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The Australian share market has closed lower, despite a shock fall in Australia's unemployment rate to 5.7 per cent in November.

The ACT Legislative Assembly has passed the Federal Government's amendments to a Greens bill allowing same-sex civil union ceremonies.

Researchers are questioning the effectiveness of the influenza treatment Tamiflu.

Grocery wholesaler Metcash plans to buy a 50.1 per cent controlling stake in the independent hardware chain Mitre 10.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the latest unemployment figures show it is important that the Government maintains its economic stimulus program.

Hot and windy conditions have fanned several fires that threatened homes in Brisbane's south-east this afternoon.

The captain of the Tongan ferry MV Princess Ashika has admitted he believed the vessel was unseaworthy but did not stop it from going to sea.

A fire has broken out on a container ship in Moreton Bay near the Port of Brisbane.

The Federal Government has accused Opposition Leader Tony Abbott of running a climate change "scare campaign" by making a $250 billion costing error on the price of reducing Australia's carbon emissions.

The burlesque dancer who dressed up as John Howard at Bob Hawke's birthday party last night says her act was a perfect reflection of the "kinky, full of life" former Labor PM and his wife.

The Government's peak health policy body has lifted a five-year ban on transplanting animal organs into humans.

The New South Wales Coroner has recommended the disappearance of a yachtsman be referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to see if criminal charges should be laid.

Police are searching for a Melbourne comedian who has been missing since early this morning.

The Rural Fire Service (RFS) says a large fire burning near Bundarra, in northern New South Wales is still threatening homes.

A Chinese sculpture of a giant panda family has been unveiled at Adelaide Zoo, just days before the real pandas Wang Wang and Funi go on public show.

In a country more at home with colourful shirts than colourful language, a politician has sparked a furore across deeply conservative and religious Samoa by calling the parliamentary speaker a testicle.

Docklands Stadium Management says it is open to hosting World Cup matches if Australia's bid for the 2018 or 2022 soccer showpiece is successful.

The lawyer who represented Dr Mohamed Haneef after his arrest by the Australian Federal Police has been awarded the Human Rights Medal for 2009.

The head of the drug and alcohol branch of Victoria's largest police forensic laboratory has been suspended, after a damning Ombudsman's report found serious problems with the handling of drugs and evidence at the facility.

A cocktail waitress who allegedly had a 31-month affair with Tiger Woods has gone on US television to apologise to the golfer's wife, Elin Nordegren.