Last Top Stories: Escaped Darwin teens break back into prison after two days, captured doing ...

Escaped Darwin teens break back into prison after two days, captured doing ...

Two teenagers have escaped from Darwin's youth detention and then smashed their way back into the prison with a car, performing burnouts inside the facility. Police have confirmed the pair broke out of Don Dale Youth Detention Centre on Sunday night ... >> view original

Australia's humanitarian reputation 'deteriorating over refugees'

A top US official believes Australia's reputation as a leader on the humanitarian response to refugees has deteriorated in recent years. US Assistant Secretary of State Anne Richard is in Indonesia as part of a six-day regional visit to learn more about an ... >> view original

Lindt Cafe: Man charged over vandalism

A former National Basketball League professional player who allegedly smashed the windows of the Lindt cafe in Sydney's Martin Place and later broke the jaw of an officer appeared in court on Wednesday afternoon. Police say former Sydney Kings guard ... >> view original

Queensland Labor MP Rick Williams in impropriety scandal

Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt says he has seen nothing that would suggest government MP Rick Williams is unfit to continue in his role. Impropriety allegations have been levelled against Mr Williams, another MP from Queensland's minority Labor ... >> view original

New South Wales anti-ice campaign to target rural areas

Residents in rural areas of New South Wales are being urged to keep a look out for the tell-tale signs that ice is being manufactured. NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says arrests for the distribution and manufacture of ice, or crystal ... >> view original

Coalition votes against Labor's move to pass budget's small business package

The Abbott government has voted against bringing on an urgent vote on its small-business tax incentives, despite repeatedly urging Labor to deliver certainty to the sector and pass the budget package. In a power play in the House of Representatives on ... >> view original

Drought drags on for eastern Australia

Drought continues to grip northern NSW, central Queensland, the southern regions of South Australia and it's worsening in Victoria. Below average rain has now fallen on wide areas of eastern Australia for three years or more, the Bureau of Meteorology's ... >> view original

Why Julia has waited until now

ANALYSIS. One Labor MP today tried to dismiss the reheating of Labor's Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years as mere nostalgia — like regretting the hairdos in the early episodes of Neighbours. But forget the headline acts of this political soap opera, ex-politicians Julia ... >> view original

Japanese skipper says Aust can't build subs

A former Japanese submarine commander claims Australia doesn't have enough skilled workers to build the Soryu class subs. Japan is best placed to build the high-tech vessels, which are being considered as replacements for Australia's ageing Collins fleet ... >> view original

35 die fighting with Mideast terror groups

Intelligence agencies estimate 35 Australians have died while fighting for terror group Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Earlier estimates put the death toll around 20. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said latest advice from security agencies also indicated 110 ... >> view original