Top stories Stephanie Gardiner 10:06am | A man has died after a roof collapsed at an abattoir in the NSW Hunter Valley, emergency services say. | Jonathan Chancellor, Kate McClymont | THE mystery surrounding the secret purchase of an $8.5 million Woolwich mansion by the fading ALP powerbroker Eddie Obeid has become more intriguing. | | 9:27am | Dutch police have arrested the father of a 12-year-old girl who gave birth last month while on a school excursion, saying he is suspected of sexually abusing his daughter. | Asher Moses 10:29am | The 16-year-old Australian schoolboy who garnered worldwide fame for laying the smackdown on a bully has joined the Star Wars Kid in the internet hall of fame - and he now stars in no less than two online video games. | | 11:09am | Defence Minister Stephen Smith says he cannot imagine a greater "betrayal of trust" if it is true a defence force cadet filmed himself having sex with another cadet and broadcast it via webcam. | Brad Walter | MORE than seven years after committing a ''disgusting and abhorrent'' crime that appeared to have ended a career that showed its promise when he became the Warriors' youngest ever first-grade player, Shaun Metcalf has been given a second chance. | 10:04am | A Wall Street executive who died after falling from a fifth-storey New York City apartment had opened a window to keep his cigarette smoke from bothering his children. | 9:41am | A woman who attacked a painting by French impressionist Paul Gauguin at the National Gallery in Washington wanted to destroy it because she said it showed nudity and homosexuality, a US court has heard. | Clover Moore | NSW has been in a holding pattern because big policy and leadership has steadily deteriorated. There has been little interest in long-term planning, no vision or investment in our future, and no action that would step on the toes of vested interests, or anger the shock jocks. | Paul Kalina | Not long ago, the only time commercial television breakfast hosts went overseas was during their holidays. These days, Karl Stefanovic carries his passport with him everywhere. | 9:20am | Sri Lanka's legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is struggling to qualify to play English county cricket this year - because he is scared of computers and examinations. | Noaki Schwartz 9:44am | Billionaire adventurer Richard Branson has unveiled a new single-person submarine that he said will be used to set new world records by exploring the five deepest parts of the world's oceans. | | 10:16am | Two men armed with a pistol and a baton have robbed a brothel in Sydney's inner west, police say. | 9:04am | When Regina Mayer's parents dashed her hopes of getting a horse, the resourceful 15-year-old didn't sit in her room and sulk. Instead, she turned to a cow called Luna to make her riding dreams come true. | | 7:03am | A 14-year-old Arab schoolgirl has been detained for two weeks on an adultery charge and forced to undergo a virginity test in the United Arab Emirates, a newspaper reports. | 7:44am | Real Madrid moved to the brink of the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday after former Arsenal man Emmanuel Adebayor netted a brace to stun Tottenham 4-0. | | Phillip Coorey | KEVIN RUDD'S admission that senior ministers influenced him as prime minister to shelve the emissions trading scheme last year has outraged colleagues, who believe he should accept full responsibility for his decisions. | Chris Barrett | NSW coach Ricky Stuart says he is not waving the white flag before this year's State of Origin series despite offering the sobering assessment that he would be happy if the Blues won only one game. | | Meditation can deliver powerful pain-relieving effects to the brain with even just 80 minutes' training for a beginner in an exercise called focused attention, a study released Tuesday found. | Marissa Calligeros 10:38am | Two teenage girls are dead and another young girl is in a critical condition in hospital after a horrific speed boat accident at a water park in a south-west Queensland town. | 6:43am | Forces loyal to Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo surrendered and he began to negotiate his exit from power with the United Nations, a day after French and UN forces bombed his last strongholds in the commercial capital, Abidjan. | | | Advertisement  In Pictures Advertisement  Multimedia How people die, and whether we are doing the right thing by them. |
