Hollywood superstars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie may be heading to Australia if the government is successful in bringing "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo" Down Under, it emerged Friday.

Pitt, one half of the power couple dubbed "Brangelina", is being sought for the lead role of Ned Land and Sydney's Daily Telegraph said industry sources indicated he would bring his family with him to shoot in Australia.

The journalist who revealed the identity of a prisoner kept incommunicado in Israel described on Friday the frantic reaction of Israeli spy chiefs desperate to keep a lid on the mysterious story.

"Prisoner X", identified by media as Australian-Israeli Mossad agent Ben Zygier, died in December 2010 while in isolation at Ayalon prison near Tel Aviv, in a case Israel tried hard to cover up until it was revealed this week.

Israel has confirmed it jailed a foreigner in solitary confinement on security grounds who later committed suicide, as Australia admitted Thursday it knew one of its citizens had been secretly held.

The man, identified by Australian media as Mossad agent Ben Zygier, known as "Prisoner X", died in a secret prison near Tel Aviv in 2010 in a case Israel went to extreme lengths to cover up, imposing media gag orders.

"Cassius" has reclaimed his crown as the world's biggest crocodile in captivity after his rival for the title died, with the huge reptile's handler in Australia saying Tuesday it will boost business.

The 5.48-metre (17 ft 11ins) crocodile, kept in a park on an island off Australia's Queensland, held the record until "Lolong", a 6.17-meter suspected man-eater, was caught in the Philippines 17 months ago.

Global technology giants Microsoft, Apple and Adobe were Monday ordered to appear before a pricing inquiry examining the often-higher cost of tech goods in Australia compared with other economies.

The lower house committee holding the probe, which was launched last May, said it had summoned the trio to appear at a public hearing next month to explain why Australian customers paid more for the same products.

Be polite but not too familiar, display lucky symbols and take things slowly -- unusual advice for the frantic world of retail but Australian stores hope it will help lure cashed-up Chinese tourists.

As Sydney gears up to host one of the world's biggest Chinese New Year celebrations, officials are working to help struggling retailers use the key tourism event to set their cash registers ringing.

New Zealand is to accept 150 refugees a year from Australia, Prime Minister John Key said Saturday to ease pressure on Canberra which is grappling with a surge in boatpeople heading to the region.

Key made the announcement at the end of talks with visiting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard whose government last year faced a record number of more than 17,000 asylum-seekers arriving by boat.

Furry crabs once thought to be damaging the Great Barrier Reef may in fact be helping save the coral by stopping the spread of disease, a researcher said Tuesday.

Scientists at James Cook University studied the impact of furry coral crabs on fragments suffering from white syndrome, a deadly disease that appears throughout the Indo-Pacific and causes coral tissue to slough off.

A United Nations report Monday criticized Australia's immigration camp on Papua New Guinea, warning living conditions are harsh and asylum-seekers' detention arbitrary.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees called for no more children to be sent to the camp on remote Manus Island, which was established as part of Australia's plan to ship refugees offshore to deter more from coming.

A United Nations report Monday criticized Australia's immigration camp on Papua New Guinea, warning living conditions are harsh and asylum-seekers' detention arbitrary.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees called for no more children to be sent to the camp on remote Manus Island, which was established as part of Australia's plan to ship refugees offshore to deter more from coming.