AAP General News (Australia)
04-21-2005
AAP Backgrounders and Analyses for weekend of April 23/24/25
AAP BACKGROUNDERS AND ANALYSES FOR THE WEEKEND OF APRIL 23/24/25
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.
ANZAC:
MELBOURNE - Everyone who knew him back home in Australia thought the young soldier
Harold Ramsay had been killed in an attack on a Japanese convoy in 1944. Melbourne buro
reporter Kate Lahey meets Mr Ramsay as he reflects on a war which he says has no winners.
(Anzac Ramsay, about 800 words with pix, on file).
ISTANBUL, Turkey - If the Allies' downfall at Gallipoli was caused by indecisive leadership,
Turkey's strength was the fearless inspiration of its commander Mustafa Kemal.(Anzac Ataturk,
about 470 words, on file.)
ISTANBUL, Turkey - Gallipoli was the making of three nations.(Anzac Turkey, about 580
words, on file.)
HOWARD SPRINGS, NT - They called themselves the second Anzacs.
They were soldiers from Australia and New Zealand who were thrown together by chance
on the island of Crete during World War II. (Anzac Parrott, about 400 words, on file.)
LONDON - Granny Corby's prayers were finally answered and at long last her son can
be laid to rest, 87 years after he was killed on the battlefields of France.(Anzac France.
(Anzac France, about 690 words, on file.)
SYDNEY, AAP - War widow Olwyn Green began researching her husband's life as a soldier
to heal the past and perhaps stop idealising him.(Anzac Green, about 840 words, on file.)
CANBERRA - For the diggers storming across the beaches and up the craggy hills of the
Gallipoli peninsular, the whole idea was to get to the other side and knock Turkey out
of the war. (Gallipoli Aim, about 970 words. on file.)
CANBERRA - Just about everyone had dysentery, trillions of flies grew fat on human
waste and decaying corpses, and death visited hourly by bullet, bomb or debilitating illness.
(Gallipoli, 1352 words, to come).
ADELAIDE - Ninety years on, the legend of Gallipoli - in which thousands of young Australians
charged naively into an ill-fated battle - retains a central place in the nation's psyche,
and some historians still wonder why. (Anzac Gallipoli SA, about 690 words, on file.)
LONDON - Alexander Hamilton believes Australians with a sound understanding of what
happened at Gallipoli 90 years ago do not blame his great uncle for the tragedy which
cost more than 11,000 Anzac lives. (Anzac Hamilton, about 540 words, on file).
LONDON - Australians and New Zealanders will this week remember the sacrifice and courage
of their forebears at Gallipoli 90 years ago but few will realise that far more British
soldiers died in the ill-fated campaign.(Anzac UK, 620 words, on file).
PERTH - Frail, blind and wheelchair-bound, Australia's oldest surviving World War I
veteran Peter Casserly still recalls the day in 1917 that he sailed for France, dropping
a bottled note to his mother overboard into the Indian Ocean as he departed. (Anzac Casserly,
about 600 words, on file.)
BRISBANE - By their admission, you wouldn't compare it to the Garden of Eden and you'd
be hard pressed to figure out the attraction.(Anzac Pandanus, 650 words, on file)
SYDNEY - Gallipoli seems to mean more to Australians now than at any time since the
ill-fated Anzacs first clambered onto Turkish soil nine decades ago. (Anzac Preview, about
1080 words, on file.)
SYDNEY - A stained glass church window from Australia will be unveiled in North Borneo
this weekend to commemorate the 60th anniversary of one of the darkest episodes of World
War II, the Sandakan death marches.(WWII Window, about 620 words, on file).
SYDNEY - Of the 330,000 Australians who fought in World War One, only three remain.
(WWII Veterans, about 420 words, on file.)
NEWS:
BRISBANE - Good bloke or bible bashing bastard. Crackpot or canny political visionary.
The jury will always be out on Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen. (JOH backgrounder, 703 words by
Steve Connolly - JOH OBIT, factbox and other pieces ready to go in event of his death)
MELBOURNE - Two women on opposite sides of the world, both on life support - one with
a husband who wants her dead, the other with a husband who desperately wants her alive.
Melbourne buro reporter Jamie Duncan examines the fascinating similarities between the
cases of Melbourne woman Maria Korp and US woman Terri Schiavo. (Korp, about 600 words,
file pix, to come Friday)
BRISBANE - Wrap on latest on Dr Death saga, 600 words, to come)
CANBERRA - An icy blast from the past or the steady breeze the Catholic Church needs
to meet the declining moral standards of the 21st century? (Pope Aust, about 670 words,
on file.)
SYDNEY - Should Australian authorities have allowed nine young drug trafficking suspects
to fly home from Indonesia before swooping, thus eliminating the grisly prospect of nine
deaths by firing squad? (Indon Drugs, about 540 words, on file.)
JAKARTA - For death row inmates in Indonesia, execution usually comes on a deserted
beach or remote jungle at the hands of a paramilitary firing squad. (Indon Execution,
about 420 words, on file.)
CANBERRA - The model train set - painstakingly assembled with hills and dales and plastic
trees - is gathering dust in the basement as Australia embraces the age of the mighty
truck. (Rail,, about 800 words, with graphic, to come)
CANBERRA - The intellectual battle in Australia was won on the nation's farms and mines
two decades ago. (Trade Britain, about 1084 words, to come)
TOKYO - He came, he saw - he almost conquered. (Howard, about 500 words, to come)
CANBERRA - Three days before the November 2001 federal election acting defence chief
Angus Houston made a fateful phone call to his minister Peter Reith. (Houston, 1123 words,
on file)
CANBERRA - In the jargon-filled world of trade, words are bullets. This week, Australia
took some friendly fire from John Howard. (Newscope Federal, about 900 words, to come)
SYDNEY - Writer and poet Kate Llewellyn's gardening memoir celebrates the simple things
of nature but asks serious questions: how to live wisely, alone and with old age (Llewellyn,
650 words, to come)
SYDNEY - Disney's animation studio's in Sydney have survived a major downsizing of
overseas operations by the US company. (Disney Sydney, about 800 words, to come.)
LOS ANGELES - It is not surprising Walt Disney's priceless collection of animation
memorabilia is hidden in a discreet concrete unsigned building in the middle of Los Angeles
suburbia. (Disney Library, about 700 words with pix, to come.)
FINANCE:
SYDNEY - The success of jobs website Seek Ltd's float this week begs the question:
is the future for internet advertising so strong and should its newspaper rivals be shaking
in their shoes? (SEEK, about 600 words, to come)
MELBOURNE - Asia is likely to become a hub of gambling over the next decade as countries
seek to attract more tourists and create jobs through casinos. (Asian Gaming, about 1000
words, to come)
SYDNEY - Spooked by the threat of rising interest rates, a growing number of home-buyers
are locking themselves into fixed rate loans but many, especially on lower incomes, remain
vulnerable. (Rates,about 800 words, to come with graphics)
SYDNEY - For Gigi Hayden, the key to ethical investment is written in her desk calendar.
(Ethical Investment, 685 words, to come with factbox)
SPORT:
SYDNEY - Player formguide to the rugby league Test between Australia and New Zealand
at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on Friday night: (League Test Guide, 1350 words, on file)
SYDNEY - Sleazy sex videos, the Hitler-style salute, the cocaine addiction, the drugs
ban. (Soccer Bosnich Sportsfeature, 625 words, on file)
SYDNEY - Inspired by the support he received during a marathon drive across Australia,
world-ranked super middle boxer Danny Green is chasing a third bout with nemesis Markus
Beyer and a fight with local rival Anthony Mundine before he returns to rugby league.
(BOXING GREEN SPORTSFEATURE, About 600 words, to come)
MELBOURNE - Behind the unparalleled sporting career of Lance Armstrong is the woman
who calls herself "barracuda mommy". (CYCLING ARMSTRONG SPORTSFEATURE, about 800 words,
to come)
HONG KONG - Grand Armee and Elvstroem lead the Australian assault on Sunday's $HK14
million ($A2.33 million) QEII Cup. (GALLOPS HONG KONG SPORTSFEATURE, about 800 words,
to come from Senior Correspondent Mike Hedge)
BRISBANE - The long-running Cold War between Brisbane's two metropolitan race clubs
could finally be over after an historic joint venture arrangement announced by the Queensland
Government. (Gallops Merger Backgrounder, 800 words, on file)
TO come:
Medical column, CHECKUP;
Oddities;
Quotes;
Milestones.
AAP bwl/br
KEYWORD: WEEKEND READS
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