An Australian taxi driver was Wednesday ordered to pay Aus$1,415 (US$1,417) for wearing jeans to work despite insisting they were tailor-made and suitable for the job.

Shahram Forozandeh, 44, was prosecuted by the transport department for wearing the trousers contrary to industry standards when he was stopped during a routine inspection in January, the Adelaide Advertiser reported.

An Australian man was lucky to be alive Monday after a shark rammed his surfboard and bit off a huge chunk.

The impact threw Stephen King, 51, into the air but he managed to make it to shore with only minor puncture wounds to his leg.

Feeding dairy cows the stems, seeds and skins from wine grapes boosts milk production and dramatically cuts the animal's methane emissions, Australian researched published Thursday shows.

Scientists found that supplementing the cows' feed with grape marc -- the leftover material from wine-making -- reduced cow emissions by 20 percent and increased milk production by five percent.

Dell said Monday it would halt sales of its Android tablet computer in the U.S. market, as rival Amazon's new Kindle Fire has heated up in a market dominated by Apple's iPad.

A message on the Texas-based computer's website said that the seven-inch (17.8-centimeter) Streak tablet powered by Google's mobile operating software would no longer be sold in the United States.

A rally on global markets stalled Thursday as euphoria over major central banks' coordinated cut to borrowing costs wore off and investors sought confirmation that European leaders will next week deliver a long-term solution to the debt crisis.

Markets had jumped on Wednesday when the central banks of Europe, the U.S., Britain, Canada, Japan and Switzerland made it cheaper for banks to borrow dollars, helping them to operate smoothly at a time of tight credit. China's central bank also acted to release money for lending and shore up growth by lowering bank reserve levels for the first time in three years.

The story of men, women and children plucked from their homes in the West's colonies and exhibited like zoo animals is the focus of a major show that opened on Monday at Paris' tribal arts museum.

"Exhibitions: the invention of the savage", at the Quai Branly museum, shows how up until the mid-20th century, labeling indigenous peoples of Africa, Asia, Oceania and America "savages" helped to justify the brutality of colonial rule.

Thousands of Australians were trapped Sunday by rising east coast floodwaters which left one child dead, even as residents in the country's west began returning to their homes after horror wildfires.

Officials said the northern New South Wales town of Wee Waa, 570 kilometers (355 miles) from Sydney, would be cut off for up to one week by the flooding, which has seen several rivers in the state overflow.

Australian archaeologists have uncovered evidence that prehistoric humans living 42,000 years ago mastered the art of deep-sea fishing, they revealed Friday.

They also found the world's earliest recorded fish hook, made of shell and dating from between 23,000 and 16,000 years ago, during excavations at the Jerimalai cave site in East Timor.

Australia on Wednesday announced plans to make forced marriage and "slavery-like" practices prevalent in the sex industry illegal.

Minister for the Status of Women Kate Ellis said the draft legislation was part of the country's response to combat people-trafficking and modern slavery.

The United States will deploy up to 2,500 Marines to northern Australia as the two nations expand their 60-year-old military alliance, the U.S. and Australian leaders announced Wednesday, rankling China.

The announcement by President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard came as the allies adapted their military posture to face a new security era marked by the rise of China.