Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in the United Kingdom. The 83-year-old Pontiff was greeted by the Queen in Edinburgh before celebrating Mass for 70,000 Scottish Catholics. He told the crowd that secularism in the UK threatened to damage society and tha...
The Opposition isn't backing Rob Oakeshott's bid to become Speaker. The government is seeking legal advice, but one constitutional expert says there is no legal reason stopping the move. George Williams warns though, it will make the operations of Pa...
Malcolm Turnbull has been given the brief to demolish the government's National Broadband Network. Tony Abbott has appointed the former opposition leader as communications spokesman. While labeling the government's plan a white elephant, Mr Turnbull...
Labor's new frontbench will be sworn in today. In a last-minute change, Julia Gillards reinstated the Indigenous health portfolio. The government had been under fire from Indigenous groups for dumping that portfolio. The Federal Opposition says Kevin...
Complaints have already started about Julia Gillard's new ministry that hasn't even been sworn in. The prime minister has upset universities by splitting education between at least two ministers. They say putting higher education under Senator Chris...
A trough is spreading across WA and is causing areas of rain. Patchy low cloud is clipping southern Victoria and western Tasmania, that's causing the occasional shower. A high in the east is keeping the weather mostly clear. In Queensland, isolated s...
US stocks finished the week with the 7th gain in eight sessions. Improvement in the trade deficit and some better than expected jobs data pushed the Dow up half a per cent. Across the Atalantic, London's FTSE 100 hit a four-month closing high for the...
The US President Barack Obama has joined international condemnation of a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Koran. Mr Obama says the burning would be a recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda. He's appealing to the congregation's pastor to consider...
A policeman is in critical condition after being shot during a drug raid in Sydney's southwest overnight. Police were searching a Bankstown flat for drugs when it happened. Dozens of riot police descended on the area and residents were ordered to sta...
While the uncertainty is finally over, now the hard work begins. Julia Gillard's first task will be sorting out her ministry after scraping back into government. She needs to find a spot for her predecessor Kevin Rudd, and she's also offered independ...
After two weeks, Australians should find out today just who'll be getting the keys to the Lodge. The three independents yesterday wrapped up a deal with both major parties on parliamentary reform. And West Australian National's MP Tony Crook has conf...
Residents in northeast and western Victoria are bracing for the worst today as floodwaters continue to rise. Sixty residents in the town of Wangaratta in the states northeast have been told to evacuate. In Victorias west, residents at Skipton near Ba...
Thick cloud is covering the country's southeast as tropical moisture is drawn south, ahead of a trough and a deep low.This is generating areas of rain, some heavy with potential thunderstorms.Skies are mostly clear over the west under a high. Queensl...
Local stocks ended only slightly high today, but they kept their best weekly performance in the year. The All Ordinaries finished up 15 points. The ASX 200 put on just nine points but it put on about four per cent for the week. Fortescue Metal Shares...
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has described the Coalition's billion-dollar offer for Hobart hospital as reckless. Mr Wilkie yesterday announced that he'd support Prime Minister Julia Gillard's attempt to form government. And it means Labor is now just...
