NSW: Sartor downplays threat to New Year's Eve celebrations=2

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NSW: Sartor downplays threat to New Year's Eve celebrations=2

"It's been a tough year for lots of people," Mr Sartor said.

"The drought, the bushfires, the Bali thing has dampened some spirits ... it's (turnout on the night) expected to be slightly down."

However, Mr Sartor said he still expected hundreds of thousands of people to watchthe firework shows from vantage points around the city.

This year's firework shows at 9pm and midnight will be accompanied by music and famousquotes from people such as Shakespeare.

Artistic director Leo Schofield said the firework show had been designed around thetheme of world unity and would be more theatrical than previous years.

Mr Schofield said he expected Global Village, a free three-day world music event inHyde Park to be extremely popular.

The line-up for the event was very impressive, with several international bands beingflown to Sydney, he said.

However, one of the headlining acts, a Cuban band named Bamboleo, has been pulled atthe last minute due to troubles with the Cuban government.

Global Village runs from December 30 to January 1 and will showcase over 35 musical acts.

AAP kn/nw/sb

KEYWORD: TERROR EVE SARTOR 2 SYDNEY

NSW: Police target car hoons in Sydney's south

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NSW: Police target car hoons in Sydney's south

Dozens of police officers are tonight involved in a special operation targeting anti-socialbehaviour by car hoons in the Sydney's south.

Police say more than 70 officers, staff from the state's Roads and Traffic Authority,police helicopters and sniffer dogs have been deployed in the operation at Brighton.

It will continue until 2am (AEST) tomorrow.

A similar operation was carried out in Brighton last month, resulting in a large numberof traffic infringement and vehicle defect notices issued.

AAP RTV as/pc

KEYWORD: HOONS (SYDNEY)

NSW: 31-year-old man takes children hostage at NSW school

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NSW: 31-year-old man takes children hostage at NSW school

EDS: Closes off earlier story

SYDNEY, April 9 AAP - A 31-year-old man is in police custody after holding childrenand a teacher hostage in a classroom at a northern NSW primary school.

Police said the man, armed with a knife, entered the classroom at Kootingal PublicSchool, north of Tamworth, around 3.10pm (AEST).

"He held about 10 children and a teacher hostage," a police spokesman said.

Staff members at the school evacuated the other children during the half-hour siege.

"Police attempted to negotiate with the man before two officers entered the room andthe man was arrested around 3.30pm," the spokesman said.

No one was hurt during the incident, he said.

He said the man was taken to Tamworth Police Station for questioning.

About 200 children and parents were reportedly taken to the school oval afterwardsfor a debriefing by police.

A Department of Education spokesman said counselling had been organised for the studentsand staff.

AAP rk/arb/ldj/sb

KEYWORD: SIEGE LEAD

Fed: Family baffled by Aust man's disappearance in Spain

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Fed: Family baffled by Aust man's disappearance in Spain

By Charisse Ede

MELBOURNE, Jan 16 AAP - Brothers of an Australian man who vanished from a Spanish train12 days ago have joined local authorities in their bid to find him.

Thomas Powell, from Melbourne, was last seen drinking at a bar on an overnight traintravelling from Algeciras to Madrid on January 4.

The alarm was raised when the 26-year-old failed to collect his rucksack when the trainarrived at Madrid, or make his booked flight to London, where he was due to return towork as an accountant.

A Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said Australia's ambassador to Spain, …

NSW:Celebrity hairdresser charged with indecent assault

AAP General News (Australia)
08-30-2001
NSW:Celebrity hairdresser charged with indecent assault

SYDNEY, Aug 30 AAP - Celebrity hairdresser Eddie Azzi has been charged with indecent
assault against three females, a court has been told.

Azzi, 40, whose plush salon in the Sky Gardens Shopping Centre is used by top models
and actors, did not appear at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court today.

According to the charge sheet, Azzi is accused of five charges of indecent assault
against three women between February last year and June this year.

His counsel told the court Azzi, who is on bail, did not appear for today's proceedings
because of the waiting media outside the court.

Magistrate Mary Jerram ordered Azzi to appear at the next hearing set for September 21.

The hairdresser recently won a high profile case against the Sky Garden centre in Pitt
Street who wanted to evict him before the end of his lease for renovations.

AAP dmc/bd/arb/bwl

KEYWORD: AZZI

2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Qld: Cattlemen fined over diseased cattle

AAP General News (Australia)
04-12-2001
Qld: Cattlemen fined over diseased cattle

BRISBANE, April 12 AAP - Two interstate Jersey cattle breeders have been fined thousands
of dollars for moving cattle infected with deadly Johne's disease into Queensland from
NSW and Victoria.

Department of Primary Industries' district stock inspector, John Zigterman, said Goondiwindi
magistrate Gordon Dean imposed fines and costs in excess of $16,500 on the offenders last
week.

William Henry Adams, Glenn Alexander Adams, both of Kialla via Shepparton in Victoria
and Adthorp Pty Ltd, of which Glenn Adams was a director were penalised for moving the
infected cattle.

Mr Zigterman said they were charged over the transporting of 32 Jersey cattle, suspected
of being infected with Johne's Disease, from New South Wales to Queensland in 1999.

William Adams was also charged with entering false information on a certificate of
health relating to stock introduced into Queensland.

Mr Zigterman said the Goondiwindi court was told that animals infected with Johne's
Disease suffered chronic weight loss and eventual death, and there was no cure.

The disease was present in at least 15 per cent of Victorian dairy herds and was estimated
to cost Victorian beef and dairy industries $7.5 million per year.

AAP jfs/hu/sb

KEYWORD: BREEDERS

2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

GM gives $3M to Stanford School of Engineering

Carolyn Liu
University Wire
01-25-2001
(The Stanford Daily) (U-WIRE) STANFORD, Calif. -- General Motors announced Monday that it will provide the Stanford University School of Engineering with $3 million over three years for a new work-systems lab.

The lab, which will incorporate about 20 faculty, will utilize cutting-edge information technology to develop new products and services as well as to improve customer relations and business strategies.

"People go to work every day and use their know-how, information and tools to produce products and services," said Larry Burns, vice president of GM Research & Development and Planning. He added that Internet technology and other math-based tools offer "tremendous opportunities" for researchers to create quality services and goods at greater speed and efficiency.

"As the focus of our work shifts from atoms to bits, we're going from manipulating physical things like steel and aluminum to working with sophisticated virtual models," Burns continued. "Stanford is at the heart of much of this new technology."

Management Science and Engineering Prof. Arthur Veinott, who will be co-directing the new lab, shared Burns's enthusiasm for the work systems innovations the funding will enable.

"Our students and faculty are excited about the opportunity to work with GM engineers and scientists to create ideas and technologies that may help to shape the development of work systems in the 21st century," he said.

Gary McDonald, director of the Enterprise Systems Lab at GM's Research & Development Center in Michigan, will be directing the lab with Veinott. McDonald said that GM has "targeted improved work systems as one of our key strategic technologies" and emphasized the importance of joint work between GM and Stanford.

"We can leverage our experience and the resources we have [at GM] by collaborating with Stanford in this area," he said. "We expect that the research of their students and faculty will help us to develop ways to improve GM's future work systems."

Burns agreed. "Innovation networks such as this partnerships will function as incubators for new ideas," he said. "The fastest way to deliver innovation to market is to work together."

Management Science and Engineering chair Elisabeth Pat-Cornell said that the department was "honored to host the new lab," that would further its mission to develop knowledge and technologies for strategic planning, organizational design and operations management.

GM has funded similar labs in other areas at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Jiaotong University in Shanghai, China.



(C) 2001 The Stanford Daily via U-WIRE