Just In

• — Seized guns may be linked to Sydney shootings

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 15:43)

  Police are investigating whether guns seized overnight in Sydney's west are connected with the recent spate of shootings in the city.

• — Woman charged over hindering sex assault probe

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 15:28)

  A woman whose husband is wanted in New South Wales over the sexual assault of a girl has been charged with hindering the police investigation.

• — Fitch cuts ratings of five eurozone countries

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 15:08)

  Credit rating agency Fitch has downgraded its ratings on five eurozone countries, citing their poor finances and vulnerability to sharp changes in market sentiment.

• — Child strip-searched twice in Hobart

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 14:07)

  Tasmanian police have confirmed they twice strip-searched a 12-year-old girl during a drug raid in Hobart.

• — Spain jobless rate soars to 17-year high

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 13:42)

  Spain's unemployment figure has topped 5 million, the highest rate for 17 years.

• — Iggy getting stronger off WA coast

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 13:36)

  The Bureau of Meteorology predicts Tropical Cyclone Iggy off the West Australian coast will intensify to a category-four system by tomorrow night.

• — Costa Concordia passengers offered compo

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 13:25)

  The Italian company that operated the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship has offered passengers nearly $14,000 each in compensation.

• — More cargo ship oil washing up on Christmas Island

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 12:34)

  Oil from a stricken cargo ship has again started washing up at Christmas Island's Flying Fish Cove.

• — Djokovic prevails in five-set epic

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 05:40)

  Novak Djokovic booked an Australian Open showdown with Rafael Nadal with a thrilling five-set win over Andy Murray.

• — ASIO tight-lipped on refugees in limbo

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 04:53)

  ASIO is refusing to explain why it ruled four male refugees, who could be detained in Darwin for the rest of their lives, are a threat to security.

• — Central Queensland on flood alert

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 04:37)

  Authorities are on alert in central Queensland where a monsoonal low is expected to cause heavy rain this weekend.

• — Thomson Fair Work probe nears conclusion

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 04:13)

  Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the inquiry into Federal Labor MP Craig Thomson is almost over.

• — Motorists rescued from NSW floodwaters

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 03:10)

  The New South Wales State Emergency Service made five flood rescues last night as floodwaters remain in the north and storms hit the far west.

• — Black Caviar brings run to 17

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 02:38)

  Black Caviar comfortably extended her unbeaten winning streak to 17, taking the Australia Stakes at Moonee Valley by three lengths on Friday night.

• — Somare silent on failed PNG mutiny

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 02:16)

  There is still no word from Papua New Guinea's ousted prime minister Sir Michael Somare, despite a statement released by his daughter claiming he orchestrated a failed military mutiny.

• — Dozens killed in Baghdad suicide blast

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 01:25)

  A car bomb near a funeral procession outside a hospital in east Baghdad has killed at least 31 people and wounded 60.

• — Aussies on the brink of series whitewash

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 01:01)

  Australia requires just four more wickets on day five to wrap up a convincing series whitewash over India.

• — Gillard aide quits after revealing Abbott's location

     (Friday, 27 January 2012 00:24)

  One of the Prime Minister's media advisers has resigned after admitting they told someone about Tony Abbott's presence near the Tent Embassy in Canberra on Thursday.

• — Torso washes up on Sydney beach

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 23:58)

  A weighted package containing what appears to be a man's torso has been found on a beach near Sydney Airport.

• — Man denied bail over alleged ram raids on MPs

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 23:37)

  A man charged over two ram raids that targeted central Queensland Labor politicians has been refused bail.

• — Ex-Guatemala dictator to face genocide charges

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 23:25)

  Former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt will face trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity as the Central American nation seeks to close files on a brutal 36-year civil war.

• — Two die in vintage plane crash

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 23:17)

  Two people have been killed in a plane crash in central Victoria.

• — Remote desert community condemned as lawless

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 22:51)

  The former manager of the community store at Kaltjiti in northern South Australia, says law and order has broken down, and the community is out of control.

• — Bird flu detected in ducks near Melbourne

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 22:18)

  More than 10,000 ducks will be destroyed at two farms north of Melbourne after an outbreak of bird flu.

• — NZ approves dairy farm sale to China

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 22:16)

  The New Zealand government has approved the controversial sale of 16 dairy farms to a Chinese company.

• — Shares on the upswing as metals prices soar

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 22:05)

  The Australian share market has closed the session on a seven-week high after soaring prices for metals and gold boosted mining stocks.

• — Ex-Shore teacher not guilty of assault

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 22:03)

  A former teacher at Sydney's Shore School has been found not guilty of indecently assaulting a year 12 student in his care.

• — Release of SERCO manual 'risks national security'

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 21:54)

  The company that manages Australia's immigration detention centres has told a Darwin court the public release of its security training manual could jeopardise national security.

• — Cadel and wife adopt Ethiopian boy

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 21:04)

  Cadel Evans and his wife Chiara have adopted a one-year-old Ethiopian boy named Robel.

• — Hit-and-run driver jailed for 7 years

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 20:08)

  A man who crashed into a Gippsland doctor near Bairnsdale in eastern Victoria, inflicting serious injuries, has been sentenced to seven years in jail.

• — Talk of inequality is cheap at Davos

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 19:45)

  Income inequality has come under the spotlight as the world's billionaires and business leaders gather for the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Switzerland.

• — Tent Embassy protesters march on Parliament

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 19:39)

  More than 200 activists from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra have marched on Parliament House, chanting and burning an Australian flag.

• — Cyclone, bushfires threaten WA

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 18:40)

  A tropical cyclone and major bushfires are posing a twin threat to travellers in Western Australia's central west.

• — Woodside denies Browse LNG equity fire sale

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 18:14)

  In a stock exchange announcement, Woodside says it is assessing the potential sale of a minority portion of its 50 percent stake in the Browse Basin LNG development.

• — 'Bulli rapist' to be released from prison

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 18:09)

  A man infamous for a series of rapes around Wollongong has been granted parole after serving 21 years in jail.

• — Hunger blamed for remote community crime spree

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 18:08)

  Aboriginal elders in Hermannsburg, west of Alice Springs, have held an urgent meeting to crack down on a soaring crime rate.

• — Breast implant boss faces bodily harm charge

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 17:54)

  The French founder of PIP faces a charge of causing bodily harm for selling substandard breast implants.

• — Labor stalwart Rob Hulls resigns

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 17:25)

  Victoria's Deputy Opposition Leader Rob Hulls has quit politics, citing health and family concerns.

• — The history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 17:25)

  The Aboriginal Tent Embassy was founded on Australia Day in 1972 to protest the decision by the McMahon Liberal government to reject a proposal for Aboriginal Land rights.

• — Watchdog probes Sandilands over on-air rant

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 17:20)

  The media watchdog has confirmed it is investigating a complaint against radio host Kyle Sandilands over abusive comments he made towards a female journalist last year.

• — Japan loses track of radioactive cows

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 17:06)

  Japanese authorities have lost track of nearly 3,000 dead cows suspected of containing high levels of radioactive caesium.

• — Surging commodity prices boost shares

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 17:03)

  The Australian share market is rising in morning trade as strong commodity prices boost mining and gold stocks.

• — Darwin refugees in limbo after failing ASIO tests

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 16:38)

  Asylum seeker advocates say four refugee men are facing indefinite detention in a Darwin immigration centre because it is unlikely another country will take them after negative ASIO security assessments.

• — Gay couples to receive 'no impediment' certificates

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 16:37)

  The Federal Government has announced it will give same-sex Australian couples who want to marry overseas a certificate of no impediment.

• — BP ordered to cover oil spill costs

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 16:20)

  BP has been ordered to cover some costs for the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 people in 2010.

• — Men seriously burnt in boat fire

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 16:12)

  Paramedics say two men aged in their 50s have suffered serious burns in a boating accident on Lake Eildon, north-east of Melbourne.

• — Twitter to censor content in some countries

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 16:04)

  Twitter has announced it will begin restricting tweets in certain countries, marking a policy shift for the social media platform that helped propel the popular uprisings recently sweeping across the Middle East.

• — As it happened: Fourth Test Day Four

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 15:59)

  Revisit Grandstand's live coverage of the fourth day of the final Test between Australia and India in Adelaide.

• — Bra Boys charged over vicious home assault

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 15:58)

  Sydney police say they have charged four members of the Bra Boys surf gang over an attack on a man at his home in the city's east yesterday.

• — Bridge girl's mum takes VicRoads to court

     (Thursday, 26 January 2012 15:55)

  The mother of the four-year-old girl thrown off Melbourne's Westgate Bridge has launched legal proceedings against the Victorian roads authority.