AAP National News Wire Round-Up for Breakfast, Aug 25Breakfast Round-Up: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AAP RTV FILE AT 0430
Democrats (BRISBANE)
The Australian Democrats appear no closer to solving their leadership woes, despitebunkering down for a party meeting in Brisbane.
Queensland Senator ANDREW BARTLETT says the next six weeks before the leadership decisionis the most crucial period in the party's history.
He's urged his colleagues to remain calm and civil in the face of the conflict, toensure a party remains when the dust settles.
Senator BARTLETT'S comments come in the aftermath of the shock appointment of interimleader Senator BRIAN GREIG, following the resignation of Senator NATASHA STOTT DESPOJA.
Senator BARTLETT says he's considering standing for the leadership himself becauseit's a crucial time for the party and if he can help keep it together he will.
Deputy leader ADEN RIDGEWAY is yet to announce whether he'll stand after being rejectedas the interim leader.
A decision on the new leader will not be made until October 5.
Bulldogs (SYDNEY)
Interim Bulldogs chief executive STEVE MORTIMER may get a chance to front the NationalRugby League board and argue the club's case for reinstatement for the finals series.
NRL chief executive DAVID GALLOP says the league will consider allowing MORTIMER totalk directly to the board following the club's unprecedented penalty for breaching thesalary cap.
The Bulldogs were docked 37 competition points on Friday night by the NRL and fined$500,000 after admitting to breaches of $1 million over the past two seasons.
The former league leaders have five days to respond in writing to the penalty.
MORTIMER says the club will appeal its punishment and says he is optimistic he willalso be allowed to personally argue the Bulldogs' case.
Iraq UN (BERLIN)
Chief UN arms inspector HANS BLIX says Iraq can avoid a military confrontation by lettingin UN inspectors but he warns that the UN's efforts are doomed if Iraq believes war isunavoidable.
BLIX has told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine he has 230 inspectors waiting for thegreen light from Iraq to begin inspecting more than 700 suspicious sites and the workcould be completed in a year.
He says if Baghdad gives the mission the green light and the results are positive it'llgive Iraq the chance to rejoin the world community and avoid war.
But BLIX says threats of a looming war might have an undesired effect on Iraqi PresidentSADDAM HUSSEIN.
He says if Baghdad gets the impression a US invasion is inevitable then the regimewill certainly not agree to allow in the weapons inspectors beforehand.
Meanwhile, Iraq has denied that members of al-Qaeda are present in the north of thecountry, saying the US has made the allegation to justify its presence in the region.
Terror Rasheed (DUBAI)
A man wanted by the FBI for alleged links to the September 11 hijackers has been detainedby Saudi authorities.
SAUD ABDULAZIZ SAUD AL-RASHEED father says he surrendered voluntarily to the InteriorMinistry on Thursday.
The FBI issued a bulletin on Tuesday night, seeking the immediate arrest of SAUD AL-RASHEED.
ABDULAZIZ AL-RASHEED says he wanted his son to go to the ministry because he was confidentof his innocence.
He denies the FBI accusations against his son, saying he is a peaceful person who hasnothing to do with terrorist networks.
UN Earth (JOHANNESBURG)
Diplomats are holding last-ditch talks in Johannesburg in a bid to rescue the loomingEarth Summit.
Police have approved nine marches during the 10-day World Summit on Sustainable Development,which starts on Monday.
The diplomats, representing more than 30 countries, are meeting behind closed doorsin a bid to resolve crucial disagreements on a plan produced at the first Earth Summitin Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
It aims to reconcile economic development, social progress and protection of the environment,seen as the three pillars of sustainable development.
A major disagreement is over objectives for poverty relief, which the European Unionsays are indispensable but which the US refuses to endorse.
Liberals Vic (MELBOURNE)
Deposed Victorian Liberal Party leader DENIS NAPTHINE will reportedly be given thestate and regional development portfolio when the new state shadow cabinet is announcedtoday.
The Sunday Herald Sun says Dr NAPTHINE has agreed to serve under new leader ROBERT DOYLE.
It says Mr DOYLE will keep former deputy leader LOUISE ASHER in her present portfolios,including industry and employment, but will bring in at least four new faces.
Meanwhile, a new poll has found Mr DOYLE rates more highly than his predecessor, butVictorians still prefer Premier STEVE BRACKS by a two to one ratio.
The Sunday Herald Sun says the McNair Research poll found 63 per cent preferred Mr BRACKSas premier, while 29 per cent preferred Mr DOYLE -- up from former opposition leader DENISNAPTHINE'S rating of 13 per cent.
Afghan journalist (SYDNEY)
The journalist who broke The Australian newspaper's story on the origins of asylumseeker ALI BAKTIARI has been killed in Afghanistan.
The New Zealand freelancer died in a car accident which also left a correspondent fromthe Spanish news agency EFE injured.
A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force says ALISTAIR MCLEOD diedafter his vehicle attempted to avoid another but hit an obstacle and rolled over.
The Australian's Editor in Chief, CHRIS MITCHELL, has praised Mr MCLEOD'S bravery intackling the trip from Kabul to Charkh and Chaper.
China Floods (DONGTING LAKE)
Water levels in China's Dongting Lake have risen further, threatening to flood itssurrounding area and devastate millions of lives.
Water levels in the city of Yueyang, off its northern shores in Hunan province, creptup seven centimetres overnight to nearly 35 metres.
To the south at Yiyang city, levels rose by five centimetres to nearly 32 metres.
Parts of the lake are already nearly three metres past dangerous levels.
A senior official quoted by the state news agency warns that even modest rain, forecastin the next few days, could greatly worsen the situation.
Germany Floods (BERLIN)
Thousands of Germans have worked through the night to reinforce dykes along the Elberiver as experts say they expect the floods at the mouth of the river to start to subsidenext week.
About 30,000 people are in emergency housing in Germany after being forced to leavetheir homes and officials say 26 people have died as a result of the floods.
Experts say the regions of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, where water levels havestarted to drop, remain at the highest risk of more damage being caused by the floods.
BRIEFLY ...
Prime Minister JOHN HOWARD will host a meeting of state and territory Liberal leadersnext month in a bid to improve the party's performance at a state level.
Prime Minister JOHN HOWARD has officially launched the main event of the Year of theOutback in the Northern Territory.
Indian police say Islamic militants have killed 10 Muslim civilians by slitting theirthroats then shooting them in Indian Kashmir.
The trial of three Islamic militants, charged with murdering 12 people in a car bombattack outside the US consulate in Karachi, has started.
An Israeli-Palestinian arrangement to ease Israel's military grip on Palestinian areashas stalled following renewed violence and the failure of joint security talks on furtherIsraeli pullouts.
A psychiatric patient who escaped from a Sydney hospital where he was detained afterkilling his father with a tomahawk in 1998 has turned himself in to police.
AND IN SPORT ...
LEAGUE CAP GALLOP (SYDNEY)
National Rugby League chief executive DAVID GALLOP wants NRL auditors to have the authorityto scrutinise players' tax returns to avoid a repeat of the Bulldogs' salary cap scandal.
The Sunday Telegraph reports GALLOP is seeking the measure under tough new NRL rulesto ensure players' earnings equal what clubs claim they are being paid in the wake ofthe Bulldogs' $500,000 fine and loss of 37 competition points for cheating the NRL salarycap.
SWIM PAN PACS (YOKOHAMA)
Australia took a 4-1 gold medal lead over the US in the gold medal tally on day oneof the Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama, Japan.
The Australian men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relay teams recorded a historic doubleas they beat out their American rivals while IAN THORPE won the men's 400m freestyle andJENNIFER REILLY took out the 400m individual medley title.
AFL POLL (MELBOURNE)
A new poll has found a majority of Victorians would approve of moving the AFL grandfinal interstate if two non-Victorian teams were involved.
The Sunday Herald Sun newspaper reports the poll by McNair Research, conducted thisweek, found 51 per cent approved of the move, while 45 per cent disapproved.
ENDS BREAKFAST ROUND-UP
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