The board of Allegiance Mining says it will study the details of a takeover offer by Zinifex before making its formal recommendation to shareholders.

SYDNEY, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar was wobbly, holding just above fresh three-month lows against a firm U.S. dollar on Tuesday, hurt by falling metal prices and deepening risk aversion.

Home builder AV Jennings Ltd has been selected as partner by Hobsonville Land Company to develop and deliver 600 dwellings in Auckland, New Zealand.

The New South Wales Government is urging people to become aware of and help prevent the theft of copper in their local areas.

SBS is teaming up with Universal Music Australia (UMA) to create a new music label.

SYDNEY, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 1.4 percent on Tuesday, as banks and property stocks extended their falls amid concerns over the ongoing fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis and global credit crunch.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says the regulators are monitoring the fallout from the subprime mortgage problems in the United States.

The Pialligo Residents' Association (PRA) says it will negotiate directly with the Canberra Airport about nearby road upgrades.

SYDNEY, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Shares in Australia's Centro Properties Group CNP.AX dived by more than 50 percent on Tuesday, a day after losing three-quarters of their value after it said it is having trouble refinancing A & #36;1.3 billion

SYDNEY, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Australian shares extended losses on Tuesday to drop 2.1 percent as property and banking stocks were sold, with investors worried about the impact of ongoing fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis and global credit crunch.

Australia blocked a World Trade Organisation investigation into whether its 86-year ban on imports of New Zealand apples is legal, trade officials says.

MELBOURNE'S residential property market has recorded one of its strongest years, the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV) said.

POLICE have seized millions of pseudoephedrine tablets valued at about $3 million from a house in Melbourne's north.

AUSTRALIA'S largest retailer, Woolworths, says it will oppose the appeal by the New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) against the NZ High Court's decision to allow the grocer to bid for The Warehouse Group.

FINDINGS into the deaths of nine people in the South Australian bushfires that struck Eyre Peninsula almost three years ago will be handed down today.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said Monday it would widen access to some of its services to compensate the European Union, Japan and Canada to settle a WTO dispute over the US ban on online gambling.

Australians are increasingly turning to their superannuation to help them fund failing mortgages, a new report into home repossessions says.

The Victorian Auditor-General, Des Pearson, has rejected suggestions that an investigation into the tendering process for Melbourne's new transport ticketing system was flawed.

Sizeable losses are showing on the key US share markets, as investors fret about the credit crisis and inflation.

More disruptions are expected in Victorian public hospitals as industrial action by pysiotherapists and radiation therapists continues .