Bob Burton

Companies involved in doing business in Burma are in the sights of pro-democracy activists, who are piling on the pressure for investors and tourists to stay away.

The leadership of the Uniting Church of Australia (UCA) is seeking to head off a split within its ranks following an overwhelming vote at last week's national assembly to allow the ordination of homosexual clergy.

Months after a row erupted over the government's role in the sinking of a boat carrying asylum seekers from Indonesia, a minister and the head of the police are refusing to discuss crucial details.

Consumer groups seek better international coordination for the recall of potentially dangerous health care products after more than 1,300 of them were withdrawn from sale in Australia - but remain available to consumers in 40 countries.

US-based Human Rights Watch says in a report released over the week that Australia's refugee policy has led to rights abuses. But the Australian government is rejecting it.

A wood product tagged 'FSC' used to mean that it's 'kosher' in environmental terms. Not anymore, according to a damaging report by the Rainforest Foundation.

Raids on Indonesian Australians' homes underscores how the government's security mindset, as well as over-reaction to the Bali attacks, is undermining basic democratic rights in Australia, legal experts and rights activists say.

Devastated by the bombings in Bali, the Australian government is pushing for more anti-terror laws but detractors warn that this would inflict grave damage on the country's democratic system.