LAW

Less than three months before the Gillard government starts to collect the carbon tax on July 1, the measure continues to generate criticism from various sectors of Australian society. A tax expert questioned the carbon tax's constitutionality on Tuesday and charities warned on Wednesday of its impact on the services it provides poor people.

It is high time for the Australian government to reconfigure its strategy in neutralising the illegal drugs trade, a new report said, which also highlighted the seeming successes that organised crime groups have achieved against legal efforts to stem their operations.

As the 2012 NRL and AFL seasons get ready to kick-off, business information analysts at IBISWorld reveal how much Australians are spending on sports betting - the fastest growing gambling segment.

Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer said that he would launch a legal challenge against the carbon tax before the Australian High Court. The basis of his planned challenge is a legal advice that the tax, slated to take effect July 1, is not constitutional.

The Rinehart legal tussle rages on as two of Gina Rinehart's children continue the mudslinging that started last week, with the latest rants provided by John Langley Hancock, who accused his mother of setting off the dispute.

The Australian High Court backed the decision on Friday by the New South Wales Supreme Court to reject the extension of a suppression order on the details of the Rinehart family court feud.

The New South Wales (NSW) Supreme Court rejected on Tuesday a bid by Australia and Asia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart, to keep secret the details of her family court feud. In seeking the extension of an existing suppression order due to expire on Friday, her lawyers cited a threat to Ms Rinehart's life made by an anonymous man in Dubai.

Three security experts told the New South Wales Supreme Court on Tuesday that the Rinehart family would face higher safety risks if details of their court battle would be published. The court case is part of the bid of Gina Rinehart, Australia and Asia's richest woman, to keep secret details of their family feud.

Dolphins and whales deserve the same rights as humans do, according to a group of marine workers, philosophers and animal welfare activists who talked to scientists meeting in Canada.

The Rena captain has pleaded guilty to all charges in Tauranga District Court today (Wednesday), the New Zealand Herald reported.

Australian consumers are forewarned of a fake telephone survey with the aim of defrauding them using their own bank accounts and other information.

A new legislation passed into Parliament focuses on supporting Australians with disability in terms of finding work. This new legislation entitled The Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Disability Support Pension Participation Reforms) Bill 2012 introduces new participation requirements for Disability Support Pension (DSP) recipients who are capable to be employed. The bill also highlighted a much flexible law that allows DSP recipients to work for at least 30 hours a week and stil...

A 50-year-old man was sent to trial at the Brisbane's Supreme Court after helping his 76-year-old friend commit suicide. Merin Nielson, received a guilty verdict for the crime..

A new book launched by Deakin academics discussed the possible alternative solutions regarding the growing issue about migration in Australia. The solutions discussed in the book was highlighted as a "better option" as opposed to the ones presented last month by Teresa Gambaro, the spokeswoman for Coalition multicultural affairs

The Philippines is once again engrossed in an unfolding political drama that could make or break President Benigno S. Aquino III’s reform agenda.

Asia and Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart, has threatened to halt payment of the ransom insurance for her three estranged children, News.com.au reports.

Media attention to Australia's richest woman, Gina Rinehart, has shifted back to her family feud from her recent foray into Fairfax Media.

The New Zealand government told UNICEF that it will continue to educate ethnic communities to prevent forced marriages involving young women and will not make change to the country's marriage legislation.

An Iranian national who earned a permanent resident status in Canada has been sentenced to die in Iran for “spreading corruption.”

British actor Jude Law is among the individuals who received just compensation from the media empire of Rupert Murdoch's News Group as part of the settlement in the case involving email and phone hacking instigated by the editors and reporters of the now-defunct News of the World, lawyers and reports have confirmed.

Health authorities in Auckland have proposed a smoking ban in all public outdoor areas in the city saying the move will prevent the spread of the ill effects of second hand smoke, as well as the influence among children who are likely to pick up the habit.

The South Australian Supreme Court overturned on Tuesday a ministerial approval given to Argonaut Resources (ASX: ARE) to drill for copper, gold and iron-oxide in parts of Lake Torrens and Andamooka Island.

A Melbourne schoolgirl who was about to turn 15 years old next week had killed herself over intolerable bullying at school and online social networks. Sheniz Erkan, a Taylors Lakes Secondary College student, took her life on Monday after having suffered from schoolyard and cyberspace bullies. Her funeral is scheduled today.

Police in Germany are investigating a grade school teacher at a private school in the northern city of Lubeck for teaching his young students how to make pipe bombs and detonating it in front of them to demonstrate its force.

Hundreds of thousands of Catholics joined the feast and annual procession for a black statue of Jesus Christ in central Manila on Monday despite an alleged plot by Muslim terrorists to explode a bomb along the route of the devotees.

Police has arrested the mental patient who skipped arrest last Friday over a crime report that arrived an hour late. Convicted criminal Trent Jennings, 26, who has been held in a psychiatric facility since 2005 after he stabbed a man to death while on drugs, tied up a man and stole his car late last week.

A 52-year-old from Torrensville was arrested Tuesday night for possessing a taser disguised as a mobile phone.

The police had him over traffic violation, but he was let go. A day later, someone came forward accusing him of sexual assault and car theft.

An Iraq War veteran who shot dead a Mount Rainier park ranger on New Year's Day was found frozen to death on Monday ending a 200-men search that included a SWAT team, K-9s and helicopters.