Stand-off in Bangkok as an opposition deadline passes for the Thai Prime Minister to resign. Is the US President’s trip to Australia off, and if it is, does it matter? Israel’s PM expresses regret for the latest announcement about settlement construction, but the White House is still not impressed. And an unprecedented report on the threat to Australia from climate change, with suggestions that it’s a response to sceptics, rejected.
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Opposition protesters in Thailand are tonight massed outside an army base where the country’s prime minister is holed up. A deadline set by the demonstrators for his government to stand down passed this afternoon. The Prime Minister has refused to resign and there are fears the stand-off could end in violence.
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There is growing speculation that US President Barack Obama’s trip to Australia may be cancelled altogether. His chief adviser has refused to confirm that the visit - already postponed - will go ahead. The President is embroiled in a crucial battle over healthcare reform. It remains unclear what the White House will do if health legislation still hangs in the balance at the end of this week.
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Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has described the ill-timed announcement of a new settlement building program in Jerusalem as an unfortunate incident. The announcement made during last week’s visit by American Vice-President Joe Biden has plunged relations with the US to a new low. But the Prime Minister has given no indication that he’s prepared to cancel the project that would see 1,600 houses built for settlers.
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The Israeli military says it’s arrested the founder of Hamas in the West Bank in a raid in the town of Ramallah. 47-year-old Maher Uda has been on Israel’s most wanted list for over a decade. He’s accused of involvement in a number of suicide bombings and the deaths of 70 people. A Hamas official has accused the Palestinian Authority - led by the rival Fatah faction - of helping Israeli security forces make the arrest. There’s been no official comment yet from the Palestinian Authority.
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Iraq’s Prime Minister has called on the country’s political parties to withdraw accusations of fraud and vote-rigging, as initial results from last week’s parliamentary elections place him in the lead. While the count is far from over, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law alliance is ahead in 7 of Iraq’s 18 provinces - that includes 2 of its 3 biggest constituencies. But anxious politicians have criticised Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission for delaying several results, adding to fears the vote’s been rigged.
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A report by two of Australia’s leading science agencies says the country is already in the grip of climate change. An unprecedented joint CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology study published today has found that climate change is real and is linked to human activity. The Bureau denies it’s a response to recent negative reports on global warming.
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At least three people have been killed - and a number of others are feared buried - after an avalanche struck a snowmobile race in the Canadian province of British Columbia. As many as 200 people were thought to have been watching the snowmobile race, but they are believed to have escaped the avalanche.
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has visited Haiti for the second time since the country’s devastating earthquake in January. He’s met President Rene Preval to discuss international aid efforts, with shortages of shelter and growing violence.
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Colombians have gone to the polls in congressional elections, in what’s being seen as a barometer for the presidential election due at the end of May. Current president Alvaro Uribe will stand down after serving two full terms as leader. But his coalition is aiming to keep its majority in Congress. The front-runner in the race to replace him is former defence minister, Juan Manuel Santos, who has vowed to maintain Uribe’s fight against left-wing rebels and drug cartels.
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The Federal Government has announced a $630 million plan to respond to the nation’s doctor shortages. Thousands of additional GPs and specialists will be trained over the next decade. It’s one of a series of announcements which the Government will make as part of its revamp of public hospital funding.
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Moscow has reacted angrily to a fake report on Georgian television claiming that Russian forces had invaded. One Russian politician called it an "immoral provocation" intended to stoke anti-Russian sentiment. And the fallout continues in Georgia, where the opposition is claiming the broadcast that caused widespread panic was a state-sponsored stunt.
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Voters in regional elections in France have delivered a blow to the centre-right UMP party of President Nicolas Sarkozy. Initial results have the opposition Socialists winning up to 30% of the vote, leading the governing UMP by around 4% in the first round of the regional poll.
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Fiji’s northern islands have been hit by a powerful tropical storm. Cyclone Tomas has been classified a category four cyclone, packing winds of around 170km/h. It’s damaged houses and crops, forcing thousands of people, including Australian tourists, to flee to evacuation centres. Meanwhile, authorities say another cyclone over the Coral Sea poses no immediate threat to the Queensland coast. Cyclone Ului has been downgraded from a category five storm to a category four, but there are warnings of gale-force winds and high swells in the area tomorrow.
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Some Aboriginal leaders have criticised Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, for having branded as tokenistic the practice of acknowledging traditional owners at official government functions. Coalition colleagues have also attacked the practice as paternalistic and insincere.
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A federal inquiry into one of Australia’s worst oil spills has begun in Canberra. It happened off the north coast of WA last year. A commission is investigating how millions of litres of oil spilled from the Montara wellhead platform in the Timor Sea in August 2009. It will also examine how the leak was managed as well as its environmental impact.
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Water Minister Penny Wong has unveiled a $100 million tender to buy back water in western Queensland to improve the health of the Murray-Darling Basin. It takes in the giant, cotton-growing Cubbie Station. But the Government won’t say whether it’s negotiating with the owners. The station can use as much as 500,000 megalitres of water a year - as much as that held in Sydney Harbour.
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Animal liberationists have bared some skin in Canberra to raise awareness about the skinning of seal pups. The protest was staged outside Canada’s embassy as part of a global day of action aimed at ending the country’s annual hunt. The activists say more than 300,000 harp seals were killed in Canada last year, most of them under three months old and many skinned alive.
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In the United States, Toyota technicians and federal investigators have been unable to recreate the situation in which a Prius sped out of control and was unable to stop. It comes after an incident on a Californian motorway last week which saw a Prius reach speeds of more than 140km/h, reportedly due to a faulty accelerator pedal. The findings of the draft congressional memo have raised questions about the driver’s version of events.
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British Airways will cancel hundreds of flights next week as cabin crews begin strike action. The dispute is over the airline’s plan to cut crew numbers on long-haul flights in order to reduce costs. In a further twist, the Labour Government has condemned the strike action by the Unite trade union, which is one of Labour’s biggest donors. Flights to and from Australia will not be affected, although connecting flights out of London may be at risk.
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The US State Department has issued a new travel warning for all parts of Mexico, due to the increase of drug-related violence. The warning comes as many American university students are set to travel south of the border for their annual spring break holiday.
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What is the potential for the protests in Thailand turning violent? CNN’s Dan Rivers in Bangkok has the latest on that developing situation. He says all eyes are on the Red Shirts.
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A dog with expensive taste has caused chaos in a small jewellery store just outside Washington DC after swallowing a $20,000 diamond. Soli the labrador ate the very expensive treat when a diamond dealer accidently dropped the 3-carat rock on the floor as it was being valued. After consulting a vet, nature took its course and the diamond was cleaned and returned to its owner.
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David Beckham’s dream of playing at this year’s FIFA World Cup could be over after the England midfielder suffered a serious injury in AC Milan’s Serie A clash against Chievo this morning. The 34-year-old is reported to have ruptured his Achilles tendon in his side’s 1-0 win, which will likely rule him out of England’s squad for South Africa. Elsewhere, Roma was held at Livorno and Palermo went down to Udinese. Juventus drew, as did Bologna, while there were wins for Parma, Bari and Genoa. But at the San Siro, it was a bittersweet day for AC Milan.
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Two more goals from Wayne Rooney have sent Manchester United back to the summit of the English Premier League, with a 3-0 win over Mark Schwarzer’s Fulham last night. Manchester City left it late to rescue a point against Sunderland in its chase for a Champions League place, but at Old Trafford, Rooney’s double helped United leapfrog Chelsea into top spot.
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Sydney FC has been dealt a blow ahead of Saturday’s A-League Grand Final, with striker John Aloisi today ruled out of the championship decider due to injury. Results from MRI scans have confirmed a torn left hamstring will sideline Aloisi for up to eight weeks. Meanwhile Socceroos defender Shannon Cole says he is fully fit and ready to play after recovering from his hamstring injury which has plagued him for the past fortnight. The 24-year-old, who passed a fitness test earlier today, admits he’s now desperate to make the season-ending showpiece.
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Embattled Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke is among five Test squad members to touch down in Wellington today ahead of Friday’s opening Test against New Zealand. The 28-year-old was met by a media pack at Wellington airport just days after calling off his engagement to model Lara Bingle. Clarke, who refused to answer questions, was joined by NSW team-mates Simon Katich, Steve Smith and Phillip Hughes and WA captain Marcus North. Ricky Ponting’s side is due to resume training tomorrow.
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Fernando Alonso has rolled back the years for Ferrari in the season-opening Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix after leading the stable to its first one-two in an opening race since 2004. Racing for the first time since his horror crash in Hungary last year, team-mate Felipe Massa finished second, while Australia’s Mark Webber placed eighth.
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2-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador of Astana has clinched a second Paris-Nice title, three years after claiming his breakthrough victory. The yellow jersey holder set off on the seventh and final stage around Nice protecting a 14-second lead over compatriot Alejandro Valverde. However, it was Frenchman Amael Moinard of Cofidis who won the 119km ride ahead of Thomas Voeckler, after making an early breakaway. Contador was close behind in a small chasing group, crossing the line to seal an 11-second overall lead from Valverde and an all-Spanish podium, with Luis Leon Sanchez placing third.
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Olympic champion pole-vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva has failed to win a medal on the final day of the World Indoor Championships in Doha. The 3-time World Indoor champion failed three times at the 4.75m mark, finishing out of the medals in fourth place. Brazil’s Fabiana Murer claimed gold with a jump of 4.80m. In the men’s 60m hurdles, reigning Olympic champion Dayron Robles took gold in a championship record time of 7.34 seconds. While in the women’s 1,500m, 18-year-old Kalkidan Gezahegne of Ethiopia became the youngest female to win a World Indoor title.
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The French rugby team is just one win away from its first Grand Slam title since 2004, provided it can account for England in the Six Nations tournament next week. France remains the only side to be undefeated in this season’s competition after four matches, beating Italy 46-20 in Paris. The home side ran in six tries to Italy’s two, with centre David Marty bagging a double. Veteran Basque number eight Imanol Harinordoquy was among the standouts in his 60th Test for the Tricolores. France now on track to win the Six Nations championship for the first time since 2007.
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Diagnosed with a brain tumour two years ago, former Wallabies fullback Julian Huxley has declared he wants to play for Australia again. The 30-year-old completed a successful comeback yesterday for the Brumbies reserve team and says he is ready to have another crack at higher honours.
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The story of Harry ’Breaker’ Morant inspired a novel, a film and several plays. More than 100 years after his death, debate still rages over whether the folk hero was a villain or a scapegoat. Now a parliamentary committee is debating whether to ask for a crown pardon for him and two other Australian soldiers who were court-martialled during the Boer War. The men were convicted by a British military court in 1902 for murdering prisoners of war. Morant and Peter Handcock were executed by firing squad in Pretoria, the only Australians ever put to death for war crimes. Many still question whether the men had a fair trial.
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American actor Peter Graves - who found fame in the ’Mission Impossible’ TV series - has died. Graves featured in his first film in 1950, becoming known for playing straitlaced authority figures. He became an international star as leader of the Mission Impossible team conducting dangerous undercover assignments. Graves also played the pilot in the spoof disaster movie ’Airplane’, also released as ’Flying High’. He was 83.
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