A New Zealand sailor, who limped into Hobart with a broken mast after 10 weeks at
sea, has warned of the loneliness Queensland teenager Jessica Watson faces on her

The federal government concedes plans to almost double the capacity to house asylum
seekers on Christmas Island will take a toll on the local community.

Fans have bid a final farewell to the King of Pop at the Australian premiere of This
Is It.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has not ruled out the use of force to offload a group of
78 asylum seekers from an Australian Customs vessel to an Indonesian detention
centre.

ANZ Banking Group Ltd chief executive Mike Smith has called the peak of the bad debt
cycle after the bank posted a 46 per cent jump in bad debts that dragged down net
profit.

Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd has more than doubled its calendar 2010 capital
expenditure budget in a sign that global commodities demand is set to rebound
strongly in coming years.

Robbie Fowler is quietly confident of erasing one of the lowest points of his
glittering career and kicking Gold Coast while they are down on Saturday night.

Newly-appointed Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom says talk is cheap and has vowed to
lead with deeds in Saturday night's Bledisloe Cup showdown with the All Blacks in
Tokyo.

Premier John Brumby has poured cold water on a push to merge Victoria's multiple
firefighting services.

The number two in the Chinese government, Executive Vice Premier Li Keqiang, has met
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard for talks in Sydney.