AAP Internet Bulletin 0001 Saturday Feb 13, 1999

AAP General News (Australia)
02-13-1999
AAP Internet Bulletin 0001 Saturday Feb 13, 1999





[A][LESSER][VIC]

Decomposed body in car boot

Police have found a partly decomposed woman's body in the boot of a car in which a missing
Melbourne businesswoman was last seen earlier this month.

The body was found by police at St Albans Railway Station, north-west of Melbourne, about
3.50pm yesterday, after a passerby noticed the car, a police spokesman said.

While the body was yet to be formally identified, police had expressed fears for the safety
of 48-year-old Anita Lesser whose disappearance, without extra clothes or explanation, was out
of character.

Ms Lesser, a former escort lady, was a partner in a chemical company at the time of her
disappearance on February 1.

A police spokesman said no formal identification of the body had taken place and it would
be removed, along with the white two-door Mitsubishi Lancer, to the police forensic
scientist's laboratory for further investigation.

Homicide detectives are investigating and an autopsy will be carried out to establish the
exact cause of death today.

Ms Lesser's disappearance was reported to police by her business partner on February 9.

Her estranged de facto is in hospital with a medical condition, her adult daughter is
overseas and she has not had contact with her adult son for some time.

She was last seen between 12.30pm and 1pm on February 1 in suburban Footscray.

Detective Inspector Dave Reid said at the time of her disappearance, Ms Lesser, from the
east Melbourne suburb of Surrey Hills, had obtained some chemicals to be delivered to a
customer in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak.





[A][CHILD SEARCH][NAT]

Missing child's body found

Police believe a child's body found in a paddock outside Moama in southern New South Wales
is that of missing Victorian toddler James Dean Sette.

The 15-month-old boy had been missing since last Sunday when his natural mother, Julie Jean
Sette, 31, allegedly took him from Daylesford in central Victoria during an arranged visit.

She had allegedly driven the boy to northern Victoria or southern NSW.

The toddler had been in the care of adoptive parents, known only as Jack and Fiona, who
were just six weeks away from formally adopting James.

Sette has been in police custody since her arrest on Monday, when she appeared in Echuca
Magistrates' Court in northern Victoria charged with false imprisonment.

The discovery of the body yesterday came after a five day police hunt, and repeated calls
for public help in the search.

The NSW police spokeswoman said the body had been found by a Moama resident in a paddock
about 20km west of the border town. Although not yet formally identified, the body was
believed to be that of James Sette.

"Victorian Homicide Squad detectives are travelling to Moama to assist their NSW colleagues
prepare a report for the coroner," the spokeswoman said.

She said it was too soon to comment on the condition of the child's body.

A police spokesman at Echuca on the Victorian side of the river said the body had been
found not far from a roadway, just on the NSW side of the border.

Earlier yesterday police divers had searched rivers and dams in the region.





[T][CRICKET AUST CAPTAIN ][CRIK]

Waugh takes over captaincy

It took Steve Waugh only a few minutes to identify several areas that will change under his
reign as Australian Test cricket's 40th captain.

Chasing targets in the second innings, a more conservative approach in tight situations and
his relationship with the players are the likely alterations.

Waugh was proclaimed successor to Mark Taylor as skipper of the Australian Test team
yesterday with leg spinner Shane Warne his deputy.

A phone call at 8.42am dragged Waugh away from watching Sesame Street with his daughter to
confirm the appointment and finally end a week of speculation and media intrusion.

The veteran of 111 Tests said his first goal was to retain Australia's No.1 Test ranking
with a successful tour of the West Indies which begins next week but hoped he didn't get the
job on sufferance.

"I would hope that I was picked because I was the best man for the job, not because I stood
in line the longest," Waugh said.

"I'm really excited because I know my cricket is in good shape and I've done 13 years
playing for the Australian cricket side.

"I know I'm ready for the job and it's exciting times ahead."

Not wanting to tinker too much with Taylor's impressive formula at Test level, Waugh
pointed out a few things he thought needed addressing.

Chasing runs in the last innings of Test and one day matches had been a problem for too
long and a few more matches could be drawn when trying for victory was either too risky or
unachievable.

"I don't need to change too much, it's pretty much a winning formula at the moment," Waugh
said.

"I'd prefer to win than draw a game, but having said that Australian cricket could probably
draw a few more games than we lost over the last couple of years.

"That's one area I'll be trying to improve and probably chasing in second innings. They're
two little areas we'd like to improve."

Waugh expects the responsibility of being a selector and the messenger of bad news to
teammates to alter his relationship with the team.





[I][UK WEIRD][UK]

World IS getting weirder

The world is getting weirder and weirder as we approach the millennium, according to
students of the bizarre and paranormal.

Fortean Times, a magazine which catalogues the world's strangest phenomena, makes an annual
calculation of weirdness based on the stories it runs over the past 12 months.

According to its figures, last year was one of the weirdest on record with a 4.1 per cent
increase in oddities such as that, and others including vegetable "miracles', UFO encounters,
conspiracy theories and cult activity.

"A 150-point jump is a stunning amount," Fortean Times editor Jane Watkins was quoted as
saying in newspaper reports here.

"This unprecedented interest in the paranormal world seems to be accelerating the closer we
get to the Millennium."

"By the Millenium we are expecting weirdness so far off the scale it will be incredible."

The biggest increase in the bizarre came in the paranormal world with an 8.1 rise over last
year - pushed by an all-time high in cult activity, UFO sightings, apparitions, poltergeists,
weeping statues and end-of-the century prophesies.

Among the phenomena recorded was a lightning strike which killed all 11 members of a
football team in the Congo but left the opposing team unharmed.

Another case was the 14-year-old American Audrey Santo who is believed to have performed
miracles despite being in a coma.

Witchcraft was rife in West Africa, Indonesia and south-east Asia, while the Western world
swarmed with conspiracy theories in the wake of the death of Princess Diana.

There was also an increase in the sightings of strange animals, such as Bigfoot or the
Yeti.

Cults were on the rise as was "Jerusalem syndrome' a condition where people renounce all
their worldly goods and head for the Israeli city to wander the streets praising God.





[A][BELL SENTENCE][NSW]

Bell jailed for sex crimes

A victim of paedophile Philip Harold Bell yelled "burn in hell" after the former
millionaire was jailed for at least 10 and a half years.

Later speaking outside the New South Wales District Court yesterday, the now 28-year-old
man told journalists the abuse made him cry regularly, adding "God forgives, not me".

In setting a maximum 14 year term, Judge Thomas Davidson said for decades Bell had induced
boys into sexual activities knowing his conduct could harm them socially, emotionally and
psychologically.

"... without scruple or hesitation, he deliberately and with premeditation used material
and personal advantage to bedazzle, entice and seduce these children into sexual activities of
a kind which I am quite certain they now bitterly regret," he said.

"I find in so conducting himself, notwithstanding his own evidence before me, he recognised
his actions towards them were potentially harmful."

Bell, who will be 73 when he becomes eligible for parole, was jailed for 75 offences
against 18 boys aged from 12 to 15, abuse which occurred between 1978 and 1991.

While all the offences were serious, the judge said the most serious involved Bell having
anal intercourse with a 13-year-old boy by threatening to report him to the police over items
he had stolen.

Judge Davidson described as a "patent exercise in self-justification", Bell's claim that he
was not a paedophile but a hebophile - a man involved in a reciprocal love relationship with a
youth - who was not interested in pre-pubescent boys.

"The matter is not whether the victims have reached puberty, but whether they are below the
legal age of consent, which they were clearly not," the judge said.

Last year, a jury found Bell guilty of 28 out of 38 charges and the judge found those
acquittals could rationally be explained - in relation to relevant dates and the like - and
did not show inconsistencies in the verdicts.

Last Friday, Bell pleaded guilty to 16 charges and asked the judge to take into account
another 31 similar offences.

Describing Bell as a man of considerable assets, who owned various properties and three
pleasure boats at various times, the judge said he was a sophisticated, well-educated,
well-travelled and wordly man.

He rejected Bell's claim that he only recently became aware of the potential harm to his
vulnerable young victims, who often came from dysfunctional homes.





[A][TODDLER ORDER][VIC]

Jaidyn's mum names killer

Bilynda Murphy said for the first time she believed her former boyfriend - the man
acquitted of murdering her son Jaidyn Leskie - did kill the Moe toddler.

Ms Murphy said she had maintained a relationship with Gregory Nick Domaszewicz for the past
18 months, and would have even married him, in the hope that he would admit to the murder.

Her extraordinary statement came during a hearing yesterday in the Moe Magistrates Court
where she had applied for an intervention order against Mr Domaszewicz after he allegedly
tried to strangle her last month.

During the 18 months since Jaidyn disappeared while Mr Domaszewicz was babysitting him on
the night of June 14-15, 1997, Ms Murphy has never publicly accused him and had written him
letters on dozens of occasions saying that she did not believe he killed Jaidyn.

She told Mr Domaszewicz's lawyer, John Lee, their relationship since Jaidyn's disappearance
had been a "total sham".

"I would have married him, Mr Lee. I would have gone to any extent to find out what
happened to my son. What would you have done?" Ms Murphy said.

In a letter written the day after he allegedly assaulted her, she said: "I also assure you
I do not think you killed my son because if I did, do you really think I would have stood by
you for the past year and a half?"

But Ms Murphy told the court she had wanted to obtain an intervention order against Mr
Domaszewicz even before his release from jail in December "because I thought he killed my kid
and I wanted to know".

"Actually, I thought if he didn't kill Jaidyn that he knew something about it," she added.

An at times emotional Ms Murphy told the court she wrote Mr Domaszewicz love notes even
after the alleged assault because "I didn't know that Greg could never be charged again with
Jaidyn's murder.





[A][FREEWAY][WA]

Good samaritan bashed up

A 32-year-old man is fighting for his life in hospital after he was bashed and robbed when
he stopped at an accident scene on Perth's Kwinana Freeway.

Andrew Fisher, of suburban Bateman, suffered serious head and rib injuries and was operated
on at the Queen Elizabeth II medical centre for three hours today.

Two youths aged 15 and 17 have been charged with grievous bodily harm and robbery in
company, police said.

They are due to appear in the Perth's Children Court on Monday.

Police said the attack happened at about 1.30am yesterday on the Kwinana Freeway after Mr
Fisher hit a man fixing a car that was parked dangerously on the side of the freeway.

He stopped his car to help the man he had clipped, who had suffered only minor injuries,
police said.

The two youths got out of the vehicle and bashed him unconscious, stealing his wallet and
jewellery, police alleged.

"I consider it to be a savage and cowardly attack on someone you'd consider to be a good
samaritan," Detective Pryce Scanlon said.

"He has done the right thing ... he's gone back to where the traffic accident has occurred
and he's been set upon".





[A][KEATING][FED]

Keating of old attacks Libs

Paul Keating took a nostalgic public swipe at the Liberals today, painting them as elitist,
antiquated, chain-dragging benefactors of Labor's economic legacy.

Mr Keating chose a book launch by federal Labor MP Lindsay Tanner to pillory the Liberals
in the style he honed during his days in office.

"They don't write books. They don't read them either," he said.

"They read their briefing notes - those security blankets prepared for them - but they
don't read books."

The former prime minister said Labor saw politics as an "ideas market" needing constant
regeneration to raise the country to new levels.

"We drag them (the Liberals) along behind us like a ball and chain," he said.

"We do the lugging and they come along. But it's good that they do come along."

He said Prime Minister John Howard, who defeated him at the polls three years ago, was
"tickled pink" by Labor's bequest of low inflation and low interest rates.

"It's claimed by the Liberals, but it was provided by us," he said.

He accused the Liberals of neglecting the "wider Australian family" in favour of the
upwardly mobile, well-employed on good incomes with all their life choices largely made.





[T][OLY BRIBES REPORT][OLY]

Coles urged to see lawyers

The Salt Lake City Olympic Committee has urged Australian Olympic official Phil Coles to
contact its lawyers with the evidence he says will clear his name.

Spokesman Robert Garff said the committee stood by a report alleging Coles and his family
took four trips to the United States at the city's expense but would correct the record if
proved wrong.

"What I would suggest is that Mr Coles get in touch with our ethics (committee), or our
attorneys to see if there's any mis-stated facts," said Garff who chairs the board of trustees
for the Salt Lake City Olympics.

"To my knowledge there are not mis-stated facts, they've done a very thorough job but if
there is errors we'll be more than happy to acknowledge them."

The ethics committee appointed to examine corruption during the city's bid for the 2002
Games said Coles and Guatemalan IOC member Willy Kaltschmitt had treated official site visits
like personal vacations.

Coles, who stood down from his duties as SOCOG vice-president because of the allegations,
has strenuously denied the charges and said the committee should have checked with him before
making them.

He says he took one IOC-approved trip to Salt Lake City during the bid period, was a guest
of American broadcaster CBS on a side trip to the Super Bowl, and paid for airfares for
himself and his family on other visits to the Utah capital.

Coles, who accused the board of ethics of an unethical and immoral behaviour, has offered
his side of the story to IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and asked to be cleared of any
wrongdoing.

IOC director general Francois Carrard, while not referring to Coles specifically, said some
matters raised in the report weren't serious.

"We will look into all these matters, but prima facie, some of the cases do not necessarily
appear to be serious," Carrard said from Lausanne, Switzerland.





[X][US BREW]

Drinkers bitter over brew

The latest beer from Back Bay Brewing Co is leaving a bad taste in the mouths of critics
because of its name: Boston Strangler Stout.

The Boston brewer makes beers with names tinged with local colour, such as Boston Massacre
Lager and Tea Party Porter. But it is considering a new name for the Strangler Stout in light
of the negative reaction.

"We want to try and do the right thing, to be sensitive to the victims' families," general
manager Jim Lee said today.

The Strangler, one of the most notorious serial killers in US history, killed 13 women
between 1962 and 1964. His victims generally were sexually assaulted in their apartments and
frequently bound with their own clothing.

Albert DeSalvo, a factory worker, claimed to have been the Strangler. While authorities
lacked evidence to bring him to trial in the murders, he was convicted in 1967 of sex
offenses, assaults and armed robberies and sentenced to life in prison. He was stabbed to
death in his cell in 1973.

"This was just a terrible time," said Edward Brooke, who led the investigation into the
crimes as Massachusetts' attorney general. "It's not something you want to be reminded of when
you're drinking beer."





[T][GOLF AUST][GOLF]

Norman admits game suffers

On a scale of one-to-10, Greg Norman rates the golf he has played over the past fortnight
at about a four.

But the former world No.1 is looking for just one more decent round to get the old fires
burning.

Since he returned to the course after having shoulder surgery early last year, Norman has
played only two four-round tournaments prior to this week's Ericsson Masters - and he missed
the cut in one of those.

In the wintry conditions at Melbourne's Huntingdale golf club today, though, he knocked it
around in 68 shots, a score which convinced him a big one was just around the corner.

"I'm not back yet," he said.

"I don't feel I'm right back into it, but the more I play the better I'm getting."

Norman gives himself almost full marks off the tee and with his longer irons and says it is
only from inside 120 metres that his game is suffering.

Former US PGA champion Wayne Grady came back from the dead yesterday to find a spark of
life in a golf game which had him on top of the world a decade ago.

For the past year Grady has thought almost daily of retirement but after the second round
of the Ericsson Masters at Huntingdale he was back in a position he thought was permanently
part of another life.

The straight-talking Queenslander carved out a confidence-bolstering eight-under-par 65 to
go with yesterday's 74, shooting him to a tie for third going into the weekend.

Young Victorian Craig Spence clung to his overnight lead, adding an even par 73 to his
first round 64, and was later joined by American Robin Byrd, who shot rounds of 67-69.





[T][LEAGUE ORIGIN][RL]

Pearce NSW vs Murray Qld

New Queensland State of Origin coach Mark Murray's first tactic in retaining the interstate
rugby league series was to appoint an honorary assistant -- former coach Wayne Bennett.

Murray was today endorsed by the Queensland board to replace Bennett, hours before the
NSWRL board rubberstamped Balmain great Wayne Pearce as its Origin coach, replacing Tom
Raudonikis.

Bennett reluctantly stepped down from the Origin post because his priorities this year are
with the Brisbane Broncos and the defence of their NRL premiership crown.

But Bennett -- likely to be appointed Australian coach this year -- has offered to assist
Murray slip into the job in any way he can, an offer Murray plans to take up.

"I'd be a fool not to tap into his (Bennett's) knowledge, not only the game but the players
I'll be dealing with and his ideas on how we should operate," said the former hard-nosed
Queensland and Australian halfback.

"There's an open invitation for Wayne to be involved to whatever limit he desires."

Pearce, who played 187 games for Balmain between 1980 and 1990, said every coach wants to
coach at a higher level at some stage.

"I'm no different and I felt the time was right now."

Pearce said one of the exciting things about the appointment was the chance to coach elite
players.

"One of the real positives about coaching at representative level is that you are coaching
players who are full of class and those players who hopefully you might teach a thing or two
or you might learn off them."





[T][CRICKET LILLEE][CRIK]

Windies in crisis: Lillee

Legendary Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee today called on the Australian cricket team
to seek revenge on the West Indies for their brutally effective reign at the top of world
cricket.

In his weekly column in the West Australian newspaper, Lillee wrote the West Indies were a
"rabble" under Brian Lara and dismissed their chances of winning the coming Test series.

Lillee said Lara was in an unfortunate position as running West Indian cricket was an
unforgiving task due to the political divisions in the Carribean, but also said that any
sympathy for the one time kings of world cricket was misplaced.

"With the West Indies in tatters after a disastrous tour of South Africa, Australia must
now have absolutely no compunction about putting the boot in while they are down," he said.

"Forget the groundswell of sympathy coming from certain quarters in the wake of the once
flamboyant Windies demise.

"Lloyd, Viv Richards and captains who followed had scant regard for the condition of
Australian and England cricket in particular as they merrily conducted their obliteration.

"The Australian team must never forget the anguish, humiliation, bruises and tears the West
Indies caused during their long reign at the top of the pile.

"They must be hammered - just like they used to hammer us."

Lillee said the Australians were certain to win the coming Test series, but added that Lara
shouldn't shoulder the whole blame for the Windies fall from grace.

"That's not necessarily his fault because coordinating, administering and running West
Indian cricket out on the field is a logistical nightmare," Lillee wrote.





[F][HOWARD ASIA][FED]

Howard's financial plans

Australia's strong economic performance has prompted Prime Minister John Howard to
fast-track plans to transform Australia into the region's financial centre.

Mr Howard is also considering a visit to the United States later this year to promote the
plan, with the government under pressure from the finance sector to move fast while Australia
maintains an economic edge over the region.

The plan was not due to be considered until later in the year, but a spokesman for
Financial Services Minister Joe Hockey confirmed it would now come before cabinet next month.

"We had until the middle of the year to put the proposal together, but that's been
fast-tracked to early March," the spokesman told AAP.

The urgency is required to take advantage of Australia's economic ascendancy - growth of
five per cent, low inflation and low interest rates - at a time when virtually every other
country in the region is in deep recession.

That's prompted many companies to quit the region, but the plan is for Australia to instead
argue its credentials as new regional headquarters, a point pressed by Mr Howard in an
interview with CNBC in Singapore last night.

"We have one of the best supervised and most effectively prudentially regulated banking
systems in the world," Mr Howard said.

"We have a very stable political system. We of course have a marvellous lifestyle. We have
low inflation, low interest rates."

Just last year the government was arguing Australia was not part of Asia, to distinguish
the local economy from the turmoil surrounding it.

Now, Mr Howard wants Australia to be seen as the best place to do business in Asia, turning
Sydney into one of the world's great financial centres.





[X][MICROSOFT]

Lawyer, Microsoft exec clash

A US government lawyer clashed with a senior Microsoft executive over the often long and
awkward downloading of Web browsers over the Internet.

Microsoft Vice President Brad Chase said it was a simple process. But under
cross-examination by Justice Department attorney David Boies, Chase acknowledged it also can
take some time for personal computer owners with low-speed phone connections.

The issue is significant because of Microsoft's claim that people who receive its browser
as part of the Windows operating system simply can switch to another, such as Navigator, the
browser made by Microsoft rival Netscape.

Boies sought to show how downloading browser software over the Web is much more difficult
for consumers than getting it with their new computers or through Internet service providers
like America Online.

The Justice Department contends in its antitrust lawsuit that Microsoft used its monopoly
power and illegal tactics to crush and discourage competition, including Netscape and its
rival browser.

Boies presented Chase with a March 1997 e-mail, sent to him by a Microsoft employee, on how
to get more people to use the company's browser.

"Almost 60 per cent of all surfers have never downloaded any software from the Web. My
sense is that these people are not very likely to download anything, let alone a browser that
takes two hours to download," wrote that employee, Kumar Mehta.

The memo goes on to report that "80 per cent of those who do not use IE say they have no
plans to switch to it, which means that if we take away IE from the o/s (operating system),
most nav (Netscape Navigator) users will never switch to us."

Chase said he had no problem with the report but disputed its interpretation. He said Mehta
was being "dramatic."

Boies also went over the deposition taken from another Microsoft employee, Joe Belfiore, a
computer programmer who last March cited "tons of feedback that suggest that downloading IE
(Internet Explorer) takes too long, is too hard."

"You'll find that the number of hours that it takes to download these components over a
phone line is incredibly discouraging to people, often fails, and the result is that people
don't get an improved user experience at all," Belfiore said in his testimony.

Chase acknowledged that at the time, he oversaw efforts to make Microsoft's browser smaller
to help make it more appealing to consumers.

But he disagreed with Belfiore's suggestion that downloading is difficult. He suggested
that Belfiore perhaps was engaging in self-critique popular in the "Microsoft culture."

The case is continuing.

KEYWORD: NETNEWS 0001

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