FRENCH Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner urged Israel to lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip and to freeze its policy of building settlements in the West Bank
THE UN refugee agency said it has boosted its international presence in Iraq and will intensify its efforts to support the war-torn country`s two million internally displaced people
RISING interest rates failed to dampen housing demand in December, with home loan approvals unexpectedly rising, according to data just released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
THE workplace watchdog is to investigate union complaints that 170 Qantas valet parking workers were sacked then offered their jobs back on Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) that slash pay by $15,000 a year
The New South Wales government has defended its response to fixing homes and schools damaged in a hailstorm that battered western Sydney in early December
INDONESIA has banned some current and former top central bankers from travelling overseas as part of an investigation into a graft case, a senior immigration official told Reuters
A PAIR of spacewalking astronauts have attached two pieces of research equipment on the International Space Station`s new European laboratory to study the sun and carry out experiments, NASA said
KOSOVO has inched closer to a widely expected declaration of independence today, amid rising political tension and Serbia`s determination to resist what it considers an illegal breakaway
A FORMER Khmer Rouge commander who masterminded the abduction and murder of three Western backpackers - including an Australian - in 1994, has died, his wife said on Saturday
SYNCHRONISED swimmers and singing soldiers marked the birthday today of the man dubbed North Korea`s "outstanding thinker" by state media, but mystery still surrounded the leader`s choice of successor
PAKISTANI election candidates launched a final push for votes today, after a US Senator warned that Washington could cut military aid if next week`s polls are not free and fair
EUROPEAN shares ended sharply lower overnight, reflecting growing investor concern over the US economy and the prospect of more writedowns at top banks as a result of the credit crisis
FIVE Palestinians have been killed and at least 40 wounded when Israeli warplanes launched a raid on a building in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, medics and witnesses have said
MEMBERS of an alleged Melbourne-based terror group panicked when they were warned their names were on a Lebanese security services list, the Victorian Supreme Court heard today
Troubled star ... Carey with his girlfriend Kate Neilson last July.
