Sydney - Australia's securities regulator Sunday joined the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Switzerland in curbing the short-selling of shares.

In a short sale, a trader sells borrowed stock, hoping to make a profit by buying it back at a cheaper price.

Many argue that short-selling is behind the turmoil in global share markets. They claim hedge funds are deliberately driving down the price of shares in order to make windfall profits when they buy them back.

Last week the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) ruled that from Monday a temporary ban on what's called naked short-selling would take effect. In naked short-selling, traders sell shares they don't actually own.

Riyadh - An Australian woman trapped in Saudi Arabia because of the fallout from a divorce case is being given "all possible consular assistance," the Australian ambassador was quoted Sunday as saying.

"Our consular staff are committed and are extending all necessary support to to the woman," Ambassador R. Kevin Magee told the Arab News daily.

The mother-of-four has complained the Australian government is not helping her.

Australia's Foreign Affairs Department reportedly told the woman two months ago it could not help her in winning custody of her children, the newspaper wrote.

The husband, also an Australian citizen, has reportedly filed for custody of the children in a Saudi court.

Sydney, September 21 : A vast wall that showcases aboriginal rock art, dating back more than 15,000 years, has been found in Djulirri rock shelter in the Wellington Range in Australia, which redraws the history of the contact between Aboriginal people and the world, and suggests that the British were probably not the first visitors to the continent.

According to a report in Sydney Morning Herald, the wall displays about 1500 paintings chronicles the history of Aboriginal contact with outsiders, from Macassan prows and European sailing ships to 19th-century steamships and a World War II battleship.

Melbourne, Sept 21: Stinky people, unstocked supermarket shelves, lengthy queues and the office know-it-all are some of the things that irritate Australians the most, a new survey has found.

The study, which was commissioned by NRMA, quizzed participants what annoyed them the most on the roads, in the workplace, at the supermarket and at home.

Gary Dransfield, the head of retail sales and service at NRMA Insurance, said that the data reflects the hectic Australian life in the 21st century.

"Our lives are getting more and more complex and so petty and seemingly little things are more likely to irritate us," News. co. au quoted Dransfield, as saying.

Canberra, September 20 : South Asia’s tourism industry is in jeopardy, with reports indicating that the endangered Great One-horned Rhinoceros is in dire straits in Nepal.

According to a report carried out in www. news. com. au, the Rhino is being driven out of its natural habitat in search of food into the hands of illegal poachers.

A meeting of the Asian Rhino Specialist Group in Nepal said that the massive animal’s feeding grounds were being invaded by “exotic species” of weeds and wild plants and the rhino could soon run out of natural fodder.

Sydney - Prime Minister Kevin said Saturday that his mission was to make Australia "the most Asian-literate nation in the Western world."

"The 21st century will be the Asia Pacific century ... so we need to make sure that in decades ahead we are fully engaged with the region," Rudd told a gathering in Adelaide. "It will be the global powerhouse and there are great opportunities if we engage properly and engage now."

The prime minister said more Australian students should study in other Asian countries to balance the 250,000 Asians currently studying in Australia.

"They become bridges through which we do business later on and this is a very important long-term investment," he said.