Another half dozen schools and early childhood centres will benefit this month from computer upgrades at the University of Waikato.

STARBUCKS says costs related to its closure of 600 underperforming stores led it to post a loss for its fiscal third quarter.

IT'S official, the Reserve Bank has gone too far with its relentless run of interest rate rises, with economists now calling for urgent rate cuts to save the country from full-blown recession.

PREPARE for official interest rate cuts now with RBA ready to reverse course now before the braking economy goes into stall.

AUSTRALIAN manufacturing activity has hit a near three-year low as high interest rates slow the economy, a report shows.

ABC Learning boss Eddy Groves claimed he "put his nuts on the line" and is the best person to run the embattled childcare company.

UNIONS have accused Telstra of dipping into the pay packets of up to 20,000 staff on individual employment contracts, but the telco says it is simply complying with the law.

SUNCORP Metway said severe storms and the global credit crunch would cut its annual profit by half, sending its shares into a tailspin.

NAB chairman Michael Chaney yesterday tried to reassure investors that the bank was on top of its loan book, but analysts are still worried that he may have more bad news to deliver.

PROPERTY giant Mirvac has become the latest casualty amid the carnage of the property sector downturn after being forced to freeze more than $240 million of funds belonging to hundreds of ordinary investors.

IT'S hard times for some, but never for bank executives.

BOTH main rail lines between Melbourne and Sydney remain blocked today by a goods train derailment north of Benalla, in northeast Victoria.

MELBOURNE man Jack Thomas will be retried on terrorism charges after the High Court today dismissed an appeal bid from his lawyers.

A GOODS train has derailed in Victoria's north-east, obstructing both sides of the main Melbourne to Sydney rail line.

A WOMAN who murdered her former husband by dousing him in petrol and setting him alight must serve at least 24 years in jail.

A MAN was stabbed in a road rage attack that may have been witnessed by children in the cars involved in a collision.

A LARGE bag with "BOMB" written across it passed through Qantas check-in and security screening for oversized luggage.

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has backed incoming governor-general Quentin Bryce's right to appoint her own staff.