Vic: Man fights with police and later dies in custody

By Greg Roberts

MELBOURNE, Dec 22 AAP - The preliminary results of an autopsy have failed to determine
what caused the death of a man in police custody after he was sprayed with capsicum foam.

An investigation has begun into the death of the 29-year-old caucasian man who was
arrested outside his Melbourne house before being bundled into the back of a police van.

The man was sprayed with capsicum foam after fighting with police.

A police dog squad member went to Doonbrae Court in Noble Park about 8.30pm (AEDT)
on Monday after a report of a stabbing, police Superintendent Shane Patton said.

It's believed the 29-year-old man stabbed a 39-year-old man, also from Noble Park,
in the arm causing a minor injury.

"The dog squad member got out of his vehicle and actually called on the suspect to
stop and drop a knife in his hand," Supt Patton told AAP.

"He didn't drop the knife, that's why he deployed OC (capsicum) foam, the male was
advancing towards him with the knife and the foam made him drop the knife.

"A fight ensued, the suspect resisted arrest, they were scuffling, a civilian then
assisted in that scuffle."

More police arrived and the man was "ranting and raving" irrationally while being arrested,
Supt Patton said.

Police called for an ambulance, the man was assessed and cleared as okay, he said.

"When he was taken out of the van he was unconscious and wasn't breathing. Obviously,
police immediately provided CPR, called an ambulance and resuscitation attempts were made,"

he said.

"Unfortunately, the 29-year-old man was pronounced dead.

"The police members acted entirely appropriately, on what advice I've been given. They
will be given welfare counselling."

In a statement late on Tuesday, police said the preliminary results of the man's post-mortem
examination were inconclusive, adding that full results could take several weeks.

On Tuesday, distraught family members gathered outside the dead man's home, which belonged
to his parents, but would not comment to reporters.

Supt Patton would not say if illegal drugs were behind the stabbing but neighbours
said they believed it could have been.

One neighbour, Sharon Crooks, said the 39-year-old man who was stabbed would often
visit his father to borrow money.

Supt Patton confirmed the 29-year-old man who died had been in trouble with police
before and had a psychiatric illness.

Detectives from the homicide squad are investigating for the coroner with the investigation
overseen by the ethical standards department.

There was monitoring equipment in the van but nothing was recorded.

The use of capsicum spray - now widely employed by police - was criticised as potentially
lethal by a leading law group.

The spray escalates incidents into conflicts and leads to a higher risk of death, says
Hugh de Kretser of the Federation of Community Legal Centres.

Supt Patton said there was no evidence of that in Monday's incident.

AAP jrd/cdh

KEYWORD: CUSTODY 2ND WRAP

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Day of reckoning in emissions trading, minister

AAP General News (Australia)
08-13-2009
Fed: Day of reckoning in emissions trading, minister

Climate Change Minister PENNY WONG has insisted the Senate has more than enough information
to make up its mind on the government's planned emissions trading scheme.

Labor's package of 11 bills setting up what the government calls its carbon pollution
reduction scheme is facing certain defeat in the upper house today.

But the coalition claims most of the scheme's detail is contained in yet-to-be-published
regulations the government can implement without parliamentary approval.

Senator WONG's told ABC TV the government's provided an unprecedented amount of information.

AAP RTV rl/crh

KEYWORD: CLIMATE WONG (CANBERRA)

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

News Diary for Friday, April 3, 2009

AAP General News (Australia)
04-03-2009
News Diary for Friday, April 3, 2009
Good Morning News Editors and Chiefs of Staff

Here is AAP's preliminary newslist for Friday (not for publication).

This is a guide only and stories, local times and locations are subject to change. In
some cases times and locations may not be available. Story coverage is subject to staffing.

RUDD
- PM talks with China's President Hu Jintao before heading home Friday with a brief stopover
in Singapore, to meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

COURTS
CANBERRA
1015 - High Court decision on challenge to tax bonus payments.

ADELAIDE
- Two men charged over bikie extortion racket due in court.

MELBOURNE
- Sentence of man who fled Australia after raping a woman while she was asleep.

PERTH
1000 - Indonesian people smugglers up for sentence in District Court.

SYDNEY
1000 - Sentencing of Daniela Beltrame for forging her father's will and trying to get
her daughter to change her evidence. Supreme Court 5, Darlinghurst.

1000 - Resumption of former NSW Crime Commission employee Mark Standen's committal hearing.

Central Local Court.

1400 - Police officers Brendan Ritson and Tyrone Stacey to be sentenced for unlawfully
telling a man his girlfriend used to be a man. Downing Centre Local Court, 4.7.

BRISBANE
- Pacific Adventurer captain to appear in court over oil spill.

ENTERTAINMENT
- Interview with director Adam Elliot about his new film Mary and Max
- Interview with actors Joel Edgerton and Shane Connor about the upcoming ABC series Dirt Game

ADELAIDE
- National car sales figures for March expected to be released.

- Adelaide Zoo to open $4m envirodome, hailed as one of the world's most advanced interactive,
environment-focused learning centres.

- AFL, Adelaide v St Kilda (1940 CDT start).

- International Rugby Sevens opening night (1730 CDT start).

BRISBANE
- Tourism Minister to unveil final candidates for Best Job in the World.

- Seeking final election count results.

- World Vision chief Tim Costello lunchtime address.

- Reunion of Kokoda track trekkers to raise funds for charity.

- Seeking update on storms.

CANBERRA
0920 - Federal government to make statement of support for the United Nations Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

1030 - Federal government to release two reports detailing the performance of Australia's
urban and rural water utilities.

MELBOURNE
- Victoria Police Museum to launch national exhibit: In The Line of Duty

PERTH
1200 - Public protest at death in custody of Mr Ward, Aboriginal man who died in the back
of a police paddy wagon near Kalgoorlie.

SYDNEY
- Seeking reaction to swift passing of new bikie laws in state parliament.

- Search continues for Comanchero bikie chief Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi over brawl at Sydney airport.

0900 - ACOSS National Conference 2009 - "Building A Fair Australia in Tough Economic Times".

Australian Technology Park, Sydney.

1000 - Launch of national recycling initiative involving green groups, local government
and industry. Visy Glass Recycling Plant, cnr Baker and Moore Sts, East Botany.

1100 - The Australian Law Reform Commission releases a briefing about the Royal Commissions
Act Issues Paper. ALRC offices, Level 25, 135 King Street.

1230 - Capital City Lord Mayors meet to discuss clean energy solutions. Workplace6, Pirrama
Road, Pyrmont.

- Reports NAB set to reduce its branch staff numbers by 113.

FINANCE
ECONOMIC NEWS
CANBERRA - Australian Office of Financial Management holds tender for $600 million May 2013 bonds
SYDNEY - Australian Industry Group/Commonwealth Bank Australian Performance of Services
Index for March
SYDNEY - AAP interest rates survey for April

EQUITIES NEWS
SYDNEY - CMA Corporation Ltd extraordinary general meeting
PERTH - Modena Resources Ltd general meeting
PERTH - Focus Minerals Ltd general meeting
SOUTHPORT, Qld - Pacific Environment Ltd general meeting

SPORT
AFL
ADELAIDE - AFL match: Adelaide v St Kilda, AAMI Stadium, 2010AEDT
MELBOURNE - Preview Geelong v Richmond
MELBOURNE - Preview Collingwood v Melbourne
MELBOURNE - preview Carlton v Brisbane
SYDNEY - Preview Sydney v Hawthorn

LEAGUE
BRISBANE - NRL match: Brisbane v St George Illawarra, Suncorp Stadium, 1935AEDT
SYDNEY - NRL match: Sydney Roosters v Parramatta, SFS, 1935
SYDNEY - Preview Penrith v Wests Tigers
MELBOURNE - Preview Melbourne v Gold Coast

RUGBY
Super 14
CHRISTCHURCH - Crusaders v Bulls, 1735AEDT
PERTH - Western Force v Queensland Reds, 2205AEDT
SYDNEY - Preview NSW Waratahs v Stormers
SYDNEY - Preview Cheetahs v Brumbies
ADELAIDE - IRB Sevens, Adelaide Oval, day 1

CRICKET
DURBAN - Ist ODI: Australia v South Africa, Sahara Stadium, start 2330AEDT

NETBALL
SYDNEY - Feature preview of trans-Tasman netball competition starting Saturday with team
by team factbox

GOLF
CARY, NORTH CAROLINA - Feature on Greg Norman's return to the Masters next week, with factbox
HUMBLE, Texas - Greg Norman among many Aussies in Houston Open first round
RANCHO MIRAGE, California - Karrie Webb among Aussies in first major of 2009 Kraft Nabisco
Championship, 1st round

AAP jlw

KEYWORD: DIARY NEWS FRIDAY

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

SA: Three dead in horror day on state's roads

AAP General News (Australia)
08-31-2008
SA: Three dead in horror day on state's roads

A police Commissioner's inquiry's been called into a police chase immediately before
yesterday's accident in Adelaide .. that killed two people.

Police say about 1.40 (CST) yesterday morning a 30-year-old man from Pooraka and a
23-year-old man from Welland were killed .. after their vehicles collided on Bridge Road
at Pooraka.

Police had been briefly chasing the ute being driven by the Pooraka man just minutes
before the collision.

The Welland man .. the young dad of a seven-month-old baby .. had recently divorced
and was due to leave Adelaide yesterday .. returning permanently to the Philippines.

Two passengers in his car are in Royal Adelaide Hospital with broken bones and lacerations
.. but are expected to make a full recovery.

A Commissioner's Inquiry has been ordered into whether the officers chasing the ute
followed due process in the moments leading up to the crash.

A report will also be prepared for the coroner.

AAP RTV njl/tm

KEYWORD: TOLL SA (ADELAIDE)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: HMAS Sydney veterans lead special tribute in Anzac parade

AAP General News (Australia)
04-25-2008
Vic: HMAS Sydney veterans lead special tribute in Anzac parade

By Kellee Nolan

MELBOURNE, April 25 AAP - HMAS Sydney veteran Allen Guthrie was "proud and humbled"

today as he led a special tribute to the sunken warship during Melbourne's Anzac Day march.

Frail with age and assisted by his two adult grandchildren, he climbed into the backseat
of an open air blue Rolls Royce alongside fellow HMAS Sydney veteran Ken Brown.

Together, the two 88-year-olds led the parade's naval contingent as a mark of respect
for the 645 men who were lost at sea when HMAS Sydney was sunk off Western Australia in
World war II.

Both Mr Guthrie and Mr Brown had been transferred for duties elsewhere before the ship
went down on November 19, 1941, after a fiery battle with the German raider Kormoran.

After the ship's wreckage was found last month, Mr Guthrie was proud to pay tribute
to its crew today.

"It's been exhilarating, and sometimes a little bit sombre, there's a lot to think
about," he said before the march.

"But I'm very proud and humbled."

Chris Roberts, 21, of Bendigo, marched today as part of a group of more than a dozen
descendants to pay tribute to the lost crew of the Sydney.

Representing his great-great-uncle Laurence Thomas Woolmore, Mr Robert said: "I was
very happy when they were found, and very proud and I'm honoured to be not only representing
Laurence, but also my family as well,"

More than 35,000 people today paid their respects to the Anzacs at today's Shrine of
Remembrance dawn service and the later march down St Kilda Road.

Victorian Premier John Brumby took part in the official dawn service party before marching
with his father, Malcolm, who served on HMAS Quiberon in WWII.

Mr Brumby said he felt "really proud and quite emotional" to march alongside his 83-year-old
father.

"I'm very proud of my father and he asked me last night if I would walk with him.

"He said he'd be really pleased if I'd do that with him, so it was lovely, it was just
a really proud moment."

Mr Brumby was joined by Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard to lay a wreath at the shrine.

For the first time in 30 years the parade also included descendants of those who fought
in the Boer War.

Among them were brother and sister Michael and Wendy Baden-Powell, the grandchildren
of Lord Robert Baden-Powell, who also founded the scout movement.

Michael said his grandfather had commanded British and Australian troops in one of
their "last lines of defence" at the town of Mafeking in 1899 and 1900, surrounded "nine-to-one"

by the enemy.

"For 217 days they held out, they were undermanned in terms of military power, outgunned
by fire, nothing was coming in and out, in short it was a pretty hopeless mess. But they
got through."

Australia's last surviving World War I soldier, Jack Ross, watched the Anzac Day march
today from his bed in a Ballarat nursing home while enjoying a cup of tea and an Anzac
biscuit.

Mr Ross, who turned 109 in March, last participated in an Anzac Day march two years
ago at Kangaroo Flat but is now too incapacitated to get in or out of a car.

His daughter Peggy Ashburn, 80, and other residents of the Golden Oaks Nursing Home
sat with Mr Ross as he watched the Melbourne march.

AAP kn/ce/jfm/bwl

KEYWORD: ANZAC VIC NIGHTLEAD (PIX AVAILABLE)

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Electronics retailer Ken Lee dies aged 75

AAP General News (Australia)
12-21-2007
NSW: Electronics retailer Ken Lee dies aged 75

The co-founder of multi-million dollar electronics retailer BING LEE has died in a
Sydney hospital.

KEN LEE has passed away at St Vincent's Private Hospital in Sydney this morning ..

at the age of 75.

A migrant from China .. Mr LEE and his father BING opened the first Bing Lee store
in western Sydney in 1957.

KEN started out as the company's sales and repair man .. and along with his father
.. built the company into a multi-million dollar business.

Bing Lee .. which has 35 stores and turns over about 400 million dollars .. is the
largest privately-owned electrical goods retailer in NSW.

One of LEE's sons will take over as chief executive of the company.

AAP RTV ab/was/jec/bart

KEYWORD: BINGLEE (SYDNEY)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: US navy secretary says China needs to be transparent

AAP General News (Australia)
08-15-2007
Fed: US navy secretary says China needs to be transparent

By Max Blenkin, Defence Correspondent

CANBERRA, Aug 15 AAP - Visiting US Navy Secretary Donald C Winter says China lacks
transparency about its military objectives, but involving it in multinational exercises
could break down barriers to understanding.

"The more we understand each other, the more we understand what is normal and proper
and professional conduct, the better to be able to avoid any unintended consequences,"

Dr Winter told reporters today.

He said during the Cold War the US understood just who the enemy was, who had to be
worried about, what they had and where they would come from.

Dr Winter said any multilateral exercises including China could help improve understanding.

"We are in a very different environment right now and we find ourselves engaging with
many adversaries all over the world," he said.

They could be anyone from pirates operating in the Straits of Malacca or off the Somali
coast, non-state actors, questionable regimes and potential future peer competitors, he
said.

"It is necessary for us and all other nations that share common objects to be able
to prepare for that uncertainty in the future and be able to provide both deterrence and
dissuasion against activities that would threaten the peace in the region as well as mechanisms
of responding should that be needed," he said.

Dr Winter said China needed to be more transparent about its military activities whereas
the US had been open about its plans to redeploy naval forces from the Atlantic to the
Pacific.

China needed to do the same concerning its own forces.

"We continue to take a look at China. We try to understand what the Chinese intent
is in many aspects," he said.

"I know the concept, the question if you will, of transparency comes up all the time
and we are trying to understand exactly not only what it is what they are doing but why
they are doing it.

"We would like to understand what their view is, we would like to understand what their
plans are and we would like to understand what their objectives are."

Dr Winter, in Australia for talks with Australian defence officials and industry, said
the US had made a decision in the Quadrennial Review to shift carriers and submarines
to provide a 60-40 split between the Pacific and Atlantic.

He said that was a recognition of two factors - potential security challenges in the
Pacific region as well as the vast area of the Pacific requiring some additional assets.

"We are in the process of going through that reallocation activity as we speak," he said.

AAP mb/sb/it/bwl

KEYWORD: CHINA US

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Main stories in ABC's World Today

AAP General News (Australia)
02-16-2007
Main stories in ABC's World Today

SYDNEY, Feb 16 AAP - Main stories in ABC's World Today:

* The US government has today publicly released the details of its new case against
Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks. The Office of Military Commission has released a
charge sheet to support its allegations that the Australian provided material support
for terrorism and was involved in a murder attempt. But David Hicks' military lawyer,
Major Michael Mori, says there's little new in the allegations, and while charges may
now be served within weeks, it's still likely to be more than a year before David Hicks
faces trial. The federal Labor party says this means the US government has failed to meet
Prime Minister John Howard's deadline on the future of the Australian who has been held
by the US now for more than five years.

* As directors and former directors of the James Hardie company prepare their defence
against civil charges, the action by Australia's corporate watchdog is being closely watched
in the US. James Hardie shares are listed on Wall Street and the company has been reaping
huge profits from the recent housing boom in the US. But US asbestos compensation activists,
who have been battling corporate loopholes for years, say they're optimistic that the
civil case in Australia will provoke tougher action from US regulators.

* A paraglider was sucked up by a storm front in northern NSW into the realm normally
reserved for jet aircraft and survived. A 28-year old German paraglider was sucked up
30,000 feet (10,000 metres) - higher than Mount Everest - and while she lost consciousness
and suffered frostbite, she made it back down alive. An elite Chinese paraglider caught
in the same storm has died. Both were practising for next week's world championships and
organisers are describing the survival of even one of the paragliders as extraordinary.

AAP kaj/was

KEYWORD: MONITOR WORLD TODAY

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Compensation should extend to cycling victims: lawyers

AAP General News (Australia)
08-30-2006
Vic: Compensation should extend to cycling victims: lawyers

MELBOURNE, Aug 30 AAP - The family of an elderly man struck and killed by a cyclist
in Melbourne will not receive compensation from Victoria's road accident body because
it does not cover cycling accidents.

Prominent legal firm Maurice Blackburn Cashman today called for the Transport Accident
Commission (TAC) to be extended to include cycling accidents, to enable families to receive
financial assistance.

His call followed the death of 77-year-old James Gould, who was fatally injured while
trying to cross Beach Road, in Melbourne's south-east early on Saturday.

Motor vehicle accident specialist John Voyage said today the relevant legislation had
been amended to extend some limited rights to cyclists, such as running into a stationery
car.

But victims of road cycling crashes were not entitled to any compensation or contribution
towards funeral costs under the TAC, he said.

Mr Voyage said the TAC last year made a $464 million profit and could well afford to
extend its cover to include cycling accidents.

"This death is tragic and it is awful that the man's family will have to bear the financial
costs of his death and funeral and receive no compensation," he said.

"What if a similar accident had occurred and a single mother with three kids had been
killed or even seriously injured?

"There would be no opportunity for her family to claim from TAC to pay medical bills,
income support or compensation for the children."

Mr Voyage said the government should urgently look into the legislation and change
it to ensure TAC covers pedestrians and other victims of cycling accidents as soon as
possible.

The accident involving Mr Gould occurred during the notorious "Hell Ride", an unsanctioned
weekly race in which up to 200 cyclists ride along Beach Road and the Nepean Highway at
speeds of up to 60kph.

A 30-year-old St Kilda man is expected to receive a penalty notice for allegedly failing
to stop at a red light.

AAP ce/gfr/jt/bwl

KEYWORD: GOULD

) 2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Boy seriously injured after being struck by car

AAP General News (Australia)
04-24-2006
Vic: Boy seriously injured after being struck by car

A six year old Victorian boy is in a serious condition in hospital after being struck
by a car west of Melbourne.

Police say the boy had wandered from his home in the Bacchus Marsh area .. about 50
kilometres west of Melbourne .. when he was struck by a car about 6.20pm (AEST) last night.

A spokeswoman says the boy was standing in the middle of the Bacchus-Marsh/Geelong
road when he was hit by a car taking a right hand bend.

The spokeswoman says the boy was airlifted to the Royal Children's Hospital where he
remains in a serious condition.

AAP RTV cmb/psm/

KEYWORD: BOY (MELBOURNE)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Howard fuelling Islamic radicalism in Australia: sheikh

AAP General News (Australia)
12-25-2005
Fed: Howard fuelling Islamic radicalism in Australia: sheikh

A controversial Australian Islamic leader says the Prime Minister is fuelling Islamic
radicalism by demonising Muslims.

Melbourne cleric MOHAMMAD OMRAN says the HOWARD government has made .. what he calls
.. naive Australians paranoid about Muslims.

Sheikh OMRAN accuses JOHN HOWARD of fuelling the belief Muslims would commit terrorist attacks.

He has also again denied OSAMA BIN LADEN is responsible for the September 11 attacks in 2001.

AAP RTV dcr/wz

KEYWORD: TERROR OMRAN (SYDNEY)

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Prom fire still burning after 13 days

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2005
Vic: Prom fire still burning after 13 days

By Julie Tullberg

MELBOURNE, April 15 AAP - Rain failed to reach Wilsons Promontory National Park in
south-east Victoria today, as a 13-day fire continued to smoulder through the bushland.

While Victoria received good rainfall today, Wilsons Promontory missed the downpour,
forcing two aircraft to spray hot spots near control lines.

About 100 fire crew are working to contain the bushfire that has burned through more
than 6,000 hectares in the national park.

The fire flared out of control on April 2 when strong winds fanned the flames of a
fuel reduction burnoff.

Parks Victoria incident controller David Nugent said despite missing the rain today,
weather conditions were favourable to firefighters, who were building a control line across
the `Prom'.

"If conditions are good, we're confident to complete the work of building the control
line on Sunday night," Mr Nugent said.

Mr Nugent said another crew of 50 firefighters would work on the control lines tomorrow,
in a bid to complete the 700m of the 18km firebreak.

He said he expected the park to open next week, signalling the end of a campaign that
has used up many firefighting resources.

Hundreds of campers were forced to take refuge on a beach at the height of the fire.

The opposition has criticised the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE)
for carrying out the fuel reduction burn at a time when the park was full of visitors.

Wilsons Promontory National Park, one of Australia's oldest national parks, is the
southernmost point on the Australian mainland.

AAP jat/snp/de

KEYWORD: BUSHFIRES VIC NIGHTLEAD

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Chemical Ali looks haggard, leans on cane in court; Saddam's former defense minister stares blankly

SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer
AP Worldstream
12-19-2004
Dateline: BAGHDAD, Iraq
The former general known as "Chemical Ali," notorious for allegedly gassing thousands of Kurds, looked haggard and leaned on a cane in a court as Iraq's U.S.-backed government speeded the pace of legal proceedings against Saddam Hussein's henchmen before next month's critical elections.

The appearance Saturday of both Ali Hassan al-Majid and Saddam's last defense minister Gen. Sultan Hashim Ahmad before a tribunal of judges were the first in a series of interrogatory hearings that were made public, in preparation for eventual full trials of Iraq's one-time leaders. The session was closed to the press.

Al-Majid appeared haggard in a video released after the interrogation. The gray-haired first cousin of Saddam leaned on a walking stick before sitting in front of a judge behind a desk.

Ahmad stared blankly at the ground as police officers stood on either side of him holding his arms. Ahmad, a thickly set man with black mustache, later smiled broadly to others in the hearing room.

A defense lawyer who attended the hearings said Ahmad spent four hours at the tribunal, with the questions focused on charges regarding attacks on Kurds and the Anfal campaign, a depopulation scheme that killed and expelled hundreds of thousands of Kurds from northern Iraq during the 1980s. Ahmad is said to have led the Iraqi Army's 1st Corps into the Anfal campaign.

"I have been a military officer for 40 years and have never been punished. It's unfortunate that I have to sit like this before the court with the Americans sitting behind me," Ahmad told the judge, according to the lawyer, who declined to be identified.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Bob Callahan declined to say if American officials were present.

Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Tuesday that detained Saddam regime figures would start appearing before court in the coming week _ pressing ahead with the trials ahead of crucial national elections set for Jan. 30.

The timing was apparently to remind voters of the brutality they endured before the Americans ousted the dictatorship. The Iraqis will vote for a transitional assembly that will write a permanent constitution.

Insurgents renewed attacks across northern Iraq, targeting election offices, executing two civilians and wounding four American security contractors in a roadside bomb attack. An Iraqi militant group also claimed responsibility in a video posted on an Islamic Internet site for the Dec. 8 killing of two U.S. contractors.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned insurgents who on Friday ambushed a Turkish diplomatic convoy and killed five Turkish security guards attached to Ankara's embassy in Baghdad and two of their Iraqi drivers in Mosul, 225 miles (362 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad.

Three other Turks escaped the ambush to safety, including the embassy's defense attache who was wounded and taken to a U.S. military hospital, according to a Foreign Ministry statement issued Saturday. The statement said U.S. forces reportedly killed at least one militant.

In Mosul, insurgents detonated a roadside bomb near a U.S. military patrol, injuring no soldiers but hitting a school bus. One eighth grade student was killed and six were wounded, the military said in a statement.

Iraq's insurgency appears to be consolidating in the country's north following intensive U.S.-led military operations in central and western Iraq aimed at uprooting militants, comprising mainly Islamic extremists and Saddam loyalists.

The latest violence coincided with the commencement of judicial proceedings of al-Majid and Ahmad for their alleged roles in an array of crimes committed during Saddam's 1968-2003 reign.

The videos were the first images of the men since their arraignment in July along with Saddam and the other detainees. Both wore gray-colored suits and white shirts without ties and arrived at the tribunal handcuffed and flanked by blue uniformed police.

They are the first known to have gone before an investigative hearing from among the 12 jailed top figures who, including Saddam, are facing trial for crimes during the regime's three decades in power.

Both were questioned by a panel of investigative judges in a hearing attended by their lawyers, said Raad al-Juhyi, the head of the panel.

The role of the judges during these hearings is to interrogate the detainees and gather evidence for possible charges to be laid against them, including Saddam, followed by eventual criminal trials.

Al-Juhyi said the defendants will face questioning over Saddam's Anfal campaign, a depopulation scheme that killed and expelled hundreds of thousands of Kurds from northern Iraq during the 1980s. The offensive includes the 1988 Halabja chemical weapons attacks that al-Majid has been accused of ordering.

The judges will also investigate the role of the detainees in the bloody quelling of a 1991 Shiite uprising following the U.S.-led Gulf War to force occupying Iraqi forces out of neighboring Kuwait, plus the illegal imprisonment and executions of political opponents.

Al-Juhyi stressed the proceedings were only initial hearings to gather information, not trials, adding there would be no rush to bring to trial Saddam and his aides.

"Hastiness is the plague of trials," he said.

An official familiar with the procedure said the hearings are expected to continue Monday and involve a third detainee, whose identity was not revealed.

Iraqi deputy prime minister, Barham Saleh, told Al-Arabiya TV that Ahmad was being quizzed primarily to assist in tribunal proceedings against al-Majid.

"The former defense minister is being interrogated within the framework of focusing on the case of Ali Hassan al-Majid, who is accused of many crimes against the Iraqi people," Saleh said, adding that any future criminal trial would be public.

Many Iraqis _ particularly among the Shiite majority _ have been eager to see the prosecution of the ousted regime begin.

Militants fired mortar rounds Saturday at a voter registration center in Dujail, north of the capital, killing one civilian and wounding eight others.

Gunmen killed two men, apparently Iraqis, in execution-style slayings in the northern town of Beiji, police Capt. Hakim Ali said Saturday. One victim was found with his hands tied behind his back.

Also near Beiji, a roadside bomb exploded, wounding four American contractors employed by Florida-based Cochise Security Inc. to dispose of munitions in the area.

An Iraqi militant group calling itself the "Jihad Brigades" claimed responsibility for killing American contractors Joseph Wemple, a builder from Orlando, Florida, and Dale Stoffel, vice president for international development for Pennsylvania-based engineering-construction contractor CLI USA, between Baghdad and the town of Taji, 12 miles (19 kilometers) to the north. The claim could not be verified.

Copyright 2004, AP News All Rights Reserved

Good to Know: Cable and broadband access

CABLE AND BROADBAND ACCESSGlen Ellyn is served by two competing cable companies: AT&T Broadband and Ameritech's Americast.

Ameritech's cable systems are soon to be acquired by WideOpenWest of Colorado; AT&T cable is being courted by several media conglomerates.

Both providers offer traditional analog service plus optional digital channels.

Each company offers similar but not identical programming.

TV Guide online (www.tvguide.com) is a good resource for comparing the two.

Satellite dishes are an option for those with a clear view of the southern sky.

Vendors include DirecTV (www.directv.com) and Dish Network (www.dishnetwork.com).

High-speed DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is available in much of the village, either directly from Ameritech (the phone company, not the cable company) or through many third-party Internet Service Providers (ISPs). For information about the DSL business at www.glen-ellyn.com/tv.html; more general industry news is available at DSL Reports (www.dslreports.com). Sprint offers wireless high-speed Internet service to those with a relatively clear view of the Sears Tower (www.sprintbroadband.com). StarNetWX is expected soon to offer a similar service that uses antenna sites scattered throughout the suburbs (wireless.iols.com). Satellite Internet access is offered by Starband (www.starband.com) and DirectPC (www.directpc.com). (DirectPC Internet access and DirectTV television offerings can be combined in the same dish.)

For more information, visit www.glen-ellyn.com/tv.html or e-mail the Glen Ellyn Technology Commission at technology@glen-ellyn.com.

RS COMPONENTS: Happy first birthday for rswww.com as site nets Revolution award.

M2 PRESSWIRE-2 March 1999-RS COMPONENTS: Happy first birthday for rswww.com as site nets Revolution award (C)1994-99 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:020399

* RS Components' Internet Trading Channel awarded Best Use of New Media for Business to Business Marketing in Revolution Awards

RS Components' Internet Trading Channel http://rswww.com is delighted to announce it has bagged another award, this time from new media marketing title Revolution at its prestigious annual awards ceremony on 23rd February.

Other companies to pick up one of the 12 awards included Dell, Legal & General and Dixons Freeserve.

This award follows on from the December announcement that RS had won 2 'Outstanding Web Site Awards' in the 1998 US Web Marketing Awards. RS won the award for its entry in the 'Best Catalogue Web Site' and 'Technical Products Catalogue' categories. In November the same year, RS picked up a 'Highly Commended' in the FT Business Web Site awards.

Bernard Hewitt, Head of Internet Trading at RS Components: 'It was our first birthday this week, so the award was a tremendous present for the team. We were particularly pleased for the recognition of our contribution to business-to-business e-commerce, a market with its own criteria for success - in particular integration into our customers' purchasing systems. Although awards are fantastic, ultimately it's our customers who decide how successful we are by voting with their mouse pads.'

* NEW PRODUCTS LAUNCHED March 1st sees over 3,000 new and innovative products added to the rswww.com catalogue.

* MORE TECHNICAL INFORMATION FOR CUSTOMERS As well as products, there are also 1,500 new data sheets in the technical library. This free on-line information resource now contains over 15,000 technical documents, data sheets, instruction details, and Health & Safety sheets.

CONTACT: Narda Shirley or Elsa Weill, Gnash Communications Tel: +44 (0)181 563 9446 Fax: +44 (0)181 563 9448 e-mail: info@gnash.co.uk

*M2 COMMUNICATIONS DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY FOR INFORMATION PROVIDED WITHIN M2 PRESSWIRE. DATA SUPPLIED BY NAMED PARTY/PARTIES.*

Sheraton Hotels Announces Key Conversion Deal at Kansas City's Crown Center.

Former Hyatt to Fly the Sheraton Flag and Undergo $13 Million Renovation to Meet Sheraton Brand's New Standards

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) and Crown Center Redevelopment Corporation today announced that the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City will fly the Sheraton flag and undergo an $13 million renovation to bring the 733-room property up to Sheraton brand standards. Sheraton Crown Center is scheduled to make its debut on January 1, 2012 and following an extensive renovation effort will feature all the brand's signature offerings including the Sweet Sleeper bed, Club Lounge, Link@Sheraton(R) experienced with Microsoft(R), Link@Sheraton Cafe and Sheraton Fitness programmed by Core Performance.

Sheraton Crown Center is one of more than 60 new hotels and over 20,000 rooms Starwood expects to add to the Sheraton portfolio over the next three years as part of a multi-year strategic expansion plan. It will join The Westin Crown Center as the second Starwood property in the popular, upscale lifestyle center that is less than a mile from the city's Power and Light entertainment district. Starwood will also operate the Crown Center Exhibit Hall and two restaurants in Crown Center shopping center.

"We are delighted to grow our portfolio in Kansas City with the upcoming opening of Sheraton Crown Center. The successful completion of our multi-billion re-branding effort continues to drive conversion opportunities like this one in key markets across North America," said Hoyt Harper, Senior Vice President, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts. "Sheraton Crown Center will exemplify the new look and feel of Sheraton and showcase all our signature brand offerings."

The hotel's newly refurbished lobby will feature the "Link@Sheraton(R) experienced with Microsoft[R]" - a social hub where connections, whether face-to-face or webcam-to-webcam take place. All guest rooms will be equipped with an oversized work desk, custom-designed ergonomic chair, high-speed Internet, LCD flat panel television, MP3 docking station and the all-white Sheraton Sweet Sleeper[R] bed, designed to meet AAA's Five Diamond Award[R] criteria.

Ideal for business meetings and social functions of all sizes, Sheraton Crown Center will feature more than 95,000 square feet of flexible meeting space with all the latest in meetings technology. Additional amenities will include an indoor and outdoor pool and a Sheraton Club Lounge. The hotel will also feature a fully equipped fitness facility featuring the brand's revolutionary new health and fitness program designed exclusively for Sheraton guests through its partner Core Performance.

"We are experiencing a surge in conversions to the Sheraton brand in cities throughout North America," said Allison Reid, Senior Vice President of North America Development, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. "The brand's recently completed comprehensive revitalization significantly improved guest satisfaction and loyalty and has prompted growing numbers of owners and developers to choose Sheraton."

"We are very pleased to have Starwood operating both hotel properties at Crown Center," said Bill Lucas, president of Crown Center Redevelopment Corp. "This will greatly simplify group negotiations and provide significant efficiencies that improve the customer experience. Crown Center will truly be a one-stop convention destination."

Located on the southern edge of downtown Kansas City, Sheraton Crown Center is adjacent to the 53,000 square foot Crown Center Exhibit Hall and less than a mile from the city's convention center. A city within the city, Crown Center's 80 acres features shops, restaurants and theaters and the worldwide headquarters for Hallmark Cards. A Sea Life aquarium and LEGOLAND Discovery Center will open there in 2012. Also nearby are the River Market and the Union Station, Country Club Plaza. Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium are ten miles from the hotel.

Starwood has spent the last few years renovating and rebuilding one of the hotel industry's most iconic brands and Sheraton now stands stronger than ever with the strongest portfolio in its history. The brand is gaining market share, RevPAR continues to rise, guest satisfaction scores are the highest in the brand's history and likelihood to return, likelihood to recommend and meeting planner and associate engagement scores are also at all-time highs - signaling that guests are taking notice and rediscovering the new Sheraton.

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, like all brands within Starwood's robust portfolio, is proud to offer the Starwood Preferred Guest[R] program, which made headlines when it launched in 1999 with a breakthrough policy of no blackout dates on Free Night Awards. SPG[R] offers members the ability to redeem awards at more resorts, more luxury properties, more European hotels and more golf properties than any other hotel program.

About Crown Center

Located on the southern edge of downtown Kansas City, Crown Center offers fine hotels, entertainment, dining, shopping, offices and residential living. Home to the international headquarters of Hallmark Cards, Inc., the complex attracts more than five million visitors each year. For more information, please visit www.crowncenter.com.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1051 properties in 100 countries and territories with 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis[R], The Luxury Collection[R], W[R], Westin[R], Le Meridien[R], Sheraton[R], Four Points[R] by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft[R], and Element(SM). Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

(Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and involve risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. These risks and uncertainties are presented in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained or that results and events will not materially differ. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.) The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

NEIGHBOUR HELL FROM; THE HIDING PLACE.(News)

Byline: ANDREW GREGORY

NESTLED among tall, leafy trees in an unassuming town, the EUR700,000 home is eight times the size of nearby houses.

The imposing mansion has 18ft-high perimeter walls which are topped with barbed wire. And it has a 7ft wall on a third-floor terrace.

CIA chiefs think the barrier was there to enable a very tall man to go outside without being seen. Osama bin Laden was said to be 6ft 6in.

Residents of Abbottabad last night told of their shock at discovering that the world's most wanted man had lived among them with one of his wives.

Shabbir Khan, 40, said the threestorey building near a school, cinema, church and golf club in the middleclass town was a "luxurious mansion". He added: "I'd always thought two men lived there. I hadn't seen much action over the past few months.

"The compound is surrounded by thick bushes and barbed wire so you can't see much. As far as I knew there was hardly anyone living there.

"It was like five-star accommodation and there were cameras installed inside the house. Very exclusive."

Neighbours say Land Cruisers were spotted driving to and from the home which had become a fortress. Qasim Khan, 18, who lives opposite the compound, said he saw two Pakistani men going in and out of the mansion over the years. He said one of them was fat and had a beard.

He added: "I never saw anybody else with the two men, but some kids sometimes would accompany them. I never saw any foreigner."

Irrfan Malik, 32, said: "It's no surprise we didn't know what was going on in that house. All the residents here are high society people who don't like to gossip or talk about one another. The fact that this family didn't mingle is no different to anyone else. There was no reason to suspect them, especially of harbouring a terrorist."

Actor Salman Riaz revealed that five months ago he tried to shoot a film scene next to the compound but was made to stop by two men.

He said: "They told me this is haram [Arabic for forbidden]."

Abbottabad is a military town of 400,000 residents, 60 miles north of capital Islamabad. Named after British army major James Abbott, the middle-class town is surrounded by hills and is a four-hour drive from Afghanistan.

As well as the Ilyasi mosque, one of the oldest in the region, Abbottabad is renowned for the Kakul Military Academy - which is just half a mile from bin Laden's compound.

A Pakistani police officer says the mansion was owned by an Afghan national called Arshad Khan. He added: "Arshad bought the house five years ago. But no one can identify his whereabouts." The officer, who asked not to be named, said: "There were several members of the bin Laden family inside the compound who have been taken into custody. One of them was his daughter Safia."

Video footage yesterday showed the inside of the secret compound.

A king-size bed showed where the al-Qaeda chief, 54, may have slept with his youngest wife, Amal al-Sadah.

A pool of blood was seen at the foot of the mattress and rooms are littered with paper and clothes.

A senior US government official said: "The compound sits on a large plot of land in an area that was relatively secluded in 2005 when the property was built on the outskirts of the town centre at the end of a narrow dirt road.

Afterwards, other homes were built near it. The security measures of the compound are extraordinary."

The official, who asked not to be named, added: "Access to the compound is restricted by two security gates and the residents of the compound burn their trash, unlike their neighbours, who put the trash out for collection.

"It's also noteworthy that the property is valued at $1million but has no telephone or internet service."

The CIA suspected for months that bin Laden and his family lived there with two al-Qaeda comrades - who acted as couriers - and their families.

It is not known how long the al-Qaeda supremo had been there.

The senior US government official revealed: "Analysts concluded that this compound was custom built to hide someone of significance. We learnt that more people were living at the compound than the two brothers and their families.

"A third family lived there - one that matched the size of the family that we believed bin Laden would have with him."

The revelation that bin Laden had been living in Pakistan so close to a major military academy could seriously affect the country's relationship with the West. Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, even visited the base four days before bin Laden was killed.

Labour Co-operative MP Mike Gapes, who sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said Pakistan had "a lot of questions" to answer.

And ex-Pakistani intelligence chief Hamid Gul said it was "amazing" that officials did not know bin Laden was in Abbottabad which is home to thousands of soldiers.

But Pakistan's High Commissioner in London, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, insisted last night that his country had no idea bin Laden had been there.

He said: "The Americans knew it and they carried out the operation.

"They killed Osama bin Laden and then the president of Pakistan was informed. And that's it."

CAPTION(S):

NEARBY.. Anglican church HISTORIC Ilyasi mosque in town SLEEPY Affluent town where terror chief was hiding out NEARBY.. Military academy SECRET HOME Police patrol outside the compound

Harris Corporation Introduces First Unfurlable, High-Frequency Ka-Band Space Antenna.

MELBOURNE, Fla. and COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

HIGHLIGHTS:

* Use of Ka-band provides high throughput; improves on-orbit performance and capacity

* Unique design reduces stowed volume and antenna mass

* Markets range from satellite Internet service providers to oil and gas exploration companies

(National Space Symposium, Booth 400) - Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS), an international communications and information technology company, today introduced an unfurlable space antenna designed to support emerging requirements for high-throughput Ka-band satellites.

The new Harris Ka-band antenna greatly increases the gain and potential spot beams currently available to spacecraft manufacturers and service providers. The increased frequency reuse provided by the additional spot beams enables higher data rates required by providers of bandwidth-hungry services such as satellite Internet, HDTV and 3D TV, and by businesses that transfer large amounts of data between remote locations, such as oil and gas companies and maritime users.

The antenna features flight-proven design elements that have been refined during development and production for US government and commercial programs, including the application of reflective mesh, surface-shaping technology and thermally stable materials. The antenna's architecture leverages Harris' robust radial rib structure reflector design, 40 of which are currently in operation. The projected aperture ranges from 3.5 meters to 8 meters in diameter, with a compact stowed configuration suitable for most launch vehicles.

During launch, the Harris reflectors are stowed onboard the satellite much like an umbrella. Once in orbit, controllers execute a series of maneuvers, and then send commands to deploy an articulating boom and unfurl the reflector.

"This new Ka-band product is a natural extension of our existing offerings for larger apertures, and continues our 35-year legacy of providing high-performance antenna solutions with unmatched performance," said Sheldon Fox, group president, Harris Government Communications Systems. "The Harris solution supports the ever-increasing global demand for higher bandwidth capacity."

With more than 50 reflectors in orbit, Harris is the leading supplier of large reflector apertures and deployable mesh reflector-feed antenna systems. Offerings span UHF band through Ka-band, in sizes ranging from 5 meters to the world's largest commercially available 22-meter reflector. Harris reflector products have the highest surface accuracy design in the industry, while substantially exceeding the specified mean mission duration of the spacecraft and payload.

For more information, visit http://www.govcomm.harris.com/solutions/segments/000007.asp.

About Harris Corporation

Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has approximately $6 billion of annual revenue and more than 16,000 employees - including nearly 7,000 engineers and scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class assured communications products, systems, and services. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at www.harris.com.

SOURCE Harris Corporation

SOUTH AMERICA: LA NI[yen]A UNLEASHES ERRATIC DROUGHTS, FLOODS.

By Daniela Estrada / Tierramrica *

SANTIAGO, Chile, Mar. 13, 2008 (IPS/GIN) -- Meteorologists are still struggling to predict the local impacts of La Ni[currency]a, a cyclic climate phenomenon which has caused severe drought in Chile and catastrophic floods in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina.

The death toll has already reached about 100, and around 1 million people have been affected by recent floods and drought.

"La Ni[currency]a" and "El Ni[currency]o" are the extreme phases of the oceanic-atmospheric phenomenon known as "El Ni[currency]o-Southern Oscillation," which takes place in the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean every two to seven years, affecting many regions around the world to varying degrees.

La Ni[currency]a is characterized by an atypical cooling of the surface waters of the ocean and an increase in the winds blowing east to west at the equator. The better-known El Ni[currency]o involves the opposite: warmer surface waters and weaker winds.

La Ni[currency]a tends to provoke intense rains in Colombia, Ecuador, the high plains of Bolivia and Peru and northwestern Argentina. It produces drought in Uruguay, southern Brazil, northeastern Argentina and central Chile.

According to Jorge Carrasco, chief of Chile's weather and climate department at the government's Meteorological Directorate, the current La Ni[currency]a episode began in May or June of 2007 and is expected to conclude between June and August of 2008, marking the beginning of a neutral period.

To predict the El Ni[currency]o-Southern Oscillation behavior, experts use historical data and dynamic and statistical climate models generated at centers in the United States, Europe and Asia, which have great computing capacity, Carrasco said.

The information generated by those centers is available to everyone over the Internet.

"Nearly all the countries [of South America] have quite broad knowledge of the rainfall patterns associated with the presence of El Ni[currency]o and La Ni[currency]a in their own territories, especially Peru, Ecuador and Colombia," the expert said.

Rosa Compagnucci, a professor of natural sciences at the University of Buenos Aires, added that "one must keep in mind that the interaction of the atmosphere with the ocean is not linear, and that means that one El Ni[currency]o or La Ni[currency]a event is never identical to another."

"Although we can predict in advance and with some certainty the occurrence of an event -- and in some cases even its potential intensity -- it is more difficult to predict its local impact," added the atmosphere and ocean expert.

The La Ni[currency]a occurrence now under way has been an atypical manifestation in Chile. Experts say there should have been heavier rainfall in the central region of Araucan a during the southern hemisphere summer months, but it never came. Across the country, 144 municipalities have declared agricultural emergencies due to the effects of the drought.

La Ni[currency]a also surprised meteorologists in Bolivia because instead of hitting the high plains -- in the western provinces of La Paz, Potos and Oruro -- it has affected the entire country, but especially Pando, in the north, and Beni and Santa Cruz in the east, which had already suffered heavy floods a year ago caused by rains from El Ni[currency]o.

Gualberto Carrasco, head of the climate unit at Bolivia's national weather and hydrology service, said: "This is the first time we've conducted a more exhaustive monitoring of La Ni[currency]a, because about the previous ones our information was quite general."

"In the short term it's important to strengthen the early warning system," said the expert from the weather and hydrology service -- known by its Spanish acronym, SENAMHI -- which is part of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Planning.

Compagnucci added: "One of the difficulties Argentina faces is that the official forecasting agency, the National Meteorological Service, has dramatically reduced its scientific staff. If more meteorologists [were] trained, there would be greater awareness of these events of great socioeconomic impact."

Chilean expert Jorge Carrasco said the information produced by his country's Meteorological Directorate is presented to the relevant authorities on a regular basis, but he acknowledged that a greater effort could be made to provide basic information to the population about forecasts for droughts or floods to improve disaster prevention.

"There is sufficient information in terms of diagnosis and prediction [of the El Ni[currency]o-Southern Oscillation episodes]. The models are not 100 percent correct, but in general they have a good record three months out. As a result, there are data available for making decisions both at the governmental and personal levels," he said.

Meteorology professor at the University of Chile, Patricio Aceituno, added that "now under discussion is how to prepare programs" to adapt to and to mitigate climate change caused by human activities. "These programs should be inserted into permanent plans for mitigation and management of extreme climate situations, like drought and floods," he said.

"There is still great uncertainty about the changes that are going to occur in the next 50 years [due to global warming], but I would bet, with 100 percent certainty, that in the next 10 years there will be a major drought or flood," he said.

The Chilean experts point out that another phenomenon acts upon the El Ni[currency]o-Southern Oscillation, as well: the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, which manifests itself over decades and is believed to determine the frequency of La Ni[currency]a and El Ni[currency]o.

Studies indicate that the positive phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, which has been taking place since the mid-1970s, is coming to an end. It is expected to begin its negative phase, in which La Ni[currency]a will become more frequent than El Ni[currency]o.

But other lines of research suggest that beginning in 2008, "when the new cycle begins of the approximately 11 years of solar activity, the probability of an El Ni[currency]o occurrence is on the rise, reaching maximum probability in 2012, the year -- according to predictions of NASA -- expected to have maximum solar activity," Compagnucci said.

(*With additional reporting by Marcela Valente in Argentina and Bernarda Claure in Bolivia. Originally published by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramrica network. Tierramrica is a specialized news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Program and the United Nations Environment Program.)

Lexmark X7350 All-in-One wins PC Magazine 'Real World Testing' comparison.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- PC Magazine, a leading technology publication, named the Lexmark X7350 All-in-One (AIO) from Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK) as the winner of its "Real World Testing" comparison of low-cost AIOs.

Other printers included in the evaluation were the Brother MFC-5440CN, HP Officejet 4315 AIO and Samsung SCX-4100.

Noting that many low-cost AIOs are designed for small offices or home offices, PC Magazine set out to evaluate their effectiveness as a personal printer in a larger office setting. Key criteria for inclusion were low price, standalone fax and automatic document feeder (ADF) capabilities.

Contenders were tested on scanning, copying, and print speed and quality. The verdict: "The Lexmark X7350 is the best of the lot with its mix of features, speed and quality; it's the fastest of the three that print in color," PC Magazine said.

The Lexmark X7350 offers photo capabilities along with the ability to print, scan, copy and fax at business-class speeds of up to 25 pages per minute (ppm) black and 19 ppm color(1), as well as an ADF capable of handling a maximum of 50 pages for hands-free faxing and copying. Users can also print directly from their PC or a PictBridge-compatible digital camera.

"We're delighted to receive this recognition from PC Magazine. We believe the Lexmark X7350 gives 'real world' users high quality output and reliable performance that make them more productive in any kind of office setting at work or at home," said Najib Bahous, Lexmark vice president and president of its Consumer Printer Division.

About Lexmark

Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK) makes it easier for businesses and consumers to move information between the digital and paper worlds. Since its inception in 1991, Lexmark has become a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of printing and imaging solutions for customers in more than 150 countries. Lexmark reported $5.2 billion in revenue in 2005, and can be found on the Internet at www.lexmark.com.

(1) Printed in draft mode and excludes time to paper feed. See www.lexmark.com for details.

All prices, features, specifications and capabilities are subject to change without notice.

Lexmark and Lexmark with diamond design are trademarks of Lexmark International, Inc., registered in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Fidelity: Software and solutions for all financial institutions and all platforms.

With its rich experience and versatile software, Fidelity Information Services is without equal in the marketplace. Not only does the company have almost 20 years of experience in Latin America and the Caribbean-and 35 years worldwide-but it also provides software with the unique ability to service financial institutions of all sizes. Fidelity has customers with asset sizes ranging from less than $1 billion all the way up to the largest five banks in the United States, including Bank of America, Chase and Citibank.

Fidelity offers software for different platforms, such as mainframe, UNIX, LINUX and client/server. And the company's software serves most banking applications, providing financial institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean with a complete solution. These solutions cover core banking, customer relationship management (CRM), delivery channels, management information system (MIS) applications, and more.

Fidelity software also is multicurrency and multilingual, and it supports double byte character set. The kind of flexibility that Fidelity software delivers is so crucial because it can easily manage the rapid, successive changes necessary today, whether driven by consolidation, globalization, competition, the Internet or other emerging factors.

This has helped Fidelity win more than 20 clients throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. These include Banco de Credito del Peru and Interbank in Peru, HSBC in Argentina, Banco de Bogota in Colombia, INFONAVIT in Mexico, Banco Popular and FirstBank in Puerto Rico, Bank of Bermuda and Bank of Butterfield in Bermuda, First Citizens Bank and Republic Bank in Trinidad, and RBTT, which is in both Trinidad and Suriname.

Fidelity plans to branch into Brazil and Chile, and it will continue to focus on establishing local support centers in key countries throughout Latin America. Towards that end, it recently opened an office in Peru (see sidebar).

"The richness of functionality of our software and its flexibility make it perfect for financial institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean," says Prakash Jalihal, Fidelity's senior vice president and managing director for the region.

(c) 2005 Bank Investment Consultant and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.bankinvestmentmktg.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Technobuddy Column.

Byline: Bill Husted

Nov. 3--I can remember when the Internet was pure fun for me. It was like stumbling through a mysterious maze of homemade Web sites created with passion and not much glitz. When the Internet was new, just getting an e-mail was a magical experience.

The world opened up, no matter where you lived. You could bounce along the Web -- truly surfing from one spot to another -- and meet people around the world. And e-mail gave me a chance to make friends in places a country boy from Arkadelphia, Ark., was unlikely to ever travel.

If you've been around for a while, you've seen how the neighborhood has changed. The wonderful stuff hasn't gone away. But it often gets overpowered by pop-up ads and commercial e-mails. (I've decided to stop calling them "spam"; that gives canned meat a bad name.) The Web now is mostly filled with slick commercial sites that feel like TV commercials.

That's why I always look forward to the arrival of the latest edition of a book -- the old-fashioned kind, made by putting ink on paper -- called "Passport to World Band Radio." (It's available at big bookstores for $20 or from the Internet at www.passband.com/).

It's a guidebook that will introduce you to thousands of commercial and government stations from around the world. There are big stations like the BBC and Germany's Deutche Welle and thousands of broadcasters located in tiny countries I can't spell or pronounce.

Just as was true in the earliest days of the Internet, the real fun is in surfing blindly through the airwaves. Spin the dial on even a $100 shortwave receiver from Radio Shack, and you'll be immersed in a cacophony of voices that seem to speak every language in the world.

There will be music unlike any you hear on the FM dial. You'll find news reports direct from the source, unfiltered by an American editor or producer. You'll learn more about how America looks to outside eyes in five minutes than in a lifetime of watching network news.

That's why getting the book excites me in a nerdish way. The New York Times calls it the TV Guide of the shortwave radio bands. It gives complete programming information for almost every commercial shortwave station. It also has reviews of almost every model of shortwave radio on the market. Look at the ads in the book, and then glance at its reviews. You'll soon see that manufacturers get no extra editorial points for their advertising dollars. These are hard-nosed reviews.

I don't often recommend specific products. Mostly that's because I don't have the ability to sample and test each competing product. But this is a book without any real competition. Besides, I know enough about the shortwave airwaves to feel comfortable making recommendations. I've messed with shortwave radios since I got my first amateur radio license (I'm now licensed as KQ4YA) at 13. I may not be an expert, but I'll do until you find one.

I can't swear you'll fall in love with shortwave radio in the same way I did at 13. It isn't trendy. It has the same sort of "outsider" feel that messing with computers once had. Listening to shortwave broadcasts won't buy you admiring glances at parties. Your neighbors won't clamor for advice on the latest shortwave receiver -- which, of course, may be a blessing.

Instead, as the Internet still does, it offers a different window from which to view the world. For me, there's more of a feeling of being there, of being a participant, than I get from today's Internet.

In the early days, shortwave receivers were cranky and complicated beasts. My first one was as big as a suitcase and had more knobs, toggle switches and dials than you'd find in a light airplane. For it to work at all, I had to string up a long wire antenna between the pecan trees.

Things have changed. Now you can buy a shortwave radio for very little money. Almost any shortwave portable that costs $100 or more will work fine for casual listening.

No outside antenna is required, so you can avoid tormenting the squirrels in the trees. Simply use the built-in whip antenna.

And using a shortwave receiver is no more complicated than tuning a car radio.

Shortwave radio isn't for everyone. Many of you barely have time to clean out all the junk mail in your in-box. But it's one of those experiences that you'll never understand, never know if you'd like it, without trying for yourself.

I think the $20 you'd spend on the book is the best way to start. You'll get detailed advice that's easy to understand and much more complete than anything I could write in this column. Think of it as a $20 gamble -- if you win, you find a new world.

Give it a try. You may find something increasingly rare these days: pure fun.

To see more of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ajc.com

(c) 2002, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

ISSSTE will have serious financial problems by 2018.

MEXICO CITY, Oct 16, 2003 (El Economista/Corporate Mexico by Internet Securities, Inc. via COMTEX) -- The deficit of the Social Security and Services Institute for State Workers (ISSSTE) to pay for the pension system is so large that State support will reach the huge sum of 837 billion pesos (US$74.1 billion) by 2018 unless a structural reform is implemented, said the director of the institution, Benjamin Gonzalez Roaro

In the face of the troubled panorama for the ISSSTE, the official said that the pension situation is a State problem that needs immediate action on the part of Congress.

"We need this issue to be considered that it must be the product of a rescue of the institute by public finances," said Gonzalez.

During his appearance before senators, Gonzalez surprised the chamber with his projections in the pension system and demanded a structural reform to resolve the deep-lying problems of the sector to guarantee viability in the future. He said the problem was the fact that the current system considers a working life of 32 years to cover the pension, when this period is only 25 years.

"The structural crisis reflects the exhaustion of the distribution system created under the demographic assumptions of 1959," said Gonzalez.

This abstract is provided by Internet Securities, Inc. as a service to its customers. Internet Securities, Inc. makes no representation or warranty regarding the accuracy or content of the translation.

URL:              www.securities.com 

Copyright 2003 Internet Securities, Inc., all rights reserved. A Euromoney Institutional Investor Company.

News Provided by COMTEX (http://www.comtexnews.com)

Tune in to the virtual jukebox.(Features)

Byline: GWYNETH REES

ISN'T it frustrating when you're sitting on a train or stuck in traffic and all you want to do is listen to your favourite album to pass the time? But you can't, as your music is a zillion miles away in the CD rack or on the computer at home.

Well, things are looking up. For this week, Amazon launched a 'cloud music' service -- a virtual jukebox that lets you play your songs wherever you are, as long as you have a phone with internet access or a laptop.

It's one of the first internet musicstreaming services that means people store their music not on a computer hard-drive, but in 'cyberspace'. It starts by giving subscribers enough space to hold 1,000 songs, but more can be added.

All you need is a fast internet connection, a bit of technological know-how and, of course, some decent tunes.

GWYNETH REES

Best Buy Offers Boingo App.

Boingo Wireless, a provider of software and services, announced that Best Buy, a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services, has added Boingo Wi-Fi to PC App, Best Buy's online software shop for Windows-based computers.

"By including Boingo Wi-Fi in PC App, Best Buy is giving customers convenient access to high-speed Internet at thousands of airports, hotels, restaurants and cafes globally," said Colby Goff, senior vice president of strategy and business development for Boingo Wireless, in a release.

"Best Buy recognizes the great user experience we've created by stitching together hundreds of Wi-FI networks into a single, seamless offering that is easily accessible with a single click from the Boingo Wi-Fi app and sees the value in presenting that to their customers," said Jim Hamm, director of account management for Boingo Wireless.

Best Buy PC App is preinstalled on select laptops and netbooks, and is available for download on PCs running Windows 7, Vista or XP.

After installing Boingo from the Best Buy PC App, customers can choose from a variety of Wi-Fi access offerings.

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))

HEADLINE

-AIDS Healthcare Foundation Kicks Off Ad Campaign to Counter Gilead Drug Claim

AIDS Healthcare Foundation unveiled a new national advertising campaign headlined, There Is No Magic Pill, an advocacy and awareness campaign to educate and prompt discussion among gay men and others regarding Gilead Sciences and its likely plans to seek Food and Drug Administration approval for use of its AIDS drug Truvada as a form a pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV transmission.

"First and foremost, Truvada lacks effectiveness in preventing the transmission of HIV. A rate of 44 percent preventive effectiveness is much too low to merit FDA approval. If we were talking about protecting the general population with a treatment that was only 44 percent effective, would we be celebrating?" said AHF President Michael Weinstein, in a release. "Secondly, at this time, real-world information is lacking. The participants who received a benefit from Truvada took-or were instructed to take-the drug daily, were intensively counseled monthly and were tested frequently for sexual infections. This is in no way representative of the real world."

AHF's ads will run in a dozen gay media outlets nationwide, including Frontiers Newsmagazine (Los Angeles), South Florida Gay News (Miami), Windy City Times (Chicago), The Washington Blade (D.C.), Bay Area Reporter (SF), Echo Magazine (Phoenix), Out Front (Denver), GA Voice (Atlanta), Gay City News (NY), OutSmart (Houston), Dallas Voice and Seattle Gay News.

"I am deeply concerned about the possibility of increased risk that could come with the use of Truvada as PrEP. How likely are uninfected men to take pills every day for the rest of their lives to prevent a possible HIV infection?" said Homayoon Khanlou, AHF's Chief of Medicine/U.S. "The consequences of patients who take Truvada haphazardly are that they will become infected, develop drug resistance, and spread drug-resistant virus to others. This is a very serious matter that could significantly set back efforts to fight the epidemic."

AHF supports continued research on HIV prevention, but opposes quick fixes that run the risk of contributing to the spread of HIV and drug-resistant viruses.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation is an AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and services to individuals in 26 countries.

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))