HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:45, Aug 20 =2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-20-2007
HighLights of the AAP National Wire at 14:45, Aug 20 =2

LOS ANGELES - Nicole Kidman has suffered a super bad weekend at the North American
box office. (US Movies Kidman)

SYDNEY - Product liability lawyers have questioned why the banned drug Prexige was
available at higher doses and with fewer warnings in Australia compared to other countries.

(Prexige, to come)

SYDNEY - Scientists have successfully turned female mice into males in a bid to better
understand sexual development disorders in humans. (Chromosome, to come)

MELBOURNE - Drug users who can't kick the habit can blame a dysfunctional brain for
their addiction, according to new research. (Brain)

PORT MORESBY - Renowned Australian scientist Tim Flannery says developed nations helped
cause global warming so they must help communities in countries like Papua New Guinea
to preserve their forests. (PNG Flannery)

CANBERRA - Federal independent MP Peter Andren says doctors have told him his pancreatic
cancer is inoperable. (Andren)

CANBERRA - Prime Minister John Howard will consider whether there is a case for additional
recognition for Australian troops who fought at the Battle of Long Tan. (Longtan )

CANBERRA - A defence team is in Vietnam to help the search for the remains of one of
four Australians missing since the Vietnam war. (Gillespie )

SYDNEY - The NSW government has unveiled a new water cannon that it says it will use
against any violent protesters at next month's APEC summit in Sydney. (APEC Cannon. N/L
to come)

SYDNEY - Labor's broadband plan is an undeliverable promise intended to help it sneak
home in the federal election, Communications Minister Helen Coonan says. (Broadband Coonan)

SYDNEY - The federal government wants an answer from the Tasmanian cabinet as soon
as possible over the financial rescue of Mersey Hospital in the state's north-west, Health
Minister Tony Abbott says. (Mersey)

SYDNEY - Storms that drenched Sydney and forced road closures around the city will
batter the NSW north coast over the next few days, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says.

(Rain NSW. N/L to come.)

SYDNEY - Every new parent in Australia over the next two years will receive a free
five-hour interactive DVD of parenting tips. (Parenting)

SYDNEY - A man has been charged over the fatal stabbing of a 37-year-old man on a Newcastle
suburban street, police say. (STABBING CHARGE. N/L to come)

SYDNEY - Former ASIO boss dennis Richardson at Sydney Institure from 6pm.

MELBOURNE - Confectionery chain Darrell Lea will face up to $360,000 in penalties if
found guilty of bullying staff into signing Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs). (Darrell.

N/L to come.)

MELBOURNE - By-elections will be held on September 15 for the seats vacated by former
Victorian Labor premier Steve Bracks and his deputy John Thwaites, who both quit politics
last month. (Byelections Vic)

MELBOURNE - Timber giant Gunns Ltd has settled with former Wilderness Society chief
Russell Hanson in its legal action against environmentalists over a Tasmanian pulp mill,
reducing the number of defendants to 14. (Gunns Court)

BRISBANE - A joyride at a party ended in tragedy when a young man fell off the back
of a ute and died after the driver swerved the vehicle as a joke, a court has been told.

(Hogan to come).

BRISBANE - Rainfall across Queensland's south-east over the weekend and today will
delay the introduction of level six water restrictions by a week or two. (Rain Qld. Water
N/L to come.)

BRISBANE - Police have charged a teenage boy over a violent incident at a Queensland
school in which a parent was stabbed and a police officer and teacher injured. (School)

BRISBANE - Queensland's lowest wage earners deserve a pay increase of $28-a-week from
next month, according to a submission by unions to the Queensland Industrial Relations
Commission. (Wage. N/L to come)

BRISBANE - An Indian heart surgeon has been cleared of allegations of bullying junior
doctors at Townsville Hospital after a nine-month investigation. (Virdi)

BRISBANE - Brisbane airport has a new squad of uniformed police to strengthen the gateway's
ability to deal with terrorism threats and perform general police duties. (Airport. N/L
to come)

DARWIN - The Northern Territory government has announced a $286 million plan to tackle
Aboriginal disadvantage, in its official response to the child abuse report that prompted
federal intervention. (Indigenous Martin)

PERTH - Items from the gravesite of murdered West Australian Supreme Court registrar
Corryn Rayney will be tested this week as police continue their hunt for her killer. (Rayney)

PERTH - A corruption probe resumes into the investigation and murder prosecution of
wrongly convicted Andrew Mallard. (To come, on merit.)

HOBART - The Wilderness Society has branded as a "cop-out" federal Environment Minister
Malcolm's Turnbull's "heavily conditional" approval of Tasmania's controversial pulp mill
proposal. (Pulp Tas)

ADELAIDE - Federal Labor has promised to extend South Australia's boom in defence work
by building a new generation of submarines in Adelaide. (Submarines)

ADELAIDE - The South Australian government would be mad not to take up the prime minister's
$100 million offer to duplicate Adelaide's one-way Southern Expressway, the Liberals say.

(Freeway)

ADELAIDE - A 23-year-old man who managed to drive his car on three wheels for more
than 25km has been charged with various traffic offences. (Wheels)

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KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL 2 SYDNEY

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