AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, Dec 15

AAP General News (Australia)
12-15-2009
AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Evening, Dec 15
EVENING ROUND-UP: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 1630


ELECTRICITY ABBOTT (SYDNEY)

TONY ABBOTT has partly blamed the federal government's planned ETS for news that electricity
prices in New South Wales are to be jacked up by more than 60 per cent.

The Opposition Leader says KEVIN RUDD'S emissions trading scheme will be a financial
burden for Australians.

Electricity customers in New South Wales have just been told they could be paying up
to 900 dollars more a year for power by 2013.

The forecast .. and recommendation .. has come from the state's Independent Pricing
and Regulatory Tribunal.

Mr ABBOTT's seized on the news as an indication of what Australian consumers will face
.. should the federal government's emissions trading scheme be adopted.



SUMMIT ACTIVISTS (SYDNEY)

Security at Sydney's Opera House is under review .. after Greenpeace activists scaled
it today to place a climate change protest banner.

The banner .. unfurled by two men and three women .. demanded that world leaders bring
in a climate treaty now.

The five have been arrested.

New South Wales Opposition Leader BARRY O'FARRELL says the stunt raises serious questions
about security at Sydney tourist destinations.

And .. Danish police have tear-gassed protesters .. arresting more than 150 of them
.. after they set alight barricades outside a tent at the summit in Copenhagen.



KISS MOTHER (SYDNEY)

The mother of four-year-old boy who was kissed and given a lollipop by a stanger in
a Sydney McDonald's says her son hasn't been the same since.

The mother says she also hasn't been able to eat .. since her four year-old son was
kissed on the mouth by the man at the fast food restaurant in Drummoyne on Saturday night.

Police believe the same man may be responsible for two similar attacks .. one on an
11-year-old boy later that night .. and another on a nine-year-old girl outside a McDonald's
in Cowra .. in the state's central west .. this morning.



REEVES (SYDNEY)

Former doctor GRAEME REEVES has been granted continuing bail after being charged with
a further 52 offences .. including sexually assaulting patients.

The 59-year-old's already facing a NSW District Court trial in March in relation to
17 other similar charges.

He's appeared in Sydney's Parramatta Local Court today charged with the new offences
.. which cover periods from 1989 to 2004.



LAURENCE (PERTH)

Tropical Cyclone Laurence is packing destructive 165 kilometre winds as it tracks closer
to the West Australian coast .. but is expected to weaken.

The category three cyclone is moving south-west at eight kilometres an hour .. and
has been traversing the Kimberley coastline as it tracks in a south-westerly direction.

Meanwhile .. three people are dead after a tropical cyclone battered Fiji .. causing
flooding .. damaging homes and power lines .. and forcing thousands of villagers to flee
to shelters.



RBA MINUTES (SYDNEY)

The Reserve Bank says it raised interest rates .. two weeks ago .. because rates are
too low for an economy that's expanding again.

But it says the decision was finely balanced .. as members weighed up developments
in the domestic and international economy .. and the potential blow to confidence that
another rate rise might have.

Meanwhile .. builders have started work on over 34 thousand new residential homes in
the three months to September .. a 9.4 per cent increase on the previous quarter.



EXPLOSION (CANBERRA)

Three men have been seriously injured following an explosion at healthcare company
Stericorp in northern Canberra.

The cause of the explosion is still being investigated .. but emergency crews say a
box full of small aerosol cans was being compacted at the time.



NEWSPOLL OFARRELL (SYDNEY)

New South Wales Opposition Leader BARRY O'FARRELL says the state government is rotten
to the core .. despite the elevation of KRISTINA KENEALLY as premier.

Mr O'FARRELL was speaking after the latest Newspoll was published today .. showing
primary support for the state government is at 26 per cent .. compared with the coalition's
44 per cent.



US FARGO (NEW YORK)

Two US banking giants have announced they'll repay their government bailout loans ..

freeing them from close regulatory scrutiny and marking the latest step toward recovery
for the financial system.

Citigroup will repay 21.82 billion dollars .. while Wells Fargo will repay the 27.27
billion dollars it received.



ITALY BERLUSCONI (MILAN)

Doctors treating Italian Prime Minister SILVIO BERLUSCONI say he has severe headaches
and difficulty eating .. after a second night in hospital following an attack which left
him with a broken nose.

They say he won't be able to return to work for ten days .. and has also cancelled
a trip to the Copenhagen climate summit.



EDELSTEN (MELBOURNE)

Flamboyant entrepreneur GEOFFREY EDELSTEN says he has a cut hand and a sore knee ..

after his helicopter crashed today on his first solo flight.

He says he's otherwise fine following the crash at Melbourne's Moorabbin Airport this morning.



RSPCA (BRISBANE)

An RSPCA inspector investigating a cattle dog that reportedly had no food .. no shelter
and had been tied to the same spot for months .. has found the deprived pooch was actually
a concrete statue.

The incident is just one of several of the 20-thousand customer service centre calls
the Queensland RSPCA branch gets a month.

Another hysterical caller was inconsolable after seeing an injured blue tongue lizard
at a driveway .. which an inspector found to be a rolled up newspaper.



BRIEFLY IN OTHER NEWS . . .


PEIRCE (MELBOURNE)

KATIE PEIRCE .. the daughter of murdered underworld figure VICTOR PEIRCE .. has been
found dead .. apparently from a drug overdose.



ROYALS WILLIAM (SYDNEY)

Prince WILLIAM will visit Australia next month .. he'll be in Sydney and Melbourne
from January 19 to 21.



RATINGS NSW (SYDNEY)

Talk station 2GB has finished 2009 with a significant lead over its competitors ..

ahead of the ABC's 702 and Radio 2UE .. largely thanks to breakfast king ALAN JONES.



OFFICER (BRISBANE)

A police officer's shot himself in the leg at a training range in southern Queensland.



IN SPORT . . .


CRICKET AUST (PERTH)

Injured Australian paceman PETER SIDDLE has been ruled out of the third Test against
the West Indies starting at the WACA Ground tomorrow (Wednesday).



SAIL SYDHOB (SYDNEY)

Sydney to Hobart line honours challenger Alfa Romeo has secured a psychological boost
over rival maxi Wild Oats XI with victory in the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour.

The New Zealand-based maxi secured the win after Wild Oats' spinnaker failed to fully
open two-thirds of the way through the race, handing Alfa Romeo a crucial advantage.



GOLF WOODS (ORLANDO,Florida)

Resting golfer TIGER WOODS has won much-needed backing from the head of his key sponsor
Nike .. whose chairman says the current media storm will blow over eventually.



ENDS EVENING ROUND-UP


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