AAP Backgrounders and Analyses for the weekend of Dec 9/10

AAP General News (Australia)
12-08-2006
AAP Backgrounders and Analyses for the weekend of Dec 9/10

AAP BACKGROUNDERS AND ANALYSES FOR THE WEEKEND OF DECEMBER 9/10

(EDS NOTE - Stories already on file will be repeated Friday morning. For further information
please contact AAP news editors on (02) 9322 8610 or 9322 8611.)

SUVA - Wanted: Applicants for ministerial positions in Fiji's military government. No
experience necessary, retirees welcome. Previous occupants need not apply. (Fiji Backgrounder,
by Peter Williams, about 1,280 words, with pix, on file)

CANBERRA - In one of his more printable quotations, Mark Latham used to say that politics
was showbiz for ugly people. (Newscope Federal, by Maria Hawthorne, about 730 words, on
file)

CANBERRA - The government's boast of its solid economic management credentials could ring
a bit hollow when the country goes to the polls next year. (Economy Backgrounder, by Colin
Brinsden, 708 words, on file)

- Aviation Traffic backgrounder will not be moved this week.

MELBOURNE - Victoria is bracing for one of its greatest bushfire threats, with fears of
a repeat of the state's deadliest fires - Black Friday in 1939 and Ash Wednesday in 1983.

(Bushfires Vic Newsfeature, by Charisse Ede, about 640 words, with graphic, on file)

BRISBANE - Like a punch drunk boxer, Pauline Hanson can't stay away from the political
ring. (Hanson Backgrounder, by Steve Connolly, about 870 words, on file)

BRISBANE - To chase or not to chase? Yet another death this week stemming from a high-speed
police pursuit has inevitably raised the question and fuelled debate. (Chase Backgrounder,
by Jade Bilowol, about 880 words, on file)

PERTH - Blackmail and intimidation, secret phone calls, hidden agendas and shady dealings
between politicians, public servants and private powerbrokers. (Burke Newsfeature, by
Adam Gartrell, about 970 words, on file)

NEW ZEALAND - Melissa George has cracked Hollywood. (George Film Feature, by Erin McWhirter,
about 840 words, with pix, on file)

SYDNEY - The fledgling fashion designers had more on their mind than just cutting edge
clothes in the lead up to the Tantrum fashion parade. (Tantrum Feature, by Katelyn John,
about 670 words, with pix, on file)

SYDNEY - Fairfax Media has thrown down the gauntlet with its Rural Press takeover, challenging
Rupert Murdoch and other media heavyweights to take the company on, rather than take it
over. (Media Backgrounder, by Rhys Haynes, about 1,080 words, on file)

SPORT:
CRICKET
SYDNEY - A series of England cricket captains have taken up arms and travelled in hope
to Australia only to find that war was not to their liking after all. (Ashes Flintoff
Sportsfeature, by Senior Sports Writer John Coomber, about 1,270 words, on file)

SWIMMING
BRISBANE - Even a swimmer with the hunger for his sport of Grant Hackett needs success
to sustain him. (Swim Aust Sportsfeature, by Tom Wald, about 1,140 words, on file)

RACING
SYDNEY - Prominent bloodstock agent James Bester's training career has been launched by
the pending comeback of the injury-plagued Dante's Paradiso, a horse he part-owns. (Gallops
Bester Sportsfeature, by Russell Jackson, 640 words, on file)

HONG KONG - It would be reasonable to imagine that the fall which almost cost Shane Dye
his life in June this year might have altered his view off the racing world. (Gallops
Dye Sportsfeature, by Mike Hedge, about 720 words, on file)

ROUTINERS ON FILE:
* Quotes
* Milestones
* Oddities
* Checkup column

AAP br/nf

KEYWORD: WEEKEND READS UPDATED

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.