Major News Items in Leading Nigerian Newspapers

Following are major news items in leading Nigerian newspapersTuesday.

New Nigerian:

Nigerian Federal Government has given approval to the NationalPopulation Committee to conduct another census in 2001, according toChris Ugokwe, chairman of the Committee.

Nigerian telecommunication company has restated its commitmenttoward facilitating high-speed access to Internet services in thecountry, bringing the nation in line with happenings across theglobe.

The Guardian:

The Federal Government of Nigeria is believed to have set up acommittee of legal experts, technocrats and politicians to work onthe 1995 Draft Constitution preparatory to its publication for publicscrutiny.

Daily Times:

Commonwealth ministers will meet in London in October to discussthe best approach to take on Nigeria, following recent developmentsin the country.

A shadowy Islamic group, which has claimed responsibility for bombattacks on the United States embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam,has issued a list of demands, calling for the departure of theAmerican force from Saudi Arabia and the release of detained Islamicmilitants.

NSW: Former church and now theatre caught fire overnight

AAP General News (Australia)
08-11-2004
NSW: Former church and now theatre caught fire overnight

A fire broke has broken out in a former central Sydney church which is now used to
house small theatre productions.

New South Wales police say the fire in the single story Kent Street theatre broke out
last night about 9 pm (AEST), but was brought under control by firefighters before midnight.

No-one was injured in the blaze which investigators believe started in the rear of
the building and progressed up to a ceiling rafter.

Investigations are continuing.

AAP RTV swe/mj

KEYWORD: CHURCH (SYDNEY)

2004 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Detectives will solve gangland killings, police boss

AAP General News (Australia)
04-01-2004
Vic: Detectives will solve gangland killings, police boss

MELBOURNE, April 1 AAP - Victoria's top crime fighter said today he was confident detectives
would solve Melbourne's bloody underworld murders, despite another high-profile killing
last night.

Assistant commissioner Simon Overland said the Purana taskforce, set up in May last
year to investigate gangland killings, was making progress despite the underworld war
claiming its 23rd victim.

Crime family patriarch Lewis Moran was gunned down as he sat in one of his favourite
haunts, the Brunswick Club in Sydney Road.

His associate Herbert Wrout was also shot and remains in a critical condition in hospital.

"We have made progress," Mr Overland told ABC radio.

"We have a better understanding of what's going on than we did in May last year.

"We are making progress but that said, we still have some way to go.

"We are hoping this will stop ... we will get to a stage where we will be able to prosecute
other people but it's going to take us some time to get to that point."

Moran, 58, of Essendon, and Wrout, 62, of Brunswick, were shot as they sat at the Brunswick
Club about 6.35pm yesterday.

Moran died at the scene.

Wrout was wounded and taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital where a hospital spokeswoman
today said he remained in a critical condition.

Wrout and Moran were co-accused on charges of trafficking amphetamines, hashish, ecstasy
and pseudoephedrine.

Moran's death follows that of his son Jason, who was murdered with associate Pasquale
Barbaro in June last year, and his stepson Mark Moran, who was shot dead in 2000.

It also comes just a day after reputed underworld hitman Andrew Veniamin was buried
after being shot in a Carlton restaurant last week.

Purana detectives will today resume their search for witnesses to last night's shooting.

They are searching for two balaclava-clad men, who entered the Brunswick Club just
after 6.30pm yesterday.

They have appealed to people who were inside the club at the time of the shooting,
or anyone outside or on a passing tram to contact police.

AAP kh/gfr/tma/br

KEYWORD: GANGLAND POLICE DAYLEAD

2004 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Qld: Liberals' last man standing

AAP General News (Australia)
01-16-2004
Qld: Liberals' last man standing

By Paul Osborne, State Political Correspondent

HERVEY BAY, Jan 16 AAP - He's the Liberal Party's last man standing in Queensland.

Liberal leader Bob Quinn leads a parliamentary team of one into the Queensland election
on February 7.

The Liberals were decimated in Premier Peter Beattie's landslide victory in 2001.

They were left with just three MPs, two of whom have decided to retire at this election.

But Mr Quinn refuses to get down about his lone ranger status.

Senior Liberals have suggested rather than aim for government this time …

Qld: CMC won't have bar of credit rorts

00-00-0000
Qld: CMC won't have bar of credit rorts

By Paul Osborne

BRISBANE, Aug 29 AAP - Queensland's corruption watchdog has called for tougher corporatecredit card rules after council officials spent money on topless waitresses and a governmentexecutive paid for family outings.

The rorts were revealed in the Crime and Misconduct Commission's report, Answeringthe Charges, tabled in state parliament today.

The report said a mayor and seven senior officials of an unnamed regional council hadused corporate credit cards for payments to a topless bar, staff farewell functions, tipsand gifts for staff leaving the council.

Not only did much of the spending go without reimbursement but the council also ratifiedit in the knowledge it was private expenditure.

The report also said an unnamed state government chief executive officer used a corporatecredit card to pay for social outings for his family and the family members of his staff.

He reported on his expense claim that it was for official business and asked staffto corroborate his story.

The officer was charged with official misconduct but was only disciplined because ofhis previously unblemished record.

The report, by CMC misconduct prevention officers Ray Bange and Sharon Hayes, saidwhile a number of card use policies existed, changes were needed.

Not tightening the areas of documentation, training, verification, reporting of misuseand acting on allegations could leave the system "open to potential fraud and misuse ofofficial resources", the report said.

Premier Peter Beattie said today the government had a tough code of conduct for theuse of credit cards and breaches were minimal.

Mr Beattie said out of 285,000 transactions worth $50 million in the past year therewere only 44 breaches, many of which were unintentional, such as late lodgement of records.

AAP pjo/sc/cjh/bwl

KEYWORD: CREDIT QLD

Qld: Police locate missing baby boy, one charged

AAP General News (Australia)
04-20-2003
Qld: Police locate missing baby boy, one charged

BRISBANE, April 20 AAP - A baby abducted from his parent's home at Ipswich on Friday
night was found safe and well today.

The baby, four-month old Jonathan Daniel Loza, disappeared from his home in Alice Street
in the Ipswich suburb of Silkstone at around 10.30pm (AEST) on Friday.

Police began searching for a girl, believed to have been a babysitter, after a pram,
baby clothes and baby food were also taken from the house.

Police said they were concerned for the welfare of Jonathan after revealing he suffered
from severe asthma and a chest condition which required surgical treatment.

However they said when he was found today at another house in Riverview he was in good condition.

He was taken to the Ipswich Hospital where doctors gave him the all clear to be reunited
with his anxious parents.

Police said a 17-year-old girl had been charged with the abduction of a child under
16 and would appear in the Ipswich Magistrates Court next Wednesday, April 23.

AAP jfs/ge/de

KEYWORD: LOZA NIGHTLEAD

2003 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Woman stabbed in central Melbourne

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Vic: Woman stabbed in central Melbourne

MELBOURNE, Feb 7 AAP - A woman was stabbed several times in an altercation in Melbourne'scity centre early today.

Police said the woman was apparently stabbed by a man outside an office building nearthe corner of Bourke and Church Streets about 8am (AEDT).

An ambulance spokesman said the 30-year-old …