News in Australia

• No disrespect, 'spiderman' says
  

  French "spiderman" Alain Robert has denied he is disrespectful of Australian law and says his latest climb of a Sydney building did not endanger lives.

• Nufarm likely to face class action
  

  Shareholders are likely to launch a class action against Nufarm for allegedly misleading conduct relating to profit forecasts.

• Qantas affirms its two-airline strategy
  

  Qantas says global operating conditions have rebounded from historic lows, but the aviation industry remains competitive, challenging and volatile.

• Brown, Wilkie will see PM more than Swan
  

  Bob Brown and Andrew Wilkie now have better access to the prime minister than Treasurer Wayne Swan, Liberal frontbencher Peter Dutton says.

• Windsor still undecided about govt
  

  Regional NSW independent MP Tony Windsor is adamant he has not yet decided which party to support in a minority government.

• Injured girls left in car, boy charged
  

  Police believe they have found the 16-year-old boy who ran away and left three injured girls in a crashed car after a high speed police chase in Sydney.

• Leaders pay tribute to fallen soldier
  

  Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott have attended the funeral of a Brisbane soldier who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

• Another boatload of asylum seekers intercepted
  

  Another boatload of suspected asylum seekers are on their way to Christmas Island after being intercepted on Friday.

• Another boat intercepted
  

  A group of 59 suspected asylum seekers and two crew have been intercepted near Christmas Island.

• Hobart hospital falling down: Dutton
  

  Opposition health spokesman Peter Dutton has defended the coalition's $1 billion Hobart hospital rebuild offer to independent MP Andrew Wilkie.

• Index reshuffle affects resource stocks
  

  Companies within the energy and materials sectors make up over half the promotions and demotions in the latest review of the top Australian share indices.

• No 'Wilkies' in Katter's wishlist
  

  Queensland independent Bob Katter says he has not made big demands in his wishlist to Labor and the coalition to win his support to form government.

• Anger over hurdle racing decision
  

  Horse welfare group disappointed but not surprised by decision to extend hurdle racing for three years.

• Telstra to sell SouFun stake in IPO
  

  Telstra Corporation Ltd says it will sell its 50.5 per cent share in SouFun Holdings after the Chinese website's initial public offering (IPO) later this year.

• Services sector sluggish, stimulus wanes
  

  Activity in the services sector was "sluggish" in August, rising slightly in the wake of the gradual withdrawal of fiscal stimulus, a report shows.

• Accept Paladin bid, NGM tells investors
  

  Minerals explorer NGM Resources has advised shareholders to accept a takeover bid from Paladin Energy.

• S&P's concerned about Nufarm's liquidity
  

  Nufarm has been placed on credit watch by ratings agency Standard & Poor's on concerns about its rising debt and future profitability.

• Australian attacked by shark in Solomons
  

  A shark attack in a remote area of the Solomon Islands has left an Australian man with severe cuts to his face and neck.

• Labor hospital plan responsible: Wilkie
  

  Independent MP Andrew Wilkie rejected the coalition's offer of $1bn to rebuild a Hobart hospital because he couldn't see where the money would come from.

• Men threaten police with knife and car
  

  A group of plainclothes officers arrest two men south of Sydney who threatened them with a knife after they identified themselves as police.

• Train commuters nabbed over drugs
  

  Police have nabbed train commuters on drug offences and for carrying weapons during a special operation.

• $A opens higher on firm US data
  

  The Australian dollar has opened higher on positive US data and a move back towards riskier assets.

• $A opens higher on firm US data
  

  The Australian dollar has opened higher on positive US data and a move back towards riskier assets.

• Acquisition not 'colonialism': Barnett
  

  Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett has continued to defend the compulsory acquisition of Kimberley land for a gas precinct.

• Stocks to watch
  

  Stocks of interest on the Australian Stock Exchange today.

• Stocks to watch
  

  Stocks of interest on the Australian Stock Exchange today.

• Oil prices rise on economic reports
  

  Oil prices ended higher on Thursday after an initial retreat as investors put a positive spin on reports about jobs, manufacturing and home sales.

• Aust stocks open higher on US lead
  

  The Australian stock market opens higher on more gains on Wall Street overnight.

• Aussie markets receive positive leads
  

  The Australian markets have received positive leads for the third consecutive day, with stronger performances in overseas markets overnight.

• Stocks rise on positive economic data
  

  Stocks rose and extended their gains, after reports on housing, manufacturing and jobs all indicated that the economy continues to grow.

• Man bashed by six youths at station
  

  A 38-year-old man was bashed by six youths on a train in Melbourne's east.

• Armed men rob adult store in Melbourne
  

  Two men armed with a knife and a hammer stole cash and cigarettes from an adult store in Melbourne's south-east.

• Murderer Des Campbell's sentencing today
  

  Murderer Des Campbell will be sentenced on Friday for pushing his rich wife off a cliff at the Royal National Park, south of Sydney.

• Govt passes tougher sex offender laws
  

  Dangerous sex offenders will face longer prison sentences and closer supervision on release under tough new laws passed by state parliament.

• Woman charged over rifle raid
  

  A young woman has been charged with a raft of weapons offences after police raided a home in central-west NSW and seized three rifles.

• Armed robbers raid Sydney pub
  

  Three men armed with a handgun, a knife and a baseball bat stormed a Sydney pub and fled with cash.

• Future of species unpredictable: study
  

  Humans are currently playing a giant gamble with nature that could potentially see a mass extinction greater than that of the dinosaurs, new research shows.

• More Aussies switching to solar power
  

  Australians are increasingly using sustainable energy sources to address rising gas and electricity prices.

• Fire costings sought by opposition
  

  The Victorian opposition has called on the government to release detailed costings of its $867 million bushfires royal commission response package.

• Qantas waiting for answers on engine explosion
  

  Qantas says it won't rush to inspect all Rolls-Royce engines on its jumbos before it has received guidance from air safety investigators and regulators.

• Embassy in Ethiopia a UN gambit
  

  Australia will soon open an embassy in Ethiopia in what is widely seen as an attempt to bolster the campaign to win a prized seat on the United Nations Security Council.

• Sexologist wants federal support for manhood
  

  Sexologist Bettina Arndt says thousands of Australian men with erectile dysfunction are condemned to sexual impotence or reliance on costly and often dodgy treatments.

• Pledge to probe defence contract
  

  Defence Minister John Faulkner has promised a 'further examination' of a $30 million contract scandal to fly Australian troops to the Middle East.

• Peak beak or chill bill? It's a climate thing
  

  The hotter the climate, the larger the beak on the local birds, according to researchers. who have studied more than 200 species around the world.

• Legal action over Lyme disease case
  

  A Sydney woman will launch a class action against NSW health authorities after autopsy results showed her husband was riddled with a disease the Health Department says does not exist in Australia.

• Screening out the empathy
  

  The impact of screen culture on the human brain merits the same debate and funding for research as climate change, says an eminent neuroscientist.

• Fresh hope through the looking glass
  

  Australian hospitals are using a remarkable new treatment that effectively tricks the brain of an injured patient into thinking their problem has deteriorated or gone away.

• Mambo T-shirt withdrawn
  

  More than 20 years after it appeared, a classic Mambo design has proved too controversial to sell in a department store.

• Hogan and Tax Office in talks on a deal
  

  Paul Hogan and the Australian Tax Office are negotiating to find a way through the impasse that has resulted in the actor barred from leaving the country.

• Protesters sent to remote WA
  

  Afghan asylum seekers who escaped from detention in Darwin on Wednesday have been transferred to the Curtin immigration detention centre in Australia's remote north-west.

• What's in a name? Fame or notoriety for explorer
  

  Disrespectful humour and mental illness led to the downfall of this German historian, writes Steve Meacham.

• The best medicine
  

  This year more than 100,000 Australians will be told they have cancer. In her new book, oncologist Ranjana Srivastava says not all will get the medical treatment they deserve. She speaks to Julia Medew.

• Property barons gave airline freebies to Labor minister
  

  ONE of Sydney's powerful Kazal property family, Charif Kazal, arranged more than $6000 worth of business-class airline upgrades for the Fair Trading Minister, Virginia Judge, on a trip to the Middle East last year.

• Faulkner to probe Defence contract scandal
  

  THE Defence Minister, John Faulkner, has promised a ''further examination'' of a $30 million contract scandal to fly Australian troops to the Middle East, while his department has suggested other authorities could be asked to investigate.

• Medich changes mind on AVO against wife
  

  THE property tycoon Ron Medich may have been called many things in his life but PINOP is not one of them.

• Reverend denial - employee link to porn leak
  

  THE report on internet use that ended the ministerial career of the MP for Heathcote, Paul McLeay, may have been compiled by a ''rogue employee'' to maliciously leak to the media, the president of the Legislative Council, Amanda Fazio, has said.

• No dam debate as Kurnell set for expansion
  

  THE Kurnell desalination plant is set to be expanded, with the state government moving to boost environmental flows down the Hawkesbury-Nepean and the Shoalhaven rivers, leaving less water for use by the city's residents.

• Sins of the flesh? Just research, says Nile
  

  DEBBIE may have done Dallas, but Fred swears he never did. ''I've heard of the title, but I've never seen it,'' the Reverend Fred Nile vowed yesterday when asked if he had watched Debbie Does Dallas.

• Early win in case against alleged bikie gang mole
  

  POLICE have won an early skirmish in their case against an alleged bikie mole, with a magistrate refusing to discount extensive circumstantial evidence against a police intelligence analyst, Terry Gregoriou.

• Strikes reduced to a workplace rarity
  

  THE industrial strike has become little more than a memory in most Australian workplaces, with declining union membership and legal changes producing a fundamental shift in our work culture.

• Hogan and ATO seek resolution
  

  PAUL HOGAN and the Australian Tax Office are negotiating to find a way through the impasse that has seen the actor barred from leaving the country.

• An Australian chronicle revisited
  

  The work of a brilliant but ill-disciplined German explorer is about to find a new audience, writes Steve Meacham.

• Emperor Fischer washes his hands
  

  Tim Fischer, former leader of the Nationals and former deputy prime minister, has clearly spent too much time at the Vatican.

• Fred Nile says no 'perving' on net porn in his office
  

  Debbie may have done Dallas, but Fred swears he never did. 'I've heard of the title, but I've never seen it,' the Reverend Fred Nile vowed yesterday.

• Mother's worst nightmare: Facebook won't shut down stalker
  

  A Sydney mother-of-three, her daughter and daughter's friends have been subjected to a two-week ordeal at the hands of a Facebook stalker and they have been unable to get the social networking company to intervene.

• Mambo 'crucifixion' shirt withdrawn from Big W after dressing down
  

  MORE than 20 years after it first appeared, a classic Mambo design has proved too controversial to sell on a department store T-shirt.

• Windsor not afraid of a green Senate
  

  Independent MP Tony Windsor says he is not afraid of a Senate controlled by the Australian Greens.

• Inter-family feud sees 16 charged
  

  A violent feud involving two families has resulted in more than a dozen people being charged in northern NSW, police say.

• Melbourne arrest over Katoomba shooting
  

  A man will appear before an extradition hearing in Melbourne on Friday over the shooting of a man in an home invasion in the Blue Mountains last month.

• Wilkie a force no matter who's PM
  

  Independent MP Andrew Wilkie says he will still be an influential force in parliament, even if the coalition manages to form a minority government.

• Govt to be known within a week: Swan
  

  Australians should know who will form a government by this time next week, Treasurer Wayne Swan says.

• Eagles sign up gun rookies
  

  West Coast rookies Andrew Strijk and Callum Wilson will be elevated to the senior list next season.

• ATSB investigators to examine Qantas jet
  

  Australian authorities have arrived in the US to examine a Qantas jet that made an emergency landing after one of its engines exploded.

• Forrest backs call for tax summit
  

  Andrew Forrest has backed independent MP Rob Oakeshott's call for a taxation summit, saying he'll accept any outcome reached through open, fair discussion.

• Gillard makes pokies pledge
  

  A federal Labor government will try to persuade the states and territories into poker machine reform, following a deal between the PM and MP Andrew Wilkie.

• Ferguson return a trump for Redbacks
  

  South Australian captain Michael Klinger says he has a trump card up his sleeve for the Twenty20 Champions League.

• Wilkie move a 'double win' for Tas
  

  independent Andrew Wilkie's decision to back Labor to form a minority government is a "double win" for Tasmania, Premier David Bartlett says.

• Gillard gives clubs 'a black eye'
  

  Prime Minister Julia Gillard has given a "black eye" to Australia's 4000 registered clubs and broken a promise to consult with them on poker machine laws.

• ABC founder Eddy Groves to sue broker
  

  Eddy Groves, the founder and director of collapses childcare group ABC Learning Centres Ltd, is seeking to sue share broker Austock Group.

• Pokies remedy carries a risk: Zirnsak
  

  The use of pre-commitment technology in gaming venues could encourage some punters to spend more, an anti-gambling advocate says.

• ARL backs new league commission plan
  

  The ARL has thrown its support behind plans to set up an independent commission to run and administer rugby league in Australia.

• Farah plays down Titans bust-up
  

  West Tigers skipper Robbie Farah has played down any talk of a potential flashpoint with Gold Coast hooker Nathan Friend ahead of Friday's crunch NRL clash.

• NSW welcomes pokie debate
  

  NSW says it would welcome a "conversation" with the commonwealth on gambling reform.

• Buchanan ready to buck bad luck
  

  Australia's Defending four cross champion Caroline Buchanan is confident ahead of the MTB world titles.

• Baker, Johnson to behave: Sanderson
  

  Steven Baker will be a good boy on Friday night and so will Steve Johnson, according to Geelong assistant coach Brenton Sanderson.

• Crows to appeal Bock compensation
  

  Adelaide will appeal over what they believe is grossly inadequate AFL draft compensation for losing key defender Nathan Bock to Gold Coast.

• Troubled Jets call for support
  

  Newcastle Jets chief executive John Tsatsimas has urged fans to show their support for the embattled A-League club when they host Brisbane Roar on Sunday.

• Business actions different from words
  

  Treasurer Wayne Swan says recent business investment data highlights the confidence there is in the economic outlook.

• Spill firm says Indon claim lacks proof
  

  The company behind Australia's Montara oil spil has rebuffed a multi-billion-dollar compensation claim for Indonesia.

• Moneghetti hopes athletes embrace India
  

  Steve Moneghetti has encouraged the country's 378-strong team to cast aside any of their fears about Delhi and embrace the October event.

• Webb and Maitua sign on at Parra
  

  Parramatta have confirmed the signings of North Queensland prop Carl Webb and former Canterbury and Cronulla backrower Reni Maitua for the 2011 NRL season.

• And then there were three: again
  

  The nation will have to wait until Monday at the earliest before knowing whether it will have a Labor or coalition government.

• Oakeshott and Twiggy back tax summit
  

  Independent Rob Oakeshott has proposed a summit on tax reform in Australia, with the backing of Fortescue Metals boss Andrew Forrest.

• Aussie companies named in Forbes list
  

  Thirteen Australian companies have been named as part of Forbes Magazine's "best under a billion" list of top performing companies worth under $US1 billion.

• SA serious about problem gambling: govt
  

  South Australia is serious about tackling problem gambling, SA Minister for Gambling Tom Koutsantosis says.

• People smuggler tells court of bribes
  

  A Tamil refugee who admits his role in a people-smuggling scheme has told a Sydney court that bribes were paid to officials as part of the process.

• Pokie deal light on detail, Salvos
  

  The Salvation Army says the deal between independent MP Andrew Wilkie and Prime Minister Julia Gillard to combat problem gambling is light on detail.

• Teenager jailed over fatal brawl
  

  A Sudanese teenager will spend at least six years in jail over the murder of another teenager in Adelaide in 2008.

• Chaplain on child porn charges
  

  A former school chaplain facing child pornography charges will be allowed to see his children, a Perth magistrate has ruled.

• Stranded whale goes out with a bang
  

  Explosives have been used to euthanase a sickly humpback whale which washed up onto a sandbar off West Australia's southwest coast.