The New Nation - Internet Edition

Howard unseated

SYDNEY: The defeat of Australia's outgoing prime minister John Howard appeared complete Saturday when his opponent claimed victory in the parliamentary seat he held for 33 years. Howard's conservative government had already been tossed out by voters in elections last Saturday, but counting had continued for his own Sydney seat of Bennelong, which was too close to call. With the tally of postal and other votes now almost complete, former television journalist Maxine McKew claimed the seat for the centre-left Labour Party led by prime minister-elect Kevin Rudd.

No tsunami threat

JAKARTA: A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the western coast of Indonesia's Sumatra on Saturday but there was no threat of a tsunami and no immediate word of damage, meteorologists said. The earthquake, which hit at 8:44 AM (0144 GMT), occurred at sea 33 kilometres (18 miles) southwest of the city of Singkil Baru in Aceh province, at a depth of 18 kilometres. A meteorological official, Ali Imron, said that the quake had no tsunami potential.

Deadliest heroin

HANOI: Twelve people were sentenced to death after a Vietnamese court found them guilty Friday of trafficking more than 70 kilograms (154 pounds) of heroin, state media said Saturday. Judges in the five-day trial in the northern province of Quang Ninh also handed life prison terms to eight others, while another nine members of the same gang were jailed for between 18 months and 30 years, the ruling Communist Party's daily Nhan Dan newspaper said. The defendants, several of whom were related, were convicted of trafficking the heroin from several northern provinces between 2005 and May 2006.