AUSTRALIA will be dragged into recession by a slowing world economy, the credit crisis and rate hikes, says a leading economist.

AUSTRALIA Zoo general manager Frank Muscillo has broken his silence over a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the zoo, involving complex offshore transactions.

FINANCIERS, real-estate agents and car salesmen might be suffering from America's economic malaise, but bulging jails have triggered a profit boom for corrections companies.

THE share market is likely to open lower today following steep losses on United States markets caused by ongoing recession worries in the US.

A DRIVER who ran over and killed six teenage pedestrians near the Victorian city of Mildura two years ago has been found guilty of dangerous driving causing death.

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ABC Learning Centres founder Eddy Groves has sold his entire stake in the childcare empire, but said the business is solid despite its financial crisis.

ROUGH seas and strong winds are hampering the police search for two men feared to have died when their light plane nosedived into the ocean off a Gold Coast beach.

ONE man was arrested and more than three tonnes of tobacco seized in a series of raids on Melbourne properties last night.

A LEARNER driver had his car impounded by police after being detected doing 148 kilometres an hour in Melbourne's west overnight.