TOP STORIES

After an election race too close to call, Julia Gillard has pipped Tony Abbott to form government. [AFP]

Australia's returned PM prepares team

Last Updated: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:38:00 +1000

Australia's Prime Minister, Julia Gillard is now shaping the team that she hopes will get her Labor party through the next three years.

Dozens killed in blast at Pakistan police HQ

Last Updated: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:24:00 +1000

A huge blast has shaken the police headquarters in the northwestern Pakistani town of Kohat.

Australian deported from Bangkok over anti-government protests

Last Updated: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:24:00 +1000

An Australian man jailed for participating in anti-government protests in Bangkok earlier this year has been deported from Thailand.

Queen sends message to NZ earthquake survivors

Last Updated: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:24:00 +1000

Queen Elizabeth II has sent a message of support to New Zealand in the wake of Saturday's devastating earthquake in Christchurch.

Australian author Peter Carey on Man Booker shortlist

Last Updated: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:24:00 +1000

Australian author Peter Carey is one of six authors on the short list for one of the world's most influential literary awards, the Man Booker prize.

Chinese woman sues over movie ads

Last Updated: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:24:00 +1000

A Chinese woman is suing a cinema for showing 20 minutes of commercials before her movie.

Delhi Games vuvuzela decisions criticised

Last Updated: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:24:00 +1000

A senior Commonwealth Games organisers has criticised a decision to allow vuvuzelas at events during the Delhi Games next month.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard (right) and Treasurer Wayne Swan stride to a press conference after independent MPs Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor gave a Labor minority government their support. [ABC]

Julia Gillard's Australian Labor Party wins government

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:51:00 +1000

The Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, says the Labor Party is ready to govern and she hopes to be swearing in a new ministry next week.

The Opposition Leader Tony Abbott appears at a parliamentary function only hours after Julia Gillard secured enough seats to form a minority government. [AFP]

Australia's Opposition promises to hold Labor to account

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:55:00 +1000

A disappointed Tony Abbott says Australia's Coalition will continue to "ferociously" hold Labor to account after he today watched his chance of becoming prime minister disappear as key independents sided with Labor to form government.

A bulldozer demolishes unsafe buildings in Christchurch. [ABC]

Aftershocks traumatise residents of New Zealand's Christchurch

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:49:00 +1000

New Zealand is still suffering from aftershocks in the wake of Saturday's earthquake in Christchurch.

Landmark win for Aboriginal people. [Getty Images]

Australian state to recognise Aborigines as first settlers

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:23:00 +1000

A bill recognising Aborigines as the first people of the Australian state of New South Wales, will be introduced into state parliament on Wednesday.

Two boys paddle through floodwaters in the northern Victorian town of Myrtleford. [ABC]

Flooding continues in southern and eastern Australia

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:18:00 +1000

Flooding continues around Australia's southern state of Victoria after a tense night for residents at Wangaratta in the state's northeast.

Beijing has a keen interest in maintaining the rule by Senior General Than Shwe. [AFP]

Burmese military leader arrives in China

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:24:00 +1000

The head of Burma's military regime Than Shwe has arrived in China, with his hosts demanding western countries not interfere in Burma's first elections in 20 years.

Security forces are on heightened alert in the southern island of Mindanao. [ABC]

Philippine courts urged to outlaw Abu Sayyaf

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:37:00 +1000

The Philippine justice department has asked the country's courts to outlaw the extremist group Abu Sayyaf and to blacklist its members.

A pro-Tibet protester at a candlelight vigil in Sydney. [AAP]

China holds two Tibetan journalists: report

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:35:00 +1000

Two Tibetan journalists have reportedly been arrested in northwestern China after writing about a government crackdown on 2008 ethnic unrest in Tibet.

Gurshan Singh died in March this year. [ABC]

Man pleads guilty over Indian boy's death in Australia

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:12:00 +1000

A 23-year-old Indian national has pleaded guilty to causing the death of an Indian boy in the Australian city of Melbourne earlier this year.

RBA chief keeps interest rates unchanged. [ABC]

Australia's central bank keeps rates unchanged

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:30:00 +1000

Australia's central bank has left interest rates on hold for the fourth month in a row.

PNG warning over LNG project

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:04:00 +1000

The Papua New Guinea government has been warned it will be a disaster if proceeds from the multi-billion dollar PNG liquefied natural gas project are not used to bring much needed social services.

An Australian doctor helps a Pakistani man give medicine to his sick son at Camp Cockatoo in Kot Addu. [Australian Government]

Racing flood waters head towards major Pakistani towns

Last Updated: Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:15:00 +1000

Pakistani authorities are racing to protect two southern towns and their 360,000 residents from surging floods, as the nation struggles to cope with its worst natural disaster in living memory.

Protesting Kashmiri men and women defy a curfew and light a fire during a demonstration in Srinagar.[AFP]

Protesters shot during Kashmir protests

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:14:00 +1000

Three protesters have been killed after Indian security forces opened fire during demonstrations in Kashmir.

The attack comes as Pakistan continues to dealth the aftermath of the country's worst floods. [ABC]

Suicide bomber drives car into Pakistani police station

Last Updated: Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:44:00 +1000

At least 19 people, including nine police officers, have died after a suicide bomber drove his car into a police station in northwest Pakistan.

Transparency on agenda in Tongan election

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:06:00 +1000

Tongatapu People's Representative and prominent democracy campaginer, Akilisi Pohiva, says Tonga's newest political party is standing on a platform of government transparency and economic reform.

French club releases Fijian winger from contract

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:16:00 +1000

French rugby club Agen is releasing Rupeni Caucaunibuca after the winger broke his contract by missing seven weeks of pre-season training and the start of the new Top 14 season.

Afghan government freezes assets of troubled bank owners

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:28:00 +1000

Afghanistan's government has move to freeze the assets of some owners of the troubled Kabul Bank, the country's largest commercial bank.

Alarm at rise in piracy in South China Sea

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 02:28:00 +1000

The International Maritime Bureau has expressed concern over a spike in piracy attacks in the South China Sea.

Japanese Greenpeace members Toru Suzuki (left) and Junichi Sato, dubbed the Tokyo Two, have been charged with stealing whale meat.

Greenpeace condemns 'Tokyo Two' verdict

Last Updated: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:46:00 +1000

The environmental agency Greenpeace has condemned guilty verdicts handed down to two of its Japanese activists, who've been convicted of stealing whale meat.