AAP General News (Australia)
08-13-2008
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Breakfast, Aug 13
Breakfast Round-Up: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 0430
Oly08 Wrap (Beijing)
Australia is set to add to its medal tally at the pool .. in cycling and in shooting
on day five of Olympic competition in Beijing today.
And STEPHANIE RICE is poised to become the first Australian to win more than one medal
when she swims in the 200 metres individual medley.
On the bikes .. Australia is looking to CADEL EVANS in the individual time trial along
with teammate MICHAEL ROGERS.
At the shooting .. Australia's world number one LALITA YAUHLEUSKAYA will be out to
end a string of disappointing results for Australia in shooting when she contests the
women's 25m pistol.
In non-medal action .. six rowing crews will be on the water .. sailing continues at
Qingdao .. and in men's hockey the Kookaburras play their second match having beaten Canada
6-1 in their first.
Australia picked up more medals overnight with the equestrian eventing team claiming
an Olympic silver medal .. one year after the horse flu outbreak brought the sport to
its knees.
Whitewater warrior ROBIN BELL also became the first Australian to win an Olympic medal
in a canoe.
BELL has gone better than his fourth place at the 2004 Athens Games .. claiming bronze
in the slalom C1 behind world champion MICHAL MARTIKAN of Slovakia and DAVID FLORENCE
of Britain who took silver.
But there was disappointment as well with rampant Spaniard RAFAEL NADAL showing leg-weary
LLEYTON HEWITT no mercy in ousting Australia's last remaining tennis player from the Olympic
singles draw last night.
NADAL .. who will officially dethrone ROGER FEDERER as world No.1 at the completion
of the Beijing Games .. buried HEWITT 6-1 6-
2 in 90 minutes .. to stay on track for his
eighth title of a spectacular 2008 season.
Australia also lost its opening game in the Olympic softball competition 4-3 to Japan.
Meanwhile .. Channel Seven has rescheduled its telecast of this weekend's round of
AFL matches to maximise its coverage of the busiest day of the Beijing Olympics.
Seven received widespread criticism for covering in full a delay of last Sunday's lopsided
AFL clash between Adelaide and Richmond on the second day of the Games.
Georgia Wrap (MOSCOW)
The Russian and French presidents have negotiated conditions for ending fighting in
Georgia .. endorsing a plan that calls for both Russian and Georgian troops to move back
to their initial positions.
The plan endorsed by DMITRY MEDVEDEV and his French counterpart NICOLAS SARKOZY calls
on Russia and Georgia to end all hostilities and allow free access for humanitarian assistance.
It also promised a fuller discussion on the future status of Georgia's two breakaway
provinces .. South Ossetia and Abkhazia .. who both want to leave Georgia and become a
part of Russia.
Russian forces moved into Georgia on Friday .. after the Georgian army launched an
offensive to bring break-away South Ossetia back under government control.
Russia says two-thousand civilians have been killed .. and the United Nations estimates
that more than 100-thousand people have been displaced.
In other news ..
US Critchley (NASHVILLE)
A US prosecutor says Australian professional drag race driver TROY CRITCHLEY .. who's
been charged over the deaths of six spectators when he lost control of his vehicle at
a Tennessee festival .. will accept a plea deal.
District Attorney General MICHAEL DUNAVANT says CRITCHLEY will accept the deal at a
hearing on Thursday.
Details of the deal haven't been revealed.
CRITCHLEY .. who lives in Texas .. has been charged with six counts of reckless vehicular
homicide and 22 counts of aggravated assault in last year's crash at the Cars for Kids
festival in Selmer .. about 128km east of Memphis.
Concrete (SYDNEY)
A building worker is dead and two others are injured after the second storey of a house
under construction south of Sydney collapsed.
The three men were buried under a pile of debris .. when the second floor of the home
in Bundeena collapsed while wet concrete was being poured yesterday afternoon.
Qantas (CANBERRA)
Qantas is pulling six aircraft from service for the time being .. after discovering
an irregularity with paperwork during a routine check.
Qantas has released a statement .. saying it'll remove the six Boeing 737-400 aircraft
from service while it cross-checks maintenance records on work carried out at one of its
Australian facilities.
Air safety body CASA has confirmed the news .. saying the authority is investigating
the irregularity.
Medicare (CANBERRA)
A Senate inquiry's been told families will pay about 70 dollars a year more for private
health insurance if Medicare levy surcharge thresholds are increased.
The federal government wants to lift the income threshold for individuals from 50 to
100 thousand dollars .. and for couples from 100 to 150 thousand.
Critics claim the plan will spark an exodus from private health funds and put pressure
on the public hospital system.
FuelWatch (SYDNEY)
FuelWatch could be in doubt as a national scheme .. after independent senator NICK
XENOPHON withdrew his support.
The federal government had been hoping to have the plan in operation by December ..
but the chances are now slim .. especially with Petrol Commissioner PAT WALKER resigning
after just four months in the position.
Senator XENOPHON now says the scheme .. which requires service stations to lock in
prices for 24 hours .. won't work .. and could disadvantage independent stations and deliver
less competition.
Rudd Singapore India (SINGAPORE)
KEVIN RUDD's announced Australia will support a civilian atomic energy deal between
India and the United States.
The prime minister's statement today comes ahead of an August 21 meeting in Vienna
of the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group .. which must approve the US-India deal in order
for it to proceed.
Briefly in other news ..
Zimbabwe's political rivals have started a third day of power-sharing talks .. after
long hours of previous negotiations failed to produce a deal to end the country's bitter
political crisis.
A young brother and sister have been killed in a house fire .. but a sibling and their
mother and grandmother escaped the blaze in the Queensland city of Rockhampton.
Prime Minister KEVIN RUDD is scheduled to enter the West Australian election campaign
today .. with acting opposition leader JULIE BISHOP predicting his appearance will prove
a negative for the CARPENTER government.
A KPMG report into international mobile roaming says Australians are paying too much
to use their mobile phones overseas.
And .. iconic 1970s crime series Hawaii Five-O is to return to US television screens
in an update of the hit franchise.
in Sport ..
Cricket Champions Wrap (KARACHI, Pakistan)
Pakistan's Australian coach GEOFF LAWSON is flying to his homeland and
New Zealand
to convince players that it's safe to play in next month's Champions Trophy.
Players from Australia .. England .. South Africa and
New Zealand have all expressed
doubts about playing the September tournament in Pakistan because of a wave of Islamist
militant violence in the country.
The International Cricket Council has asked LAWSON to join their campaign this week
to convince players and officials not to boycott the tournament.
Meanwhile .. Paceman SHOAIB AKHTAR has been named in Pakistan's 15-man squad for the
Champions Trophy .. capping a remarkable comeback just months after he was banned for
five years.
ENDS BREAKFAST ROUND-UP
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