A female keeper at Sydney's Taronga Zoo was fighting for her life Friday after being crushed against a fence post by "miracle" elephant Mr Shuffles, an animal she had cared for all its life.

An ambulance spokeswoman said emergency services were called to the elephant enclosure and discovered that a woman in her 40s had been badly hurt.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has a history of losing shoes and another footwear fumble that saw her take an embarrassing tumble in India grabbed the headlines Thursday.

The nation's first female leader, who last week won international attention for a stinging speech about sexism and misogyny, had just laid a wreath at a Gandhi memorial in New Delhi Wednesday when she fell in front of the cameras.

Research on Wednesday showed HIV infections in Australia jumped eight percent last year and 50 percent in the past decade, which health activists said was a "call to action".

An annual report of HIV, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections in Australia showed there were 1,137 new cases of the human immunodeficiency virus in 2011 -- an 8.2 percent increase from 2010.

Canberra insisted on Monday that a new deterrent policy of locking up refugees on remote Pacific islands was working despite a weekend surge in arrivals and self-harm attempts among detainees.

More than 500 asylum-seekers arrived in Australia on people-smuggling boats at the weekend, taking the total arrivals since the government unveiled its Pacific detention policy in August to some 4,500.

Australia on Friday unveiled a colossal radio telescope that will allow astronomers to detect distant galaxies and explore the depths of the universe with unprecedented precision.

The Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope, at the remote Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in the Western Australian desert, is made up of 36 antennas, each 12 meters (40 feet) in diameter.

Australia's High Court on Friday ruled that an asylum-seeker deemed a security risk can still be granted a refugee visa, in a decision that could have implications for others in similar situations.

The 36-year-old plaintiff, a Sri Lankan known as M47, arrived in Australia in December 2009 and has been held in detention since.

Australia's central bank on Tuesday cut interest rates to 3.25 percent, their lowest level since the global financial crisis, warning that the growth outlook for next year had weakened.

The Reserve Bank of Australia slashed 25 basis points off the cash rate, taking it to lows not seen since October 2009, when it first resumed hiking them following the world downturn.

More Western nations called on their citizens to be cautious in the Philippine capital on Saturday following a U.S. embassy warning a day earlier of an unspecified threat against Americans.

The warnings issued by the British, Canadian and Australian governments called on their citizens to be cautious amid fears they could get caught up in an attempted attack against Americans.

International credit agency Standard & Poor's on Wednesday affirmed mining-driven Australia's AAA rating with a stable outlook, but warned about its growing reliance on the Chinese economy.

Australia is one of only a handful of nations to hold the top rating, with its economy growing a solid 0.6 percent in the three months to June and 3.7 percent from a year earlier.

Australia's parliament voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to reject gay marriage, after days of heated debate that saw one senator resign from a key role after linking same-sex unions to bestiality.

The House of Representatives voted down the bill to legalise marriage between same sex couples by 98 to 42, with Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard and opposition conservative leader Tony Abbott both voting against it.