SISTERS GAVE LIVES FOR DREAM.(MAIN)

Byline: ERIKA NIEDOWSKI Baltimore Sun

SINGAPORE -- After a marathon operation here that riveted the world for days, conjoined twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani finally were separated, but only by sacrificing their lives.

The 29-year-old Iranian sisters died Tuesday afternoon on separate operating tables at Raffles Hospital after more than 50 hours of surgery.

Doctors said that the twins had been in stable condition just before they made the final cuts to detach their brains. But, just as they achieved their long sought-after separation, the sisters began losing massive amounts of blood. Although the medical team battled furiously to save them, the effort failed.

…

RILEY WON'T COMMIT YET TO CANDIDACY.(Local)

Byline: Marc Carey Staff writer

Will Joe go?

That question has arisen following a meeting Sunday night of the town's Democratic Committee at which both an incumbent Town Board member and town justice were endorsed for re-election, but not Supervisor Joe Riley.

The lack of action does not appear to be for lack of interest by the committee, but rather for Riley's inability to make up his mind.

"My hope is the supervisor will be willing to run for re-election. He just has not seen fit to commit at this time," said Frederick "Rick" DeCasperis, chairman of the town party.

Riley could not be reached for comment Monday. As recently as …

Wade Davis outduels Greinke, Rays beat Royals 1-0

Wade Davis beat Zack Greinke in a scintillating pitchers' duel, and Evan Longoria homered to lift the Tampa Bay Rays over the Kansas City Royals 1-0 on Sunday.

Davis (3-1) allowed three hits, three walks and struck out five in seven innings during his latest matchup with an American League ace. The right-hander has faced the opposing team's opening day starter _ including New York Yankees lefty CC Sabathia and Boston's Josh Beckett _ in all five of his starts this year.

Greinke (0-3) gave up four hits in his 10th career complete game and first this season. The 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner, who has yielded just three runs over 22 innings in his last three …

Ex-Argentine Leader in Stable Condition

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Former President Carlos Menem was in stable condition Wednesday, a day after collapsing while delivering a speech in central Argentina, authorities said.

The 76-year-old Menem, a free-market advocate who governed Argentina from 1989 until 1999 at the helm of the Peronist party, was addressing a crowd of hundreds Tuesday night near the provincial capital of Cordoba when he doubled over.

Televised news footage showed Menem slowly fall sideways at the podium, grimacing and clasping his chest as an aide caught him in his arms. Menem was then whisked off on a stretcher to an ambulance.

Oscar Gonzalez, Cordoba's provincial health minister, …

Progress continues at National Utility Training Services.

Overwhelming support and cooperation were pledged at the April Engineering & Operations Conference (E&O) in Reno, Nev.

Utility Training Services staff worked the booth at the trade show and also were able to give at 45-minute presentation on what is planned for the Richland training site.

The response was incredible, not only have manufactures and distributors offered up their product, but their ingenuity as well. It is a complete gathering of the industries combined vision that makes this project top of the line.

Meanwhile at the site, progress takes place each and everyday. Our first two classrooms are being remodeled, and are expected to be in use …

CARERS MISS OUT ON VITAL BENEFIT.

(THURSDAY DECEMBER 21) CARERS in Aylesbury Vale are missing out on vital help according to a report from a leading national charity.

Buckingham MP John Bercow is highlighting new research from Carers UK which shows there are 5,310 new carers every year in this area alone.

In total there are 16,214 carers throughout the Vale, but turnover is high and a similar number of people give up caring every year compared with those who start.

The report highlighted that many people looking after relatives, friends and neighbours who are caring for disabled, chronically ill and frail relatives …

SEVERE WEATHER HEIGHTENS NORTH KOREAN FOOD CRISIS.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: -- Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea -- Torrential rain, hail and tidal waves have damaged crops in North Korea, which already is suffering through a famine after years of disastrous weather, the country's news media reported Saturday.

Downpours inundated more than 180,000 acres of arable land, destroyed or submerged 42,500 homes in July and August, and may decrease the rice harvest by 60 percent in a major farming area, the …

OrthoNeuro. (Regional Report: Charlotte).(to open orthopedic hospital)(Brief Article)

CHARLOTTE -- OrthoNeuro will open an orthopedic hospital, the first of what it hopes will become a chain of specialty hospitals, in Austin, Texas, in June. Founder and Chairman Steve Puckett played the …

Upscale crime?

The American government has never been generous in providing funds for the economic development of Third World countries. The U.S. will provide military assistance, as was done in Afghanistan, when it is perceived to be in the national interest. Also, the U.S. will donate food and emergency shelter when a natural disaster strikes. However, the purse strings never open very wide when the issue is economic development.

One reason for this attitude is a concern that corrupt public officials will help themselves to the development funds. That is a legitimate concern. Greed, the mother of economic crimes, knows no limitations of race or nationality. Unfortunately, there is a smug …

Do you know the way to Santa Fe? Hyundai ix35's big brother gets mechanical tweaks.(Motoring)

BYLINE: Minesh Bhagaloo

FOLLOWING on the fairly recent launch of the ix35 compact SUV, Hyundai last week presented the facelifted and bigger-brother Santa Fe to South African media.

The Toyota Fortuner and Chevrolet Captiva competitor scores mechanical and aesthetic changes, and is available in five and seven-seater guise - both with four-wheel drive. Smaller families will be spending R399 900, larger families ten grand more. And interestingly, both models are actually ten grand less than the models they replace.

The biggest change is the new 2.2-litre 16-valve turbodiesel engine with common-rail direct injection, which sees power up by 35kW and an …

LEADS GO DRY IN REPORTED RAPES AT WOODSTOCK '99.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: -- Associated Press

ROME -- Nearly two years after several women reported they were raped in the middle of dancing crowds at Woodstock '99, the investigations into the attacks have fizzled out, Newsday reported Thursday.

As many as seven women reported they were raped at the three-day July 1999 concert in Rome and no one has been …

Japan and Cameroon level at 0-0

Cameroon and Japan are level at 0-0 after 30 minutes of a dour World Cup Group E match at Free State Stadium.

Cameroon striker Pierre Webo created the best chance in the opening stages Monday when he broke down the right side of the penalty area in the eighth minute but his low cross eluded team mate Eric …

SmithKline Sells Drugs to Roche, Novartis.(SmithKline Beecham has sold rights to its Kytril antiemetic drug to Roche )(Brief Article)

SmithKline Beecham has sold rights to its Kytril antiemetic drug to Roche for $1.2 billion, and tights to the herpes treatments Famvir and Vectavir/Denavir to Novartis for $1.6 billion. The drugs …

FOR NOW, $1 BILLION IN BUDGET CUTS STATE DEFICIT LIKELY TO GET WORSE.(Main)

Byline: Tom Precious Capitol bureau

State University students face a $300 tuition hike, local school districts will see further fiscal squeezing, some hospital expenses will rise and state workers can expect pay cuts and firings under a $1 billion budget deficit reduction plan approved by the state Legislature Friday.

The financial Band-Aid, however, is expected to be short-lived, as officials face a budget deficit that is expected to worsen in the remaining three months of the fiscal year, necessitating further cutbacks. Some fear the deficit could worsen to the point that Gov. Mario M. Cuomo might have to break his promise not to borrow money to close the gap.

It took the Legislature nearly a month to pass the package of cuts - with amendments - that originally were proposed by the governor to trim spending from the state's $50 billion budget.

The gavel on the special legislative session, which brought lawmakers back to Albany a month early, slammed down just a couple hours before dawn Friday after an all-night session. …

'Never talked with Amar Singh on phone', Bipasha

Dhaka, May 24 -- Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu Thursday denied she has ever talked with former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on the phone, following a controversy over an alleged taped conversation between the two. "I have been besieged with calls from the media seeking my reaction to the publication of the tapes containing the alleged telephone conversation between Amar Singh and me. I have since heard the clip on the Internet. I have never had any conversation with Amar Singh over the phone ever," Bipasha said in a statement. The 32-year-old has rejected reports that she is the woman in the tapes whose transcripts were barred from being published in media until now. But after the Supreme Court lifted the ban Wednesday, the conversation surfaced in a daily Thursday. "The voice in the recording is certainly not mine. I dare say that my voice has distinct characteristics and the voice on the tape is completely different. Nothing could be farther from the truth," she added. The Bengali beauty even took to micro-blogging site Twitter to clarify her stance over the issue. She is also upset with the daily that published the news without any attempt to clarify it with her. She said it was "appalling" that the newspaper published the transcript "under the heading 'Age Matters Between The Legs: Amar Singh to Bipasha's without making any effort to verify with me whether the voice in question was mine. This is irresponsible, mischievous reporting and is defamatory, to say the least".

Published by HT Syndication with permission from The New Nation.

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

GIRLS BASKETBALL: ; More twists can be expected this season

According to the West Virginia Secondary School ActivitiesCommission calendar today is the first day of the 2009-10 girls highschool basketball.

Beyond that pretty much everything else is so uncertain that it'sdoubtful that a crystal ball or any other fortune telling devicecould predict how it will end up.

The 2008-09 season was crazier than most, with veteran Coach PaulSutherland being bumped from his job at Winfield and the coachingcarousel that saw Nitro go from possible State Tournament contenderto also-ran within a couple of weeks.

So prepare for some unpredictable twists and turns on the road tothis year's State Tournament in March.

Here is a quick look at some of the biggest questions:

When does the season start?

The starting date was moved up a week after many schools hadalready made out their schedules, causing some scrambling andconfusion.

The standardized calendar originally listed Dec. 8 as the firstday games could be played.

That meant many coaches, such as South Charleston's Gary Greene,did not worry when they scheduled their first contest for Dec. 15.

"I've been trying to move a game up," Greene said.

"I don't like not playing the first two weeks."

Several teams do not open until next week, many on the originaldate.

That is only the beginning of the confusion surrounding thecoming season.

Where have all the veteran coaches gone?

Gone are the two coaches with the most wins among active coachesat the beginning of last season.

After 20 seasons, Sissonville Coach Annette Olenchick steppeddown with a 321-183 career mark. Olenchick led the Indians to the2003 Class AA state championship. She has been replaced by RickWallace, former Nitro All-State player Kendra Wallace's father.

After sitting out all of last season, Scott Tinsley hasofficially been replaced at Nitro by former Cedar Grove MiddleSchool Coach Jack Long.

Tinsley was 191-94 in 11 seasons on the Wildcat bench beforebecoming the football coach at WVU Tech.

Neither Long nor Wallace has ever been a head coach on the highschool level.

Charleston Catholic's Ashley Shepler is the area's winningestactive coach, with a record of 103-28 after five years. Shepler ledthe Irish to the Class A state title in 2007.

St. Albans' Scott James takes Olenchick's title as the mosttenured coach, as he enters his seventh season. Of the 13 headcoaches in Kanawha and Putnam Counties this season have only acombined 28 years of experience coaching girls basketball.

Who is going to step up?

While there are some good players coming back the downturn intalent since the Alexis Hornbuckle, Renee Montgomery, Megan Withrow,and Mackenzie Maier years looks to continue.

Forget about 2,000 point scorers. It will be well into 2010before a player hits 1,000 this season.

Winfield senior Jordan Brock has the most career points of anyreturning player with 794. Unfortunately it is uncertain when oreven if she will get to play this season after she suffered a kneeinjury in soccer season.

Hurricane senior Skye Smith is next with 771 points, and shouldreach 1,000. The lanky point guard has the potential to take overgames this year.

After that things get dicey. South Charleston senior Sissy Wagnerhas 603 and averaged 11.6 points a game a year ago. The dangerous 3-point shooter needs to increase that to around 16 a game to reach1,000.

Juniors Dri Nazario at George Washington and Jenna Curry atSissonville seem like a locks to reach the milestone, but maybe notuntil next season. Nazario has 584 points and Curry 560.

Smith, Wagner, Nazario, and Curry could all step up and beexciting players to watch this season. Another possibility is Pocasophomore Adrian Cunningham. The 5-9 post player was second in theKanawha Valley in scoring last season averaging 18.4 points a gameto finish with 426 points.

The Dots should have had another rising star in sophomore pointguard Promise Carter but she tore her ACL in a fall league game.

"She is supposed to have surgery (December) 17th and probablywon't be back," said Poca Coach Brady Lanham.

South Charleston sophomore Brittany Gordon is another player tokeep an eye on after she averaged over 15 points a game at Nitrolast year. How effective the 5-8 guard will be depends greatly onhow well she has recovered from a knee injury suffered over thesummer.

Another one to watch include St. Albans' junior Kandace Parsons,who missed all of last season with an ACL tear after having a strongfreshman season.

There is also the Nitro senior duo of guard Olivia McCuskey andforward Meghan Hall, which will be given an opportunity to show whatthey can do as the featured players for the Wildcats.

Sophomore Alexa Peoples at George Washington and senior CapenEvans at Charleston Catholic are a couple of post players who couldhave big seasons.

Which teams will step up?

Look for South Charleston with four returning starters from lastseason's state tournament team returning and three Nitro transfersto be the team to beat.

A lineup with Sissy Wagner, Alexa Morgan, Gel Villanueva, KarleyWalker, and Nitro transfers Brittany Gordon and Kiki Allen shouldmaintain the Black Eagles' defensive intensity.

It should also be able to score more than last season's squad,which would make SC very dangerous.

George Washington will look to challenge the Black Eagles withfour returning starters also along with Nitro transfer Nazario.

A wild card for the Patriots is senior Anita Davis, who wassecond on the team in scoring as a sophomore but did not play lastseason.

Capital, St. Albans, Hurricane, and Nitro could all be dangerous.

"I have four or five freshmen that are looking at major playingtime," said Cougars Coach B.J. Calabrese. "We have more depth andmore speed this year."

In Class AA it looked at the end of last season like Sissonvilleand Poca could be very evenly matched this season with the youngDots maybe contending with Scott and Tolsia as favorites in Region4.

But with Promise Carter out for the year at Poca and seniorBrittany Sayre not coming out after sustaining an injury insectional play last season that has never fully healed Poca may be alittle shorthanded.

"Last Monday was the first practice without (Carter)," Lanhamsaid.

"The girls really stepped up and we had one of our bestpractices."

Besides learning a new system the Indians have to deal with thegraduation of four-year All-State point guard Kaitlin Snyder andthree other starters.

How far they step up will depend on the multi-talented 6-2 Currybecoming more aggressive.

"She's already stepped it up," Rick Wallace said. "She's got tolead."

With Shepler at the helm and Evans in the paint CharlestonCatholic should once again be among the best Class A programs in thestate.

The Irish proved there are plenty of good girl athletes at theschool during soccer season. Now it just remains to be seen how manycan develop good basketball skills.

All in all it should be a very interesting, though unpredictableseason.

Let the games begin.

High school girls basketball leaders

Kanawha & Putnam counties

Final 2008-09 statistics:

Individual Scoring

Player, school G Pts Avg

*Kaitlin Snyder, Siss. 27 519 19.2

Adrian Cunningham, Poca 23 426 18.4

Brittany Gordon, Nitro 24 367 15.3

*Sky Assif, Nitro 24 345 14.4

Jenna Curry, Sissonville 27 377 14.0

Dri Nazario, Nitro 21 294 14.0

*Jazzmone Russell, Hurr. 23 301 13.1

Mone-K Harris, Capital 23 301 13.1

Skye Smith, Hurricane 23 295 12.8

Jordan Brock, Winfield 22 271 12.3

Alexa Peoples, GW 21 253 12.0

*Brittany Crawford, SA 24 288 12.0

*Amanda Young, Buffalo 23 269 11.7

Sissy Wagner, SC 26 301 11.6

Kiara Tyler, GW 22 249 11.3

*Megan Fitzgerald, SA 24 268 11.2

Olivia McCuskey, Nitro 24 258 10.8

*Rachel Mynes, Winfield 22 224 10.2

Alexa Morgan, SC 26 264 10.2

Rachel Ashley, Winfield 22 220 10.0

*Graduated

2009 Girls basketball outlook

Buffalo Coach: Brandon Bias (2nd year) 08-09 record: 13-10Starters returning: 1 Hannah Lloyd (Sr., 5-5) Starters lost: 4 Amanda Young, Brittany Herdman, Kayla Tucker, Janae Hicks Keyreturnees: Danielle Hershey, Danielle Gallagher Key newcomers: AmberCochran, Tiffany Bailey, Brittany Hicks, Katie Adkins, Kierra Bays,Caitlin McCoy, Hannah Boyer Season opener: Dec. 8 vs. Hannan Bias:We had the most wins last year since the late 1990s, early 2000s,and even though we are a super-young team and have a lot of ups anddowns. I think any thing less than a .500 season would be adisappointment. Capital Coach: B.J. Calabrese (3rd year, 18-26) 08-09 record: 9-13 Starters returning: 3 Mone-K Harris (5-6, 13.1ppg), Keriona Jemison (5-10), Kachona Harris (5-8) Starters lost: 2 Andie Bausley, Ahjami Carter Key returnees: Tanija Spencer, Key KeyDudley, Terina McDowell Key newcomers: Katie Crowder, Genese Owusu,Briana Harris, Kearah Walker Season opener: Dec. 8 at Valley(Fayette) Calabrese: Leadership has really been missing and itshowed last year. Last year was tough on them but I think theylearned a lot and it motivated them. I really challenged them andthey want to do well this year. Charleston Catholic Coach: AshleyShepler (6th year, 102-27) 08-09 record: 18-7 Starters returning: 4 Capen Evans (5-10, 9 ppg, 8 rpg, Sr.), Erin Casey (Sr.), Meg Whalen(Jr.), Ally Hoyer (Jr.) Starters lost: 1 Maria Femia Key returnees:Victoria Thomas, Emily Blake, Anna Wood, Kathryn Dunderville, HeidiBuscher Season opener: Dec. 11 at Fayetteville Shepler: Were a veryathletic team. Ive really enjoyed working with this team so farbecause theres a lot of talent and a lot of potential. GeorgeWashington Coach: Jamie LaMaster (6th year, 53-65) 08-09 record: 7-17 Starters returning: 3 Kiera Tyler (5-8, 12 ppg), Alexa Peoples(5-11), Alexis Tunstalle (8 ppg, 3 apg.). Starters lost: 1 KathleenBarber (4 ppg, 7 rpg) Other key returnees: Anna Kimberling, MariahWalls Key newcomers: Dri Nazario (5-7, 13.8 ppg, 3.5 apg.), RachelWard Season opener: Dec. 8 at Ripley LaMaster: We have a nice levelof talent but we have to work on the mental part of the game andlearn to play hard all of the time. Herbert Hoover Coach: GregUllman (3rd year, 9-35) 08-09 record: 5-17 Starters returning: 4 Regina Farmer (5-6, 8 ppg), Cassie Forbes (5-10, 7 ppg), Dani Paxton(5-6, 7.0 ppg), Abbi Chandler (5-1) Starters lost: Taylor Spencer (8ppg) Key returnees: Chelsey Chapman Key newcomers: Jessi Gandee,Hannah Mick, Jordon Marshall, Demia Mogielski Season opener: Dec. 8vs. Chapmanville Ullman: Were going to be a lot quicker, muchimproved. Were looking to play more up tempo and Ill be disappointedif we do not go .500. Hurricane Coach: Denny Paugh (3rd year, 23-23) 08-09 record: 12-11 Starters returning: 3 Skye Smith (6-0, 13.1ppg, Sr.), Jordan McKenzie (Sr.), Beth White (Sr.) Starters lost: 2 Jazzmone Russell, Megan Slack Other top returnees: Morgan Garrett,Allie Browne Season opener: Thursday vs. Parkersburg Paugh: Werereally counting on our experience to help continue building ourprogram. Were getting better each year, and well count on ourexperienced players to keep things in the right direction. NitroCoach: Jack Long (1st year) 08-09 record: 17-7 Starters returning: 2Angel Withrow 5-8 (Sr.), Olivia McCluskey (5-11, 10.8 ppg, Sr.)Starters lost: 3 Brittany Gordon (15.3 ppg), Dri Nazario (14 ppg),Sky Assif (15.4) Key returnees: Kelly Douglas, Jen Young, Alex Cook,Megan Hall Season opener: Thursday vs. Cabell Midland Long: Weexpect to have a winning season. The girls have worked hard andhopefully well continue to come together and be playing our bestbasketball when we play our most important games. Poca Coach: BradyLanham (4th year, 21-47) 08-09 record: 14-8 Starters returning: 2 (Adrian Cunningham 5-10, 18.4 ppg, Lexi Lanham 5-3) Starters lost: 3Jamie Cool, Adrianna Browning, Brittany Sayre, Promise Carter(injury) Key returnees: Fallon Cunningham, Kendra Richardson, ErikaMaloney Key newcomers: Maddie McGrew, Harley Willard, Amber Beckner,Brandy Davis Season opener: Dec. 8 at Hurricane Lanham: We set ourgoals and we think we have a chance to win our conference andhopefully sectionals. We hope our last game is down at theCharleston Civic Center at the State Tournament. Riverside Coach:Michelle McGinnis (1st year) 08-09 record: 2-21 Starters returning:3 Kassie Cook (Jr.), Tabby Deavers (Jr.), Heather Burford (Soph.)Starters lost: 2 Megan Chestnut, Kari Hudson Other key returnees:Sydney Smith (Sr.), Chelsea Wood (Soph.), Summer Duffield (Soph.)Season opener: Friday at Valley (Fayette) McGinnis: The girls havereally come together and formed great team chemistry. Ive been realimpressed with what Ive seen from them so far. They are working hardand working together. We should continue to improve as the seasongoes on. St. Albans Coach: Scott James (7th year, 43-96) 08-09record: 10-14 Starters returning: 2 Sophie Ball (5-11, Soph.),Sarah Reynolds (5-8, 8 ppg, Soph.) Starters lost: 3 BrittanyCrawford, Megan Fitzgerald, Kayla Gillenwater Other key returnees:Kandace Parsons, Olivia Beheler, Frances Alessio, Lindsey Davis,Marissa White Season opener: Friday vs. Lincoln County James: Were ahard team to figure. Were young, but if the girls come together andunite, and we can stay healthy, well be a pretty competitive teambefore its all over with. Sissonville Coach: Rick Wallace (1st year)08-09 record: 25-2 Starters returning: 1 Jenna Curry (6-2, 14 ppg,8 rpg, Jr.) Starters lost: 4 Kaitlin Snyder (19 ppg, 6 apg., 6rpg), Autumn Martin (8 ppg, 6 rpg), Whitney Anderson, EmilyCarpenter Other key returnees: Logan Walker, Logan Henry, KatieHolmes, Megan Minsker, Taren Rhodes Key newcomers: Hannah Keller,Lydia Murray, Ryan Henry Season opener: Dec. 11 vs. Scott atWilliamstown tournament Wallace: They work hard, are very coachable,and have a lot of potential. (Curry) understands she has to be theleading scorer. South Charleston Coach: Gary Greene (2nd year, 19-7, 11 years, 163-82 as a boys coach) Starters returning: 4 SissyWagner (5-7, 11.6 ppg), Karley Walker (5-8, 7 ppg), Alexa Morgan (5-7, 8 ppg), Angelica Villanueva (5-7, 9.5 ppg) Starters lost: 1 Laverdia Holland (9 ppg) Other key returnees: Sierra Moore Keynewcomers: Brittany Gordon, Shelley Smith, Kiki Allen Season opener:Dec. 15 vs. Huntington Greene: If they come together and gel withthe system were trying to run we could be pretty good by the secondhalf of the season. Winfield Coach: Tim Toler (2nd year) 08-09record: 10-12 Starters returning: 4 Stevie Cooper (Sr.), JordanBrock (Sr., 12.3 ppg), Rachel Mynes (10.4), Rachel Ashley (Sr.,10.0) Starters lost: 1 Jade Smith Other key returnees: Skylar BrockSeason opener: Friday vs. Huntington

MONSIEUR, DO YOU YAHOO?

Sick of the American legal system? Take a break with me, andmarvel at the curious workings of French law.

By now you've heard that a French judge, Jean-Jacques Gomez, hassaid that Yahoo must devise a way to prevent citizens of France fromvisiting parts of the Yahoo site that contain anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi materials.

American justice always provides a surfeit of goofy court rulings,so we scarcely need to import fresh nonsense from Paris. But ratherthan rail against the injustice of the Gomez decision, let's focus ona more practical question: Can it be enforced? Can an Internetcompany block access to citizens of a particular country, whileleaving the rest of us free to surf wherever we wish?

It turns out that there are a number of companies working on theproblem. As fate would have it, one of them, New York-based InfoSplitInc., was founded by a transplanted Frenchman, Cyril Houri.

"We didn't design this technology for filtering purposes orcensorship," Houri says.

InfoSplit was meant to let Internet advertisers target theircommercial blandishments by geography. With InfoSplit, they couldsell baked beans to Bostonians and surfboards to San Diegans.

It works because the Internet makes no secret of a user's generallocation. Every time you send a message, you reveal the set ofnumbers used by the Net to identify your computer - the "IP address."This information tells the other computer where to send its response.But it can also be used to trace you.

On Windows and Unix computers you can easily run a "traceroute"command that will let you track someone's IP address backward throughthe Internet, thus giving you a fairly accurate idea of the person'sphysical location. InfoSplit uses this method to find people.

When I entered its Web site, it instantly greeted the visitor fromBoston. Houri says the same principle could enable Yahoo to identifyvisitors from France, and lock them out of some parts of the site. Hesays that eBay and a Saudi auction site both have expressed interestin the InfoSplit system.

Houri's method isn't the only way to track IP addresses. There aremore than 4 billion available addresses, assigned in big chunks tocorporations, government agencies, and Internet service providers.Want to know which addresses are owned by, say, The Boston Globe?Just go to www.ipindex.net and look it up. It's public record.

NetGeo Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., uses its database ofassigned numbers to instantly look up incoming addresses and locatethe Web surfer.

"We can determine the physical location of someone . . . basicallydown to the city level," says business development manager LanceJacobs. "We're working on the technology to get it down to the ZIPcode level."

Both Jacobs and Houri say their systems would have no troublefiguring out whether an incoming Web visitor was in France or inFramingham. So maybe the French court order is reasonable after all.

Not according to Yahoo attorney Greg Wrenn.

"The language [of the order] says we're supposed to make itimpossible for users from France to access certain materials," hesays. And the technologies offered by NetGeo and InfoSplit don't comeclose to meeting that standard.

Both companies admit that their systems are stumped by serviceslike Anonymizer and SafeWeb, which conceal a surfer's true IPaddress.

The same problem arises with French subscribers to America Online.Remember that AOL isn't really part of the Internet. It's a separate,private network, and users aren't given IP addresses.

InfoSplit and NetGeo can spot AOL and "anonymized" visitors, butcan't tell whether they're from France. What would Judge Gomez haveYahoo do - block them all?

Besides, identifying French Web surfers isn't the toughest part.Yahoo also must rummage through trillions of bytes of data stored onits servers and identify all references to Nazism. Then somebody willhave to create a separate index of the pro-Nazi materials, whileallowing the anti-Nazi stuff to pass.

No indexing program yet devised can manage this, and if you don'tbelieve me, just go to Yahoo and run a search under "Nazi." You'llsee a link to US government archives of Nazi documents, for use byscholars. You'll also see the home page of the American Nazi Party.

The computer that created this index couldn't gauge the moralworth of these two sites; maybe there's a French computer that canmanage it.

Or better yet, a French judge. This Gomez fellow obviously has toomuch time on his hands, to judge by his wacky Yahoo ruling. Perhapshe should be assigned to enforce it. We can put him to work 18 hoursa day, scouring Yahoo's vast archives for pro-Nazi sentiments withthe Ahab-like diligence of a Democrat in search of dimpled chads.

Ridiculous? No more than Gomez's ruling. It's a pity that some inFrance wax nostalgic for the Fuehrer, but every country has its shareof cranks. I only begin to worry when their ravings have the force oflaw.

Hiawatha Bray is a member of the Globe staff. He can be reached bye-mail at bray@globe.com.

Diocese says budget was balanced in 2010 ; But church faces fiscal hurdles

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston reported yesterday thatit balanced its $29.8 million budget last year for the first timesince Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley arrived in 2003, as church leaderssaid they are making progress in addressing financial concernscreated by a sour economy and the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

Regular collections from parishioners held steady, despite thesluggish economy. Investment income increased. And a new financialsystem, designed to help parishes raise more money and share it withthe archdiocese, was off to a promising start.

Still, the annual report suggests that significant financialchallenges remain. One-third of parishes are operating in the red,the same proportion as in fiscal 2009. Contributions to thearchdiocese's annual fund-raising drive, the Catholic Appeal, weredown 14 percent last year from the year before. And many parisheshad to cut spending to stay solvent.

The Rev. Richard M. Erikson, vicar general of the archdiocese,said the balanced budget was an important achievement and that whilethe archdiocese faces a host of difficulties, financial andotherwise, it is working on many fronts to find solutions. It haslaunched a campaign aimed at bringing inactive Catholics back tochurch, for example, and it is studying ways to cope with a severeshortage of priests.

"That type of focus was not possible several years ago, when thediocese was doing crisis management," Erikson said.

Mass attendance was up slightly, 2.6 percent, in 2010. It was thefirst time the annual parishioner count, taken on one Sunday eachOctober, had increased since 2004.

Although enrollment in Catholic schools dropped by almost 2percent in the current school year, the decline was smaller than ithad been in the 2009-10 school year.

The report is posted on www.bostoncatholic.org, the archdiocese'swebsite, for the year that ended June 30. The archdiocese releasesreports annually as part of a commitment to greater transparencyfollowing the sexual abuse crisis.

The archdiocese trimmed its expenses, laying off 11 employees andleaving nine other positions unfilled.

Archdiocesan employees received no cost-of-living raise for thefourth year in a row.

But the archdiocese's highest-paid officials, those earning morethan $100,000 a year, saw salary reductions imposed last yearrestored. The archdiocese provided a much fuller disclosure of topsalaries this year than in years past.

Mary Grassa O'Neill, secretary for education and the highest-paid archdiocesan official, earned $320,000 last year. Twentyofficials earned more than $100,000, four of whom took home morethan $200,000, according to the report.

Erikson said O'Malley has tried to attract top talent to thearchdiocese, which carries a cost.

"It's an investment that the cardinal is happy to make, and thefruits of that investment are seen in all aspects of our operation,"he said.

Most other top archdiocesan officials are clergy or members ofreligious orders who earn about $40,000 a year or less. O'Malley'ssalary was about $41,000, $34,000 of which was paid to his order,the Capuchin Priests and Brothers, and $7,200 to the Cathedral ofthe Holy Cross for his housing.

The archdiocese is also in the process of establishing acompensation committee to review general pay practices and specificsalaries of highly paid employees.

And it has hired EthicsPoint Inc. to host a telephone bank andInternet site so that employees can confidentially report violationsof the archdiocese's code of conduct and conflict- of-interestpolicy.

James P. McDonough, chancellor of the archdiocese, said thosemoves are "simply adopting the best practices, as we see them, inthe nonprofit world and in the corporate world."

The archdiocese said it settled 30 sexual abuse cases in fiscal2010, three more than the year before, and spent $2.1 million onsettlements with victims.

To date, the Archdiocese of Boston has spent $147 millionsettling 1,127 sexual abuse cases; 49 are pending.

The church's pension funds remain underfunded, but both the layretirement fund and the clergy retirement fund saw improvements.

The lay pension fund, which the church is in the process offreezing as it moves to a 401(k)-style plan was 78.1 percent fundedon June 30, up from 74.6 percent the year before.

The clergy retirement fund expects to finish the year with $31million in assets. Projected liabilities amount to more than $100million.

But contributions to the fund in two annual collections atChristmas and Easter and a large fund-raising dinner held for thefirst time last year rose by more than $3 million, allowing thechurch to fully pay for retired priests' expenses without furtherdepleting the clergy retirement fund, officials said.

McDonough said he was particularly heartened by results of apilot program designed to stabilize the archdiocese's finances andreplace a confusing patchwork of taxes and fees on parishes with asimpler model in which all parishes contribute to the archdiocese 18percent of their weekly offertory, major fund-raising driveproceeds, and net rental income.

Parishes in the pilot program were urged to step up their fund-raising in a variety of ways. In the 33 parishes that volunteered,contributions increased 17 percent, on average, in the first quarterof 2011, according to yesterday's report. Forty-four parishes havesigned up for the next round of the program.

"They're doing more to help us, and we're doing more to helpthem," McDonough said.

Lisa Wangsness can be reached at lwangsness@globe.com.

15archdiocese.ART

LEESON IS SENTENCED TO 61/2 YEARS IN PRISON

Former futures trader Nick Leeson was sentenced by a districtcourt today to serve 61/2 years for his conviction on two chargesof cheating.

The nearly nine months Leeson already spent in a German jailwill be subtracted from the time he has to serve in Singapore.

Leeson, a 28-year-old Briton, pleaded guilty to the two chargesFriday after prosecutors said they would not proceed with nineother fraud and forgery charges against him.

Leeson, who worked for the Barings bank Singapore operation, isblamed for piling up some some $1.4 billion in losses that brokethe venerable British merchant bank.

Babbitt decries mining giveaway

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Decrying "billion-dollar rip-offs," InteriorSecretary Bruce Babbitt on Friday reluctantly turned over to aprivate company an estimated $2.9 billion worth of mining rightsfor $1,745. The sale was required by a mining law enacted 123 yearsago to promote development of the West.

"This process has gone from distasteful to obscene," Babbittdeclared. The agreement signed Friday transferred ownership of 347acres in the Coronado National Forest near Tucson, Ariz., to ASARCOInc. in exchange for $1,745, he said.

"In the spirit of the Christmas season I'm delivering a gift tothe mining industry," Babbitt said before renewing his attack onthe 1872 Mining Act, which requires the sale of federal land formining for as little as $2.50 an acre.

Under the law, the company will be free to mine extensivereserves of copper and silver believed to be in the region withoutpaying royalties to the government.

Is Taligent venture doomed?

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -- International Business Machine Corp.and its partners plan to dismantle their Taligent Inc. softwareventure and lay off up to half of its more than 350 staff, sourcesclose to the company said Friday.

An IBM spokeswoman denied reports of Taligent's imminentclosure, but confirmed that IBM was in talks of an unspecifiednature with the other two investors in the venture, Apple ComputerInc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.

A Taligent spokeswoman said that an announcement concerning thecompany's future was expected to be made Monday.

Apple cutting prices up to 25%

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Apple Computer Inc. cut recommendedprices an average of 15 percent on six desktop computers, aimingfor more sales during the busiest period of the year.

The cuts, announced Friday, ranged from 8 percent to 25percent, with the deepest on older models. Two Power Macintosh 7200models, which have been on sale just since August, were cut 8percent to 11 percent. The move comes at what some analysts say isan unusual time -- early in the holiday season -- and may be a signof price pressure on Apple.

Merrill back in Orange County suit

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- Orange County's $2 billion lawsuitblaming Merrill Lynch & Co. for its vast investment losses has beenreinstated by a judge, a major victory for the bankrupt county.

Merrill Lynch, the nation's largest brokerage firm, had beenthe chief source of investments for the county before its $1.7billion loss, initially disclosed a year ago. The loss forcedOrange County to file for bankruptcy court protection from itscreditors. The court action came Friday.

IBM to push Internet software

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- International Business Machines Corp.said Friday it was forming a new Internet software division andadjusting its research budget in a major push into the explodingmarket of networked computing.

IBM is building on its recent $3.5 billion purchase ofnetworking software specialist Lotus Corp., and trying to takeadvantage of the fast-growing interest in the global Internetnetwork.

Merrill loses big muni bond job

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- New York City, one of the nation'sbiggest issuers of municipal bonds, Friday suspended Wall Streetunderwriting powerhouse Merrill Lynch & Co. from the city's mostlucrative bond job.

City officials said they were barring Merrill from running thebooks on New York bond sales until at least next summer, citing thefirm's role in a recent bond scandal in Massachusetts.

Merrill will still be called a senior manager on city debt, butwill receive no fees. Running the books is the most profitable postbecause it involves allocating bonds to other firms in anunderwriting syndicate. The bookrunner often keeps the meatiestportion of a deal for itself.

Kmart won't sell Canadian unit

TROY, Mich. (Reuters) -- Kmart Corp. said Friday it hasdecided not to sell its Canadian operations and will continue tooperate 127 stores across Canada.

Kmart, the nation's second-largest retailer, said it hadreceived interest from possible buyers but that it was in thecompany's best interest to retain the operation. It did notelaborate.

Northwest holds fare sale

MINNEAPOLIS (Bloomberg) -- Northwest Airlines Corp. is offeringas much as 35 percent reductions in fares through Wednesday fortravel between Dec. 14 and Jan. 7.

Tickets must be purchased at least seven days in advance andrequire a Saturday night stay. They aren't good for travel on Dec.22 and 23 and Jan. 2.

Oly: Athletics-Heptathlon results

AAP General News (Australia)
08-21-2004
Oly: Athletics-Heptathlon results

ATHENS, Aug 20 Reuters - Updated Olympic athletic results



Women's Heptathlon



100m hurdles

Heat 1

1. Michelle Perry (USA) 12.74, 2. Tiffany Lott Hogan (USA) 13.13, 3. Shelia Burrell
(USA) 13.17, 4. Carolina Kluft (SWE) 13.21, 5. Kelly Sotherton (GBR) 13.44, 6. Janice
Josephs (RSA) 13.69, 7. Michaela Hejnova (CZE) 13.82.

Heat 2

1. Margaret Simpson (GHA) 13.56, 2. Marsha Mark-Baird (TRI) 13.58, 3. Tiia Hautala
(FIN) 13.99, 4. Anzhela Atroshchenko (TUR) 14.10, 5. Shen Shengfei (CHN) 14.18, Tatyana
Gordeyeva (RUS) DNF.

Heat 3

1. Denise Lewis (GBR) 13.40, 2. Karin Ertl (GER) 13.52, 3. J J Shobha (IND) 13.53,
4. Naide Gomes (POR) 13.58, 5. Marie Collonville (FRA) 13.65, 6. Kylie Wheeler (AUS) 13.88,
7. Natalya Dobrynska (UKR) 13.89.

Heat 4

1. Claudia Tonn (GER) 13.90, 2. Yuki Nakata (JPN) 13.94, 3. Austra Skujyte (LTU) 14.03,
4. Yuliya Akulenko (UKR) 14.11, 5. Irina Naumenko (KAZ) 14.16, 6. Magdalena Szczepanska
(POL) 14.41, 7. Svetlana Kazanina (KAZ) 14.99.

Heat 5

1. Sonja Kesselschlaeger (GER) 13.38, 2. Karin Ruckstuhl (NED) 13.44, 3. Aryiro Strataki
(GRE) 13.65, 4. Svetlana Sokolova (RUS) 13.70, 5. Natalya Sazanovich (BLR) 13.73, 6. Yelena
Prokhorova (RUS) 13.84, 7. Soma Biswas (IND) 13.86



High jump

Group A

1. Carolina Kluft (SWE) 1.91, 2. Naide Gomes (POR) 1.85, 2. Marie Collonville (FRA)
1.85, 4. Natalya Dobrynska (UKR) 1.82, 5. Claudia Tonn (GER) 1.82, 6. Irina Naumenko (KAZ)
1.79, 7. Margaret Simpson (GHA) 1.79, 8. Kylie Wheeler (AUS) 1.79, 9. Yelena Prokhorova
(RUS) 1.79, 10. Austra Skujyte (LTU) 1.76, 11. Sonja Kesselschlaeger (GER) 1.76, 12. Karin
Ertl (GER) 1.73, 12. Shen Shengfei (CHN) 1.73, 14. Svetlana Sokolova (RUS) 1.70, 14. Svetlana
Kazanina (KAZ) 1.70, 16. Tiia Hautala (FIN) 1.70, Tatyana Gordeyeva (RUS) DNS.



Group B

1. Karin Ruckstuhl (NED) 1.85, 1. Kelly Sotherton (GBR) 1.85, 3. Aryiro Strataki (GRE)
1.79, 4. Yuki Nakata (JPN) 1.76, 4. Magdalena Szczepanska (POL) 1.76, 6. Denise Lewis
(GBR) 1.73, 6. Natalya Sazanovich (BLR) 1.73, 8. Yuliya Akulenko (UKR) 1.73, 9. Michaela
Hejnova (CZE) 1.70, 9. Janice Josephs (RSA) 1.70, 11. Michelle Perry (USA) 1.70, 12. Marsha
Mark-Baird (TRI) 1.70, 13. Soma Biswas (IND) 1.70, 14. Shelia Burrell (USA) 1.70, 15.

Tiffany Lott Hogan (USA) 1.67, 16. J.J.Shobha (IND) 1.67, 17. Anzhela Atroshchenko (TUR)
1.64.



Shot put

Group A

1. Denise Lewis (GBR) 15.33, 2. Carolina Kluft (SWE) 14.77, 3. Natalya Dobrynska (UKR)
14.70, 4. Shen Shengfei (CHN) 14.22, 5. Karin Ertl (GER) 13.92, 6. Yelena Prokhorova (RUS)
13.67, 7. Karin Ruckstuhl (NED) 13.37, 8. Kylie Wheeler (AUS) 13.18, 9. Shelia Burrell
(USA) 13.14, 10. Irina Naumenko (KAZ) 12.95, 11. J.J.Shobha (IND) 12.52, 12. Janice
Josephs (RSA) 12.48, 13. Marie Collonville (FRA) 12.35, 14. Soma Biswas (IND) 12.01, 15.

Tiia Hautala (FIN) 11.56, 16. Michelle Perry (USA) 11.28, Natalya Sazanovich (BLR) DNS.



Group B

1. Austra Skujyte (LTU) 16.40, 2. Naide Gomes (POR) 14.71, 3. Svetlana Sokolova (RUS)
14.61, 4. Sonja Kesselschlaeger (GER) 14.53, 5. Tiffany Lott Hogan (USA) 14.43, 6. Magdalena
Szczepanska (POL) 13.79, 7. Aryiro Strataki (GRE) 13.52, 8. Kelly Sotherton (GBR) 13.29,
9. Yuliya Akulenko (UKR) 13.15, 10. Margaret Simpson (GHA) 12.41, 11. Svetlana Kazanina
(KAZ) 12.38, 12. Anzhela Atroshchenko (TUR) 12.29, 13. Michaela Hejnova (CZE) 12.13, 14.

Claudia Tonn (GER) 11.92, 15. Yuki Nakata (JPN) 11.54, 16. Marsha Mark-Baird (TRI) 11.20,

Tatyana Gordeyeva (RUS) DNS.



REUTERS rca

KEYWORD: OLYR ATH RESULT 16

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

Vic: Police searching for motive in mother's killing

AAP General News (Australia)
04-14-2004
Vic: Police searching for motive in mother's killing

Police are baffled and a quiet neighbourhood is shattered following the ambush-style
shooting of a young Melbourne mother.

Police say a lone killer shot 33-year-old ANITA POCHOPIEN in her car in the driveway
of her home in suburban Chadstone as she returned home from nightshift at a local factory.

The woman's husband, PETER, rushed out and tried to resuscitate her, while their 12-year-old
son was inside their home.

It's believed the gunman was lying in wait for her in a light-coloured Mitsubishi Magna sedan.

The homicide squad's Detective Senior Sergeant JEFF MAHER says he is baffled by the
shooting and no motive has been uncovered at this stage.

Sergeant MAHER has ruled out any links between Mrs POCHOPIEN's death and Melbourne's
gangland killings.

AAP RTV mf/gfr/wz/rp n

KEYWORD: GUNSHOT (MELBOURNE)

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

Vic: Two killed overnight on Melbourne roads

AAP General News (Australia)
02-07-2004
Vic: Two killed overnight on Melbourne roads

MELBOURNE, Feb 7 AAP - A pedestrian and a cyclist were killed when they were hit by
cars in separate accidents in suburban Melbourne overnight.

A Brunswick man aged in his 50s died after being hit from behind by a van while cycling
in the left-hand lane of the Hume Highway at Fawkner, police spokeswoman Martine Sheppard
said.

The 29-year-old male driver of the van, from Yuroke, spoke with police after the 11pm
(AEDT) accident but no charges have been laid.

Investigations are continuing …

NSW: Gun violence on Sydney streets

AAP General News (Australia)
12-08-2003
NSW: Gun violence on Sydney streets

A daylight gun battle involving an exchange of about 50 bullets in a Sydney carpark
has been linked to a string of murders in the one family.

And police say it's lucky innocent bystanders weren't caught in the crossfire, with
one bullet passing through a car being driven by a woman with a young child.

The shoot-out in south Hurstville yesterday coincided with the murder of a man who
was struck down by bullets on the verandah of his home in the western suburb of Merrylands.

Task Force Gain detectives say although the two shootings are not related, both have
connections to previous incidents.

Detective Chief Superintendent BOB INKSTER has pleaded for an end to the madness which
he says involves a small group of criminals seeking retribution.

Police believe the gunbattle is linked to the cycle of violence which escalated in
August when ALI ABDULRAZAK was murdered gangland style after he finished praying at Lakemba
Mosque.



(EDS: Takes in keyword GAIN)

AAP RTV jo/kbw/rca/rp

KEYWORD: TAVERN (SYDNEY)

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

Fed: HIA welcomes news of home affordability inquiry

00-00-0000
Fed: HIA welcomes news of home affordability inquiry

CANBERRA, Aug 2 AAP - A federal inquiry into the escalating cost of home ownershipshould examine alternative financing schemes such as shared-equity loans, the HousingIndustry Association (HIA) said today.

HIA managing director Ron Silberberg welcomed news of a Productivity Commission inquiryinto first-home ownership.

"A comprehensive inquiry into housing costs and affordability by the Productivity Commissionis the best way to get to the bottom of the housing affordability crisis," Mr Silberbergsaid in a statement.

"Having addressed the factors impacting on the availability and cost of land and housing,it is sensible for the inquiry to examine the merits of alternative home finance schemessuch as shared-equity home loans in encouraging first-home ownership."

Earlier this week, a Commonwealth Bank-HIA report found housing affordability was atits lowest level since 1990.

AAP rmg/pw

KEYWORD: HOUSING HIA

WA: Main stories in today's West Australian

00-00-0000
WA: Main stories in today's West Australian

PERTH, Feb 20 AAP - The main stories in today's West Australian:

Page 1: Western countries including Australia could soon face suicide bombings similarto those carried out in Israel, a leading American security analyst has warned.

Page 3: The stereotype of the typical Aussie with a drink in one hand and a cigarettein the other may be a myth, according to new research.

Page 5: Tax breaks for buyers of imported four-wheel-drive vehicles will cost taxpayers$1 billion in the next eight years, according to new research.

World: A ruby reportedly worth $352 million and smuggled out of Burma has …

Fed: Clark re-elected ATSIC chairman = 2

00-00-0000
Fed: Clark re-elected ATSIC chairman = 2

Longstanding Queensland commissioner RAY ROBINSON has been re-elected deputy chairmanof ATSIC by two votes.

Mr TATTEN says Mr ROBINSON, aged 55, secured the position nine votes to seven, afterthe distribution of one round of preferences.

All 17 commissioners cast their vote, but one didn't list their preferences.

On a two-person preferred basis, Mr ROBINSON -- deputy chairman since 1996 -- was electedahead of West Australian commissioner TERRY WHITBY.

Tasmanian commissioner RODNEY DILLON was the only other candidate for the position.

AAP RTV svm/gfr/smb/rp y

KEYWORD: ATSIC ELECT 2 MELBOURNE (REOPENS)

Fed: Drought forcing numbers to offload cattle: ABS

00-00-0000
Fed: Drought forcing numbers to offload cattle: ABS

New figures suggest the drought is forcing farmers to send more cattle to slaughterand is hitting sheep numbers.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics' quarterly livestock figures show cattle slaughternumbers up 12.9 per cent in the June quarter.

More than two million cattle were sent to slaughter, with a sharp increase in the numberof cows and heifers sent to abattoirs.

The increase in slaughter numbers boosted the total amount of beef production by 14.5per cent to over 532,000 tonnes.

The bureau has also found sheep slaughter numbers jumped 5.9 per cent for the period,up more than 200,000 to 3.5 million.

For the past three quarters sheep slaughter numbers had been falling as farmers kepttheir older animals for wool production.

AAP RTV sw/rsm/rp

KEYWORD: LIVESTOCK (CANBERRA)

SA: Labor premiers to try to reform COAG process

00-00-0000
SA: Labor premiers to try to reform COAG process

The states and territories will try to reform the Council of Australian Governmentsmeeting this week, allowing them to put issues on the agenda.

South Australian Premier MIKE RANN says the states and territories -- all Labor governed-- have agreed in a phone hook-up to make a joint approach to the federal government.

Mr RANN says they're suggesting a positive change that would allow the states, notjust the federal government, to list agenda items.

Speaking ahead of the next COAG gathering in Canberra on Friday, Mr RANN says peopleare sick and tired of political point-scoring between the state and federal governments.

He says the Council of Australian Governments has the potential to become a great,co-operative and consultative forum on the national interest.

AAP RTV tjd/rt/rp

KEYWORD: COAG RANN (ADELAIDE)

NSW: State govt to consider on-the-spot fines for petty crime

00-00-0000
NSW: State govt to consider on-the-spot fines for petty crime

New South Wales Police Minister MICHAEL COSTA says on-the-spot fines for petty crimeswould significantly cut paperwork for officers.

He says the move would also stop youths getting away with low-level criminal activity.

The state government is considering a proposal from police and …

Vic: Nurses to make aged care funding an election issue = 2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-22-2001
Vic: Nurses to make aged care funding an election issue = 2

Victorian Aged Care Minister Bronwyn Pike later blamed the federal government for the
shortage of aged care beds.

She said Victoria received less funding for aged care than any other state.

Ms Pike also accused her federal counterpart Bronwyn Bishop of refusing to license
beds that were waiting to be used.

"There are places out there that have capacity desperate to get beds but Minister Bishop
has sat on her hands ... refusing to license the beds and older people have been waiting,"

she told state parliament today.

AAP bp/clr/was

KEYWORD: AGED CARE 2 MELBOURNE (REOPENS)

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

SA: Govt release draft guildelines for dump EIS

AAP General News (Australia)
04-06-2001
SA: Govt release draft guildelines for dump EIS

The federal government is on the final countdown towards establishing a low-level nuclear
waste dump.

The government has released draft guidelines for an environmental assessment of the project.

Environment Minister ROBERT HILL says the Environmental Impact Statement will examine
the preferred site, north-west of Woomera in South Australia's north, and two alternative
sites, east and north-east of the town.

Senator HILL says once the guidelines are locked in, the assessment should be completed
within a year, allowing for work on the dump to begin in 2002.

The public has until May 23 to comment on the proposed EIS guidelines.

Senator HILL says the government maintains the view the dump is a sensible and necessary
approach to the storage of low-level nuclear waste.

But he says there is still an understandable public nervousness about things nuclear.

Senator HILL says the issue is to make sure the government chooses the right site and
is using the right processes.

AAP RTV tjd/mjm/jtb

KEYWORD: NUCLEAR (ADELAIDE)

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

NSW: Raw sewage found on site of crane accident: union

AAP General News (Australia)
01-15-2001
NSW: Raw sewage found on site of crane accident: union

By Judy Skatssoon

SYDNEY, Jan 15 AAP - More than 100 workers were sent home today and will undergo hepatitis
tests after raw sewage was found at a south Sydney building site, a union spokesman said.

The worksite, at the M5 East extension in Brighton-le-Sands, was the site of a tragic
industrial accident last Friday which resulted in a crane operator losing a leg.

A Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) today spokesman said a safety
inspection sparked by the accident had uncovered raw sewage flowing under amenities …

NSW: Man who set about killing witneses jailed

AAP General News (Australia)
08-25-2000
NSW: Man who set about killing witneses jailed

A marine engineer who sought to eliminate witnesses against him in a boat fraud case
has been jailed in Sydney for at least 25 years for murdering a man and maiming a woman.

In setting a maximum of 34 years' imprisonment for 36-year-old PAUL MICHAEL OFFER,
a judge of the Supreme Court in Sydney said OFFER's crimes fell within the worst class
of case.

OFFER pleaded guilty to the shooting murder three years ago of Sydney marine electrician
RONALD MILLS and to causing grievous bodily harm to mother-of-three NAGWA GERGES with
intent to murder her.

The defendant, wearing a balaclava, had intended to kill the woman's husband, MAHER
GERGES, who was a witness in the fraud case -- but instead shot his wife in the head with
a crossbow and arrow when she answered a knock at the family's door.

Ms GERGES, who was in a coma for 34 days, suffered severe head and brain injuries.

OFFER also admitted soliciting a former workmate, who'd thought he was joking, to kill
the three witnesses -- Mr GERGES, Mr MILLS and MARK GEORGE CHAPMAN.

The judge said it seemed OFFER's appalling crimes were the result of a frantic or
panic-stricken reaction to the prospect of being tried and punished for the alleged fraud.

He said the guilty man seemed to have resorted to "drastic and fantastic" expedients
because of intellectual and personality deficits he suffered, which had been outlined
by a psychologist.

AAP RTV mss/jo/nf/sub







he judge said it seemed the appalling crimes were a "process of frantic, if not
panic-stricken, reaction" by Offer at the prospect of being tried and punished for the
alleged fraud, possibly influenced by some paranoia.

"He seems to have resorted to drastic and fantastic expedients because of the intellectual
and personality deficits described by the psychologist," he said.

They included possible brain damage following his involvement in a number of accidents,
several of which resulted in head injuries, loss of consciousness and periods of post-traumatic
amnesia, and severe depression.

KEYWORD: OFFER (SYDNEY)

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

Fed: Blue Heeler honoured for bravery

AAP General News (Australia)
04-11-2000
Fed: Blue Heeler honoured for bravery

By Jordan Baker

CANBERRA, April 11 AAP - Watch out Lassie. Whiskey, the ferocious blue heeler, is after
your wonderdog crown.

And even though he's old, fat, and increasingly stiff, there are many - including the
Australian Federal Police - who think he deserves it.

Two weeks ago, an armed robber cornered Whiskey's owner Colin Parker at his Canberra
service station. Mr Parker resisted, and the two struggled before a gun was fired.

The shot was like a red rag to a bull. Creaky old Whiskey, aged 15, went into a frenzy,
seizing the robber by the ankle and holding on for at least a minute before the intruder
fled in terror.

The Australian Federal Police today recognised Whiskey's heroism with a bravery medal,
presented by ACT Assistant Police Commissioner Bill Stoll at the scene of the crime.

But the 30kg dog probably preferred his second reward: a year's supply of dogfood.

It's the first time a dog has been awarded an ACT bravery award in living memory, but
Whiskey seemed nonplussed by the medal around his large neck and his 15 minutes of fame.

The fierce mutt suffered silently through the ceremony on a short leash, and was then
quickly corralled into a ute.

But his owner was more affected.

Mr Parker, still suffering a sprain from his struggle, credits his dog of 15 years
with saving his life.

"I'm very proud," he said.

"He's very savage. There's somebody out there with a very sore leg."

Mr Parker has owned the service station since 1987.

This was the second time in five years he has been held up. The first time, unfortunately,
Whiskey was locked up in his truck.

Commissioner Stoll congratulated both Mr Parker and Whiskey on their bravery.

"I wish we had more like Whiskey," Mr Stoll said.

"If it hadn't been for the activities of the dog in attacking and savaging the offender,
Col Parker could have been seriously hurt."

Police are still searching for the culprit.

AAP jb/mfh/bdm/bwl

KEYWORD: HEELER (WITH PIX)

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

Qld: Time for PM to act on Qld RFA, govt says

AAP General News (Australia)
01-13-2000
Qld: Time for PM to act on Qld RFA, govt says

BRISBANE, Jan 13 AAP - The Queensland government today called on Prime Minister John
Howard to intervene in the deadlocked regional forests agreement (RFA) negotiations between
the Queensland and federal governments.

Acting Premier Jim Elder said state government officers were meeting with federal bureaucrats
today, but the discussions were at a stalemate because of political games being played
by Forestry Minister Wilson Tuckey.

Mr Tuckey has repeatedly criticised the Queensland RFA proposal, but Mr Elder said
the federal minister's views should …

FED: German doctor loses bid to stop extradition

AAP General News (Australia)
08-23-1999
FED: German doctor loses bid to stop extradition

A German doctor who tried to claim diplomatic immunity today failed in a Federal Court bid
to prevent his extradition to Germany on multiple Medifraud charges.

ULRICH CHRISTOPH EBERHARD FREIHERR VON ARNIM (PRON: Fry-hair fonn Arnim) said he was
Australian director-general of the World Health Organisation and was therefore entitled to
diplomatic immunity.

But Justice ROSS SUNDBERG said documents tendered by Dr VON ARNIM to prove his position
with the World Health Organisation were unsatisfactory, and carried little weight.

The federal government had told the court it had no records of Dr VON ARNIM being
recognised as a diplomat in Australia.

Dr VON ARNIM was attempting to overturn his extradition over 45 counts under the German
Penal Code. He's now considering an appeal to the Full Federal Court.

Dr VON ARNIM is being held in prison, pending his extradition.

AAP RTV gf/er/dal/jn

KEYWORD: ARNIM (MELBOURNE)

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

QLD: Fishermen slam decision to keep them out of park

AAP General News (Australia)
04-02-1999
QLD: Fishermen slam decision to keep them out of park

BRISBANE, April 2 AAP - Commercial fishermen have slammed a state government decision to
keep them out of Lakefield National Park in far north Queensland.

Queensland Commercial Fishermen's Organisation (QCFO) president Ted Loveday said the
decision to ban them from the national park came "out of the blue" and did not involve any
consultation.

Environment Minister Rod Welford announced an immediate ban on commercial net fishing on
Wednesday, amid concerns it was killing protected species such as crocodiles and turtles.

Mr Loveday said it was a "knee-jerk" reaction following recent media articles on the
national park.

"His decision was ill-informed and ill-considered, taken with little or no understanding of
the background of this issue and with no attempt to sort out a sensible solution," Mr Loveday
said.

"It raises real concerns for all resource industries that objective and rational management
of natural resources in Queensland will be replaced by ad-hoc decisions in the Minister's
office.

"It's made even more outrageous by the fact it overturns commitments by successive
governments for the last 18 years that fishing could continue in the area."

Mr Loveday said 23 fishermen were given permits to work at Lakefield until they retired
from the industry or died, when it was declared a national park in 1981.

He said there were now only four left, raising questions as to why Mr Welford issued such a
sudden ban.

"When these concerns were raised QCFO immediately contacted fisherman working in Lakefield
National Park and commenced development of a code of practice for responsible fishing in the
area," Mr Loveday said.

"A final draft was agreed to by the fishermen on Wednesday and initial indications from the
Department were that a code of practice could be the basis of a win-win situation."

Mr Welford said he was appalled at the deaths of protected wildlife and said the decision
would not be reviewed.

"I have been informed of a number of recent prosecutions against commercial fishers for
having unattended nets and quite frankly, one infringement is too many," Mr Welford said.

"It is unfortunate that one or two bad apples have spoiled it for others."

AAP mc/trm

KEYWORD: LAKEFIELD

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

NSW: Carr to consider laws to protect lifesavers

AAP General News (Australia)
12-15-1998
NSW: Carr to consider laws to protect lifesavers

SYDNEY, Dec 15 AAP - New South Wales Premier Bob Carr today said he would consider
introducing laws to protect lifesavers from litigation in cases where people drowned on
unpatrolled beaches with warning signs.

Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) spokesman Steve Leahy earlier today said drownings at
unpatrolled beaches with warning signs could bring court action if local councils failed to
introduce appropriate safety measures.

Mr Carr said he believed laws protecting lifesavers were a reasonable proposition when
asked by reporters if he would consider them.

He denied a government water safety campaign had been introduced too late in the swimming
season, saying the program was launched today on the advice of experts.

The NSW government launched a $1 million Safe Waters campaign, involving television
commercials, a water safety grants program and a visitor education plan.

Asked if warnings on unpatrolled beaches meant they should be patrolled, and whether those
responsible for patrolling would become liable if someone drowned, Mr Leahy said: "Its not
going to be too far away before someone decides to test that theory.

"I dont think we should be locking off beaches but it certainly requires governments at
all levels to make sure appropriate safety services are in place if people are going to have
access to that coastal environment."

Six people have drowned on the nations beaches over the past four days, including two
teenagers and a man who died on an unpatrolled beach on the NSW mid-north coast yesterday.

AAP cm/tsm/bjm/br

KEYWORD: DROWNINGS LEGAL LEAD

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

VIC:Fatal stabbing in Melbourne's west

AAP General News (Australia)
02-24-2011
VIC:Fatal stabbing in Melbourne's west

MELBOURNE, Feb 24 AAP - A man has given himself up to police over a fatal stabbing
in Melbourne's west.

Police said they were called to the home at Ridley Street, Albion, about 8.30pm where
a male believed to be in his 50s was deceased.

The victim was involved in a dispute with another man before he was stabbed, police …