Pope Benedict XVI gave Australia its first saint today, canonising a 19th century nun who was briefly excommunicated and also declaring five other saints in a Mass attended by tens of thousands of people.

A woman found a small crocodile in her garden swimming pool in Sydney, a zoo spokeswoman said today, just weeks after another crocodile was found in a nearby pond.

Police in northern Sydney enlisted the help of a zoo keeper to capture a crocodile today after locals reported seeing one of the reptiles in a suburban waterway.

A mother has been found guilty of assault for hitting her child after he threw a tantrum in a supermarket in Sydney, Australia.

Hundreds of firefighters battled into the night as bush fires raged out of control through tinder-dry suburban bushland around Sydney’s fringes, destroying at least 20 homes.