TOP STORIES

PNG authorities scale back the search for survivors of a ferry that sank [ABC].

Search scaled back for PNG ferry victims

Last Updated: Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:06:00 +1100

Papua New Guinea authorities have scaled back their search for survivors from the sinking of a passenger ferry, saying none of the more than 100 people still missing were likely to be found alive.

Julia Gillard has told MPs to be more disciplined. [ABC]

Gillard tells MPs to show more discipline

Last Updated: Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:43:00 +1100

The Australian Prime Minister has called on Labor MPs to show more internal discipline this year, as speculation about her leadership and a possible challenge from Kevin Rudd continue to stalk the party.

The 3000 residents of St George in Queensland ordered to evacuate due to flooding. [ABC]

Evacuations ordered as Queensland floods worsen

Last Updated: Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:48:00 +1100

In Australia, compulsory evacuations have been ordered in the town of St George, as floodwaters continue to rise in the state of Queensland's southern inland.

The Opposition's Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop says Australia should focus on its neighbouring countries. [File]

Aust. Opposition says focus on Jakarta, not Geneva

Last Updated: Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:33:00 +1100

The Australian Opposition says if it wins the next election, its foreign policy would focus on the country's close neighbours.

Seven dead in attack on Afghan police building

Last Updated: Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:22:00 +1100

Seven people have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack on police headquarters in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.

China, Russia defend veto of UN resolution on Syria

Last Updated: Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:45:00 +1100

Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, has defended his country's veto of a Security Council resolution on Syria.

Burma hosts regional dialogue

Last Updated: Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:45:00 +1100

More than 40 delegates from a dozen counties are attending a two day event in Rangoon, run by the Australian group AsiaLink.

Rival Putin protests rally in Moscow

Last Updated: Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:20:00 +1100

Tens of thousands of Russians defied bitter cold in Moscow on Saturday to demand fair elections in a march against Vladimir Putin's 12-year rule, while thousands of others staged a rally supporting the prime minister.

Afghan civilian casualties rise in 2011

Last Updated: Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:20:00 +1100

More than 3,000 civilians were killed in the war in Afghanistan in 2011, the fifth year in a row the number has risen, the United Nations said on Saturday in a report likely to revive tension between the Afghan government and its Western backers.

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake has struck off the eastern coast of the Philippines. [ABC]

Earthquake strikes off Philippines

Last Updated: Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:19:00 +1100

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake has struck off the eastern coast of the Philippines, revising down an earlier magnitude of 6.0.

200 people reportedly killed in the Syrian city of Homs [ABC].

At least 200 dead in Syrian city of Homs

Last Updated: Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:32:00 +1100

Syria's government denies that its army bombarded the central city of Homs.

Survivors of the ferry tragedy escape to life rafts. [ABC]

Four bodies recovered in PNG ferry search

Last Updated: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:12:00 +1100

Rescuers in Papua New Guinea say four bodies have been recovered of those who died in Thursday's ferry sinking.

The State Emergency Service says floodwaters have isolated more than 10,000 people across New South Wales. [ABC]

Queensland floods a 'major emergency'

Last Updated: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:32:00 +1100

Authorities have built another levee at Charleville in the Australian state of Queensland's southwest, in case the first wall collapses under the pressure of the swollen Warrego River.

Journalists listen to a hearing from the UN-back war crimes court in Cambodia, where a leader has been handed a life jail sentence. [ABC]

Life sentence for Khmer Rouge leader

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:46:00 +1100

A former Khmer Rouge jailer who oversaw the deaths of some 15,000 people will spend the rest of his life in jail, Cambodia's UN-backed court ruled in a final appeal verdict.

China mine blast kills 11

Last Updated: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:41:00 +1100

Eleven people have been killed and six injured in a gas explosion at a Chinese coal mine.

Protesters clash with security forces in Cairo. (Reuters)

New clashes as anger in Egypt boils over

Last Updated: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:09:00 +1100

Egyptian protesters clashed with police for a second straight day on Friday as anger against the ruling military boiled over amid fury at the deaths of 74 people in football-related violence.

The Philippines military have prepared for a possible retaliation after the air strike. (ABC)

Philippines raises terror alert after air strike

Last Updated: Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:57:00 +1100

The Philippines has raised its terror alert in Sulu province after a military air strike against the terror groups Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf on Thursday.

Sri Lanka has been criticised for appointing a military officer to a peacekeeping body.[ABC]

Sri Lanka backs general for peacekeeping role

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:08:00 +1100

Sri Lanka has defended appointing a military officer to a UN advisory body on peacekeeping.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says her leadership is safe. [ABC]

Gillard laughs off leadership rumours

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:27:00 +1100

The Australian Prime Minister, the man she ousted from the job, and senior Labor ministers have publicly laughed off or dismissed suggestions of a leadership coup, but there is no escaping speculation that Julia Gillard's prospects in the job are terminal.

Peter O'Neill speaks at a press conference in PNG. On Thursday he announced the suspension of the country's top judge. [ABC]

Top PNG judge hits back at suspension

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:41:00 +1100

Papua New Guinea's Chief Justice, Sir Salamo Injia was denied access to office by armed policemen following his suspension by the government this week.

A Syrian soldier secures a checkpoint in Homs. [ABC]

River runs red in Syria

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:42:00 +1100

Residents in the central Syrian city of Hama have defiantly painted roads red and staged a general strike in memory of a massacre carried out by the regime there 30 years ago.

Mitt Romney has won Donald Trump's seal of approval. [ABC]

Trump backs Mitt's run

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:55:00 +1100

US business mogul Donald Trump has re-injected himself and his wealth into the United States Republican presidential race by endorsing frontrunner Mitt Romney.

Microscope shows malaria parasites in action. [ABC]

1.2 million malaria deaths in 2010

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:09:00 +1100

A new study suggests that malaria kills twice as many people around the world as previously thought.

If convicted, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani faces a six-month jail term and being disqualified from public office. [AFP]

Pakistan PM to face contempt charges

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:57:00 +1100

Pakistan's Supreme Court has confirmed it will charge the country's prime minister with contempt of court, in a move that threatens to bring down the government.

Gail Kelly addressed a banking conference. She has announced 550 Australian jobs are to be cut. [ABC]

Westpac cuts 550 Australian jobs

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:11:00 +1100

Australian banking giant Westpac Friday confirmed it will axe up to 550 jobs with more cuts not ruled out as slowing global growth hits hard.

Stephen Smith said he understood international forces would have an ongoing presence in Afghanistan until the end of 2014. [ADF]

Australia's Defence Minister rejects early Afghan withdrawal reports

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:35:00 +1100

Australia's Defence Minister Stephen Smith has rejected reports that the United States will end its combat role in Afghanistan by late next year.

Three days of mourning have been declared for the victims of the violence. [Reuters]

Egypt football leadership sacked over soccer carnage

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:34:00 +1100

Egypt's prime minister has announced the entire leadership of the country's football association, including its director and management board, has been sacked.

Social media site Facebook helped two twins track each other down, 29 years after being separated. [ABC]

Woman uses Facebook to find lost twin

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:53:00 +1100

Twins born in Indonesia and put up separately for adoption, have been reunited after finding each other on Facebook, living just 40 kilometres apart in southern Sweden, three decades later.

Men drinking kava in Tonga. An Australian festival has banned kava drinking. [ABC]

Kava ban for Australian multicultural festival

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:25:00 +1100

The Pacific Islander community in the Australian capital Canberra is angry city health officials have rejected the use of kava at next week's multicultural festival.

Julian Assange's supporters believe the case is politically motivated and relates to his website's release of sensitive diplomatic and military documents. [AFP]

Wikileaks founder awaits verdict in extradition appeal

Last Updated: Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:03:00 +1100

The British Supreme Court is expected to take weeks to decide on Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's appeal against his extradition to Sweden on sexual assault allegations.