Australia will remove all gender barriers in its military over the next five years, opening up the possibility of controversial front-line combat roles, a minister said today.

A MAN suffered life-threatening burns in Australia after a portable toilet he was using exploded, apparently after he lit a cigarette.

A policy overhaul to be decided by the Australian Cabinet within weeks would remove all gender barriers from the military next year, including in ground combat forces.

Parts of Australia’s third-largest city reopened today as deadly floodwaters that had swamped entire neighbourhoods receded, revealing streets and thousands of homes covered in a thick layer of putrid sludge.

US-led coalition troops kiled seven suspected Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan as Australia announced today that six of its special forces soldiers were wounded in the same area earlier this month.

An Iraqi militant group claimed responsibility today for shooting down an RAF Hercules transport plane with a missile, killing ten British servicemen and backed up their claim with a video.

An Iraqi militant group has claimed responsibility today for bringing down an RAF Hercules transport plane, killing at least nine troops.

A truck exploded near the Australian Embassy in central Baghdad today, killing two people and wounding four, police and witnesses said.

AS violence raged across Iraq, hundreds of Iraqis demanded the release of Irish-born Iraqi hostage Margaret Hassan, saying she had touched many people with her humanitarian work.

Australia today vowed to fight terrorism on its Southeast Asian doorstep through diplomacy, not force.

Australia has assumed command from the US of an international naval fleet enforcing sanctions on Iraq in the northern Gulf.

An Australian warship which has arrived off Christmas Island may load more than 400 asylum seekers stranded on a cargo ship on to a navy vessel for transfer to New Zealand and Nauru.

At least three people have died and thousands more have been evacuated as flooding continues to hit Australia's east coast.