Sydney  - In the midst of a global financial crisis Sydney's most expensive house has changed hands.

A Japanese businessman Thursday agreed to pay back-to-the-wall financier David Coe 47 million Australian dollars (37 million US dollars) for Coolong, a harbourside mansion with its own sandy beach.

Coe, founder of struggling financial engineering firm Allco Finance, had the 4,000-square-metre property on the market for some months for 50 million dollars.

Melbourne, Sept 18 : A new survey has found that over 40 percent of law students suffer from depression, with little improvement in sight when they become barristers and solicitors.

According to the study, almost a third of solicitors and one-in-five barristers suffer psychological distress associated with disability.

Professor Ian Hickie, from the Brain and Mind Research Institute in New South Wales (NSW), said that the survey of 738 students, 924 solicitors and 751 barristers supported earlier findings that consistently ranked lawyers first in surveys of depression.

Sydney  - Australia's consumer watchdog warned carmakers and other heavy polluters Thursday to stop falsely presenting themselves as environmental angels.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chief Graeme Samuel said he would make sure the law caught up with companies that "give an overall impression to consumers that their product is environmentally friendly when it isn't."

He named and shamed US-based General Motors for claiming the Saab cars it sold in Australia were environmentally friendly vehicles.

"Every Saab is green," the advertising ran. "With carbon emissions neutral across the entire Saab range."

Sydney - A 77-year-old motorist who thought a passenger train would give way for her at a level crossing in Outback Australia was disabused when the venerable Ghan luxury locomotive shunted her car aside near Alice Springs on Thursday.

Sydney - More than 2 per cent was wiped off the value of Australian shares Thursday in response to a 4-per-cent fall on Wall Street.

The ASX 200 gave up 115 points, or 2.4 per cent, to close at 4,607.

A fourth day of losses was stemmed by bargain-hunting near the close that dragged the market up from an intraday low of 4,563.

Stocks are now languishing at a three-year low with finance sector counters the worst affected.

Sydney - Russia's incursion into neighbouring Georgia had prompted Australia to think twice about shipping uranium under a deal negotiated last year by the former conservative government, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Thursday.

Under a deal yet to be ratified, Australia agreed to sell Moscow uranium as long as it was used for power generation rather than for making nuclear weapons.