Australia promised an investigation today after a massive fire erupted on an oil rig that had been leaking into the Timor Sea – the latest drama in a 10-week saga to plug the hole.

THIRTY-SIX passengers and crew were injured, some seriously, in the mid-air drama that forced a Qantas jetliner to make an emergency landing, the Australian carrier and police said yesterday.

Australian airline Qantas moved to inspect oxygen cylinders on its entire fleet today as investigators focused on a missing tank as the suspected cause of a mid-air blast that tore a hole in a jumbo jet carrying more than 350 people.

Pope Benedict XVI has raised expectations that he would apologise directly to victims of past clergy sexual abuse.

Chinese guards travelling with the Olympic torch could face arrest if they lay hands on any protesters during its visit to Australia’s capital next week, an official said today.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his team were formally sworn in as Australia’s new government today, nine days after sweeping to power in elections that ended more than 11 years of conservative rule.

A lawyer for an Indian doctor who was cleared of UK terrorism charges in Australia signalled Monday that his client may consider suing the Australian government and was planning to appeal against a minister’s decision revoking his visa.

A two-day extension for Australian police to hold a man in connection with the attempted UK car bombings may not be enough to sift through a mountain of potential evidence, they said today.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard insisted oil had nothing to do with Australia’s involvement in the Iraq war, contradicting his defence minister who said protecting Iraq’s oil supplies was one of his country’s motivations for keeping troops there.

Police in Australia arrested an Indian doctor in connection with the foiled terror attacks in London and Glasgow as he tried to leave the country and were interviewing a second doctor in the case, officials said today.

Police suspended their search today for the crew of a ghost-ship yacht found drifting off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, saying there was little chance of finding the three men alive.

At least 49 people were reported to have been killed and more than 90 injured when an Indonesian passenger plane carrying more than 140 people burst into flames as it landed on Java island early today.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s conservative government today refused to support a plan by state leaders to introduce caps on carbon dioxide emissions, saying it would devastate the economy.

European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson criticised Australia today for taking the US side in stalled World Trade Organisation talks on global trade liberalisation.

Walls of flames 100ft high swept through parched eucalyptus forests and destroyed at least three homes as several fires raged out of control north of Sydney today.

A heavy police presence at beaches in southern Sydney over the weekend prevented a repeat of racial violence that rocked the city a week ago and headed off potential tragedies, a senior officer said today.

Police in Sydney will be given tough new powers to crack down on rioters who have rampaged through the city’s southern beachside suburbs for two nights, it was announced today.

Police formed a strike force today to track down the instigators of a day and night of racial riots that left more than 30 people injured in a string of Sydney beachside suburbs.

Police in Australia arrested 16 terror suspects, including a radical Muslim cleric accused of leading a cell dedicated to “violent jihad", in a string of raids in the early hours of today and said they had foiled a catastrophic terror attack.

Fears that several people in China and Thailand had been infected with bird flu appear to have been proved groundless, but the region’s anxiety mounted as officials warned of more human infections unless the spread of the disease was curbed.

How good does it feel to be rescued from shark-infested waters off Australia after six hours adrift and with daylight running out?

Australian Prime Minister John Howard today dismissed calls from lawmakers within his ruling Liberal Party to ban girls from wearing Muslim headscarves in public schools.

Australia’s foreign minister went on Arabic TV to appeal for the release of an engineer kidnapped in Iraq, saying he has a serious heart condition.

Care International suspended operations in Iraq today after gunmen seized the Irish-born woman who ran the humanitarian organisation’s work in the country.

Police have information on more than 500 Australians who access child porn and more arrests are likely, Australia’s police chief said today, a day after announcing the country’s largest ever crackdown on the industry.

AN American passenger jet flying from Australia to Los Angeles returned to Sydney International Airport yesterday after the crew found a written bomb threat which turned out to be a hoax.

An American passenger jet flying from Australia to Los Angeles returned to Sydney International Airport today after crew found a written bomb threat which turned out to be a hoax.

Australia’s worst bush fires in a generation raged out of control around Sydney today, claiming the life of a second elderly man as winds pushed the towering flames closer to the city’s affluent northern suburbs.

Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer today said the government had received information warning that some areas of the Indonesian capital Jakarta could be bombed, and urged its citizens to leave.

The Australian Cricket Board today cancelled the team’s tour of Zimbabwe, in the wake of widely-criticised elections that returned Robert Mugabe to power.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer today rejected calls by legislators to ban Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe from a Commonwealth summit in October.