Senator faces court
ADELAIDE - Liberal Senator Mary Jo Fisher will face a shoplifting charge in an Adelaide court a week before she steps down in August.
The South Australian senator will quit public life on August 10 to battle a depressive illness that she says has been exacerbated by police during and after her very public trial last year for shoplifting and assault.
The 49-year-old senator announced her resignation last week, after being reported for shoplifting a second time, at a supermarket in Adelaide's West Lakes on June 16.
She is listed to appear on August 2 in Port Adelaide Magistrates Court to face a charge of dishonestly taking property without the owner's consent.
Disasters kill 76
DHAKA, Bangladesh - Landslides and floods have killed at least 76 people in southern Bangladesh as rescuers search for more victims, officials say.
Three days of rain had hit the region of small hills and forests, and huge chunks of earth and mud buried flimsy huts where families were sleeping on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Many homeless people live at the foot of the hills or close to them despite warnings from authorities.
Fresh charges
SYDNEY- Six new charges have been laid against a male nurse who's accused of setting a fatal fire at a nursing home in Sydney's northwest.
Three elderly residents died during the inferno at Quakers Hill Nursing Home in November and a further eight died from injuries afterwards.
Roger Dean, 35, a nurse who worked at the home, has been charged with 10 counts of murder.
During a brief court hearing in Sydney on Thursday, prosecutor Michael Day revealed six additional charges have been laid.
They include destroy and damage property with intent to endanger life, theft, possession and supply of oxycodone painkiller tablets, theft and possession of a small amount of morphine, and theft of some books.
Rinehart's bid
SYDNEY - Fairfax Media says it is unable to offer Gina Rinehart, the company's largest shareholder, a seat on its board.
On Wednesday, Fairfax Media chairman Roger Corbett said the company and Mrs Rinehart had not been able reach agreement on acceptable terms.
However, Mr Corbett left the door open for further discussions. "I regret that agreement has not been reached for Mrs Rinehart to join the Fairfax Media board of directors," Mr Corbett said in a statement released after a Fairfax board meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
Liquid cocaine
CARACAS - Venezuela's top security official says authorities have seized 4.8 metric tonnes of liquid cocaine.
Justice Minister Tarek El Aissami says National Guard troops arrested three suspects after they discovered the cocaine mixed with petroleum byproducts and hidden inside oil barrels.
The cocaine was going to be shipped to Mexico, which is often used as a transshipment point for illegal drugs destined for the United States.
El Aissami said on Wednesday that authorities at the port of Maracaibo became suspicious when they learned the barrels of oil were going to be shipped to Mexico, a producer of petroleum.
Glacier wreckage
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The wreckage of a US military plane found this month on an Alaska glacier is that of an Air Force plane that crashed in 1952, killing all 52 people aboard, military officials say.
Army Captain Jamie Dobson said evidence found at the crash site correlates with the missing C-124A Globemaster, but the military is not eliminating other possibilities.