thinktime

An Australian man who was jailed in Thailand over anti-government protests has returned to Sydney.

A Railcorp officer has been jailed for two years after he made his colleagues lie about an alleged assault on a teenage boy.

Earnings from Australia's mineral and energy exports have hit their second highest level ever, according to the Government's resource economics agency.

UN troops failed the victims of mass rapes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 500 sex assaults have now been reported in the past month, a top UN peacekeeping official said.

Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson says outed Stig Ben Collins has been "sacked" from the popular motoring show.

The independent Member for Kennedy, Bob Katter, says he thinks he will still be able to influence government policy in the new Federal Parliament.

Fifteen people died when gunmen broke into a shoe factory in Honduras' second city, San Pedro Sula, and sprayed workers there with automatic weapons fire, authorities said.

There has been a big rise in the number of people in New South Wales arrested for cocaine possession.

Julia Gillard's new minority Labor Government has been accused of trying to "slide away" from a deal to hold a comprehensive tax summit, as questions emerge about the role the mining tax will play in funding $10 billion worth of sweeteners for rural Australia.

A pair of swingers who killed Melbourne businessman Herman Rockefeller have been sentenced to nine years and seven years in prison.

A man has appeared in a court on Queensland's Gold Coast over the death of a 57-year-old woman at Palm Beach.

The centrepiece tower in the vast reconstruction project at the World Trade Centre in New York will be complete in 2013, officials said in an upbeat assessment of the site's future.

The first dictionary translating anatomical and medical terms from English to an ancient Aboriginal language has been published.

US president Barack Obama has congratulated Prime Minister Julia Gillard on forming a new government, but former British prime minister Tony Blair has warned that it will be hard for her to live up to expectations.

The Australian Industry Group says the business community is concerned reforms may come to a standstill under Labor's minority government.

A blind man who claimed discrimination because he could not cast a secret ballot has lost his court case.

The first mangoes of the season that were grown in the Northern Territory have sold for $30,000 at the Sydney Markets' annual charity auction.

Dozens of people have been treated for eye problems at the Royal Adelaide Show after they visited the cattle judging marquee.

Two American soldiers have been killed and nine wounded after a gunman in Iraqi army uniform attacked them at an Iraqi base, US officials said.

The head of the Commonwealth Games Federation says he can vouch for the security at sporting venues in New Delhi, but not for the rest of the city.