AUSTRALIAN and Canadian competition authorities have approved the internet search and advertising partnership between Yahoo! and Microsoft, the companies say. “Microsoft and Yahoo have been notified that Australian and Canadian authorities have separately concluded their reviews and have no objections to our proposed search agreement,” they said in a joint statement. “We continue to believe [...]

(AND IN NO NEWS)Ignoring internet “trolls” is the best way to deter people who surf the internet picking fights and abusing people on discussion forums, says an expert. ABC News Online this week scrapped its ‘Open for Comment’ panel in a bid to deter trolls, who constantly start arguments and hurl abuse at other participants. [...]

(THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL A BULLSHIT STORIE) Executives at internet search giant Google have apologised over an offensive picture of US first lady Michelle Obama that appeared high on its list of search results. The picture was a photograph of Ms Obama that had been manipulated to give her the facial features of a [...]

PHILIPPINE police have named a political ally of President Gloria Arroyo as the prime suspect in an election-linked massacre of 46 people. “According to the initial reports, those who were abducted and murdered at Saniag were initially stopped by a group led by the mayor of Datu Unsay,” national police spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina [...]

More than 100 Adelaide University students are being trained as volunteer tour guides for the zoo ahead of the imminent arrival of giant pandas Wang Wang and Funi. The pandas arrive in Adelaide from China this Saturday but will not go on display to the public until December 13. Tickets for Adelaide Zoo visits are [...]

After fierce debate New Zealand’s parliament has passed its emissions trading scheme, with the legislation scraping through 63 votes to 58. The National-led government struck a deal with the Maori Party to secure its Climate Change Response Bill. New Zealand climate change minister Nick Smith described the debate as “rude and aggressive”. The opposition Labour [...]

Jordan’s King Abdullah has dissolved parliament halfway through its four-year term and called for early elections, state television reports. The king issued a royal edict ordering the dissolution effective Tuesday of what is widely considered a rubber-stamp assembly composed of 110 MPs, mainly tribal loyalists. No reason was given for the king’s sudden decision, but [...]

Party-goers in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley will soon be forced to have their fingerprints scanned before entering some of the precinct’s most popular nightclubs. Many Valley clubs already have an ID scanning system where patrons have their drivers licence or 18+ card scanned at the door. But over the next few months several clubs will upgrade [...]