ROAD WORK ROUNDUP.(CAPITAL REGION)

ALBANY COUNTY

Work on the Patroon Island Bridge has been completed for this season. There will be some minor restrictions in the area for the next few weeks, while workers make finishing touches.

The bridge carrying Route 32 northbound over Route 9W in Bethlehem has been restored to two-lane traffic. Traffic will be restricted for short periods for the next few weeks as other projects are completed.

The widening of westbound Washington Avenue Extension in the city of Albany has begun. There may be lane restrictions between the Crossgates ramp to Washington Avenue Extension westbound and Rapp Road.

SARATOGA COUNTY

Construction of …

Spanish judge's trial over wartime probe ends

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish judge famous for pursuing human rights crimes across borders said his conscience is clear as his trial for probing right-wing atrocities during his own country's civil war came to a close Wednesday.

Judge Baltasar Garzon made his comments in his final statement to a seven-judge panel at the Supreme Court.

Garzon, 56, said he launched his 2008 investigation of right-wing killings and disappearances of more than 100,000 civilians in Spain's 1936-39 war because he felt victims had been neglected.

The conflict pitted leftist government, or Republican, forces against rebellious right-wing troops and militia led by Gen. Francisco Franco, who …

German business sentiment drops more than expected

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German business sentiment as measured by the closely watched Ifo index sagged more than expected in August in another signal that Europe's largest economy is slowing.

The index fell to 108.7 for August from 112.9 in July, the Munich-based Ifo institute said Wednesday. Market analysts had expected a smaller drop to 111.0.

Germany's economy barely grew in the second quarter and fears about a global downturn, Europe's debt crisis and another recession in the U.S. are all weighing on business outlooks.

The index is based on a survey of 7,000 business executives about their views of current conditions and their outlook for the future. It is an …

A Boricua Christmas

'NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS' Rating 3 out of 4

Johnny Luis Guzman

Mauricio John Leguizamo

Jesse Freddy Rodriguez

Eduardo Alfred Molina

Ozzy Jay Hernandez

Anna Elizabeth Pena

Sarah Debra Messing

Marissa Melonie Diaz

Overture Films presents a film directed by Alfredo de Villa. Written by Alison Swan and Rick Najera. Running time: 99 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for thematic elements including some sexual dialogue, and brief drug references). Opening today at local theaters.

Every once in a while, you sense you're watching actors being allowed to do what they hoped to do when they got into show biz. That would playing …

The welcome mat does more than scrape by. (tourism industry)

The Labor Day crowd had barely left, but Hulene Morgan was already counting strands of Christmas lights for Cannon Village square in Kannapolis. "In the past," she says, "a lot of areas didn't understand how important tourism was as a tool for economic development. Now we do."

Morgan is marketing director for the Williamsburg-style mall of retail outlets off Interstate 85. By fall, 50,000 visitors from 36 states and six foreign countries had signed the Cannon Village Visitor Center register.

In some ways, Cannon Village's numbers sum up state travel in 1995, says Ralph Peters, former director of the North Carolina Travel and Tourism Division. For many, it was a record 12 months. Foreign visitors and strong convention bookings offset fickle weather and, in the view of many in the hospitality business, the state's failure to adequately promote tourism.

Peters estimates that 1995 expenditures were up 6% from 1994, when travelers spent a total of $8.3 billion in the state. In total impact, that makes travel as …

VOLUSIA, THE COUNTY THAT COULDN'T COUNT.(MAIN)

Byline: DANA MILBANK Washington Post

DELAND, Fla. -- Something very strange happened on election night to Deborah Tannenbaum, a Democratic Party official in Volusia County. At 10 p.m., she called the county Elections Department and learned that Al Gore was leading George W. Bush 83,000 votes to 62,000.

But when she checked the county's Web site for an update half an hour later, she found a startling development: Gore's count had dropped by 16,000 votes, while an obscure Socialist candidate had picked up 10,000 -- all because of a single precinct with only 600 voters.

The aberration was relayed to County Judge Michael McDermott, the election overseer. …

JCB SAYS MORE MERCHANTS IN TURKEY CAN ITS ACCEPT ITS CARD.(JCB International Credit Card Company Ltd.)

JCB International Co. Ltd., Japan's largest card issuer, said today that the number of merchants who accept JCB cards in Turkey will increase to more than 100,000 now that its direct licensee has signed a sublicensing agreement with a large merchant acquirer. Anadolu Kredi Karti (AKK), JCB's direct licensee, signed a sublicensing agreement with Turkiye--Bankasi or Isbank, one of Turkey's largest banks. "We are very pleased to have this opportunity to partner with Isbank, one of the top acquiring banks in Turkey," Kunio Yoshizawa, JCBI's president and chief operating …

'Utopia,' 'Awakening' Take Top Tonys

NEW YORK - Two passionate works - "Spring Awakening," a pounding, post-rock musical of teenage sexual anxiety, and "The Coast of Utopia," Tom Stoppard's sweeping examination of 19th century Russian intellectuals - dominated the 2007 Tony Awards on Sunday.

"Spring Awakening," with a score by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, was named best musical, taking home eight awards, and the trilogy "The Coast of Utopia" took best play honors, winning seven prizes. It was a Tony record for plays, topping six won in previous years by both Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" and Alan Bennett's "The History Boys."

Together, "Spring Awakening" and "The Coast of Utopia" received 15 of the …

Three Days In May (review).

THE public never really know what government talks about behind closed doors and the secrecy becomes absolute when they're discussing affairs that could change the course of history.

Author Ben Brown has taken real live events from May 1940 and woven the facts into a compelling new play. Three Days In May, running at Milton Keynes Theatre this week, is an engrossing and thrilling drama that takes its audiences into the corridors of power to witness one great man's fight to save Britain from the clutches of Adolf Hitler.

Winston Churchill, played with relish and a little artistic licence by TV's Warren Clarke, is in the throes of a dilemma. Not only does he face an …

NEW YORKERS SNUB BUSH IN 2004 ELECTION POLL.(CAPITAL REGION)

ALBANY -- A statewide poll out Thursday found 54 percent of the state's voters were more likely to vote for a Democrat than for President Bush.

Thirty-six percent of the New York voters surveyed by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute said they would back Bush.

Among Democratic voters, 50 percent said they would back Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for their party's presidential nomination, if she sought it in 2004. Without Clinton in the race, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of neighboring Connecticut was the favorite for the presidential nomination among New York Democrats, with 27 percent of them supporting his candidacy.

The telephone poll of 1,141 …

Factor V Leiden mutation does not correlate with stillbirth risk.

2003 NOV 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Factor V Leiden mutation does not correlate with stillbirth risk.

According to published research from Germany, "an association between the factor V Leiden variant and an increased risk of pregnancy loss has been reported. Most previous studies were performed with clinically recruited patients and controls. This approach may cause selection bias."

"The present analysis was performed with the aim to investigate the association between the factor V Leiden mutation and the risk of stillbirth in a population-based sample," wrote H. Volzke and colleagues, University of Greifswald, Institute of Epidemiology and Social …

History turns confusing and amusing

'LEWIS AND CLARK REACH THE EUPHRATES'

Recommended

When: Through May 18

Where: Infamous Commmonwealth Theatre at National Pasttime, 4139 N. Broadway

Tickets: $20

Phone: (773) 458-9780

- - -

In a program note for "Lewis and Clark Cross the Euphrates" -- a clever, blackly comic, phantasmagorical, graphic novel-like chronicle that stitches together some of this country's more ill-advised historical chapters -- playwright Robert Schenkkan comes clean about his decidedly partisan view of American history.

"I have an ax to grind," he confesses. And grind it he does, to the point where even the most devoted liberal might shout: …

LET'S HELP MEXICO.(MAIN)

With the Mexican peso taking a nose dive, some naysayers are having a field day saying ``I told you so'' about the North American Free Trade Agreement. Chief among them is Ross Perot, who now proclaims that the only winners in Mexico's fiscal crisis are the exploitive companies that will rush in to take advantage of cheap labor and low production costs. Meanwhile, the American taxpayer will stand liable for $40 billion in loan guarantees should Congress approve a bailout package being pushed by the Clinton administration.

The naysayers aren't just taking aim at Mexico, either. They are pointing to the sliding Canadian dollar, coupled with rising unemployment. See, …

WIPO ASSIGNS PATENT FOR "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING PAYMENT USING A TRANSACTION AMOUNT INPUT WINDOW" (SOUTH KOREAN INVENTOR)

GENEVA, June 7 -- Publication No. WO/2011/065649 was published on June 03.

Title of the invention: "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING PAYMENT USING A TRANSACTION AMOUNT INPUT WINDOW."

Inventors: Jin Ho Yang (KR).

According to the abstract posted by the World Intellectual Property Organization: "The present invention relates to a system and method for providing payment means using a transaction amount input window. The payment means providing system of the present invention provides payment means between a seller system and a purchaser system so as to facilitate transactions between the seller system and the purchaser system, using a web environment connected through the Internet. The payment means providing system generates a payment window containing a seller membership identifier as metadata when the seller has finished membership joining processes, and provides the seller system with the generated payment window. Then, the payment means providing system permits the seller system to store the payment window in the web environment, and additionally input detailed transaction data containing a transaction amount into the payment window, and permits the payment window to be exposed to the web environment. When the purchaser presses the exposed payment window, the payment means providing system receives detailed transaction data and the seller membership identifier from the web environment, and provides the purchaser system with a final amount window in which the detailed transaction data are displayed."

The patent was filed on Aug. 9, 2010 under Application No. PCT/KR2010/005204.

For further information please visit: http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/ia.jsp?ia=KR2010/005204

For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

US Patent Issued to Panasonic on Jan. 18 for "Information Processing Device, Information Processing System, Information Processing Method, and Program" (Japanese Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 21 -- United States Patent no. 7,873,037, issued on Jan. 18, was assigned to Panasonic Corp. (Osaka, Japan).

"Information Processing Device, Information Processing System, Information Processing Method, and Program" was invented by Kunio Gobara (Osaka, Japan) and Hajime Maekawa (Osaka, Japan).

According to the abstract released by the U.

S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An information processing apparatus, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program for enabling an information processing apparatus to receive a packet transmitted from a server and making it possible to prevent an increase in the traffic of a communication line of the Internet, etc., are disclosed. The information processing apparatus includes a repetitive packet transmission section for transmitting a repetitive packet, a function determination section for determining whether or not the nearest communication processing apparatus has a port mapping setting function, a port mapping setting section for setting port mapping for the nearest communication processing apparatus if it is determined that the nearest communication processing apparatus has a port mapping setting function, and a transmission control section for controlling the repetitive packet transmission section so as to transmit the repetitive packet if it is not determined that the nearest communication processing apparatus has a port mapping setting function."

The patent was filed on Oct. 31, 2005, under Application No. 11/718,545.

For further information please visit: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?

Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7873037&OS=7873037&RS=7873037

For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

REP. SWEENEY FIGHTS TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL PREDATORS

Rep. John E. Sweeney, R-N.Y. (20th CD), issued the following press release:

Rep. John E. Sweeney (R-NY) voted last night for H.R. 4472, the Child Protection and Safety Act which will help protect children from sexual predators.

"As a father, my greatest fear is having a child become the victim of a sexual predator or violent criminal. This legislation will go a long way to avoid that by adopting tough mandatory minimum sentences for kidnapping or sexually assaulting a child, strengthening sex offender registries and public notification requirements, and increasing law enforcement's ability to combat child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children over the internet," said Sweeney.

IF ENACTED, H.R. 4472, THE CHILD PROTECTION AND SAFETY ACT WILL:

* Require states to notify each other when sex offenders move from one state to another;

* Create the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website to search for sex offender information in each community;

* Improve the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Program to ensure that sex offenders register- and keep current- where they reside, work, and attend school;

* Increase penalties for using the internet for the sexual exploitation of children; and

* Increase law enforcement's ability to combat child pornography.

Congressman Sweeney has been active on child safety issues in Upstate New York, recently hosting a Child Safety Summit where local law enforcement and public safety officials spoke to parents about ways to protect their children from sexual predators.

Clayton council discusses road projects

CLAYTON -- Road improvement projects were the topic of a workshopsession held by Clayton city council prior to its regular meetingApril 21.

The biggest project on the table for the city for the 2011construction season is a project organized by the Ohio Department ofTransportation for U.S. Route 40, running west to Diamond Mill Road.

This $800,000 project was initially approved by ODOT in 2006.Clayton will pay a $100,000 share in the project.

A $163,000 project on Montgomery-Miami County Line Road will seerepairs made to the entire stretch of that road under Clayton'sjurisdiction. Putnam Road will see a $50,000 project covering "full-depth" repairs, and is the second year-in-a-row that such repairshave been made to this road. Two more projects on Putnam Road areslated to be done in the next two construction seasons.

A $43,000 project on Westbrook Road will see a joint Trotwood/Clayton venture making major repairs to what is termed "in desperateneed of repair and improvements."

If Trotwood and Clayton put up equalizing amounts to the project,Clayton city manager David Row-lands said the road will seeimprovements from Barbana Lane to Cheri Lynne Drive.

The total costs of the anticipated 2011 road projects are almost$500,000. It was noted by Rowlands that when Clayton voters approvedthe city income tax several years ago, city officials pledged that acertain portion (approximately $400,000 each year) collected fromthe tax would go toward road improvement projects.

Although not dissenting from approving of the projects proposedby city staff, council member Beverly Smith said that to her aninordinate amount of the 2011 road projects were in rural portionsof the city.

"It is just hard to justify putting this amount of money in roadswhere there is not much traffic," said Smith.

She suggested that future road project funding balance out funds"across the whole city."

Rowlands said that the past winter weather greatly aggravatedClayton's road maintenance schedules, and that a great many factorswent into determining which road projects were deemed most worthy.

In the regular portion of the meeting, council approved theClayton Fire Department using $42,236 in federal grant money topurchase 23 sets of personal protective gear from Phoenix FireEquipment.

Clayton director of public safety Richard Rose informed councilmembers that on May 1 the cost of the equipment requested by thecity will increase by seven percent.

He said that the lifespan of a set of protective clothing lastsabout five years, and his department rotates in and out five setsevery year.

"The ability to replace 23 sets at one time is tremendous," Rosesaid.

The city will have a $5,831 share in the purchase of theequipment, Rose noted.

Council also approved a 180-day moratorium on grantingapplications for Internet cafe businesses.

City manager Rowlands informed council the state is looking intoseveral legal matters pertaining to these types of businesses,including the possibility that such businesses may conduct types ofgambling enterprises. Rowlands said that the 180 hold would allowthe state to develop further guidelines on the matter.

The next meeting of city council will then be at 7:30 p.m. May 5at the Clayton Government Center, 6996 Taywood Road.

New Investors Take Over Cibernet; Wireless Clearinghouse to Become a Technology Firm

Venture capitalist Mark Ein and a group of prominent localinvestors agreed to take over Cibernet, a clearinghouse used by thewireless industry to settle roaming fees and other financialtransactions between wireless companies.

Until now, Cibernet has operated as a for-profit division of theCellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), aWashington-based trade group representing the mobile phone industry.

But with this deal, which also includes Yurie Holdings, theBethesda-based investment arm of Jeong Kim, and Liberty AssociatedPartners, the settlement firm becomes an independent company. Thegroup did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Kim, who will serve as chairman of the company, and Ein intend totransform Cibernet from a financial settlement company into atechnology firm. They plan to leverage its customer base into alaunching pad for new technologies.

"We look at this as a platform to do other deals," Ein said.

Cibernet was launched by CTIA in 1988 to facilitate paymentsbetween wireless companies. The firm handles more than $7 billion intransactions each year.

At the heart of Cibernet's business is facilitating roamingcharges between mobile phone companies.

For instance, Verizon Wireless customers who travel to Atlanta mayend up using the wireless network owned by Atlanta-based Cingular.Cibernet ensures that Cingular is paid for the temporary use of itsnetwork by Verizon Wireless.

The privately held company has been growing 25 percent annually inrecent years and expects to have revenue of $16 million this year,according to chief executive George S. Shaginaw.

Ein and Kim say they will begin scouring the wireless industry forfledgling companies that have a worthy technology but lack thecapital or contacts to get off the ground. In some cases they maypartner with a company; in other cases they may be an acquirer, Einsaid.

Although some applications are still in the early stages in theUnited States, wireless customers in other parts of the worldregularly use their mobile phones to send text messages, downloadvideo, play games or activate vending machines.

Ein also said the company will be taking a close look at WiFitechnologies, which give users the ability to access the Internetover a wireless connection. Yesterday, Verizon Wireless announced itsown plan to launch a nationwide wireless data network serving morethan 400 hotels and 10 airports.

In addition to Ein and Kim, other Washington area investorsinvolved in the deal are Raul Fernandez, who founded Proxicom Inc.before selling it in 2001, and CapitalSource Finance LLC, a ChevyChase-based commercial finance company.

Both Ein and Kim have deep roots in the Washington technologyscene. Kim was the founder of Yurie Systems, which he sold for $1.1billion to Lucent Technologies in 1998.

Ein, Kim and Liberty Associated own equal shares of the company; Fernandez and CapitalSource own smaller stakes.

Cibernet will be moving to new offices in Bethesda, Shaginaw said.

Although Cibernet was founded in the United States, more than halfof its revenue comes from foreign companies, Shaginaw said.

The company says it has more than 300 customers in 82 nations.

Cyc: Bayley takes gold in sprint =2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-25-2004
Cyc: Bayley takes gold in sprint =2

Bayley said the gold medal win was unimaginable.

"I don't how to describe it really," Bayley said.

"It's been a lot of years, trying to dream of going to the Olympics for starters. To
be here was absolutely unbelievable, to see the crowd and the support was unbelievable.

And to win is, I just have no idea, it's something you can't describe, can't imagine."

After the first race, he feared a repeat of the world championships semi-final in Melbourne
in May when Bos beat him in three races.

"I got off my bike, got very aggro, got very pissed off, which for Theo is bad news,
when I get pissed off I get really fast," he said.

"I just got on the track and wanted to nail every single pedal. At the line I threw
the bike, front wheel went off the ground, unbelievable.

"I went just across the line in that last one. My head just stopped, I didn't know
what was going through my head in that last one."

AAP pmu/sp

KEYWORD: OLY CYC AUST D/L 2 ATHENS (REOPENS)

2004 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Man dies after accident in state's west

AAP General News (Australia)
04-19-2004
NSW: Man dies after accident in state's west

A 47-year-old man is dead after a car accident in the state's west last night.

Police say the man died when he was flung from the vehicle after it failed to negotiate
a right hand turn on the O'Connell to Lagoon Road, about 15 kms from Bathurst.

A spokesman says a passing motorist found the man just after 10pm (AEST).

Police attended the scene and discovered a Mitsubishi ute on its side in a culvert
and the man's body on the road.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

AAP RTV kd/psm/

KEYWORD: TOLL NSW (SYDNEY)

2004 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Ten councils become seven in state's south

AAP General News (Australia)
02-11-2004
NSW: Ten councils become seven in state's south

By Lisa Davies

SYDNEY, Feb 11 AAP - Ten southern NSW councils were cut to seven today as the state
government announced the latest round of council amalgamations.

NSW Local Government Minister Tony Kelly said the seven new local government areas
were Cooma-Monaro, Eastern Capital City Regional, Greater Argyle, Greater Queanbeyan City,
Tumut, Upper Lachlan and Yass Valley.

The changes merge Yarralumla and Tallaganda councils into the Eastern Capital City
Regional Council, with the western part of Yarralumla being joined to Tumut Council.

The former mayors have been appointed as administrators to the new councils until elections
are held on May 1.

Mr Kelly said the creation of the new councils would result in financial benefits for
the areas, including one-off initial savings of $2.13 million and an extra $1 million
each year thereafter.

Local jobs also would stay in their communities, he added.

The announcement of the new council areas follows a regional review conducted by Emeritus
Professor Maurice Daly and an examination by the Boundaries Commission.

"What I've tried to do here is a blend of the request of the councils but keeping in
mind the catchment areas proposed by Maurice Daly," Mr Kelly said.

"I believe generally speaking people will be pretty happy with the outcome ... those
(mayors) that I've spoken to are very pleased."

He said money would be saved by eliminating the duplication of services and systems,
legal charges, more sharing of resources and computer system.

Jobs would not be a casualty of the merger because most council employees in these
area were voluntary workers already.

"The majority of jobs in local government are taken by those out there working already
... the only jobs to a large degree that are in danger are some of the general managers,"

he said.

Most employees would become involved in the larger councils anyway, he said.

Mr Kelly there would be more council amalgamations as the Boundaries Commission systematically
examined the rest of the state.

AAP ld/nf/cjh/br

KEYWORD: COUNCIL

2004 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: govt still protecting Qantas monopoly - Virgin Blue

AAP General News (Australia)
12-12-2003
Fed: govt still protecting Qantas monopoly - Virgin Blue

Virgin Blue says federal government changes to public service air travel rules will
do little to break the monopoly on such travel held by Qantas.

The airline says as a result it's decided to cancel a daily Canberra-Sydney flight.

Finance Minister NICK MINCHIN announced yesterday that changes to give smaller airlines
10 per cent of the Sydney-Canberra travel market have exceeded expectations.

But Virgin Blue spokesman DAVID HUTTNER says his airline has just one per cent of public
service travel compared to around 30 per cent of the rest of the domestic aviation market.

He's described the discrepancy as a scandal and says the service will not be reinstated
until the government takes real steps to abolish the monopoly.

AAP RTV dep/sb/sco/lma

KEYWORD: FLIGHTS (CANBERRA)

2003 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: technology advances not giving us healthier kids - Stanley

00-00-0000
Fed: technology advances not giving us healthier kids - Stanley

Australian of the Year, FIONA STANLEY, says the health of Australian children is worseningas the country's wealth and technological trappings improve.

Professor STANLEY, a child health specialist, says it's disturbing that the incidenceof low birthweight babies is increasing despite medical advances.

She told the National Press Club that women are 1.7 times more likely to have a lowbirthweight baby if they are disadvantaged compared with being advantaged.

Professor STANLEY says if birthweight is such an important indicator of later health,disability and other problems, the situation is of enormous concern.

She also says infant deaths were 250 per cent more likely for poorer people in 1984-86,rising to 320 per cent more likely in 1996-98.

Professor STANLEY says it's obvious that economic reforms and technological changeshave not delivered the improvements in society that were expected.

AAP RTV dep/sw/jas

KEYWORD: STANLEY (CANBERRA)

NT: NT govt to create taskforces to fast-track development

00-00-0000
NT: NT govt to create taskforces to fast-track development

The Northern Territory government will create a series of taskforces to fast-trackmajor projects and cut red tape.

Chief Minister CLARE MARTIN says the new approach will help manage the potential $5billion in new investment headed to the territory.

She says seven so-called …

NSW: Man shot outside Sydney store

00-00-0000
NSW: Man shot outside Sydney store

One man's been shot in the stomach and another has minor injuries after an argumentin Sydney's east turned violent this morning.

A police spokeswoman says both men are in hospital after the incident outside an electronicsstore in Bunnerong Road, Matraville, shortly after 9am (AEDT).

The man with minor injuries is under police guard.

The spokeswoman says officers have recovered a gun and a machete from the scene.

(Eds: Updating story on further police information)

AAP RTV sal/jmt

KEYWORD: SHOT (SYDNEY)

Vic: Unemployed seamen to protest on Melbourne docks

00-00-0000
Vic: Unemployed seamen to protest on Melbourne docks

MELBOURNE, Aug 16 AAP - The dispute over foreign crews replacing Australian workersreturns to Melbourne's wharfs today with protests planned against the CSL ship, Stadacona.

The Stadacona, formerly the CSL Yarra, was at the centre of a dispute in May when theship's Australian registration was transferred to the Bahamas and its crew replaced bycheap Ukrainian labour.

The ship will be returning from Queensland, the scene of angry protests earlier thismonth when five former crew members were arrested on Gladstone wharf.

A group of unemployed seamen are expected to protest against the ship when it docksat Fishermen's Bend Wharf.

ACTU President Sharan Burrow said Australia's merchant shipping industry was beingwiped out by the federal government's policy of allowing more ships such as the Stadaconaonto domestic trading routes.

"Countries like Britain and the US act to limit the use of flag-of-convenience ships,but the Howard government is issuing more and more permits for these vessels to work onAustralia with low-wage foreign labour," she said.

AAP svm/rs

KEYWORD: CSL

NSW: Teenagers missing in national park

00-00-0000
NSW: Teenagers missing in national park

SYDNEY, April 8 AAP - A search began at first light this morning for two teenagersmissing in the Ku-Ring-Gai National Park.

The brother and sister, aged 15 and 16, left their North Wahroonga, north Sydney, homefor a bike ride at about 4pm yesterday.

When they failed to return last night, police and members of the dog unit searchedthe national park for several hours.

Police and emergency workers resumed the search this morning using a helicopter and the dog unit.

AAP aa/rs

KEYWORD: SEARCH

ACT: Main stories in today's Canberra Times

00-00-0000
ACT: Main stories in today's Canberra Times

CANBERRA, Jan 15 AAP - The main stories in The Canberra Times today:

Page 1 - Pauline Hanson has resigned as leader of One Nation, ending her politicalcareer for now; US President George W Bush has been momentarily floored by a pretzel;Mark Philippoussis' star appears to be on the rise at the Australian Open after defeatingSpain's Galo Blanco; THe ACT government has provided temporary accommodation for a desperatehomeless family which had been squatting in a suburban house for a week.

Page 2 - Fire crews are bracing for more bad weather across NSW.

Page 3 - Australian al-Qaeda fighter David …

NSW: NSW govt approves Australian-first snapper farm

AAP General News (Australia)
08-28-2001
NSW: NSW govt approves Australian-first snapper farm

The New South Wales government says a new fish farm off the state's mid-north coast
will reduce Australia's need for snapper imported from New Zealand.

NSW Urban Affairs and Planning Minister ANDREW REFSHAUGE says the proposed 30-hectare
farm -- the size of 60 football fields -- will generate $5 million worth of snapper a
year.

He says within five years, the fish farm will also produce more snapper than all the
commercial fishing boats in NSW combined.

The NSW government today approved the farm, which will be situated on Providence Bay
at the entrance of Port Stephens, near Newcastle.

It'll be the first commercial off-shore fish farm in NSW.

According to NSW Fisheries, NSW currently imports 700 tonnes of snapper each year from
New Zealand and Western Australia combined.

The new snapper farm will reduce this demand by producing a further 500 tonnes of snapper a year.

AAP RTV rk/jjs/hn/

KEYWORD: SNAPPER (SYDNEY)

2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Wooldridge launches guidlines for breast cancer treatment

AAP General News (Australia)
04-11-2001
Fed: Wooldridge launches guidlines for breast cancer treatment

Federal Health Minister MICHAEL WOOLDRIDGE says new guidelines for treating women with
advanced breast cancer will result in better treatment and quality of life.

The National Breast Cancer Centre's clinical practice guidelines were launched yesterday
at Sydney's Prince of Wales Hospital.

Dr WOOLDRIDGE says breast cancer treatment has been undermanaged in the past because
doctors are not particularly good at treating people who cannot be cured.

He says they are often accused of giving up when someone has a terminal illness, but
these guidelines will show doctors there are many treatments for women with advanced breast
cancer.

The NBCC says about 10,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, with 17
per cent of them having the disease in its advanced stages.

Dr WOOLDRIDGE says the guidelines show tests and scans won't increase survival, but
group therapy and relaxation can.

AAP RTV rhp/rp/wz/alt

KEYWORD: BREAST CANCER (SYDNEY)

2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Police "don t know" about amnesty plans = 2

AAP General News (Australia)
01-19-2001
Vic: Police "don t know" about amnesty plans = 2

A spokeswoman for Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls said the government was not considering
such a deal.

She said the …

Fed: east Timor would like Aust troops to stay on: Ramos Horta

AAP General News (Australia)
08-30-2000
Fed: east Timor would like Aust troops to stay on: Ramos Horta

East Timor plans to ask Australian troops to remain in the troubled territory even
after full independence, as part of a continued United Nations peacekeeping presence.

Nobel peace laureate and independence leader JOSE RAMOS HORTA says Indonesian West
Timor is still a security risk, and foreign troops would help deter violence.

He's told the ABC he hopes the Australian people will support that.

Foreign Minister ALEXANDER DOWNER will visit East Timor today as part of celebrations
for the first anniversary of their vote to end Indonesia's often brutal rule.

Australian soldiers form part of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor --
UNTAET -- which is preparing East Timor for its first elections, possibly in one year.

AAP RTV kmh/rt

KEYWORD: TIMOR HORTA (CANBERRA)

2000 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Boy on life support after pipe attack

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2000
NSW: Boy on life support after pipe attack

By Sharon Labi

SYDNEY, April 15 AAP - A teenage boy remains on life support in a Sydney hospital after
a cowardly attack left a metal pipe lodged in his head.

The 17-year-old Quakers Hill boy, whose name has not been released, had a 50cm metal
pipe surgically removed from his head at Westmead Hospital last night but doctors say
his prognosis is poor.

The pipe is now in the hands of detectives investigating the attack.

Police said an altercation between two large groups of youths took place shortly before
8.30pm last night outside the Woodcroft shopping centre in Sydney's west.

After the scuffle broke out, the victim and four friends aged 16 and 17 left the scene
in the victim's car but managed to drive just 500 metres before they were confronted by
a group of up to 18 Asian males, Blacktown duty officer Wayne McMahon said.

"They've been armed with metal poles and bats, there's certainly no allegations of
knives or firearms," he told AAP.

"One of the Asian males who at this stage is unknown to us, has thrown a 50cm solid
metal bar through the driver's side window which has smashed the window and gotten the
young fellow in the back of the skull," he said.

The boy's four friends were interviewed by detectives last night who today did a recanvass
of the crime scene.

"We're looking principally for a group of six to eight young Asian males who we believe
are in their late teens," Insp McMahon said.

Members of the group wore baggy clothes but there were no indications they belonged to a gang.

"We don't have any intelligence to suggest that there is a gang operating around here
of Asian descent," Insp McMahon said.

"What I think we've got is a Friday evening with a lot of Asian youths around and a
meeting that's gone terribly wrong."

The victim's parents who were holidaying in the countryside returned to Sydney last
night and were said to be completely distraught.

Insp McMahon described the attack as "unprovoked, needless and reckless".

He said any witnesses who can assist the investigation should contact police.

AAP sal/as

KEYWORD: PIPE NIGHTLEAD

2000 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Carradine suffered terrifying abusive childhood, court

AAP General News (Australia)
01-20-2000
Vic: Carradine suffered terrifying abusive childhood, court

A court has been told a 29-year-old man found guilty of manslaughter suffered a terrifying
childhood in which his alcoholic father abused him.

ADRIAN BORIS CARRADINE, from the Victorian town of Maryborough, shot a 33-year-old
man in Maryborough on July 14, 1998.

Police allege the shooting occurred after an argument between the two men in …

FED: Small retailers angry at parliamentary inquiry

AAP General News (Australia)
08-31-1999
FED: Small retailers angry at parliamentary inquiry

A National Party backbencher says he'll lobby the party over a parliamentary report's
rejection of moves to limit the market share of Australia's three large supermarket chains.

The inquiry was prompted largely by concerns within the National Party over the increasing
dominance of the three large chains - Coles, Woolworths and Franklins.

However the report rejects demands from smaller grocers for restrictions on further
expansions by the big three.

Instead it calls for an independent retail ombudsman and a mandatory code of conduct.

The report has found the three major chains are increasingly dominating the sector, but the
it also says this has benefitted consumers, with prices falling.

However the National Association of Retail Grocers of Australia, which represents the
independent grocers, says the report could have signed their death warrant.

Spokesman ALAN MCKENZIE says the market share of the big three is likely to hit 85 per cent
within a year, putting the survival of most operators under threat.

He is being backed by National Party backbencher BOB KATTER, who'll lobby his party room
over the next fortnight, and says members will be bitterly disappointed with the result.

AAP RTV ss/wz/rat

KEYWORD: RETAIL (CANBERRA)

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED: Downer confident missing aid workers are still alive

AAP General News (Australia)
04-08-1999
FED: Downer confident missing aid workers are still alive

ADELAIDE, April 8 AAP - Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer today said he
was confident two Australian aid workers missing in Yugoslavia were alive.

But, given that it had been a week since anyone had heard from CARE Australia workers Steve
Pratt and Peter Wallace, Mr Downer said he was very worried about them.

"I still don't know where they are and I am very worried about them," Mr Downer said.

"I'm confident they're alive ... I think I'd have heard otherwise if they weren't.

"The Yugoslav authorities have been quite helpful in the sense that the foreign ministry
and other ministries have said that they would look for them and see what they could find out
but they just say they don't know where they are."

CARE Australia chief executive Charles Tapp has gone to search for Mr Pratt and Mr Wallace
in the company of Australia's Ambassador to Yugoslavia Chris Lamb.

Mr Pratt, 49, of Sydney and Mr Wallace, 30, of Mackay have been missing since March 31.

The last contact with them was by telephone when they were being questioned at a Yugoslav
border post near Croatia.

AAP vm/pa

KEYWORD: KOSOVO CARE (CARRIED EARLIER)

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

SA: Gilford questions British nurse s morals

AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-1998
SA: Gilford questions British nurse s morals

By Valkerie Mangnall

ADELAIDE, Dec 22 AAP - Frank Gilford today spoke of the difficulty of facing Christmas
without his dead sister as one of the British nurses accused of her murder faces jail for
theft and fraud.

Mr Gilford said the conviction of Lucille McLauchlan in Scotland for stealing money from an
elderly patient, forging references to get work and handling a stolen bank card showed she did
not have high morals.

Describing the latest twist as yet another chapter in the ordeal that followed Yvonne
Gilford's brutal murder, Mr Gilford also said he was upset McLauchlan and her former colleague
Deborah Parry had made money from selling their stories.

"Just another chapter in the saga is what it boils down to," he told AAP from his home in
Jamestown in South Australia's mid-north.

"I just feel it bears out the facts that she (McLauchlan) is not the innocent party that
she likes to portray she is.

"It makes her look like her morals or her ethics are not very high. It's not for me to say
they should be thrown in jail and the key thrown away, it's up to the courts.

"It would be nice to think that she'd do a time in jail, maybe that's not likely."

McLauchlan and Parry spent 17 months in a Saudi Arabian jail over Ms Gilford's murder in
December 1996 when the three nurses worked at the King Fahd Military Hospital.

McLauchlan was convicted of being an accessory to murder and sentenced to eight years in
prison and 500 lashes, while Parry was convicted of murder but no sentence was passed.

The pair were freed earlier this year after Mr Gilford waived his right under Saudi law to
call for the death penalty in return for $1.7 million in compensation, of which he donated $1
million to an Adelaide hospital.

The outback courier said today that while he and his family felt they had put the worst
behind them, it was still tough without Yvonne, especially at this time of year.

"It's been a bit hard because it was her birthday seven days ago and with Christmas coming
up and things like that, it's been pretty hard this time of year," he said.

"We can cope with it a lot better than it was a while back because we've basically got the
worst behind us.

"We've done all the good things, we've done everything in Yvonne's memory, the money's
going to the hospital ... it's going to a worthwhile benefit."

AAP vm/sn/it

KEYWORD: SAUDI NURSES AUST

1998 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

SA:Unsafe teeth whiteners recalled

AAP General News (Australia)
12-09-2011
SA:Unsafe teeth whiteners recalled



Do-it-yourself teeth whitening kits recalled across Australia because of unsafe levels
of peroxides.



White My Bite products:



* White My Bite Sensitive

* White My Bite Professional

* White My Bite Advanced



WhiteSmile products



* DayWhite Teeth Whitening Gel

* NiteWhite Teeth Whitening Gel

* Sunshine Health Teeth Whitening Gel

* Crest Teeth Whitening Strips



DaVinci Elite products



* DaVinci Elite tooth whitening pen

* DaVinci Elite take-home teeth whitening kit



Source: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.



AAP RTV tjd/crh

KEYWORD: WHITENING (FACTBOX)

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