Main stories in today's AM program

AAP General News (Australia)
02-12-2009
Main stories in today's AM program

SYDNEY, Feb 12 AAP - Main stories in today's AM program:

* Police may be closing the net on arsonists suspected of starting the fatal bushfire
at Churchill.

* It's difficult to describe the predicament of the people of the Victorian town of Kinglake.

* One of the grimmest jobs falls to police, sifting through rubble and recovering bodies.

* There's no question that fire authorities were overwhelmed by the conditions on Saturday,
but it appears that an early warning system could have been in place earlier.

* The federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland says he regrets that the phone warning
system was not in place before Saturday.

* Australians should know by Thursday night whether the federal government's $42 billion
economic stimulus package will stay or go.

* In Washington, it seems the Obama Administration has finally been successful in getting
its stimulus package through Congress.

* Zimbabwe's new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangvarai says the priority of the national
unity government will be stabilising the country.

* Australia has welcomed the swearing-in of Mr Tsvangvarai with some grave reservations,
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says.

* The Governor of the Bank of England has issued a dire warning about the British economy,
saying it is in a deep recession.

* China's biggest aluminium company is set to increase its stake in mining giant Rio Tinto.

* In Israel, the two would-be prime ministers are frantically scrambling for the support
of the minor parties.

AAP pbc/rl

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