Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has apologised for the deaths of tradesmen killed while working on the government's botched home insulation scheme. A Queensland coroner has criticised the federal and state governments for rushing the program. He says workers were not given adequate training or supervision.

 

Kevin Rudd will hold talks with Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono today. The prime minister touched down in Jakarta last night. Business ties and asylum seekers will be the main topic on the agenda. Mr Rudd is promising to lead a delegation of Australia's top 100 businesses to the country if he is re-elected.

 

Nelson Mandela remains in a critical but stable condition in hospital. His wife Graca played down reports that the former president is perilously ill on life support. Mr Mandela's doctors have also denied reports that he is in a vegetative state. Graca Machel says her husband is occassionally in pain, but is doing fine.

 

The number of people who die after suffering a stroke has fallen dramatically in the past 30 years. Figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show stroke death rates fell by 70 per cent between 1979 and 2010 despite the nation's aging population.