Carson's massacre comments under fire

Alan Rappeport 9:55 PM   The Republican presidential candidate argued that the right to bear arms was more sacred than spilled blood and suggested that the victims should have had the courage to attack their killer.

Howard's anti-immigration speech echoed

Nick Miller 2:09 PM   A senior British government minister has echoed John Howard in a controversial speech declaring need "to control who comes to our country".

Taiwan's ruling party candidate stays defiant

Philip Wen 11:57 AM   The embattled presidential candidate for Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang, Hung Hsiu-chu, has defied calls to step down, despite facing a likely landslide defeat in the forthcoming January election.

US to release 6000 inmates

US prisons are about to get a lot less overcrowded, as the first of potentially 50,000 inmates are released.

England's plastic bag battles: green win

Some critics predicted chaos, confusion and "bag rage". This week's introduction of a 5 pence charge for plastic shopping bags in England has had a mixed reception.

Russia fires missiles from warships as Syrian government opens ground offensive

Erin Cunningham 10:20 PM   The first naval salvos in Russia's intervention appeared to be in coordination with a major push by Syrian ground forces.

New Zealand dairy worker handed down longest-ever prison sentence for animal cruelty

10:16 PM   A dairy worker has been handed what is believed to be New Zealand's longest-ever prison sentence for animal cruelty, after cows were beaten, had their tails broken and were shot in the kneecaps on a farm he managed.

Kickstarter using crowdfunding to aid Syrian refugees

Michael D. Shear 9:49 PM   As Syrian refugees continue to flee the violence at home, President Barack Obama is turning to the modern tools of Silicon Valley entrepreneurship as a supplement to the more traditional means of humanitarian relief.

Iran's Supreme Leader bans negotiations with the US

9:46 PM   Iran's Supreme Leader has banned any further negotiations with the US, putting the brakes on moderates hoping to end Iran's isolation.

Australian woman investigated in Bali over illegal adoption

Jewel Topsfield and Amilia Rosa 9:42 PM   A 66-year-old Australian woman is being investigated by Bali police over the possible illegal adoption of three Indonesian children.

Barnaby Joyce signs agreement with Indonesia to combat illegal fishing

Jewel Topsfield 9:40 PM   Agriculture minister does a deal with an Indonesian minister famous for her policy of blowing up illegal fishing boats.

'Muslim Merkel' controversy as migrant relocations due to begin

Lia Timson 8:41 PM   A German television network has been accused of racism after broadcasting a photoshopped image of German Chancellor Angela Merkel wearing a chador.

Scientists win chemistry Nobel for mapping how cells repair damaged DNA

Rachel Feltman 7:39 PM   Three scientists were honoured for their work, which could lead to therapies for everything from cancer to old age.

Russian warplanes in Syria destroy US-trained rebels' weapons depots: commander

6:22 PM   Russian air strikes have destroyed the main weapons depots of a US-trained rebel group in Syria, their commander said on Wednesday, in an expansion of Russian attacks on insurgents backed by foreign enemies of President Bashar al-Assad.

Nuclear smugglers shopping arsenal around to terrorists

Desmond Butler and Vadim Ghirda 2:45 PM   Over the pulsating beat at an exclusive nightclub, the arms smuggler made his pitch to a client: €2.5 million ($3.94 million) for enough radioactive caesium to contaminate several city blocks.

Harvard debate team lose to prison inmates

12:54 PM   Months after winning a national title, Harvard's debate team became the latest scalp for inmates of a maximum-security jail.

Fatalities from South Carolina's historic flooding on the rise

Colleen Jenkins 12:10 PM   South Carolina grappled with the damage wrought by record rainfall, as the death toll from widespread flooding rose to 15 and residents braced for more evacuations in areas near swollen waterways and dams across the state in the south of the US.

Paraplegic jockey sues over fall

Lloyd Jones 11:17 AM   An English jockey who became a paraplegic after a race fall in NSW was the victim of "the most dangerous single manoeuvre on a race course", a court has heard.

BBC casts doubt on British paedophile ring claims

Katrin Bennhold 9:27 AM   Britain has been consumed for three years by a growing list of investigations into alleged pedophile rings, but now there are growing doubts about the credibility of someone the police regarded as a major witness in one of the most explosive of these cases.

China's new glass-bottom walkway cracks

8:53 AM   A group of Chinese tourists were left terrified after a glass pane on a new transparent walkway shattered suddenly.

Model says she woke to find Bill Cosby 'biting her toes'

Richard Winton 8:19 AM   Just when you thought Bill Cosby couldn't be in any more trouble, a woman has sued him, alleging the legendary comedian drugged and sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in 2008.

World famous 'Harperman' public servant pulls the pin

Noel Towell 7:28 AM   But former Canadian public servant has 'no regrets' about protest song.

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Russia strikes Palmyra as Turkey warns it's losing patience

Robin Emmott and Laila Bassam 6:00 AM   Accidental incursion by Russian warplane into Turkish airspace is being used for NATO propaganda, Russian envoy says.

'The plain packaging fiasco for climate change'

Peter Hannam 5:36 AM   The Trans-Pacific Partnership threatens to undermine environment protection and could limit governments' ability to ramp up necessary action on climate change, green groups say.

A death in McDonald's and the rise of Hong Kong's McRefugees

Yanang Wang 4:19 AM   As she neared her final breath, people around her were contemplating ham n' cheese burgers and hotcakes.