A French organic winemaker could face a prison sentence and a hefty fine after refusing to spray his vines with pesticide.

Two doves — released by the Pope in a call for peace in Ukraine — have been attacked by two larger birds, in what many interpreted as an ominous sign for the country.

After some rummaging inside my pigeon loft that I cleaned thoroughly with a large serve of red ned and some cheap shoe polish, I have arrived at the startling conclusion that it could have been Martin Ferguson who fed the bullshit about the "coward" incident to the member of Batman, David Feeney.

Qantas has posted a $235 million half-year loss and announced that 5,000 jobs will go.

Australian Cardinal George Pell has been appointed to one of the most Vatican's senior roles, Prefect for the Economy of the Holy See.

He will be responsible for management and reform of the Vatican's sprawling administration and finances, reporting directly to the Pope.

One of his first tasks will be cleaning up the mess exposed by the 'Vatileaks' scandal, in which private letters to Pope Benedict leaked by his personal butler revealed infighting and allegations of corruption among a territorial and rebellious bureaucracy.

A witness to violence at the Manus Island detention centre last Monday night says guards from the security firm G4S allowed locals armed with makeshift weapons into the facility.

In an open letter to Mr Nile, PhD student Angela Williams wrote that she was "disgusted" by [his] post.

She said her post labelling the comments "inappropriate" had been removed from the Facebook page.

"Since you choose to remove my dissenting comments on your Facebook post I am writing to you here to ask why you think it is appropriate to continue the bullying of Charlotte Dawson after her tragic death," she wrote.

As one is aware, the federal regime places feelers out to gauge the mood of people on cuts... Medicare, education, science, all are destined to have some rind taken off, then sent to the gulags. Profit is the name of the game...

German prosecutors are currently looking in to pressing charges against several men believed to have been accomplices to murder at Auschwitz. Some in Germany are asking if justice can still be served almost 70 years after the war.

The Chief Justice of the High Court has written to the Prime Minister, warning him that any move to cut the court's funding would significantly affect its ability to carry out its work.

The beleaguered bumblebee faces a new threat, scientists say.

Researchers have found that two diseases harboured by honeybees are spilling over into wild bumblebees.

Insects infected with deformed wing virus and a fungal parasite called Nosema ceranae were found across England, Scotland and Wales.

Writing in the journal Nature, the team says that beekeepers should keep their honeybees as free from disease as possible to stop the spread.