A teenage girl has told how a small shark tried to drag her from her board after biting her ankle as she surfed off the Australian east coast.

Australian billionaire Clive Palmer said he plans to sue Rupert Murdoch over unflattering allegations and claimed the media mogul’s estranged wife is a Chinese spy.

AUSTRALIA’S prime minister set a November deadline for Japan to stop its research whaling programme that kills hundreds of whales a year in Antarctic waters, or face legal action.

Australia’s prime minister has set a November deadline for Japan to stop its research whaling programme that kills hundreds of the creatures every year in Antarctic waters, or face legal action.

Todd Lasance, who played widower Aden Jefferies in the popular Australian television soap opera 'Home and Away', will enter a plea on a cocaine possession charge during his first appearance in a Sydney court next month, his lawyer said today.

A PAINFUL break-up with his wife has prompted a man to put his entire life — his house, his car, his job, even his friends — up for sale online.

A painful break-up with his wife has prompted a man to put his entire life - his house, his car, his job, even his friends – up for sale online in an effort to start over.

An eighth suspect wanted in connection with the terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow was arrested in Australia, a television network reported today.

Three men who disappeared from a “Mary Celeste” catamaran found drifting off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef may have fallen overboard in rough seas nearly a week ago, police said today.

Investigators picked through the charred debris of a Boeing 737-400 that burst into flames after careering off a runway in Indonesia, as forensic experts struggled to identify the 21 people killed, many burned beyond recognition.

At least 23 people were killed today when a packed Indonesian plane burst into flames as it landed on Java island.

Muslim leaders, women’s rights advocates and political leaders in Australia today condemned one of the country’s top Islamic clerics for comparing women who don’t wear head scarves to “uncovered meat” who invite rape.

Several homes on Sydney’s outskirts were burned in a wild forest fire today, as soaring temperatures and blustery winds gave Australia an early start to its annual wild fire season.

Prime Minister John Howard vowed today to crack down on potential terrorists in Australia but said his administration would not take “extreme” steps to check the threat.

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.

A luxury cruise ship returned to Sydney today with 140 of its passengers complaining they were struck down by a stomach virus.

CAMERON O’REILLY is on the prowl for acquisitions and partnerships using his new private company, Bayard Capital.

The death toll from an explosion in a Bali nightclub is reported to be at 182, with at least 178 injured in what the national police chief described as the worst act of terror in Indonesia’s history.

Firefighters battling about 100 bush blazes that have destroyed homes, led to mass evacuations in Australia’s largest state and threatened the continent’s biggest city were today counting on a break in the weather to help contain the infernos.