NSW: The main stories in today s newspapers = 3

AAP General News (Australia)
12-06-1999
NSW: The main stories in today s newspapers = 3

THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

Page 1: Global trade talks are expected to be put on hold for more than a year after
the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle collapsed at the weekend; The collapse
of world trade talks had several factors but one overarching cause - for the first time
since WWII, the US failed to lead; Trading on Australian financial markets is expected
to slow to a crawl after this week as investors wary of the Y2K bug cut their transactions
to a minimum.

Page 3: The South African-controlled Sportsgirl Sportscraft Group will be broken up
and sold as four separate entities in a bid to extract maximum value from the loss-making
retail operation.

World: Only months after Indonesia's ignominious exit from East Timor, the die is already
cast in Aceh, the next rebellious province to demand independence from the Jakarta central
government.

Companies: United Kingdom production group Granada Media has outlined an ambitious
Australian agenda, signalling that its pending production deal with Kerry Stokes' Seven
Network is just the beginning of a significantly increased local presence; A small Perth
company - Fleetwood Corp - backed by two of Australia's richest businessmen, Richard Pratt
and Ralph Sarich, has emerged among the front-runners aiming to buy the $130 million portable
buildings operations of James Hardie Industries.

Markets: The sharp rally last Friday in US share prices is focusing renewed attention
on Wall Street as the year 2000 clock ticks down.

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KEYWORD: FRONTERS NSW 3 SYDNEY

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