As Florida officials worried about public safety surrounding a small church's plan to burn the Koran, US President Barack Obama added his voice to the chorus of opposition to the church's intention to burn copies of Islam's holiest book.

A major flood warning has been issued for the Lower Goulburn River in Victoria's north.

Federal independent MP Rob Oakeshott is expected to announce today if he will accept a regional affairs ministry in the Gillard Government.

US President Barack Obama warned a Florida church's plan to burn Korans would bolster Al Qaeda as the church at the centre of the storm defied a growing chorus of global outrage.

A 26-year-old man has been charged with murder after a woman's body was found in a bush reserve on the NSW south coast this morning.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has told her Labor colleagues there will be a serious review of the party's direction in light of the federal election result.

At least 15 people were killed and another 77 wounded in an apparent suicide bombing outside a crowded central market in the Russian Caucasus city of Vladikavkaz.

A British-Pakistani journalist abducted by suspected Islamist militants in Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun tribal areas in March has been freed, the British High Commission said.

A British watchdog has hit Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs with a fine of 17.5 million pounds ($29 million) for information failures tied to US fraud charges.

Large daily doses of B vitamins could delay, or even halt, the onset of Alzheimer's disease, a study suggests.

A 62-year-old former scout leader from South Australia is expected to face court over a series of child sex abuse cases between the early 1980s and the early 1990s.

New Zealand's top military scientist has quit after allegations that his resume falsely claimed he was an ex-Marine and an Olympic bobsledder who raced against Jamaica's Cool Runnings team.

A bill to give same-sex couples the right to adopt in New South Wales is set to become law.

Five people have been arrested after police seized a large quantity of the drug ice in raids across Melbourne.

A strong 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of central Chile on Thursday, the US Geological Survey reported.

A Melbourne court has heard of the bizarre details of the theft of a python and sand lizard from a pet shop.

The RSPCA has been told to review its agreement with Channel 7 reality TV program Animal Rescue following a New South Wales Government inquiry into a raid on a wildlife park.

Police around the country are mourning the death of a New South Wales constable who was shot and killed in a drug raid in Sydney last night.

Pilot error was to blame for a passenger plane crash in southern India in May that claimed 158 lives, an official investigation has heard.

Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser says the State Government will go ahead with the public float of the Queensland Rail (QR) coal business after a consortium of mining companies pulled out of negotiations.