news bits

Corby lawyers deliver Govt's letter. 16/05/2005. ABC News Online: Prime Minister John Howard says the Government cannot interfere in the Corby case and adds that the letter does not amount to that. ... While the judges in the case have said they would examine material submitted by today, they indicated they would not consider information about airports in Australia. Mighty big play by the Government there, sending a letter when the case has moved to sentencing.
Corby judge unmoved as PM steps in - World - smh.com.au: But the chief judge in the case, Linton Sirait, said the letter would make no difference to the decision on 27-year-old Corby ... [he] said: 'We don't watch what happens in Australia. We just keep moving with what we are doing. We don't read Australian papers. We don't think it's important to follow developments in Australia.'
Girl's death sparks push for 4WD ban. 16/05/2005. ABC News Online: [The girl's father said] 'Four-wheel-drives are obviously more dangerous, I feel, than smaller cars but the wider issue to me is vehicles within school grounds. What we want to ask is why should cars or vehicles at all be driven through schools.'
Gender gap scores - World - smh.com.au: Australia ranks among the top 10 countries for closing the gender gap between men and women, a new international study shows. It comes 10th in the table of 58 nations compiled by the World Economic Forum measuring patterns of inequality.

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