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

AAP General News (Australia)
12-30-2011
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Midday, Dec 30
Midday Round-Up: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1130

Robbery (SYDNEY)

A 32-year-old man who fired shots at police after an armed robbery has been arrested
in a tense standoff with police in Sydney's inner west.

His alleged accomplice, a 27-year-old man who was armed with a hammer, was arrested
at the Alfred Hotel on Missenden Road in Camperdown shortly after 1am (AEDT).

Assistant Commissioner MARK MURDOCH says the older man ran from the hotel down nearby
Dunblane Street before scaling a fence at the Chinese consulate.

Police allege he fired several shots as they pursued him down the street.

He was arrested shortly before 7am (AEDT) at a nearby building, after a scuffle with police.



PBS (CANBERRA)

The federal government wants to help with your new year's resolution to quit smoking.

Two new lower-strength nicotine patches will be added to the pharmaceutical benefits
scheme on New Year's Day, meaning they can be bought for as little as 35 dollars 40 a
month, and five dollars 40 a month for concessions.

Health Minister TANYA PLIBERSEK says the new patches will help smokers by giving them
further options for quitting, and will allow clinicians to tailor the way they reduce
a patient's nicotine intake.



Girl (ADELAIDE)

A two-year-old girl has died after drowning in West Lakes, in Adelaide's western suburbs.

Police say the incident occurred at about 9.30pm (CDST) yesterday near the rowing sheds
on the lakes.

The girl's death isn't considered suspicious and a report's being prepared for the coroner.



Body (ADELAIDE)

A 21-year-old man's been found dead in a reserve in Adelaide.

Police say the man's death is considered suspicious.

His body was found by a member of the public who was walking through the Dover Square
Reserve at about 11 o'clock (CDST) last night.

A post mortem examination is expected to be conducted today.



Toll Tas (HOBART)

A Tasmanian motorcyclist has died after a two-vehicle collision.

Police and emergency services are at the scene of the crash at Union Bridge Road, Sheffield,
in the state's north.

It is the first Christmas holidays road fatality in Tasmania, and the 34th nationally.



Weather ACT (CANBERRA)

The Weather Channel says Canberra went from one of its wettest years on record in 2010
to another dry one in 2011.

Despite the lack of rain, the past year turned out to be the coldest since 2000 with
the average temperature just 13.4 degrees.

The Weather Channel's chief meteorologist DICK WHITAKER says while it was cold overall,
Canberra again recorded above average temperatures, continuing the warming trend observed
across southern Australia over the past few decades.



Eve Calls (SYDNEY)

Aussies will ring in the new year with a record number of calls and texts with Telecommunications
provider Optus predicting its customers will send 76 million texts on New Years Eve, 10
million more than last year.

More than 51 million phone calls will be made mobile phones on the night while 44 million
calls will be made from home phones.

India, Vietnam and the UK are predicted to be the three most popular overseas destinations
to call this year.



UK Hawking (LONDON)

The famed British physicist STEPHEN HAWKING is seeking an assistant to help develop
and maintain the electronic speech system that allows him to communicate his vision of
the universe.

An informal job ad posted on the famed physicist's website says the assistant should
be computer literate, ready to travel and able to repair electronic devices with no instruction
manual or technical support.

HAWKING has long struggled against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that left
him almost completely paralysed.

He lost his real voice in a tracheotomy in 1985, but a wheelchair-mounted computer
helps synthesise speech by interpreting the twitches of his face.

The synthesiser's robotic monotone has become nearly as famous as HAWKING himself,
and also connects him to the internet over mobile phone networks.



Med Nightshift (LOS ANGELES)

A medical journal says working the graveyard shift should be classified as an occupational
health hazard.

VIRGINIA BARBOUR, chief editor of PLoS Medicine, says research shows that night-shift
workers' bad eating habits and disrupted circadian rhythms increase their risk of developing
obesity and type 2 diabetes.

She says employers need to take unhealthy eating very seriously, and consider what
the implications are of exposing their employees to high levels of such hazards in the
form of vending machines and fast-food restaurants.



Briefly in other news ..



Syria (DAMASCUS)

Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied again in a square near Damascus as Syrian
security forces killed 21 civilians nationwide and peace monitors spread out to areas
hit by unrelenting violence.



US Titanic (WASHINGTON)

More than five-thousand artefacts salvaged from the Titanic are to be sold in one lot
at auction in New York, 100 years to the day after the luxury liner sank in the Atlantic
with some 15-hundred people on board.



US Vote Bachmann (DES MOINES)

MICHELE BACHMANN's struggling White House bid has been dealt a major blow ahead of
the first Republican nominating contest, with the defection of her Iowa campaign manager
to rival RON PAUL.



in Finance ..



At 1124 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was UP 11.7 points at 4,082.8, while the
broader All Ordinaries Index was 13.2 points HIGHER at 4,136.3.

The Australian dollar was at 101.48 US cents, UP from Thursday's local close of 100.90 US cents.

It was at 78.80 euro cents, UP from 78.04 euro cents previously.

The price of spot gold in Sydney is $US1,549.13 per fine ounce, DOWN from Thursday's
local close of $US1554.21 per ounce.



in Sport ..



Cri Aust Squad (MELBOURNE)

Australia have added paceman RYAN HARRIS to their 12-man squad for the second Test
against India at the SCG, starting on Tuesday.

HARRIS, who is working his way back from a hip injury, replaces MITCHELL STARC, who
was 12th man in Melbourne where Australia defeated India in the first Test at the MCG.



Sail SydHob (HOBART)

NSW boat Loki skippered by STEPHEN AINSWORTH has been declared the overall winner of
the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Living Doll, from Victoria, finished second on handicap with veteran sailor SYD FISCHER'S
Ragamuffin third.



Soc FIFA (PORT-OF-SPAIN)

Former FIFA vice president JACK WARNER has claimed he was awarded World Cup television
rights for as little as $1 in return for helping SEPP BLATTER in elections for the presidency
of world football's ruling body.

WARNER said in a statement that FIFA gave him the 1998 World Cup rights in Trinidad
and Tobago for $1 after helping BLATTER win a campaign to become FIFA president.

WARNER resigned from FIFA in June to avoid investigation of his role in arranging payments
for Caribbean voters during MOHAMED BIN HAMMAM'S election challenge to BLATTER.



ENDS MIDDAY ROUND-UP

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