One man was killed, scores of homes were destroyed and hundreds of people were forced to evacuate as almost 100 wildfires burned across Australia’s most populous state today.

I SPENT last Sunday’s sunny Bloomsday in Dublin city centre eating various Spanish tapas on the Campo Viejo Tapas Trail rather than mutton kidneys and Gorgonzola sandwiches, and while I did feel I was betraying one of the capital’s great traditions I suspect James Joyce would have approved.

Rescuers helped drivers to escape swift floodwater and used helicopters to pluck stranded people from rooftops in north-east Australia today after torrential rain flooded thousands of homes and businesses, killed four and forced thousands to huddle in shelters.

Australians were bracing for what officials warned could be the worst fire danger day ever seen, as police searched for some 100 people still missing in ravaged Tasmania.

Australia’s most wanted man, who eluded officials for seven years by hiding out in dense forests, was captured yesterday and charged with murder, ending a frustrating and at times violent hunt, police said.

Tough legislation which could land bikers in jail for associating with one another sailed through an Australian state parliament today, following a series of bloody clashes between warring gangs.

TRADERS in Bandon have warned they would be fighting for survival if a proposed pilot one-way traffic system is introduced.