A suicide car-bomber has killed nine people and wounded 16, including two US soldiers, in an attack on a government compound in eastern Afghanistan, a government official said.

A senior official in Iraq's health ministry says 800 doctors have returned to the country this year because of the improved security situation.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has asked judges at the Hague to issue arrest warrants for three rebel commanders in Sudan's Darfur region.

The Indonesian presidential election race has narrowed to a repeat of the 2004 poll, with the shock exit of Rizal Mallarangeng, a prominent contender for the country's top job.

Australia's banks have raised concerns about the Federal Government's banks deposits scheme.

One of the world's biggest shipping firms is re-routing its merchant fleet to avoid piracy off Africa's east coast.

Australia's competition watchdog says the global financial crisis has led to a spike in the number of complaints about businesses colluding.

Ballarat MP Catherine King is hopeful workers at John Valves will be paid their entitlements by Christmas.

Older women are doing more to get fit than ever before, with a new report showing more than half of females over 45 now meet exercise recommendations.

A new test is meant to be able to predict when menopause will begin, providing women more insight into their reproductive life.

A doctor from outback Queensland has received a national award for her work to improve medical services in regional and remote areas.

Sunshine Coast Regional Councillor Jenny McKay has been diagnosed with an invasive form of breast cancer and will be off work indefinitely.

The New South Wales Government says it would have no objection to publishing information on the performance of its public hospitals in return for an increase in federal funding.

A senior official in Iraq's health ministry says 800 doctors have returned to the country this year because of the improved security situation.

The risk of infections and other problems from body piercing are being taught in a program directed at young people in Adelaide.

The military in the Philippines says medical teams have been mobilised to help fight an outbreak of typhoid fever that has left more than 100 people in hospital.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's special envoy on the Kokoda track is calling on tour operators to introduce a code of conduct to preserve the historic World War II path and lessen the impact on locals living alongside it.

The Prime Minister's special envoy to Papua New Guinea says the terrain surrounding the Kokoda Track could provide a healthy income for PNG if global forest carbon trading is introduced.

The Federal Government has reopened a health clinic on the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, as part of Australia's aid commitment to the country.

Resource rich Papua New Guinea has shown it is not immune to the global financial crisis after its Treasurer handed down the country's 2009 budget today.