AAP National News Wire Round Up for Evening, Dec 4

AAP General News (Australia)
12-04-1999
AAP National News Wire Round Up for Evening, Dec 4
EVENING ROUND-UP: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1630

SCI MARS (PASADENA)

There's still no signal from the Mars Polar Lander, with NASA scientists waiting nervously
for confirmation the spacecraft has landed safely on the red planet.

The Lander was due to send out a radio signal about 7.30am AEDT confirming its touchdown.

The problem with the $A250 million spacecraft could be as simple as a mispointed antenna.

But NASA fears it could be a crash landing or a catastrophic failure during the descent
through the Martian atmosphere.

Just 10 weeks ago, the Polar Lander's sibling spacecraft, the $A190 million Mars Climate
Orbiter, burned up in the planet's atmosphere because of an embarrassing failure to convert
navigation data into metric units.

GUATEMALA EXPLOSION (GUATEMALA CITY)

Two petrol trucks have exploded in a Guatemalan port, killing at least 13 people and
wounding more than 200.

The explosion's occurred in the port of Santo Tomas de Castilla, about 300 kilometres
north-east of the capital, Guatemala City.

Firefighters say the accident happened when the trucks collided, causing petrol to
spill and catch on fire.

PAKISTAN CHILDREN (LAHORE)

Pakistani police say they've searched a house in Lahore where they've found the bodies
of two children, after a man claimed he'd murdered 100 beggars.

Police are also hunting the man, who wrote an anonymous letter to police claiming he'd
dissolved his victims' bodies in acid.

The man, who police have since named as JAVED IQBAL, claims he killed the beggars and
runaway children in revenge for his arrest and treatment by police over child abuse charges.

In the house, police have found an album containing photographs of dozens of children
IQBAL claims he's murdered.

INDON ACEH (PANDRAH KANDEH)

The exiled leader of the separatist movement in the troubled Indonesian province of
Aceh has marked the group's 23rd anniversary by calling on Acehnese to be ready to fight
for freedom.

In a brief message read at a rebel military ceremony in North Aceh, TENGKU HASAN DI
TIRO has also warned of the treachery of the Indonesian government.

Calls have been mounting in Indonesia's westernmost province for a referendum on self-determination,
and the rebels have given the government until today to make a decision on holding a ballot.

WTO FAIL (SEATTLE)

Ministers from the 135-nation World Trade Organisation will end their meeting in Seattle
without achieving their goal of setting a detailed agenda for launching a new round of
trade liberalisation talks.

Diplomats from Asia, Europe and Latin America say the United States and the WTO will
release a brief statement declaring an end to the meeting.

But they won't issue an extensive communique, as they'd hoped.

CHECHNYA (MOSCOW)

Russia's war machine is set to extend its advance in central Chechnya after tightening
the noose around the capital Grozny.

But the Russians are meeting increasing resistance from separatist rebels.

Federal troops aim to seize the last major separatist-held centre in the area, Urus-Martan,
seal off Grozny and send their forces against the main rebel stronghold in the mountainous
south.

But Russian television says there've been fierce clashes with rebels in Argun, and
more fighting is likely in Urus-Martan and in Grozny if the Russians decide to storm the
city.

SAILORS (SYDNEY)

Two Canadian sailors missing since last night off the coast of Sydney have been found
safe and well.

Police say the men were found by water police near Little Marley Beach just south of
Botany Bay at 12.10pm.

The men, in Australia to compete in the World Sailing Championships next week, were
on board a 20-foot tornado class yacht.

It's not yet known what happened to their boat or why they failed to return from their
training run yesterday.

CESSNA (BRISBANE)

Police say the search for a missing light plane which crashed in the Gulf of Carpentaria
last week killing six people will be suspended tonight if no further debris is found.

The Cessna 206 left Mornington Island on November 25 in bad weather for a 240km flight
to Normanton on the Queensland mainland.

Using solar scanning equipment on a ship, searchers have luggage and other items this
week in waters around Sweers and Bentinck islands, southwest of Mornington Island.

But no bodies or plane wreckage have been found.

PASTA (MELBOURNE)

The Leggo's food company is recalling its 350 gram stir-through pasta sauces because
of the possiblity of glass fragments in the jars.

The recall, likely to involve hundreds of thousands of jars, covers all five varieties
of the 350 gram pasta sauces carrying use-by dates up to and including November, 2001.

Customers can return the sauce to the place of purchase for a full refund. New stock
is expected to be available after Christmas.

HILL LAND (SYDNEY)

Federal Environment Minister ROBERT HILL has accused Queensland Premier PETER BEATTIE
of not delivering on his promise to halt land clearing.

Senator HILL says Mr BEATTIE is trying to pass the buck to the Commonwealth Government,
rather than taking responsibility for his own state.

He says Queensland must follow the lead of the other states by regulating land clearing
and funding it iself.

Senator HILL says 80 percent of land clearing in Australia takes place in Queensland.

COSMETIC (BRISBANE)

Australian Medical Association Queensland president BERES WENCK says competitions offering
cosmetic surgery as prizes are shoddy and irresponsible.

Dr WENCK made the comments after Queensland health minister WENDY EDMOND condemned
the practice after news of a Gold Coast golf tournament luring players with offers of
a penis extension or breast enlargement.

She says the AMA would support any legislation which banned such competitions.

US WONDER (WASHINGTON)

Motown music legend STEVIE WONDER, who's been blind since birth, has sought out doctors
at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in hopes that a new medical procedure might give
him sight.

He's been told he might not be a good candidate for the experimental procedure, called
intraocular retinal prosthesis, but doctors haven't ruled him out.

The surgical procedure involves placing a computer chip on the retina and stimulating
cells that haven't completely deteriorated.

BRIEFLY......................................................

The British government has announced an independent inquiry into a children's hospital
that allegedly kept the internal organs of 800 dead children without the knowledge of
many parents.

The Victorian government will spend $22.5 million over four years to tackle pollution
in bay areas caused by urban stormwater drains.

SPORT........................................................

TENNIS DAVIS (NICE, France)

Australian captain JOHN NEWCOMBE says he's expecting tonight's doubles rubber in the
Davis Cup tennis final against France to be a torrid encounter.

Australia and France are locked at one match all after the first day, with MARK PHILIPPOUSSIS
crushing SEBASTIEN GROSJEAN in straight sets and CEDRIC PIOLINE overcoming a dogged LLEYTON
HEWITT 7-6 7-6 7-5.

No team has won the Davis Cup final without winning the doubles since 1977.

SURF WORLD (SUNSET BEACH, Hawaii)

Sydney surfer LAYNE BEACHLEY has capped off her second consecutive world title with
a win in the final event of the season the Roxy Pro at Sunset Beach in Hawaii.

The 27-year-old turned on a brilliant performance in the solid eight foot waves to
defeat the Gold Coast's TRUDY TODD by one and a half points.

BEACHLEY went into the event holding a hefty world championship lead over her nearest
rival SERENA BROOKE and clinched the title when the Queenslander was knocked out in the
quarter finals

SWIM US (SAN ANTONIO, Texas)

Australia has won two more gold medals at the United States Open swimming championships
in Texas, with world champion MICHAEL KLIM and unheralded GRANT MCGREGOR starring.

KLIM won the 100-metres butterfly in 52.90 seconds, a new US Open meeting record while
MCGREGOR blitzed a star-studded field in the 400-metres individual medley in four minutes:19.52
seconds to become the fourth fastest Australian in the event of all time.

ENDS BULLETIN
AAP RTV/rp

KEYWORD: EVENING ROUND-UP

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