AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Breakfast, April 27

AAP General News (Australia)
04-27-2006
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Breakfast, April 27
Breakfast Round-Up: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 0430


Kovco Body

The body of the first Australian soldier to be killed in Iraq was supposed to arrive
in Melbourne this morning .. but in an extraordinary bungle somewhere along its journey
.. the wrong body has been returned.

Macquarie Radio reports family and friends of Private JAKE KOVCO were at Melbourne
Airport waiting for his body .. which is due to be given a service in Gippsland with full
military honours.

But somehow the shipment's become confused .. and the coffin that arrived in Melbourne
had the wrong body in it.

At this stage it's unclear where the mix-up occurred.



Mine (MELBOURNE)

The search for three men trapped deep underground in a Tasmanian gold mine has entered
its second day.

A rock fall at the Beaconsfield Gold Mine .. in the state's north .. trapped the miners
about on Tuesday .. and plans last night included using a digging machine fitted with
a camera.

West Tamar mayor BARRY EASTHER says the men are trapped in a very delicate area of
the mine and .. if they survived the initial collapse .. there's a chance they're still
alive.



Medibank Consumers (SYDNEY)

A consumer group wants revenue from the federal government's sale of Medibank Private
to be pumped into the public hospital system .. and preventative health care.

The Australian Consumers' Association says the planned sale gives the government the
chance to inject some badly needed funds into the health system.

Health Minister TONY ABBOTT and Finance Minister NICK MINCHIN announced the sale of
Australia's largest health fund yesterday.

They also announced an expansion of hospital cover to include outpatient and out-of-hospital
services .. as well as chronic care management for conditions such as diabetes and asthma.



Smartcard (CANBERRA)

Business leaders and civil libertarians have raised concerns about the introduction
of a new smart card.

The federal government announced plans to introduce the card yesterday .. with JOHN
HOWARD saying the card will save taxpayers three billion dollars over the next decade
.. cracking down on fraud.

But Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief PETER HENDY says that while that's
laudable .. the card could become the basis of a future national identity card.

And .. he says such a card would be intrusive and costly to business.

Australian Council for Civil Liberties president TERRY O'GORMAN says the card will
infringe the right to privacy .. and raises security issues.



AWB (SYDNEY)

The AWB inquiry resumes today .. after allegations emerged an Australian trade official
had close links to the Jordanian company used by the wheat marketer to funnel 300 million
dollars in kickbacks to SADDAM HUSSEIN's regime.

OTHMAN AL-ABSI .. who's general manager of the trucking company Alia .. has revealed
to the ABC's 7.30 Report .. the firm's officials were often in contact with AYMAN AYYASH
.. a former Austrade representative in Jordan.

Mr AYYASH now works for West Australian mining firm Gippsland Limited.

And in a separate interview on SBS's Dateline program .. Mr AL-ABSI said he told an
Australian government solicitor about the meetings with Mr AYYASH .. in February this
year.

The Cole inquiry resumes in Sydney today .. after a two-week break.



Egypt Blast (CAIRO)

Twin suicide attacks targeting security personnel have rocked northern Sinai near the
Gaza Strip .. two days after triple bombings killed at least 18 people in a resort further
south.

The only casualties in the attacks were the bombers themselves.



ASTRA (SYDNEY)

Channel V's JAMES MATHISON is officially the most popular male personality on Australian pay TV.

MATHISON took out the gong last night at the annual ASTRA awards held at Sydney's Fox Studios.

Voted best female person on pay TV was ERIKA HEYNATZ for hosting the Australia's Next
Top Model series.



BRIEFLY IN OTHER NEWS ...



Sydney police are searching for a man who threatened a security guard with a pistol ..

in the maternity ward of Auburn hospital .. in the city's west.



Qantas is increasing its fuel surcharge because of high crude oil and jet fuel prices
.. by five dollars on domestic flights .. ten dollars for trans-Tasman journeys .. and
an extra 23 dollars for international trips.



Desperate Housewives star TERI HATCHER has been injured .. after a light bulb exploded
on the show's set .. sending shattered glass into her right eye .. scratching the actress'
cornea.



AND IN SPORT ...



Cricket Aust Daylead (DHAKA)

Australia has wrapped up its one-day series against Bangladesh in the second game of
the three-match series .. with a 67-run victory at Fatullah Stadium yesterday.

It's followed Australia's four-wicket triumph in Chittagong last Sunday.



AFL Tribunal (Melbourne)

Collingwood will decide this morning whether to take BRODIE HOLLAND's one-match striking
suspension to the A-F-L tribunal.

HOLLAND received the ban for striking Essendon captain JAMES HIRD in the last quarter
of Tuesday's Anzac Day match.

Last night, the tribunal cleared Fremantle midfielder MATTHEW CARR of umpire contact,
saving him a $2400 fine.

But it upheld a two-match striking ban against Adelaide midfielder BRETT BURTON.



Soccer Aust Cahill (SYDNEY)

Socceroo TIM CAHILL is a doubtful starter for the World Cup in Germany after it was
revealed the Everton midfielder's knee injury is worse than first feared.

Scans have shown the 26-year-old faces six weeks on the sideline after sustaining a
partial tear of the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee after a collision with
Birmingham's DAMIEN JOHNSON in an English Premier League on Saturday.

With Australia's first match of the World Cup against Japan on June 12 just over six
weeks away, CAHILL'S participation is in major doubt.



ENDS BREAKFAST ROUND-UP

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