Sydney, Nov. 13: Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has received strong backing from Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland over the over rate debacle in the fourth Test against India.

Speaking at the launch of Ponting''''s Captain''''s Diary 2008, Sutherland backed Ponting''''s decision to bowl spinners and part-timers in a bid to reel back a slow over rate when wickets were needed to salvage the series, ultimately lost 2-0.

Sydney - Fears of the country falling into recession dragged Australian stocks down 5.8 per cent Thursday.

The ASX 200 gave up 230 points to close at 3,697.

The resources sector was hit hard because of concerns that these Australian companies would suffer as commodity prices fall.

The Australian dollar was trading at 64 US cents, 2 US cents down on Wednesday's fix, despite intervention by the Reserve Bank of Australia to prop up the local currency.

Sydney, Nov. 13: Though it is ranked seventh among Test-playing nations, New Zealand has said that it has the firepower to knock the Australian top order over.

Black Caps pacer Chris Martin was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald as saying that Australia were finally beatable without Warne and McGrath, citing the side''s inability to dismiss India in the failed Test series.

He said that his side is planning a similar bowling strategy to that used effectively by Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan to rattle the top order.

Sydney - Australia defender Craig Moore has undergone surgery for testicular cancer and is ruled out of football for several weeks, it was announced on Wednesday.

The former Glasgow Rangers captain Moore, 32, withdrew from next week's World Cup qualifier against Bahrain after being diagnosed with the illness last week and undergoing an operation Tuesday.

He named his outlook "good" in a statement issued by his manager on Wednesday and said that he has been told to rest for two weeks with further tests to take place in six weeks.

Sydney - Five Australians who face life in jail if convicted on terrorism offences possessed pamphlets glorifying suicide bombings that would "kill as many of the enemy as possible," a court in Sydney was told Wednesday.

They venerated "martyrdom operations" that would "spill the blood" of their enemies and libraries of material depicting beheadings and other gruesome killings, Crown prosecutor Richard Maidment said.

"These people selected these items because they were intent on pursuing violent jihad themselves, intent on discovering how that be done legitimately within the teachings of the Islamic faith," he said.

Jurors were told that material seized from them extolled suicide bombings.

Sydney - A 60-year-old Australian woman was sentenced Wednesday for her part in the mercy killing of the 71-year-old Alzheimer's sufferer who had been her partner for 18 years.

In sentencing Shirley Justins to spend her weekends in jail for the next two years for the manslaughter of former Qantas pilot Graeme Wylie, Judge Roderick Howie said "the calculated and unlawful taking of human life is an affront to every aspect of civilized life."

Wylie had been rejected for a legally assisted suicide in Switzerland because Alzheimer's had robbed him of his cognitive powers.