AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, Dec 30

AAP General News (Australia)
12-30-2008
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, Dec 30
Evening Round-Up: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1630


Afghan Aust (CANBERRA)

An Australian soldier has been shot during an attack by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

The soldier was serving with the Australian Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force
in Oruzgan Province when it was attacked on Monday morning .. local time.

He was given first aid for a gunshot wound while his fellow patrol members continued
to fight the insurgents.

The man was evacuated by helicopter to hospital facilities at Tarin Kowt .. and the
Department of Defence says he's now in a stable condition.



Singh Wrap (BRISBANE)

Brisbane man MAX SICA has been remanded in custody charged with the triple murder of
the SINGH siblings in 2003.

SICA appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court today charged with three counts of
murder following the deaths on Brisbane's northside.

A committal mention date has been set for the Brisbane Supreme Court on March 16.

SICA'S barrister .. CATHERINE CUTHBERT .. told the court SICA would be making an application
for bail in the Brisbane Supreme Court this Friday.

The bodies of NEELMA .. KUNAL and SIDHI SINGH were located at their home in Bridgeman
Downs on April 22 in 2003.

Meanwhile .. SICA's lawyer .. KERRY SMITH DOUGLAS .. says her client is innocent and
all police evidence is circumstantial and light weight.



Lapthorne (MELBOURNE)

The boyfriend of backpacker BRITT LAPTHORNE says the inconclusive finding on the cause
of her death is devastating.

The Victorian coroner hasn't been able to determine how the 21-year-old Melbourne woman
died after she went missing from a nightclub in the Croatian town of Dubrovnik on September
18.

The coroner carried out a second post mortem on Ms LAPTHORNE's body after Croatian
authorities were also unable to find the cause of death.

BRITT's boyfriend SIMON IMBERGER says he'd hoped the coroner would have been able to
provide answers on the cause of her death.



Shark (PERTH)

Another shark has been spotted close to where 51-year-old BRIAN GUEST went missing
in waters off Western Australia three days ago.

Fisheries Western Australia says a husband and wife were dropping crab nets from their
four-metre dinghy today when they saw the three to four metre shark.

Fremantle water police say the shark was sighted very close to Port Kennedy .. where
Mr GUEST went missing while snorkelling with his son on Saturday morning.



Alligator (SYDNEY)

A brave scout leader has tackled a wayward 1.5 metre alligator which mysteriously turned
up at a campsite in Pambula on the New South Wales south coast.

Initially thought to be a crocodile .. wildlife experts have now identified it as an alligator.

The alligator was caught by a man holidaying with his family at the campsite.

It'll be kept at Mogo Zoo .. south of Batemans Bay .. while police try to find out
where it came from.



Learmonth (PERTH)

A Royal Australian Airforce jet with 70 passengers on board has made an emergency landing
in Western Australia's north.

WA police say the C-17 Globemaster was on its way from Learmonth to Townsville this
morning when fumes were detected from equipment that had been loaded on to the airplane.

The aircraft called emergency services and made an emergency landing at Learmonth ..

near Exmouth.



Redgums (MELBOURNE)

Four new national parks will be created along the Murray River system to protect Victoria's
river red gums.

The new parks will be declared along the Murray .. Goulburn and Ovens Rivers .. taking
the region's total conservation area to 160 thousand hectares.

The areas will no longer be able to logged for timber.



Tourism Gillard (MELBOURNE)

Acting Prime Minister JULIA GILLARD is urging Australians to holiday at home next year
to fill the void left by a lack of overseas tourists.

A report released today predicts the value of inbound tourism to drop by four per cent
or 500 million dollars in 2009.

Ms GILLARD says the time is right for Australians to holiday at home .. adding Australia
has world-class tourist attractions.



Mideast Gaza Lull (UNITED NATIONS)

The United Nations says Israel broke an informal truce when its warplanes launched
a massive attack on the Gaza strip over the weekend.

Commissioner of the UN Relief and Works Agency KAREN ABU ZAYD says the Palestinians
in Gaza believed Israel had called a 48-hour truce with Hamas on Friday night.

She says Hamas was trying to keep the truce and only fired one rocket on Friday.

Israel has killed 360 Palestinians and wounded more than 15 hundred during its air
blitz of the Gaza Strip.



Briefly in other news ..




Today has remained fatality free on the nation's roads .. with the death toll staying
at 41 during the holiday period.




People living in the hills around Perth are being urged to be on the lookout for arsonists
after the possible deliberate lighting of up to 22 fires in the area.




Emergency services are bracing for more storms in south-east Queensland .. as they
recover from cleaning up after last night's storm brought more heavy rain and wind gusts
up to 80 km/h.




And .. Qantas has announced it will remove its 18 dollar domestic fuel surcharge for
all tickets issued on or after January 1 .. but international surcharges will remain.



in Sport ..



Cricket Aust Delay (MELBOURNE)

Australia has named three uncapped players in its squad for the third cricket Test
against South Africa at the SCG starting Saturday.

NSW paceman DOUG BOLLINGER .. fellow quick BEN HILFENHAUS from Tasmania and Victorian
allrounder ANDREW MCDONALD were included in a 12-man squad.

At least two of those players will make their Test debut in the dead rubber after South
Africa seized an unbeatable two-nil series lead at the MCG today.

Injured paceman BRETT LEE (foot) and allrounder ANDREW SYMONDS (knee) played in the
second Test at the MCG but will be unavailable because of injury.

Struggling opener MATTHEW HAYDEN retained his place in the squad for the third Test
despite his lean series.



Soccer AL Agostino (ADELAIDE)

Former Socceroos striker PAUL AGOSTINO will retire from football at the end of the
A-League season.

The 33-year-old has endured an injury-blighted stint with Adelaide United since leaving
German side 1860 Munich after a 10-year spell including a stint as club captain in 2007.

AGOSTINO's 20 caps for the Socceroos will remain his most cherished memories but he
said victories by 1860 Munich over Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich are also a highlight.



ENDS EVENING ROUND-UP

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