Prince Harry has emerged from a farewell walkabout in the shadow of the famous Sydney Opera House with a kiss and a marriage proposal.

Onlookers at Sydney Harbour captured a video that shows nature at its best.

A fierce storm lashing south-east Australia has destroyed homes, stranded dozens of people in floodwaters and might have led to three deaths, officials said.

The human tragedy that was the transportation of Irish convicts to Australia was immortalised in the sporting anthem, ‘Fields of Athenry’. The first journey from Cobh was one of the most dangerous, writes Robert Hume

People across the globe have begun to welcome in the new year, with revellers in New Zealand among those leading the way.

Rory McIlroy created a media storm by calling off his wedding to Caroline Wozniacki, but did he do her a favour, asks Suzanne Harrington.

AS we all know, St Patrick’s Day was last week and we were all able to celebrate our Irishness once again. It’s a festival celebrated globally and we, the Irish, should be honoured to have a festival celebrated so universally.

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Newly engaged Rory McIlroy confessed he was more nervous proposing to Caroline Wozniacki than standing over of the putts to win either of his two Major titles.

GIVEN the weather we’ve been enduring here lately, you have to envy the Australian lifestyle. They can plan open air events with confidence, and if you were thinking of celebrating the first months of 2014 down under, then Sydney is the place to head for, where on Feb 1 you can enjoy Opera in the Domain free.

Exploding fireworks sprayed from the sails of the Sydney Opera House and the Australian city’s harbour bridge at midnight as the world ushered in a new year.

For only a second occasion this season Rory McIlroy confessed he could feel proud at the sight of his face appearing on advertising billboards and banners promoting this week’s Australian Open.

ALL-IRELAND SFC RD4 QUALIFIER:

If you fancy being paid €78,000 to be a ‘chief funster’ then you had better dust off your CV, as Australia is now hiring.

As a child, I had a very mature singing voice, but I thought everybody sang like me.

David Hasselhoff has proposed to his girlfriend for a fifth time.

A Japanese Second World War submarine wreck has been found partially buried in the seabed of a Papua New Guinea harbour.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Blake Lively have split up.

A FORMER navy diver is taking to the sea and air to show off one of the world’s finest natural harbours.

A SYMBOLIC act guaranteeing vital attention for environmentally friendly policies, or a well-meaning but ultimately pointless move that does nothing to solve a genuine problem?

JAPAN’S biggest earthquake since records began 140 years ago hit its northeast coast, causing a 10-metre tsunami that swept away all in its path.

Dazzling fireworks lit up Australia’s Sydney Harbour, communist Vietnam held a rare, Western-style countdown to the new year, and Japanese revellers released balloons carrying notes with people’s hopes and dreams as the world ushered in 2011.

SYDNEY’S Harbour Bridge exploded in a spectacular blaze of New Year fireworks yesterday as people around the globe began welcoming 2011 with a glittering array of parties.

Hugh Jackman injured his eye after a stunt he was filming for an ‘Oprah’ television special in Australia went wrong.

A BOAT made out of 12,500 recycled plastic bottles docked in Sydney Harbour yesterday after four months crossing the Pacific Ocean on a journey meant to raise awareness about the perils of plastic waste.

A WORD APART is the nap to a win a hot little claregalwayhotel.ie colts and geldings EBF Maiden at the opening stage of the Galway Festival tonight.

FAMOUS Name powered to victory over Steinbeck in the Group 3 Jockey Club Of Turkey Meld Stakes at Leopardstown last night, the ninth career win for Khalid Abdullah’s classy five-year-old.

EASTERN LIGHT is the nap choice to get off the mark at the fifth attempt in the Irish Stallion Farms' EBF Maiden at Bellewstown tonight.

Cape Blanco bounced right back to his best to give Aidan O’Brien a fifth consecutive Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh – and could now clash with old foe Workforce at Ascot next month.

RACING at the Curragh yesterday began with a dramatic incident in the Dubai Duty Free Full Of Surprises EBF Maiden, when Johnny Murtagh took a crashing fall from the favourite, Petronius Maximus.

Jeremy Noseda's Formosina broke the extraordinary stranglehold of Aidan O'Brien in the Ladbrokes.com Railway Stakes at the Curragh.

Johnny Murtagh had a very lucky escape in the opener on Irish Derby Day at the Curragh when Petronius Maximus was involved in a freak incident.

GER LYONS’ Clondinnery is the nap choice to land the Listed Galteee Rochestown Stakes at Cork tomorrow.

A 16-year-old Australian girl who spent seven months at sea in her pink yacht sailed across the finish line of her round-the-world journey today, becoming the youngest sailor to circle the globe solo, non-stop and unassisted.

A 16-YEAR-OLD US girl attempting to sail solo around the world ended her quest to become the youngest to make the trip nonstop and will head to South Africa for boat repairs.

AN American motorcycle stuntman twice broke the world record for the longest distance jumped on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle yesterday, sailing through the air near Sydney Harbour to shatter the 10-year-old record.

REVELLERS worldwide met the new year with spectacular fireworks displays and joyful parties against a backdrop of tightened security.

A 16-YEAR-OLD Australian steered her bright pink yacht out of Sydney Harbour yesterday on Sunday to start her bid to become the youngest person to sail solo and unassisted around the world.

A pall of red dust blown in from the Outback clogged the skies over Sydney today, diverting international flights, disrupting public transport and prompting a spike in emergency calls from people suffering breathing difficulties.

A BATTERED robot with his cockroach sidekick in a post-apocalyptic world are two of the characters to catch children’s imaginations in a compilation of movie favourites.

A teenage boy surfing with his father off a popular Sydney beach today had his leg mauled by a shark, marking the area’s third such attack in as many weeks.