Australia
Brisbane declared natural disaster zone after storms
BRISBANE has been declared a natural disaster area, as soldiers help repair damage caused by one of the biggest storms to hit the city in two decades.
Kevin Rudd catches up to Twitter
The Prime Minister today joined the social networking service Twitter, following in the footsteps of Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull. Mr Turnbull began using Twitter four weeks ago and instantly became one of its most influential Australian users.
Teen girls at the forefront of STD epidemic
Sexually Transmitted Diseases are apparently tearing through the state of NSW like an epidemic and teenage girls are at the centre of it.
World Bank warns Wayne Swan on recession danger
THE World Bank has warned Treasurer Wayne Swan that the impacts of the global financial crisis are now "unprecedented in scope".
Oppn rejects more Govt support for ABC Learning
The Federal Opposition says the Government should not use taxpayers money to prop up troubled childcare company ABC Learning.
Rudd invites NZ PM-elect to Australia
It seems likely that one of the first overseas trips on the agenda for New Zealand's new Prime Minister-elect John Key could be a short hop across the Tasman.
Coogee Bay Hotel pays Whyte family $50,000 after faeces-in-gelato fiasco
THE Coogee Bay Hotel will pay $50,000 in settlement to the family at the centre of the ice cream scandal to avoid further legal action. It follows a 12-hour mediation session on Friday between hotel management and Steve and Jessica Whyte.
Bathurst plane 'hit the ground at sideways angle'
Investigators say a plane that crashed on Friday night in Bathurst killing four people hit the ground at a sideways angle before sliding 300 metres.
Qantas fined $20m for price fixing
QANTAS has agreed to pay $20m to settle the Australian liability for its involvement in an international freight price fixing cartel.
Rural councils face bankruptcy
THE Local Government Association says up to 25 local governments in NSW are directly exposed to the global financial crisis, with some rural councils facing the possibility of bankruptcy.
Figures show fertility rate soaring
Australia has recorded what is believed to be its highest annual number of births on record.
Coogee Bay Hotel ice cream DNA tests
LABRATORY testing of the ice cream tub used by a family in the Coogee Bay Hotel's infamous gelatigate poo scandal shows NO faecal contamination.
Was Dean Shillingsworth alive during suitcase pond hell?
TRAGIC Dean Shillingsworth may have been alive when he was allegedly stuffed into a suitcase and thrown into a lake by his mother.
$30m mooted for Wagga mansion
THE spectacular South Tahara in Wagga Wagga, NSW, is on the market and it is expected to fetch $20-$30 million.
Seventy per cent of workers are afraid for their jobs as the economy slows
THE daily doom and gloom over the economy is taking its toll on the workplace, with almost 70 per cent of employees admitting they are worried about losing their job because of the global slowdown.
Coogee Bay Hotel fed us poo too, second family confirms
THE plop has thickened in the Coogee Bay Hotel poo scandal, with a second family today revealing they ate from the tainted cup.
Doctors pressured for hillbilly heroin
DOCTORS are being abused and manipulated into wrongfully prescribing the painkiller oxycodone, with New South Wales Health saying up to 20 GPs have had to be referred to the authorities this year.
Credit crisis could bankrupt councils
THE global economic crisis is financially hurting up to 25 local councils in New South Wales and some face possible bankruptcy, says the NSW Local Government Association (LGA).
Hostage fell to death from Sydney unit
AN armed man eluded security and held four people inside a Sydney apartment for an hour before two naked people climbed off a balcony in fear, one plummeting to her death.
Bishop should know better than to plagiarise: Swan
Another plagiarism accusation against federal deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop is a clue to why there is no alternative economic policy, Treasurer Wayne Swan says.