Main stories in today's AM program

AAP General News (Australia)
04-24-2006
Main stories in today's AM program

SYDNEY, April 24 AAP - Main stories in today's AM program:

* Opinion poll shows Prime Minister John Howard's approval rating has fallen seven
points to 49 per cent, but opposition leader Kim Beazley hasn't fared any better.

* Tape allegedly sent by Osama Bin Laden, threatening another terrorist attack in the
US has been authenticated by the White House.

* First Australian soldier to die in Iraq, 25-year-old trained sniper Jake Kovco, is
farewelled as his mates send him home to Victoria.

* Cyclone Monica is on course for Darwin, as it and other Northern Territory communities
prepare for winds of up to 350km an hour.

* A billion dollar roads project will be announced in next month's federal budget,
with upgrades to the Hume and Bruce highways planned.

* But critics claim the federal government may suffer if it doesn't direct funds to
fix Australia's major motorway, the Pacific Highway.

* Cancer researchers believe new findings may lead to an improved method of diagnosing
and treating cancer.

* RAMSI officers arrest two opposition MPs in the Solomon Islands, in the lead-up to
the opposition's proposed vote of no-confidence in the new prime minister.

* Standoff in Nepal shows no signs of abating, with tens of thousands demonstrating
in the streets amid heightened security.

AAP cj/dep/

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