Asia Africa Intelligence Wire articles from May 2005, page 12

Asia Africa Intelligence Wire archives from May 2005

Smoke-free sponsorships announced.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Sport, recreation, arts and cultural groups will share about $300,000 in funding to spread the smoke-free message. To coincide with World No Tobacco Day today, HealthPact chairwoman Kerry Arabena will announce...

Flu anti-virals script-only: Govt.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Flu anti-virals would be more useful in dealing with an avian flu pandemic than being made available over the counter at chemists to combat winter flu, the Government says. Last week, the Australian scientist...

IN BRIEF.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Bus driver attacked Police are looking for two men who allegedly assaulted a bus driver in Monash at the weekend. An ACT police spokesman said the men boarded an ACTION bus at Cockcroft Crescent about 9.40am on...

He's weird, wacky and word perfect.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Quiet, unassuming and with a head of greying hair, Paul Jennings doesn't appear, at first glance, to be the rock-star type. But the man who creates riots at bookstores when he appears for signings appeared to...

Officer 'attacked with axe' while making arrest.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) An ACT police officer escaped serious injury when a man allegedly attacked him with a tomahawk yesterday. ACT police media spokesman Sandi Logan said the officer, 27, was arresting the man when he was hit in the...

Electoral boss says $1500 limit should stay.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) The outgoing Electoral Commissioner, Andy Becker, believes the $1500 threshold for disclosure of political donations should remain, in the face of Government moves to lift it to $5000. Mr Becker has told a...

Indonesian protest growing - Embassy forced to field string of abusive calls.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) The Federal Government is battling to quell a growing national storm of protest over the 20-year jail sentence imposed on Schapelle Corby by an Indonesian court. The Indonesian embassy is being bombarded with...

Despite its look, ACT invention a brainwave.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) While perhaps not the most elegant- looking, a Canberra invention is being touted as a cheap and effective alternative to monitoring brain activity, potentially helping brain injury patients and unravelling the...

Museum exhibition honours Andersen.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) The Hans Christian Andersen exhibition opened by Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary in Hobart goes on view at the Australian National Museum tomorrow. One of many exhibitions travelling the world...

IN BRIEF.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Dr Death oversight The registration board that assessed rogue Bundaberg surgeon Jayant Patel did not check his references and overlooked a missing certificate of good standing, a health inquiry has been told. The...

Opposition questions timing of PS pay rise.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) The ACT Opposition has accused the Government of spending $600,000 unnecessarily by giving its public servants a pay rise early. But Industrial Relations Minister Katy Gallagher has defended the timing of the...

Booker Prize-winning work resurrects turbulent time and face.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Fortunately it's not author Alan Hollinghurst's problem - but just who will play the formidable former British prime minister, Baroness Margaret Thatcher, in the TV series of his 2004 Booker Prize-winning novel, The...

Group prescribes remedy to fix ailing health system.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) A citizens' jury should be set up to help accelerate the urgently required reform of Australia's health system , according to the Australian Healthcare Reform Alliance. The group - representing almost 40 health...

Students join Australian Ballet for a class act.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Even with mismatched leggings and leotards, dancers from the Australian Ballet Company couldn't help but look graceful at yesterday's warm-up class. Students from Hawker College sat in on the class, which was...

Winning arboretum plan goes on display.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Green-thumbed territorians will have the opportunity to ogle the ambitious plan envisioned for Canberra's 250ha arboretum when the winning design goes on display today. ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope will...

HOUSE-KEEPING.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Debate is due to resume today in the House of Representatives on changes to tax laws and superannuation. Tax law amendments are aimed to encourage charitable donations and ensure the Commonwealth continues to have...

Higgins collects top gong at songwriting awards.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Rising Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins added to her 2004 ARIA award by picking up two gongs at the Australian music industry's annual songwriting awards last night. Higgins, 21, won the prestigious...

Charity begins at home, farmer reminds Govt.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Cash is what is needed most, but what the latest drought-relief package has failed to deliver, according to farmer Colin Schulze. The farmer's Pine Avenue property, about 30km west of Parkes, has been in drought...

Cash advances should have been given: Parkes official.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Parkes Deputy Mayor Ken Keith welcomed the latest drought-relief measures yesterday, but said cash advances for farmers should have been included. Parkes, in central NSW, is in the 90 per cent of the state that...

Sprinklers still OK despite big dry.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Canberra residents will still be able to use a sprinkler on their garden every second day in winter after Actew decided not to change water restrictions despite an unseasonably warm and dry autumn. Actew...

Young rural people tell of concerns for their future.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Like many young people from a strong farming background, Hamish Clark would eventually like to return to work at his parents' farm in drought stricken north-west Goondiwindi, Queensland. For now at least, Mr...

STAGE 2 WATER RESTRICTIONS.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Private gardens and lawns, commercial nurseries and turf- growers: Sprinkler systems from 7am to 10am and 7pm to 10pm on alternate days as per the odds-and-evens system; Hand-held hoses and buckets can be used any...

French 'non' a blow to EU.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) French voters have dealt what could be a knockout blow to the European Union constitution. But EU leaders insisted the treaty, intended to make EU decision-making easier, was alive and member states should go on...

Car crashes through front bedroom.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) A Gilmore household had a lucky escape last night after a car crashed through the front wall and landed in the bedroom, just moments after the owner had made her bed. Police were still searching for the driver...

Mental health crisis unit to be built into new prison.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) A seven-bed crisis support unit will be set up in the new Canberra prison as part of the ACT Government's plan for mentally ill people who find themselves before the courts. Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and...

'We just have to be grateful' for what we get.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) It's not what they wanted, but after four years of drought farmers have learnt to be more philosophical than usual. Short of rain, the Federal Government's drought package was welcome news. Uriarra Station owner...

THE CASE FOR A SECURE FACILITY IN A.C.T.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) ACT Chief Coroner Ron Cahill finds the inappropriate presence of a violent patient in Canberra Hospital's psychiatric unit contributes to the suicide death of Bob Beatty - a prominent mental health advocate. A...

$250m to fill the cracks - Interest rate subsidies, but no cash, in drought package.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) The Federal Government has rejected direct cash grants to farmers in favour of increased interest rate subsidies in a $250 million-a-year package of additional drought assistance unveiled yesterday. Income and...

THE NEW DEAL.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Details of the drought assistance package announced yesterday: Exceptional circumstances interest rate subsidy increased from 50 to 80 per cent for farm businesses in the second and third year of an EC drought....

Review - Exceedingly fine, engrossing opera.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) F OR NEARLY a decade Stopera has been the only professional opera company in the ACT, and now has achieved a real coup with the Australian premiere of Jane Eyre (which had its first performance in England at the...

Picks.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Chamber Made presents Phobia, inspired by Hitchcock's classic film Vertigo, featuring music- theatre, physical-theatre and performance art. It's on June 1-4, at the Playhouse. Ph: 62752700. Yarralumla Gallery...

Capital Life.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) PEOPLE have been asking me about this one. Queenie Van De Zandt, Canberra born star of stage and now the small screen in Let Loose Live, did not, as reported on Saturday, get her first paid engagement in The...

Cabaret's wilder side in spotlight ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) B ETWEEN the end of World War I and the rise of the Nazis, Berlin was considered to be one of the great sin cities of the 20th century - and it's that period which is depicted in the musical Cabaret. Canberra...

Goddess of all things maternal HEALTH & WELL-BEING.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) W HEN Miriam Stoppard was flying to Australia for her tour to promote the latest edition of her parenting book Conception, Pregnancy and Birth, one of the stewardesses came up to thank her. ''She came up rather...

New in print.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Labour of Love. Tales from the world of midwives. Edited by Amanda Tattam and Cate Kennedy. Pan Macmillan. $25. There aren't too many times in a woman's life where she'd place total faith in a complete stranger...

An Eyre of grace among the chaos.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) I T WAS a case of ''foyerphobia'' as the much-anticipated Australian premiere of the opera Jane Eyre saw the crowd packed in cheek-by-jowl in the Street Theatre's less-than- accommodating foyer. No red carpet, no...

Parenting - Getting the formula just right.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) Q What are the benefits of AR formulas? Do they help to fix reflux or are they a waste of money? A AR stands for ''anti reflux'' as these are infant formulas with a thickener included. They are usually recommended...

Breaking Free from teen traps HEALTH & WELL-BEING.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) L ISA McDEVITT was just 15 when she got kicked out of school. She'd been assaulting other students, and been caught smoking and swearing. She was mixing with the wrong crowd, doing drugs, doing it tough. And then...

Healthy Body Club - Compliments and support make it all.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) I T'S BEEN a good week. And the nicest thing about it has been that I've received compliments from a few people about how good I'm looking. Not that things have changed much on the scales, and I haven't had the tape...

Enough to drive COVER STORY.
May 31, 2005... (From Canberra Times) I T'S MORNING in the capital: still, bleak and bloody freezing. Just the way Steve Foley likes it, as he drives home from the hospital for another day's sleep. ''Winter's great because it's cold and you can...

Court in Botswana upholds verdict to deport Australian academic.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Radio Botswana on 31 May The Lobatse High Court has upheld the president's decision to declare the University of Botswana political science lecturer, Professor Kenneth...

Iran Press: Commentary blames continued Iraq unrest on US "calculations".
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of commentary by Yusef Mohsenzadeh entitled "The unrest in Iraq and US Plans" by Iranian newspaper Abrar (International Supplement) on 17 May News sources have reported on the harsh...

US envoy details help to Tajikistan to protect Afghan border.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Tajik Avesta website on 31 May Dushanbe, 31 May: " Thank God, in Tajikistan, President [Emomali] Rahmonov has assigned two patriots to extremely important positions to...

Israel cabinet said agreed on fate of Gaza settlers' houses.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Israeli Channel 2 TV on 31 May [Presenter Sukenik - recording] The government has been holding emotional discussions on whether the Gaza settlers' houses should be razed....

Bosnian Serb interior chief vows to prosecute police involved in Srebrenica.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Bosnia-Hercegovina Federation News Agency FENA Banja Luka, 31 May: [Bosnian] Serb Republic Interior Minister Darko Matijasevic has told FENA that the entity police have...

Kazakh ex-minister stands trial for tarnishing major TV agency's image.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Kazakh Khabar TV on 30 May [Presenter] A court hearing of a lawsuit brought by the Khabar agency against the former information minister, Altynbek Sarsenbayev, started in...

Turkey reaffirms willingness to fight terrorism, WMD proliferation.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Excerpt from report in English by Turkish news agency Anatolia Ankara, 31 May: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that Turkey would continue supporting activities under the...

Beslan hostage siege suspect tells Russian court he "didn't fire a single shot".
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Excerpt from report by Russian news agency Interfax Vladikavkaz, 31 May: Nurpasha Kulayev, the sole terrorist detained when the hostages in Beslan's School No 1 were freed, continues to...

Mauritanian president ends Yemen visit.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Yemeni news agency Saba website Sanaa, 31 May: President of Mauritania Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya left Sanaa on Tuesday [31 May]. Taya was on a four-day official...

Iran Press: Academic Speaks on 'Democratic Ethics' at Student Seminar.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Behnaz Khowsravi entitled "Mostafa Malekian's speech in the closing ceremony of the seminar on transition to democracy: Propagation of democratic ethics in society" by Iranian...

Saharan activist tells Algerian radio of acts against protesters in Morocco.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Algerian radio on 31 May [Presenter] The Polisario Front today has called for the UN to rapidly provide an international committee to discover the truth and reveal the...

Iran Press: Reports citing political figures.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of unattributed entitled "Short reports" by Iranian newspaper Aftab-e Yazd on 17 March A member of the Militant Clergy Society's central council has responded to comments by...

Turkish minister says president's veto of penal code not to affect EU process.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report in English by Turkish news agency Anatolia Ankara, 31 May: Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said "Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's veto on Turkish Penal Code...

Tajik-hosted forum calls for coordinated water policy.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Dushanbe, 31 May: Participants in an international conference on regional cooperation on transborder rivers have adopted an appeal to...

Gulf Cooperation Council interior ministers arrive in Saudi capital.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report in English by Saudi News Agency SPA Riyadh, 31 May: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ministers of interior arrived here today to participate in the 6th consultative meeting....

Saudi king wishes Croatian leader "good health and happiness".
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Riyadh, 30 May: The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Bin-Abd-al-Aziz sent a cable of congratulations to President Stjepan Mesic of Croatia on the occasion of his country's national...

Burundi: Parties say leader's use of state resources for polls unfair.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Excerpt from report by Burundi news agency Net Press Bujumbura, 31 May: Since last August, political parties which do not benefit from state funding have been crying foul because their...

Kosovo introduces its own postcode.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Kosovo Albanian television KohaVision TV on 31 May [Announcer] Good evening. You are watching KohaVision evening news. Kosova [Kosovo] citizens will be greatly relieved...

Bulgaria, Serbia-Montenegro hold talks on Euro-Atlantic integration.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report in English by Bulgarian news agency BTA website Sofia, 31 May: The foreign ministries of Bulgaria and of Serbia and Montenegro held their first political consultations on...

India's Advani in Pakistan: Kashmir among issues to be resolved "in tandem".
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Indian Doordarshan DDTV news channel on 31 May, words within slantlines in English [Newsreader] Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani, met Pakistan President Pervez...

Pakistan president: Kashmir dispute can be resolved with flexibility, courage.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency Islamabad, 31 May: President General Pervez Musharraf Tuesday [31 May] said the Kashmir dispute can be resolved with...

Nepal party leaders call for dialogue with king.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Nepalese Kantipur Television on 31 May [Presenter] Political leaders say there has to be dialogue between the King and political parties activate the constitution and move...

Turkish security forces impound 19 kg of morphine, detain four.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report in English by Turkish news agency Anatolia Gaziantep, 31 May: Turkish security forces impounded 19 kg of morphine in southeastern city of Gaziantep, sources told the A.A...

Nepalese radio stations call for free press.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Nepalese Kantipur Television on 31 May FM radio stations across the country simultaneously read out all articles of the constitution related to the freedom of the press at...

Israeli newspaper notes positive developments in relations with Pakistan.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Il'il Shahar and Nadav Eyal entitled "Pakistani president about Sharon: 'A courageous leader'", published by Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv on 31 May Is Pakistan about to...

Nepal anti-graft body sets former PM's bail at 5m rupees.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Nepalese Kantipur Television on 31 May [Presenter] The Royal Commission for Corruption Control has sought 5m rupees each from the former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba,...

Pakistan TV reports Kashmir deaths.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Pakistan's PTV World television on 31 May In occupied [Indian-administered] Kashmir, Indian troops, in continued acts of state terrorism, martyred five more Kashmiri youths...

Saudi prince presents "state-of-the-art" hospital to Pakistan's Baluchistan.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Pakistan's PTV World television on 31 May Saudi Prince Fahd Bin-Sultan has presented a state-of-the-art hospital to the Government of Baluchistan. Ambassador of Saudi...

Pakistan president condemns killing of former MP, Karachi mosque attack.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Pakistan's PTV World television on 31 May The president, Gen Pervez Musharraf, has strongly condemned the killing of former MNA [Member of National Assembly] Aslam Mujahid...

Czech opposition party remains most popular - poll.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Excerpt from report by Czech independent Prima TV on 31 May [Announcer] The decline in support for the Christian Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party [KDU-CSL] and the Social...

Indian agency reports 17 killed in Kashmir clashes.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Indian news agency PTI Srinagar, 31 May: Seventeen people, including 12 militants and four security personnel, were killed and three others injured in fierce gunbattles...

Afghan forces destroy drug hub in southern province.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Afghan radio on 31 May The Afghan Ministry of Internal Affairs has announced that the special counter-narcotics force has destroyed a major [drug] bazaar in [southern]...

Romania's President Basescu arrives in Japan.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report in English by Romanian news agency Rompres Tokyo, 31 May: Romanian President Traian Basescu on Tuesday 31 May arrived in Japan to attend the official opening ceremony for the...

Croatian president ends Moldova visit, upbeat on ties.
May 31, 2005... (From BBC Monitoring International Reports) Text of report by Moldovan TV on 31 May [Presenter] The existing potential for cooperation between Moldova and Croatia is not being used to the full. The top-level talks and the accords on...

IT'S SNOW MUCH FUN.
May 31, 2005... (From The Dominion Post) What: SNOWFEST AT AUCKLAND'S VIADUCT BASIN WINTER came early at the Viaduct Basin for more than 1500 people who turned out to slide down the 15-metre long snow slide and play in the snow pit. Children and...

TVNZ `unfriendly' in Beijing.
May 31, 2005... (From The Dominion Post) CHINESE sensitivity over the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre was highlighted when Television New Zealand was accused of acting in an "unfriendly manner". Guyon Espiner had permission to report from Tiananmen...

Blast from the past.
May 31, 2005... (From The Dominion Post) What: OPENING OF THE TELLING TALES EXHIBITION THERE was nothing wrong with telling tales at the opening of the Museum of Wellington City and Sea's latest exhibition at the weekend. Attendees were taken back...

A dunny by any other name - is art.
May 31, 2005... (From The Dominion Post) Byline: CARDY Tom THE artist who created the controversial "donkey dunny" appears to be revisiting portaloos on a grander scale in her new work opening in Venice next week. The Fundamental Practice by...

Murders linked to win on pokies.
May 31, 2005... (From The Dominion Post) Byline: KAVANAGH Don Police reassure Feilding residents after violent deaths. A WIN on the pokies is rumoured to have been the motive for the violent killing of an elderly man and his friend in Feilding....

Scream sparks mouse call.
May 31, 2005... (From The Dominion Post) Byline: NEVILLE Sophie A MOUSE in a house sparked a trans-Tasman emergency services callout that has made a Wellington woman feel truly loved but "completely embarrassed". New South Wales police got in...

Security stays for police.
May 31, 2005... (From The Dominion Post) Byline: KATTERNS Tanya SECURITY will remain tight for Carterton police despite a man being arrested for shooting at Constable Peter Cunningham's house. Robert Glen Walker, 41, of Carterton, appeared in...

Battling for family reunion.
May 31, 2005... (From The Dominion Post) Byline: PALMER Rebecca THE hope of being reunited with family members gives refugees the strength to live through the trauma they have experienced, Sudanese refugee Uling Kang says. "It's really hard and...

Board unity the key to health decisions.
May 31, 2005... (From The Dominion Post) Byline: ANDREW Kelly HEALTH boards should work together to make decisions about new treatments and drugs, an advisory committee has found. A National Health Committee report, launched by Health Minister...

Manufacturing job loss warning.
May 31, 2005... (From The Dominion Post) Byline: NICHOLS Lane A FREE-TRADE deal with China could have devastating consequences for New Zealand's 300,000 manufacturing-sector workers, the Council of Trade Unions says. Addressing the Wellington...