Dinnigan's fall does not bode well for fashion

DAISY DUMAS Gloom has descended over the fashion industry with the news that Collette Dinnigan is to close her label.

Waterhouse has her best chance yet in race she has never won

ANDREW WEBSTER For most of this year, it has been Gai Waterhouse versus the world.

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Zygier's cell was 'intended to kill its resident'

Ori Golan An Israeli man jailed over the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has provided a rare glimpse into the cell where Melbourne man Ben Zygier, known as Prisoner X, ended his life.

Leighton arm facing $5b Indian probe

Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie and Ben Doherty A Leighton Holdings subsidiary is facing a corruption inquiry after it won a $5 billion Indian coalmining deal in partnership with a company owned by the family of India's former coal minister.

Labor offers ultimatum over carbon tax

MARK KENNY Australian businesses and households face months of uncertainty over energy pricing after the Labor opposition resolved on Friday to stick with the unpopular carbon tax unless the government adopts its policy of an emissions trading scheme.

Poor report card on reef's health

Tom Allard Much of the Great Barrier Reef is continuing to degrade, especially in the inner areas where a slew of new port developments are proposed and waiting approval from the federal government.

Spying could damage regional trust

CHRIS JOHNSON Australia's reputation as a friendly and trusted leader in the region will be dented if it is proved it is using its embassies to spy on neighbouring countries.

GG to highlight human rights

TONY WRIGHT The Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, wants to spend her last months in office promoting a national discussion to elevate the status of human rights for all Australians.

Fears for reef over port developments

Tom Allard Much of the Great Barrier Reef is continuing to degrade, especially areas closest to the mainland, where new port developments are awaiting approval from the federal government.

From billionaire to MP: Palmer to disclose riches

Rory Callinan, Jonathan Swan Wealthy businessman Clive Palmer will be forced to disclose a minefield of potential conflicts of interests in his new role as a federal MP, with directorships of no fewer than 74 private companies involved in aviation, sport, mining, shipping, real estate and tourism.

Leighton faces graft inquiry in India

Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie and Ben Doherty A Leighton Holdings subsidiary is facing a corruption inquiry after it won a $5 billion Indian coalmining deal in partnership with a company owned by the family of India's former coal minister.

Orange inspires design for new little neighbour of the Opera House

John Saxby How do you design a building that will sit next to the most famous building in the world?

State Library moves to throw open reading room, but not to weddings

Susan Wyndham The grand, high-domed Mitchell Reading Room at the State Library of NSW will be opened to the general public, and scholars relegated to a renamed Scholars Room, under reforms that combine public relations and cost-cutting.

Surveillance

Everyone's dirty little secrets exposed in high-tech neighbourhood watch

Damien Murphy Somewhere between the cyber espionage that outed the US as Big Brother Inc and the phone-hacking scandal that sank Rupert Murdoch's British form of journalism, the real news of the world may be Spies 'R' Us.

Indonesia demands clarity on spy claims

CHRIS JOHNSON Suggestions that Australian intelligence services had spied on Indonesian politicians were ''not cricket'' and Jakarta wanted an explanation, Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said in Perth on Friday.

Killing police worth the risk, bikies warn

MARISSA CALLIGEROS Queensland police have been warned that members of the latest outlaw motorcycle gang to move onto the Gold Coast say they would rather kill police than be arrested and face the government's new laws.

We won't be bullied: ALP stands by its climate view

MARK KENNY Australian businesses and households face months of uncertainty over energy pricing after the federal opposition resolved on Friday to stick with the unpopular carbon tax unless the government adopts its policy of an emissions trading scheme.

Two days to sort out 300 beers, sip by sip

Karyn Starmer Most Aussie blokes probably think themselves qualified to judge a beer. At the very least, they have some practical experience under their belts.

Two YMCA employees charged with sex offences before allegations against Jonathan Lord, Royal Commission hears

CATHERINE ARMITAGE 8:52pm Two YMCA NSW employees had been charged with child sex offences before allegations were raised against Caringbah child care worker Jonathan Lord in 2011, the child sexual abuse Royal Commission has heard.

Nothing sweet about this debate

Amy Corderoy 12:00am A science TV program has controversially challenged conventional wisdom on diet and heart health. But there is more to the story.

iTalkBB worker says company underpaid him

CLAY LUCAS 12:59pm An employee at an international mobile phone service provider popular with Chinese students says he was paid as little as $9 an hour.