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

AAP General News (Australia)
04-30-2009
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, April 30
EVENING ROUND-UP: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1630


FLU RUDD (CANBERRA)

KEVIN RUDD's urging people to wash their hands to prevent a swine flu outbreak .. as
more people across the nation are being tested to see if any have caught the bug.

The Prime Minister says the thermal scanning of overseas travellers at Australian airports
can also help to stop the spread of the potentially deadly virus.

Thermal scanners have been brought on line over the afternoon .. as the government
ramps up its defences against swine flu.

Passengers must also fill in mandatory health declarations at border entry points.

In New South Wales alone .. 85 people are being tested for swine flu .. while 35 Victorians
tested have returned NO positive results .. and Health authorities in South Australia
say they're testing eight people.

Meanwhile .. police have been called in to search for two Queenslanders .. who were
on a flight with New Zealand schoolchildren who've contracted swine flu.



FLU (MEXICO CITY)

Mexico has halved its suspected deaths from swine flu from 159 to 84 .. but says they're
only sure that eight people have definitely died from the disease.

The news comes as the World Health Organisation raised its flu alert overnight to level
five on a scale of six .. signalling a swine flu pandemic is imminent.

The United States .. meanwhile .. has became the second country to have a CONFIRMED
swine flu death .. and US authorities say they now have more then 90 people infected with
the virus.

In neighbouring New Zealand .. the number of SUSPECTED swine flu cases has risen to 104.



COAG (CANBERRA)

The nation's leaders have agreed on a plan to have 20 per cent of Australia's electricity
generated from renewable sources by 2020.

Today's Council of Australian Governments Meeting in Hobart has also decided on a plan
to ensure every person under 25 will have a guaranteed education or training place.

Prime Minister KEVIN RUDD says the government wants young people to be able to use
the current crisis to upgrade their skills .. so they're ready when the economy starts
growing again.

The leaders have also announced the development of a national telephone emergency warning
system .. to warn people in major emergencies like the recent bushfires.

And .. there'll be a review of the overly complex and inconsistent regulation of Australia's
legal profession.



US OBAMA (WASHINGTON)

US president BARACK OBAMA says he's pleased with the progress he's made in his first
hundred days in power .. but says he's not satisfied.

He's celebrated his 100th day as president .. expressing confidence he can advance
his ambitious agenda .. even as he copes with recession .. two wars .. and now an outbreak
of swine flu.

OBAMA says his administration's begun remaking America by reversing the policies of
GEORGE W BUSH'S administration.



PRATT FUNERAL (MELBOURNE)

Former prime minister JOHN HOWARD has paid tribute to cardboard king RICHARD PRATT
at his funeral in Melbourne.

Mr HOWARD says the billionaire was a remarkable man who exemplified the immigrant story.

Mr PRATT died on Tuesday night in his Kew home after a battle with prostate cancer.

He was farewelled today at a synagogue in Kew in front of hundreds of mourners.



BOAT BARNETT (HOBART)

Western Australia Premier COLIN BARNETT has broken with Liberal party ranks .. saying
he doesn't see the need for an independent inquiry into people smuggling.

The federal opposition renewed calls this week for an independent inquiry into the
nation's border protection laws .. after another two unauthorised boats were intercepted
off Australia's north yesterday.

But Mr BARNETT say he doesn't subscribe to their view .. and there are desperate people
trying to find a better life for themselves .. as they escape from places of unrest like
Sri Lanka.



GORGON (PERTH)

The West Australian Environmental Protection Authority has given its tick of approval
to a liquefied natural gas development .. worth about 35 billion dollars on Barrow Island
.. off the Pilbara coast.

Meanwhile .. Australia's biggest investment in social housing since the late 1940s
is underway in Queensland .. with the construction of close to 600 new social housing
dwellings.

But it will take time till the current economic crisis is overcome .. with a NAB survey
saying businesses are at their most pessimistic about the outlook for the year ahead in
more than 20 years.

This is despite Japan reporting today its first increase in factory output in six months
.. adding to hopes that the worst recession since World War II may begin to ease.



ATEC ALCOHOL (DARWIN)

A tourism leader says the current campaign to crack down on alcohol and binge drinking
is demonising the lubricant of the tourism sector.

MATT HINGERTY .. from the Australian Tourism Export Council .. says social commentary
on the issue of alcohol consumption is a worrying trend.

He says the tourism industry must prevent the responsible service and consumption of
alcohol from being tainted.

Mr HINGERTY says drinkers shouldn't feel like criminals if they order a third drink
.. and neither should the supplier for serving them.



TIP (SYDNEY)

More than 40 people have gathered for the touching public funeral of an abandoned baby
found dead in a Sydney rubbish tip.

Baby NICHOLAS has been farewelled at a non-denominational Christian service at Rookwood
Cemetery this morning.

His body was discovered on the conveyor belt of a waste facility at Spring Farm near
Narellan on February 11.



BRIEFLY IN OTHER NEWS ..



ANZAC FIGHT (SYDNEY)

A man who got into a fight with his brother outside a Sydney club on Anzac Day has died.



DOCUMENTS SA (ADELAIDE)

South Australian Premier MIKE RANN will seek legal advice over the Liberal Party's
use of fake documents in a botched attempt to smear him.



BIKIES (SYDNEY)

An associate of the Notorious crime gang has been charged after drugs and guns were
allegedly found in his luxury car and home at Mosman on Sydney's north shore.



IN SPORT ..



NBL (SYDNEY)

The relaunched NBL is set to go ahead later this year without a team in Sydney or Brisbane.

Organisers of the new competition in October have one last chance to get the model
right and again make basketball a primary sport in Australia.

But fans of the sport in Sydney and Brisbane are going to be left with no-one to support
in the first season of the new NBL.



AFL WRAP (MELBOURNE)

Collingwood forward ALAN DIDAK has been ruled out of his side's crucial AFL clash with
North Melbourne tomorrow night with a hamstring injury.

And .. Fremantle youngster MATT DE BOER will become the club's fourth player to debut
this year when he runs out in Saturday's AFL western derby at Subiaco Oval.



SUPER (CANBERRA)

Wallabies captain STIRLING MORTLOCK has been shunted back to the wing as the Brumbies
reshuffle their backline for their must-win Super 14 clash against Queensland on Saturday.

And .. it's been a mixed morning at Ballymore with the Queensland Reds announcing the
re-signing of loose-head props GREG HOLMES and BEN DALEY before Wallabies forward HUGH
MCMENIMAN suffered an ankle injury.



RUGBY NZ (WELLINGTON)

GRAHAM HENRY says he wants to remain All Blacks coach through to the 2011 World Cup.



ENDS EVENING ROUND-UP


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