AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Breakfast, Feb 12

AAP General News (Australia)
02-12-2011
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Breakfast, Feb 12
BREAKFAST ROUND-UP: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 0430


EGYPT PROTESTS (CAIRO)

Egypt's HOSNI MUBARAK has resigned as president and handed control to the military.

The president .. who survived 10 attempts on in his life over three decades of rule
.. bowed out after a historic 18-day wave of unrelenting pro-democracy demonstrations
by hundreds of thousands .. and finally more than a million people.

The news came in a brief statement from a grim-looking Vice President OMAR SULEIMAN
on national TV.

Power in Egypt now rests with the Armed Forces Supreme Council.

A massive crowd in Cairo exploded into joy .. and people waved Egyptian flags .. honked
car horns and let off celebratory shots in the air around the city of 18 million.

Earlier .. protests had spread from Tahrir Square to the state television building
and MUBARAK'S palace .. as he left with his family for the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh
.. and a report came in that police and protesters in the Sinai had clashed violently.

Within seconds of the news of MUBARAK's resignation .. US stocks on Wall Street were
up .. rebounding from earlier slight losses to solid gains.



CLIMATE GILLARD (SYDNEY)

JULIA GILLARD is reportedly planning to put a price on carbon emissions from July next
year .. with News Limited papers saying a multi-party climate change committee will be
presented with the proposal for the plan.

The scheme is to introduce the price for three or four years .. before an emissions
trading scheme comes into force.

The federal government appears to be planning that sensitive industries .. like the
coal and electricity sectors .. are compensated when the carbon price begins .. a move
that could likely to upset the Greens .. federal Labor's minority government partner.

The federal opposition opposes an emissions trading scheme.



ASSANGE (LONDON)

WikiLeaks founder JULIAN ASSANGE will hear in 12 days if a judge has ruled in favour
of his extradition to Sweden.

After three days of legal argument .. Judge HOWARD RIDDLE told ASSANGE to report back
to Belmarsh Magistrates Court in London on February 24 .. with officials saying the judge
is expected to give his decision on that day.

ASSANGE is facing a Stockholm request for extradition from Britain over rape allegations.

In closing arguments in ASSANGE'S extradition case .. lawyer GEOFFREY ROBERTSON attacked
Prime Minister FREDRIK REINFELDT'S comments .. saying the Swedish leader created a toxic
atmosphere in a small country.

Last night .. a letter delivered to KEVIN RUDD in Brisbane by JULIAN ASSANGE's mother
CHRISTINE has demanded Foreign Minister make representations to Sweden to halt the extradition
proceedings against her son.



HOSPITALS (CANBERRA)

The federal government has abandoned its plan to become the major funder of Australian
hospitals .. after Liberal state premiers refused to hand over any of their GST to pay
for it.

Prime Minister JULIA GILLARD's new proposal to split funding responsibility with the
states and territories has immediately been labelled a humiliating backdown by the opposition.

But doctors and health experts have welcomed a greater focus on community healthcare
delivered outside of hospitals.



ELECTRICITY NSW (SYDNEY)

The New South Wales government says if the opposition reverses the sale of the state's
power assets .. it'll leave them open to compensation claims worth billions of dollars
from the private companies involved.

In a debate on ABC television last night .. shadow treasurer MIKE BAIRD indicated a
coalition government would consider reversing December's sale of the state's power assets.

The state government has sold three previously publicly-owned electricity retailers
and the right to trade the output of two generating companies.



LIU FITZGIBBON (SYDNEY)

Former federal defence minister JOEL FITZGIBBON says claims about him raised during
a court case in Sydney are misleading and untrue.

The claims were aired in businesswoman HELEN LIU's NSW Supreme Court legal battle ..

including that Mr FITZGIBBON was on her payroll and that he had an affair with her sister
QUEENA.

Ms LIU is suing The Age newspaper and Fairfax journalists RICHARD BAKER .. PHILLIP
DORLING and NICK MCKENZIE.



RIOTS (DARWIN)

Five Iranian asylum seekers have been remanded in police custody .. with a group of
11 facing two separate courts in Darwin today after a series of scuffles at a detention
centre.

Eleven asylum seekers .. aged from 14 to 30 .. have appeared in the Darwin Magistrates
Court this afternoon charged in relation to possessing weapons as detainees.



DUTCH PHOTO (AMSTERDAM)

A South African photographer's portrait of an Afghan woman .. whose husband sliced
off her nose and ears in a case of Taliban-administered justice .. has won the World Press
Photo award for 2010.

JODI BIEBER'S posed picture .. which contrasts the woman's arresting beauty against
the results of the violence done to her after she fled an abusive marriage .. was published
on the cover of Time magazine on August 1.



CUNDALL (HOBART)

ABC presenter PETER CUNDALL has been found guilty in a Hobart court of failing to comply
with a police direction .. over an anti-pulp mill protest.

83-year-old CUNDALL was among 57 people arrested outside Parliament House in 2009 ..

during a protest against a proposed pulp mill in the Tamar Valley in the island's north.

CUNDALL had argued that his arrest impinged upon the implied constitutional right to
freedom of speech.



BRIEFLY IN OTHER NEWS ..



DENGUE (CAIRNS)

Authorities are warning of a dengue fever outbreak in cyclone-affected north Queensland
.. as an influx of volunteers and workers enter the region to help communities recover.



PAKISTAN STRIKE (KARACHI)

Pakistan's state-owned airline has grounded all flights .. stranding thousands of angry
passengers as an employee strike stretched into a fourth day without any sign of negotiations.



SHOT (MELBOURNE)

Victoria Police have charged a man over a shooting death at a farm at Kerang in northern
Victoria.



SEX PARTY (MELBOURNE)

The Australian Sex Party says it's disappointed after being prevented from sponsoring
a greyhound race in Victoria.



IN SPORT ..



SOCCER AL (ADELAIDE)

Adelaide United clinched third spot on the A-League ladder after disposing of arch
rivals Melbourne Victory 2-1 at Adelaide Oval last night.

Adelaide will have an elimination final next weekend against either Wellington or Newcastle.

The Victory face an elimination final against Gold Coast United.

In tonight's last-round games Melbourne Heart host Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar return
to their flood-damaged home to welcome Gold Coast.



AFL CUP (ADELAIDE)

Melbourne had the perfect start to their AFL pre-season with consecutive victories
in the new three-team format in Adelaide last night.

The Demons downed the Crows by ten points and Port Adelaide by nine .... Adelaide then
thumped Port by 32 in the last mini-game.

The action moves to Docklands tonight feature Carlton .. Richmond and Collingwood.



LEAGUE TRIALS (SYDNEY)

Manly enjoyed an 18-0 NRL trial victory over Cronulla at Brookvale last night ....

DAVID WILLIAMS scoring two tries in his first game in more than a year.

Wests Tigers beat North Queensland 22-10 in pouring rain in Townsville.

Melbourne Storm took on two Queensland Cup sides .... Ipswich and Brisbane Easts ....

and the Storm won with a combined score of 34-10.



MOTOR V8 (ABU DHABI)

Holden's JAMIE WHINCUP has easily won the V8 Supercar season opener in Abu Dhabi.

WHINCUP led from start to finish to beat Ford driver ALEX DAVISON by a whopping 13
seconds in Friday night's 200km race.



ENDS BREAKFAST ROUND-UP


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