18:10:00 03/02/2012
The Prime Minister Julia Gillard has urged her colleagues to stop focusing on themselves as they prepare for Federal Parliament to return next week. Speculation about Julia Gillard's hold on the leadership is increasing, with Kevin Rudd's backers increasingly confident that he'll mount a challenge. The Prime Minister's supporters say she's safe in the job, and they're urging caucus to unite behind her. More
18:14:00 03/02/2012
Lindsay in western Sydney is a key seat in the battle for electoral victory. Voters in the electorate think Kevin Rudd was deposed in an unfair fashion by Labor but they're not convinced a return by him to the Prime Ministership is a good idea. More
18:18:00 03/02/2012
Flood engineers have been accused of mismanaging Wivenhoe Dam and colluding to cover it up, in an afternoon of more dramatic exchanges at Queensland's Floods Inquiry. Also today, there were more tears and proclamations of innocence from the dam's engineers. More
18:22:00 03/02/2012
Parts of Queensland have been declared a disaster zone as the flooding continues to worsen on both sides of the border. The State Emergency Service is making food and medicine drops to thousands of people isolated by the rising waters in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. More
18:26:00 03/02/2012
Mass meetings of coal miners at the Queensland operations of BMA, managed and half-owned by BHP Billiton, have overwhelmingly endorsed a campaign of rolling strikes which would severely disrupt the world's supply of coking coal. BMA is Australia's biggest supplier of coking coal, used to manufacture steel. More
18:30:00 03/02/2012
The New South Wales Minister for Education, Adrian Piccoli, has denied responsibility for a failure by the department to organise school transportation for hundreds of students with a disability in New South Wales. Parent and bus contractors say the department has had months to sort out a pay dispute at the heart of the matter. More
- Felicity Ogilvie
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18:34:00 03/02/2012
An independent report has found that Tasmanian woodchip markets to Japan have collapsed. The State Government is sending a trade delegation to Japan and China to try to drum up markets. The Greens' leader says the Government can't greenwash the industry and the Opposition says the trade delegation has taken too long to organise. More
18:38:00 03/02/2012
Protesters have once again taken to the streets in Egypt. The protestors have said they want justice for the Al-Ahly supporters who lost their lives in the Port Said football tragedy. More
- Meredith Griffiths
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18:42:00 03/02/2012
New research says that malaria kills twice as many people a year as previously thought. The study published in the journal The Lancet shows that malaria kills 1,2 million people worldwide each year. More
18:46:00 03/02/2012
The world's dominant commodity trader, Glencore, wants to merge with one of the world's biggest miners, Xstrata, in a deal that would create an $80 billion mining powerhouse. The move would be a re-merger, after Xstrata was split out of Glencore around a decade ago. More
18:50:00 03/02/2012
It's a big weekend for the markets. Traders have high hopes that tonight's US unemployment data will confirm the country's economic recovery is on track. Economists, however, are warning the markets could be setting themselves up for more disappointment. More
18:54:00 03/02/2012
Australia's major share indices eased slightly as traders avoided heavy commitments ahead of US employment data and a possible Greek debt deal. A statement to the ASX confirms Gina Rinehart now owns 12.6 per cent of Fairfax, making the mining magnate the company's biggest single shareholder. More
