ABC NewsMail - afternoon edition

NAB systems down again
National Australia Bank is again experiencing problems with its banking systems.

Oprah touches down in Cairns
Oprah Winfrey's private jet has touched down in Cairns, marking the start of her "Ultimate Australian Adventure".

Heavy rain, storms drench eastern states
Heavy rains and severe thunderstorms continue to wreak havoc across southern and eastern Australia as emergency services warn the deluge could continue for days.

ACCC urged to tap banks' phones
Banks should be subjected to telephone taps to detect alleged price signalling, according to a submission to the Senate inquiry into banking competition.

Husband arrested over wife's honeymoon murder
A British businessman has been arrested on suspicion of conspiring to have his Swedish bride murdered while honeymooning in South Africa.

Rudd stung by the WikiLeaks whip
You have to hand it to the Americans. They were on to Kevin Rudd long before most of his colleagues and most of the media. Among other things, the WikiLeaks cables have revealed how the former US ambassador was critical of Rudd's 'control freak' tendencies and his ambition to direct Australia's foreign policy. But the problem for Kevin Rudd now is not embarrassment but credibility.

Assange: Australian of the year?
Should Julian Assange hang for telling the truth? Should he do jail time? All our better angels briskly murmur 'no'.

National agreement on a national curriculum
While most agree the time is right, the implementation of a national curriculum in this country is not going to be easy.

Taking the axe to a blossoming league
Just as the A-League was starting to resemble a fully-grown product, the FFA looks set to bow to its critics and swing the axe.

Open letter: To Julia Gillard, re Julian Assange
ThereÂ's no doubt that WikiLeaks and its figurehead-on-the-run Julian Assange are among the hottest items for discussion on the planet right now. Feelings are running high, and many in this country take the view that the Australian Government ought do more to assist its vilified, beleaguered citizen. Assange has become a cause celebre, as evidenced by the signatories to this open letter, a whoÂ's who of sorts, from Noam Chomsky to Helen Garner...

Oprah fans head to Arnhem rock art site
Fourteen American fans of the Oprah Winfrey Show have touched down in Darwin.

ANZ warns lending margins remain tight
The threat of home loan rates rising beyond any official Reserve Bank increase looks set to remain into next year.

NAB systems down again
National Australia Bank is again experiencing problems with its banking systems.

37 bodies recovered from Colombia mudslide
Colombian rescue officials say they have recovered 37 bodies from a massive weekend mudslide, as president Juan Manuel Santos declared a local state of emergency to cope with the catastrophe.

North Korea conducts new artillery drill
South Korea's military says explosions have been heard from inside North Korean territory in what appears to be an artillery drill.

Crowd gathers at Assange's son's house
Police have gone to a street in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton, where a crowd is loitering outside a house believed to be the home of the son of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

ACCC urged to tap banks' phones
Banks should be subjected to telephone taps to detect alleged price signalling, according to a submission to the Senate inquiry into banking competition.

Oprah fans head to Arnhem rock art site
Fourteen American fans of the Oprah Winfrey Show have touched down in Darwin.

ANZ warns lending margins remain tight
The threat of home loan rates rising beyond any official Reserve Bank increase looks set to remain into next year.

ANZ warns lending margins remain tight
The threat of home loan rates rising beyond any official Reserve Bank increase looks set to remain into next year.

Rug pulled at carpet factory
Liquidators for Tascot Templeton Carpets in Devonport have given up hope of finding a buyer for the business.

Rinehart purchases another media stake
Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart has purchased a stake in Fairfax media.

Not enough police for 'designated area'
Araluen MLA Robyn Lambley says there are not enough police to enforce the Northern Territory Government's proposed "designated area" for Alice Springs.

Affordable housing project construction begins
Welfare groups say a new affordable housing project in South Brisbane will provide accommodation for more than 70 homeless people.

'Many options' for new Darwin bus corridor
Darwin Lord Mayor Graeme Sawyer says his council will consider a range of parking options along Cavenagh Street, which it wants to turn into a four-lane road with a bus corridor.

Cane harvesters back at work after fields dry
Cane farmers in the Herbert region of north Queensland are harvesting for the first time in a month, thanks to a break in the rain.

Gunns closes Alexandra timber mill
Gunns Limited has confirmed it will close its timber mill in north-east Victoria.

Crean not budging on Water Act
Federal Minister for Regional Australia Simon Crean says he does not support the interpretation of the Water Act put forward by the outgoing chairman of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.

Ponting plummets down rankings
Ricky Ponting has dropped out of the top 20 in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test batting rankings for the first time since 2001 after Australia's crushing defeat by England in Adelaide.

Sewage spill leaves Olympic rowers high and dry
Australia's Olympic rowing program is in disarray after the closure of Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin due to a sewage spill.

Tyson, Tszyu elected to boxing shrine
Mike Tyson, whose reign as the globe's most feared heavyweight was followed by an epic fall from grace, has been named for induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum.

Bust fetches $24m at auction
A marble bust has sold for an astonishing $US23.8 million ($24.2 million) at a Sotheby's auction in New York, soaring to nearly 10 times its pre-sale estimate.

DiCaprio attacker gets two years' jail
A woman who pleaded no contest to smashing a glass into actor Leonardo DiCaprio's face at a party five years ago has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Mirren blasts Hollywood for penis worship
British actress Helen Mirren blasted Hollywood for worshipping "at the altar of the 18 to 25-year-old male and his penis" as she received an award for women in entertainment.

Healthy sex life not just for the young
New Australian research has found a link between testosterone levels and sexual activity in older men.

Bid to release maternity unit report fails
The ACT Opposition's bid to make public the findings of an inquiry into alleged bullying at Canberra Hospital's maternity unit has failed.

Indian MP pushes compulsory yoga in schools
An MP in India is lobbying for a law that will make yoga compulsory in the country's junior schools, where he says it will help with discipline, fitness and dealing with "computer-related stress".

Gin Gin observatory unveils expansion plans
The Gin Gin observatory has unveiled plans for an expansion, to be funded by the Federal Government.

Frogs use bladder to expel foreign objects
Australia's desert frogs are famously able to store up large amounts of water in their bladder to last them through the drought.

What drives you nuts?
Tasmanian motorists have been invited to take part in a new study investigating road rage.

Simon Crean talks MDB in Narrabri
The federal Minister for Regional Australia, Simon Crean, is touring Toowoomba and Narrabri today to field the views of locals about water usage in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Mona Mona residents welcome land handover
The descendants of the residents of an Aboriginal mission on the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland say they are looking forward to a lease handover that will secure their future on the land.

Conservation site gets native title determination
The Federal Court will today travel to the Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, about 350 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs, to hand down an historic native title consent determination.

Mona Mona residents welcome land handover
The descendants of the residents of an Aboriginal mission on the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland say they are looking forward to a lease handover that will secure their future on the land.

Conservation site gets native title determination
The Federal Court will today travel to the Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, about 350 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs, to hand down an historic native title consent determination.

Outback food price worries persist
The South Australian Government has defended a new food plan for the state's remote Aboriginal lands amid claims it will not reduce food prices.

Driver nabbed by same cop on other side of the world
A motorist caught speeding in London two years ago moved to New Zealand only to be booked by the same police officer for again exceeding the limit, reports said.

Snake upstages Santa at outback Christmas party
An outback Christmas party turned to chaos when a teacher and her principal were bitten by a snake.

Russian cop eats his way out of jail time

A Russian policeman has received a suspended sentence for extorting a 2,000-ruble ($67) bribe and then trying to conceal his crime by eating the money, investigators say.

© 2009 ABC | Privacy Policy