The federal ministry reshuffle underlines the government's commitment to nation
building and national security, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says.

Indonesia has threatened to ban Australian beef imports amid concerns some of the
meat doesn't meet Islamic halal standards.

Cronulla backrower Reni Maitua's NRL career appears to be over with confirmation his
B sample test for a banned substance has come back positive.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has chosen a safe pair of hands in veteran minister John
Faulkner to take charge of Defence a day after Joel Fitzgibbon quit as minister.

Victoria now has 874 cases of swine flu with a further 122 cases confirmed overnight.
The state's acting chief health officer Rosemary Lester on Friday said Victoria was

The family of an American woman who died while scuba diving on her honeymoon still
believe she was murdered, even after prosecutors accepted her killer's plea of
manslaughter.

The death of renowned cancer surgeon and researcher Professor Chris O'Brien is being
mourned as "a huge loss" for Australia.

Frustrated Socceroos players claim they - and coach Pim Verbeek - have not been
given the credit they deserve for moving to the cusp of World Cup qualification in
emphatic style.

A man has admitted kidnapping a drug dealer whose body was dismembered, as well as
shooting a pub patron in a botched plan to kill a Bandidos bikie.

Perhaps Queensland's new motto should be: Beautiful one day, copied the next.
A month after the winner of Tourism Queensland's highly successful "Best Job in the