March 28, 2013 Scientists have pulled off a daring close encounter with Earth's biggest animal, the Antarctic blue whale, using world-first acoustic tracking techniques.

March 28, 2013 Parents of women with severe disabilities are being forced to take their daughters overseas for hysterectomies after their requests for the procedure were denied in Australia, a leading endocrinologist has told an inquiry into involuntary sterilisation.

March 27, 2013 After a decade of war in Afghanistan and 39 combat deaths, the end is firmly in sight for Australian troops with the planned closure of their main base by the end of the year.

March 27, 2013 Doctors at the Advanced Medical Institute would prescribe powerful medications to men with erectile dysfunction, sometimes via penile injection, with scant consultation or inquiry about their medical history, a doctor who worked for the company says.

March 27, 2013 Fears of a new raid on earnings in the superannuation accounts of the wealthy have re-emerged after a senior minister refused to rule out the measure in the lead-up to the budget.

March 27, 2013 'What does Afghanistan show?' Stephen Smith asked on Tuesday. 'Easiest thing in the world to get in, hardest thing in the world to get out.'

March 27, 2013 Bookmaker Tom Waterhouse will be called to attend a specially convened parliamentary hearing into the spread of gambling into live sporting broadcasts.

March 27, 2013 Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church gets covered up through a system of blackmail and 'sacred silence', according to the founder of the Broken Rites advocacy group, Chris Wilding.

March 27, 2013 It has been a pretty good couple of weeks for Carrie Tiffany. On Tuesday her second novel, Mateship with Birds, was longlisted for the $60,000 Miles Franklin, Australia's most significant literary prize.

March 27, 2013 More than 100 Australians died in Thailand last year and 60 in Greece, making these two countries - for different reasons - among the places where Australians are most likely to meet their end while travelling abroad.