Highlights of the AAP National Wire at 15:30, Dec 13

AAP General News (Australia)
12-13-1998
Highlights of the AAP National Wire at 15:30, Dec 13



SYDNEY - Australian Olympic organisers today angrily denied allegations by a senior
International Olympic Committee official (IOC) that IOC members were bribed during Sydneys
successful bid for the 2000 Games. (OLY BRIBE AUST. See also OLY BRIBE ATLANTA, OLY SCANDALS.)



SYDNEY - Up to 20,000 coal miners across Australia will strike for 48 hours from midnight
tonight in protest against a cut in the price of coking coal. (COAL)



CANBERRA - An Australian woman who ran through the agony of a cracked vertebrae
and three broken ribs to escape an airline crash in Thailand said today she was only now
coming to terms with how close she and her two compatriots came to death. (THAI CRASH AUST
MCNAMEE. See also THAI CRASH AUST MUM, THAI CRASH AUST SHARROCK. N/L to come.)



CANBERRA - Seventy per cent of Australian employers believed junior wages were crucial to
their decision to employ young people, a new survey backing the retention of the wages has
found (WAGES to come - EMBARGOED)



SYDNEY - Almost 80 per cent of tyres on Australians roads are incorrectly inflated, posing
a major threat to safety, a national survey has found. (TYRES SAFETY. See also TYRES, TYRES
VIC)

SYDNEY - The last words Craig Witherspoon told his mother before setting out on a
commemorative motorcycle ride yesterday were "watch out for me on the news". (BIKER MUM to
come.)



BRISBANE - Serial bank robber and jail breaker Brendan Abbott will remain in a maximum
security unit to protect the public, the Queensland government said today, despite claims his
detention breached international humanitarian conventions. (ABBOTT)



BRISBANE - Surgeons used fruit juice bottles filled with sand as makeshift traction weights
and identified their patients with baggage tags in the aftermath of the Papua New Guinea
tsunami. (TSUNAMI)



SYDNEY - Investors are expected to seek more details this week from National
Australia Bank Ltd chief executive Don Argus on the banks threat to move offshore unless the
big bank federal anti-merger policy is removed. (BANKS)



SYDNEY - Share prices may sustain further losses tomorrow, the Australian dollar is likely
to be under more pressure as commodity prices continue to fall, but the main focus for
financial markets will be the central bank. (MARKETS PREVIEW)



ADELAIDE - England suffered a dramatic batting collapse against Australia at
Adelaide Oval here today to be bowled out for 227 in its first innings in the third cricket
Test. (CRICKET ENGLAND. N/L, VIEW to come. See also CRICKET BRIBES)



MELBOURNE - Craig Parry and Nick Price have the International team on target to win the
Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Melbourne. (GOLF PRESIDENTS)



more

KEYWORD: HIGHLIGHTS NATIONAL DEC 13 1998

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