Summary of Headlines July

Our Troops Abroad and at Home

Six Australian soldiers hit by bombs
SOLDIERS wounded in roadside bomb attacks in Afghanistan, ahead of today's funeral for helicopter crash victim Private Tim Alpin.


Robot shortage 'puts soldiers at risk'
AUSTRALIAN soldiers claim they are under-equipped to deal with deadly explosive devices


Afghan allies dodgy, say Diggers
AUSTRALIAN troops’ belief that their Afghan counterparts can’t be trusted is a “serious concern”.


Heroes of Fromelles set for goodbye
LOUISE Loe stared at a photograph of the face of a young Australian soldier. Beside her, marked only by a body number, lay a man's skeletal remains.


The soldier we did forget
HE lost his life in the line of duty, serving his country, but Lance Corporal Mason Edwards' family fears he is the forgotten soldier of the Afghanistan war.


Europe exec blames Australian Army
A TOP European helicopter executive has tried to blame Australian Army pilots for the grounding of a fleet of brand new choppers.


Last lost Digger finally buried
AN unknown soldier killed in Australia's bloodiest 24-hours - and then abandoned for a century - was finally reburied with dignity.


Wikileaks has 15,000 documents on standby
US Defence is assessing the damage caused by the leak of some 91,000 classified documents on the Afghanistan war.


Shrine's vandal still a puzzler
NEW photos of a man wanted over the senseless desecration of a war memorial at Rhodes have been released by police.

ALP, divided from the top down

Brumby Government's primary vote plummets in latest Newspoll
THE Brumby Government's primary vote has plummeted with the Coalition making up more ground in the polls ahead of the state election.


Miners not willing to pursue smaller tax, now for the boats
JULIA Gillard says her next priority as Prime Minister is tackling voters' asylum seeker fears.


Boat people plan is old, admits PM
Gillard yet to discuss her asylum-seeker plan with the man who matters as opposition builds.


Senior Labor figures face annihilation
SECRET polling shows state Labor is facing a near wipe-out at the next election, with seven ministers and former Premier Nathan Rees among 28 MPs likely to lose their seats.


Retail is grinding to a halt
FAMILIES are hurting more now than at the height of the global financial crisis.


Keating to Hawke: I carried you for years
BOB Hawke "missing" for years while in the top job to cope with depression, Paul Keating says.


Labor divided and imploding, starts ok
JULIA Gillard jumps to an eleciton-winning lead in poll on first day.


Labor, Greens in preference deal - report
LABOR and the Greens are about to seal a comprehensive preference deal that would boost the ALP's chances of remaining in government while helping the Greens achieve the balance of power in the Senate, Fairfax reports


First 'election' asylum boat arrives
AUTHORITIES have intercepted the first asylum seeker boat to arrive during the election campaign, just north of Christmas Island.


Archbishop stirs poll atheism fears
PERTH Catholic Archbishop Barry Hickey has suggested Julia Gillard's atheism could cost her votes.

Democracy May Be Embarrassing

Abbott's $1.5bn vow starts fake campaign
TONY Abbott ignites unofficial election race with "game-changer" $1.5 billion mental health plan.


Gore 'a pervert and sexual predator'
A MASSAGE therapist accusing Al Gore of sexual assault says he was like "a crazed sex poodle".


Time to turn on blather radar
BOTH prime ministerial aspirants will tell you this will be the most important election in Australia's history.


Sex law reform on agenda - again
A NEW move to legalise prostitution - the last one in 2001 ended with MPs sobbing in the corridors when it failed - will be made later this year by a group of Labor MPs.


Asylum seeker issue 'a killer'
IMMIGRATION Minister in damage control after admitting he's unable to control the asylum debate


Skyrocketing rates bleed you dry
STRUGGLING householders now have another costly burden to bear - higher rates.


Census groups housewives with prostitutes
INDIA'S Supreme Court criticised the country's Census for grouping housewives with prostitutes, beggars and prisoners in the survey's "economically non-productive" category, The Times of India reported overnight.


Liberals dump Chifley candidate
THE Liberal Party has dumped its candidate for the western Sydney seat of Chifley after he posted anti-Islamic entries on Facebook.


Fielding launch angers principal
FAMILY First senator Steve Fielding has been accused of using a Melbourne school as a political football.


Abbott leads Gillard in latest poll
JULIA Gillard has taken a battering in the latest opinion poll, which shows the Coalition would win the election.

Lacking Detailed Programatic Specificity

Gibson accused of jaw-dropping tirade
YOU won't believe what Gibson reportedly said to his ex when he saw what she was wearing.


New cameras deliver a fast buck
DRIVERS are about to be whacked by mobile speed cameras tipped to reap over $100 million.


TV journalist filmed naked sues hotel
HOTEL said to have given out TV reporter's room number before man filmed her through peephole.


Phone reception issues 'not just Apple'
JOBS admits "we're not perfect," offers a free case for iPhone 4 as Australian launch date revealed.


Moon find may point to habitable tunnels
LATEST images of the Moon show a giant pit which could lead to a cosy subterranean network.


Kindle sales 'higher than book sales'
ONLINE retail giant Amazon said overnight that sales of electronic books for the Kindle have overtaken hardcover book sales.


Facebook fugitive caught
THE escapee dubbed the Facebook fugitive has been caught and charged with one count of escaping lawful custody.


Schwarzenegger compares Gibson to oil leak
ARNOLD Schwarzenegger says while BP may have contained its well, "no one has figured out how to contain Mel Gibson".


Oil-eating bacteria used on spill
AUTHORITIES in China are using more than 23 tonnes of oil-eating bacteria to help clean up an oil spill in the Yellow Sea caused by a pipeline explosion and fire at the weekend, state media said overnight.


Ninjas reclaim streets
URBAN ninja mums are urging frightened women to take back the streets, feeding a revival of the ancient Japanese art of fighting.


Organiser blamed for deadly Love Parade
GERMAN authorities have accused the organiser of last weekend's Love Parade techno festival of major security breaches which may have led to the crush that killed 21 people and injured more than 500.

A Sporting Chance

World Cup ball is too perfect to fly straight
HI-TECH football is just too round to behave like others, say experts after footballers complain about it.


Folau turns back on fast cars, hot women
ONE of the highest-paid young men in Australia lives on pocket money doled out by his parents.


Greg's divorce hit me for six, says Evert
TENNIS great reveals she's still shell-shocked after the sudden end of her marriage to Norman.


Tigers probe Ben Cousin's health scare
COCKTAIL of caffeine, alcohol and sleeping pills may have caused Ben Cousins' collapse.


A goal in the last minutes of extra time has secured Spain's first ever World Cup win, 1-0 against the Netherlands.


Melbourne Storm salary fraud 'is huge'
TEAM will struggle to keep star players amid revelation the salary cap investigation "will shock".


ATO could take on NRL
THE Australian Taxation Office is preparing to launch an investigation into all NRL clubs in the wake of the Storm scandal.


Cousins the AFL's sexiest player
BEN Cousins has earned his stripes in the hunk-of-spunk stakes, being named the sexiest AFL player.


United war on vuvuzelas
THE vuvuzela - so popularly annoying in the FIFA World Cup - has been banned from Hindmarsh Stadium.


Grand Final now in the big league
THE NRL will turn this year's Grand Final week into a celebration to rival the AFL's showpiece game.


Is Gazza a goner?
SOME Geelong fans have resigned themselves to life without Gary Ablett. Others hold out hope he will stick with the Cats.

Local Rules

NSW bikie gangs planning drug turf takeover in Western Australia
THREE NSW bikie gangs are tipped to move in on West Australian turf, lured by the high price of drugs on the state's streets.


Man forced wife to choose her death
A MAN who made his estranged wife take a drug overdose will spend less than a year in prison


Sex offender wins custody of girl
HEROIN-addicted father awarded care of daughter after her mother was considered "unsuitable".


Ambulance plan is code for secrecy
THE State Government's drive for secrecy and desire to control information has intensified, with the ambulance service to encrypt its radio network next year.


'Abducted' scientist returns to Iran
AN Iranian nuclear scientist purportedly paid millions by the CIA for intelligence returns home as a blame game escalates.


AFP in mercy dash for death-row Rush
AUSTRALIAN federal police support Scott Rush's final appeal against his death sentence.


Poisoned water raises farm fears
A KEY food-producing area faces the risk of contamination after the State Government ignored warnings of the dangers of a gas project.


Power price rise shock
POWER bills are going through the roof and the number of complaints flooding the Energy Ombudsman has skyrocketed.


Nixon quits after Black Saturday saga
EMBATTLED Christine Nixon has announced she is stepping down as head of bushfire reconstruction.


Bureaucrats bend school truths
THE Education Department has misled the public over the number of school students suspended over anti-social behaviour by withholding crucial figures.