Chinese newspaper apologises over reporter
11:31am A Chinese newspaper whose reporter allegedly told police he accepted payments in exchange for publishing fabricated reports about a construction-machinery maker apologised for failing to verify his stories.
Latest world news
Britain's phone-hacking trial: Juror selection begins
NICK MILLER 1:56am Jurors at the so-called ‘trial of the century’ will likely not be handing down their verdicts until well into next year.
Saudi 'no woman, no drive' Bob Marley song parody clip goes viral
5:51am A Saudi video mocking the kingdom's unique ban on female driving has gone viral, featuring a male performer singing "no woman, no drive", an adaptation of Bob Marley's famous song.
Storm death toll rises to 13 in Europe
The death toll from a severe storm that ripped across Britain and onto mainland Europe has risen to 13, with the UK and Germany hit the hardest.
Two suspects held over India bombings
Shikhar Balwani At least sixpeople died and 50 were injured as seven bombs exploded in the Indian city of Patna hours before Narendra Modi, a prime ministerial candidate, addressed an election rally on Sunday.
Sky's now the limit for predicting heatwaves
Meteorologists may have found a way to predict some killer heatwaves up to three weeks in advance. The best they can do now is about 10 days.
Spain presses for details of US eavesdropping
12:38am Spain demanded on Monday details of any US eavesdropping, saying new reports of mass telephone surveillance in the country would be "inappropriate and unacceptable" if proven to be true.
South Africa to sentence 20 extremists for Nelson Mandela death plot
9:21pm A South African court began sentencing on Monday 20 right-wing extremists convicted of high treason for a plot to kill Nelson Mandela and drive blacks out of the country.
Bombs kill 5 before rally for Indian PM candidate Narendra Modi
9:54am At least five people died and 50 were injured as seven bombs exploded in the Indian city of Patna hours before Narendra Modi, a prime ministerial candidate, addressed an election rally.
Music
Lou Reed of Velvet Underground dies at 71
Lou Reed, whose band the Velvet Underground became one of the most influential in rock by fusing art and music in 1960s' New York through its collaboration with artist Andy Warhol, died on Sunday at age 71.
China flags 'unprecedented' reforms
1:52pm Beijing: Chinese Politburo member Yu Zhengsheng said reforms to be discussed at a Communist Party meeting next month will be unprecedented, adding to signs that leaders are resolved to spur far-reaching policy changes.
Mother, four children stabbed to death in Brooklyn, cousin arrested
New York: A Chinese immigrant has been arrested on five counts of murder in the deaths of his cousin's wife and her four children in a late-night stabbing rampage in their Brooklyn home.
Cybersecurity
Israeli tunnel hit by cyber attack: experts
Daniel Estrin 12:27pm Israel: When Israel's military chief delivered a high-profile speech this month outlining the greatest threats his country might face in the future, he listed computer sabotage as a top concern, warning a sophisticated cyberattack could one day bring the nation to a standstill.
US: Obama not told about Merkel’s phone tap
The National Security Agency has denied German press reports that President Barack Obama was personally informed of US spies tapping German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phones.
Japan's Abe warns China on use of force
Japan is ready to counter China if it resorts to force in the pursuit of its geopolitical interests, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says.
UK's phone-hacking trial to start
The first trial from the phone-hacking scandal that sank Rupert Murdoch's News of the World opens in Britain on Monday with his key aide Rebekah Brooks and the prime minister's former media chief Andy Coulson among the defendants.
Iran hangs 16 in reprisal for border clash
Tehran: Gunmen have killed at least 14 Iranian guards on the Pakistani border, in a rugged area used by drug traffickers, prompting Tehran to retaliate by hanging 16 "rebels," reports say.
Mount Etna volcano erupts
Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, has erupted, sending up a towering plume of ash visible in much of eastern Sicily.
NSA uproar sends German spy chiefs to Washington
German spy chiefs will travel to the US next week to demand answers following allegations that US intelligence has been tapping Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone, as a row over US snooping threatens to hurt transatlantic ties.
Sandy Hook demolition starts after shootings
James Baron Contractors are destroying every brick to ensure nothing is sold to souvenir hunters.
Cold War excuse fails modern spies
David Sanger The digital age has merely expanded the ability of nations to do to one another what they have done for centuries.
Women cancel driving protest
Dubai: Activists seeking an end to Saudi Arabia's ban on women driving have dropped plans to hold a ''drive-in'' after threats of action against anyone getting behind the wheel.
Jurors wanted to charge JonBenet's parents
Documents just released show a grand jury reviewing evidence in the murder of six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey 14 years ago believed her parents were involved.
Serbia buries Tito's widow
The widow of former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito was to be buried on Saturday, the last symbol of the communist federation that broke up in the 1990s.
Taiwan marches for same-sex marriage
Tens of thousands of people rallied in Taiwan on Saturday in Asia's largest gay parade, as the island's parliament was set to review a bill on same-sex marriages.
Deadlock threatens to derail Sudan peace
A nomadic group in the disputed Sudanese border region of Abyei has threatened war if it is excluded from a referendum this week over the area's status.
Fears of killer polio outbreak in Syria
Rick Gladstone United Nations officials are mobilising to vaccinate 2.5 million young children in Syria and more than 8 million others in the region to combat what they fear could be an outbreak of polio.
Alleged snatchers seek release from prison
A Greek Roma couple held for allegedly snatching a young blond girl known as Maria, will seek release from prison after the child's biological parents were found in Bulgaria, their lawyer said on Saturday.
Train commuter eavesdrops on former spy
Nick O'Malley While the US was grappling with allegations that it had spied on the leaders of 35 friendly nations, America’s former chief spy was giving an off-the-record interview.
Maria's parents found in Bulgaria after test
DNA tests have confirmed a Bulgarian Roma couple as the biological parents of Maria.
California cop's quick mistaken shooting
No more than 10 seconds elapsed from the time sheriff's deputies spotted a 13-year-old California boy carrying what they thought was an assault rifle and the moment they shot him dead, police say.
US aims for 3.3 million clean cars
Eight states, including California and New York, have pledged to work together to increase the number of zero-emission cars on the nation's roads by speeding the construction of charging stations and other infrastructure.
Bo Xilai's appeal rejected by high court
PHILIP WEN A Chinese court has rejected the appeal of Bo Xilai, upholding the original life sentence of the purged political star.
US tapped phones of 35 world leaders: report
The United States monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders according to classified documents leaked by fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden, according to a report in Britain's Guardian newspaper.
North Korea to release South Korean prisoners
Choe Sang-Un In an surprise move that could help ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea has announced it will release six South Koreans it has been holding in detention.
Leaks show Pakistan-US relationship still needs work
BEN DOHERTY The path to understanding between Pakistan and America has long been littered with wrong turns and dead-ends. This week was supposed to get the reluctant comrades back on the right road.
Clowns say killing is no laughing matter
Mexican clowns say they are saddened that a killer disguised himself as a clown to kill a drug lord last week - and they insisted no true member of their profession would have committed the crime.
All in a day's work - infamous 'pepper-spray' cop John Pike gets bigger payout than victims
A former University of California policeman who stirred public outrage by pepper-spraying peaceful student protesters has been awarded $US38,000 ($39,300) in worker's compensation.
Sombath Somphone, Lao activist missing for 10 months, spurs wife's desperate plea
LINDSAY MURDOCH The wife of prominent social activist Sombath Somphone has made a desperate plea to Lao authorities, declaring he will leave the country and retire quietly with her if returned safely after being abducted in the Lao capital 10 months ago.
'Hello Barack, It's Angela. We need to talk...'
Nick O'Malley It must have been an awkward call. German chancellor Angela Merkel rang US president Barack Obama to ask if the US had tapped her personal mobile phone.
Has the family of missing Maria been found?
Police in Greece and Bulgaria are investigating whether a Bulgarian woman could be the mother of Maria, the girl found living in a Roma community in Greece.
Pirates kidnap two US citizens off Nigeria
Pirates kidnapped the captain and chief engineer of the C-Retriever, both US citizens, an American defence official and security sources said on Thursday.
Portuguese police reopen Madeleine McCann investigation
NICK MILLER Portuguese police have reopened their investigation into the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann in 2007.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev dead Boston Bomber accused linked to triple homicide
It was one of the biggest unsolved crimes in recent Boston memory: three men, killed on September 11, 2011, their throats slit, their bodies reportedly covered with marijuana.
Greenpeace activists' hopes of early release from Russian detention dashed
ANDREW DARBY Hopes of gaining the early release of Greenpeace's Arctic 30 activists have been dashed with Russian authorities decision to revise charges against them, and rule out international arbitration.
Irish Roma children returned to families
A blonde, blue-eyed schoolgirl removed from a Roma family in Ireland will be reunited with her parents after DNA tests proved she is their daughter, the second such case in the past week.
Social
White House aide fired over Twitter account
A White House security official has been fired after it was discovered he was behind an anonymous Twitter account that criticised the Obama administration.
Australia link to '70s atrocities
Jenny Denton Research to be released into one of the most violent episodes in the history of West Papua claims that helicopters provided to Indonesia by the Australian government were used in military operations in the 1970s that amounted to genocide.
Teacher found dead outside Boston area school; student arrested
A 24-year-old math teacher was found dead outside a suburban Boston high school, and a 14-year-old student has been taken into custody as the suspect in the killing, a local prosecutor said on Wednesday.
China
'Beautiful China' tourism pitch clouded over in smog
Inviting foreigners to visit smog-covered 'Beautiful China' in its latest slogan shows the country's tourism industry is out of touch.
India, China sign border pact
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh signed an agreement to resolve border disputes that have hampered ties between the world's two most populous nations.
Execution survivor spared second hanging
Iran has decided to spare the life of a convicted drug trafficker who survived a hanging, media reports quoted Justice Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi as saying.
Bishop of bling suspended by the Vatican
Dario Thuburn The Vatican has suspended a scandal-tainted German Catholic cleric dubbed the "bling bishop" for his luxury lifestyle, despite multiple calls for the prelate to be dismissed.
School principal faces murder counts
Gardiner Harris Police in India have charged a school principal and her husband with murder in the deaths of 23 children who were fed school lunches laced with insecticide, officials said on Tuesday.
Dolphin sonar spurs radar device for tracking
Britain British engineers have taken inspiration from dolphins for a new type of radar device that could track miners trapped underground or skiers buried in an avalanche.
Luxury
Top dollar for high-altitude balloon
Kenneth Chang And now, a high-altitude adventure for the leisure class, people who do not want to be jostled as they sip champagne and gaze down at Earth's curved blue surface.
No clues as to why boy turned gun on peers
The morning after a 12-year-old boy opened fire at Sparks Middle School in Nevada, killing a teacher and wounding two students before turning the gun on himself, police said they do not have a motive.
Australian Muslims accused of attacking US
NICK O'MALLEY A group of Australian Muslims has allegedly mounted a sectarian attack on an American group during the annual Haj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Majority of Americans support legalising pot
For the first time since polling group Gallup began asking the question more than four decades ago, a clear majority of Americans now say they support the legalisation of pot.
Czech artist gives middle finger to Communists
Lenka Ponikelska A Czech artist waded into the election campaign by floating a giant purple hand on the Vltava river with its middle finger aimed at the Prague Castle.
Saudi Arabia to 'shift away from US' over Syria, Iran: spy chief
Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief has said the kingdom will make a "major shift" in relations with the United States in protest at its perceived inaction over the Syria war and its overtures to Iran.
Greece orders crackdown on birth certificates after Roma child abduction uproar
A powerful Greek prosecutor has ordered an investigation into birth certificates issued over the past six years, after a Roma couple were charged over the alleged abduction of a child.
SpongeBob gravestone pits family against cemetery
The family of a slain Iraqi war veteran wants her towering SpongeBob SquarePants headstone returned to her final resting place while the cemetery officials say that's the only thing they won't do.
Laos plane wreckage hoisted to surface
LINDSAY MURDOCH Rescue teams remain hopeful of finding two black boxes or flight data recorders on the Lao Airlines plane that crashed into the Mekong River in southern Laos last week, killing 49 people including six Australians.
Samantha Lewthwaite, British terror suspect, wrote love letter to Osama bin Laden
Mike Pflanz The British terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite wrote a poem telling of her "love" for Osama bin Laden, files found on her laptop have shown.
South Korean cyber command raided in growing scandal
Military investigators raided South Korea's Cyberwarfare Command after four of its officials were found to have posted political messages online last year, in what opposition lawmakers have called a smear campaign against President Park Geun-hye's opponents.
Nevada shooting: School teacher Michael Landsberry hailed as hero
A Nevada school teacher and Afghanistan veteran is being hailed as a hero after he was killed trying to protect his students from a classmate who opened fire with a semi-automatic handgun.
Irish seize blonde girl from Roma family
Irish police have seized a young blonde girl from a Roma family in Dublin in a move spurred by a similar case in Greece.
Three Romanians plead guilty to daring theft at Dutch museum
Alison Mutler Three Romanians have pleaded guilty to stealing seven paintings, including works by Picasso, Monet and Matisse, from a Dutch museum in a daring nighttime raid that shocked the art world.
The Vatican launches the holiest of cricket competitions and aims to play internationals
NICK MILLER Tea and cucumber sandwiches were served on Tuesday at the Vatican at the launch of St Peter’s Cricket Club, which aims to bring the eternal game to the Eternal City.
Russian suicide bomb sparks terrorist alert
Henry Meyer, Ilya Arkhipov Russian investigators are investigating a suicide bombing that killed six bus passengers in Volgograd on Monday, as the region prepared for President Vladimir Putin's arrival.
Israeli troops kill Palestinian militant
Israeli troops have shot dead a Palestinian militant from the radical Islamic Jihad movement during a gunbattle near the West Bank city of Ramallah, an army spokesman said.
Republican Party hits all-time low in polls
The recent shutdown of the US government has taken a stinging toll on the image of the Republican Party, according to a new poll.
Shipwreck survivors miss tribute to their dead
Italy has held a ceremony in honour of the victims of an asylum shipwreck, amid protests from survivors and relatives who were kept away.
Somalis return to civil war to escape violence
Franz Wild Ali Omar Mohamed fled Somalia's civil war two years ago to seek a better life in South Africa. Now after being robbed at gunpoint and seeing scores of his countrymen murdered, he's ready to leave.
Bashar al-Assad: time is not right for Syrian peace talks
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has dealt a blow to efforts for a peace conference, saying the time is not ripe, as Western and Arab powers prepared to meet with the fractured opposition.
Privacy
Russia follows lead of US intelligence
Leonid Bershidsky Less than three months after granting asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, Russia is preparing to implement the kind of electronic surveillance that he uncovered in the US.
Data
EU rules to guard data of citizens
A European Parliament committee has approved sweeping new data protection rules that would outlaw the kind of data transfers that the US used for its spying program.
Thailand considers charging all tourists to cover unpaid hospital bills
Thailand is considering slapping a 500-baht ($16.60) entry fee on tourists to help cover foreigners' unpaid medical bills, officials say.
US drone strikes may be war crimes, Amnesty report claims
BEN DOHERTY The US has killed civilians in unlawful drone attacks on north-west Pakistan, Amnesty International has said, alleging the Obama administration may be guilty of war crimes.
Nephew confesses to murder of Australian-Pakistani family
BEN DOHERTY A nephew has confessed to killing an entire Australian-Pakistani family of five, saying he murdered his relatives because it was “the easiest solution to get money”.
India's PM Singh accused of being weak on China
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is facing attacks from the opposition for being too soft in trade and border disputes with China ahead of a visit to the world's second-biggest economy.
Drones may be off agenda at Obama-Sharif talks
BEN DOHERTY Nawaz Sharif goes to the White House today more in hope than expectation.
Surveillance
Americas panel to review US, NSA spying claims
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will review allegations of US spying in detail during its next period of hearings.
Japan mulls review of arms exports curbs
An advisory panel to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a review of Japan's self-imposed curbs on arms exports and said the country's defense industry should become more competitive.
Britain to build contentious new nuclear power plant
NICK MILLER Britain's first new nuclear power plant in two decades has sparked a fierce debate – but not the one you'd expect.
Camera catches suicide bomb blast on Russian passenger bus
A female suicide bomber has struck a passenger bus in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, killing five people and injuring 32 others.
President Obama: 'no excuse' for health care sign-up problems
President Barack Obama on Monday said there was "no excuse" for the cascade of computer problems that have marred the rollout of key elements in his health care law.
Maria mystery: Roma couple charged with child abduction
Roma couple at the centre of the mystery over the blonde four-year-old have been charged with her abduction.
Jordan Lewis Facebook plea - grieving father's webcam appeal to bullies
Matt Hamilton An Illinois dad got the call on Thursday that no parent ever wants to receive.
Super smog hits north China city of Harbin; flights cancelled
Visibility shrank to less than 10 metres and small-particle pollution soared to a record 40 times higher than an international safety standard in one northern Chinese city as the region entered its high-smog season.
Two dead in Nevada school shooting
A school shooting in Nevada has left two people dead and two critically wounded.
Australian-Pakistani family murdered over alleged land dispute
BEN DOHERTY An entire Australian-Pakistani family of five, including a seven-year-old boy, have been brutally murdered in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, allegedly over a family land dispute.
