WA: Main stories in The West Australian, December 20

AAP General News (Australia)
12-20-1999
WA: Main stories in The West Australian, December 20

PERTH, Dec 20 AAP - Main stories in today's edition of The West Australian:

P1: Mystery surrounds the death of a woman aged in her 30s whose half-naked body was
found beside a road yesterday.

P2: This Week - diary for WA.

P3: The remote Aboriginal community of Pandanus Park has made history by being the
first in WA to have its land formally handed back by the state government.

World: Sri Lanka's government began an investigation into the security lapses that
allowed a suicide bomber to blow herself up at President Chandrika Kumaratunga's rally
leaving her wounded in the face (Colombo). The British royal family is to strip Harrods
of three royal warrants and told Farrer & Co, the Queen's lawyers, that it is prepared
to take legal action for defamation against Mohamed Fayed, the store's owner, over accusations
against Prince Philip (London).

Finance: An insatiable appetite for sharemarket floats and the information technology
bubble have allowed stags to at least double their money on 16 companies in the past seven
and a half months. Nauatronix has unloaded a $12.7 million stake in Australian Oil and
Gas to sharpen the focus on its technology activities. The Australian Shareholders' Association
has set itself the target of increasing WA membership 50 per cent over the next 12 months
after more than doubling its support this year. Anglogold has extended its takeover bid
for Acacia Resources to Christmas Eve. The initial burst of enthusiasm for BHP's $809
million November half profit has been checked by the need for the group to reactivate
superannuation payments wiping $100 million a year from forward profit estimates for the
resurgent group.

Sport: WA golfer Nick O'Hern strolled off the final green with a winner's cheque of
$54,000 after breaking through for his first victory on the Australasian tour. Soccer
Australia could face litigation after deciding to push ahead with its restructuring of
the National Soccer League.

AAP dd/rsm

KEYWORD: FRONTERS-WA

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