WA: Main stories in The West Australian

AAP General News (Australia)
12-05-2000
WA: Main stories in The West Australian

PERTH, Dec 5 AAP - Main stories in today's edition of The West Australian:

Page 1: The WA Government is selling prized sandalwood to dealers in Taiwan who have
offered bribes and prostitutes to State officials. Podiatrist Azad Markarian tricked elderly
patients out of $400,000 to fund his gambling habit, the District Court was told yesterday.

Page 3: Car thieves could face murder charges after a toddler was found dead from a
heart attack in his mother's stolen car in Sydney.

World: Papua New Guinea stepped up security on its border with Indonesia to stop
refugees from West Papua after reports that women and children were fleeing the troubled
province. The seizure of land in Swaziland by the brother of the king has led 50 women
to bare their buttocks in a cheeky protest.

Finance: Woodside Petroleum's fierce rejection of Shell's $10 billion takeover bid
as being too low took on some substance when the group forecast a record profit of $940
million for calendar 2000. The credibility of CCK Financial Solutions' products under
a cloud after BankWest terminated a contract to use CCK's office technology. Gold Corporation
posted a record annual operating profit before statutory contribution of $7.02 million
in 1999-2000. BHP to enter commodity price hedging after a comprehensive company review.

Sumich Group agrees to take an 11.1 per cent stake in a joint venture with the British
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency.

Sport: Cricket: Western Australia has six matches to resurrect its Pura Cup season
and will not panic despite the loss to NSW at North Sydney Oval yesterday.

AAP dd/mjm

KEYWORD: FRONTERS WA

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