A teenager has been charged with plotting a terrorist attack on an Australian Veteran’s Day ceremony — the second year in a row that authorities say they have thwarted an attack linked to the national holiday.

A gunman who killed one person and wounded two others inside a western Sydney business was found dead inside the building after a six-hour stand-off today, Australian police said.

One man has been killed and two injured in a shooting at a business in western Sydney.

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

There is much to be said for the power of positive thinking and so upbeat is Scott Johnson in his approach to solving Scottish rugby’s problems that 15 minutes in his company would convince anyone of his side’s potential for success.

Former Young Hurler of the Year Setanta Ó hAilpín has committed to staying on in Australia after his Aussie Rules career ends.

SETANTA Ó hAilpín has been handed another opportunity to become an established AFL player after new franchise, Greater Western Sydney selected him in the AFL draft at Homebush yesterday.

Around 100 elderly people have been rescued from a blaze at a nursing home in Australia.

Australian police cordoned off a building today in a tense stand-off with a man claiming to have a bomb in his backpack and issuing demands from a lawyer’s office where he holed up with his teenage daughter, police said.

SYDNEY Swans coach Paul Roos has given Tadhg Kennelly until the end of the week to decide whether his AFL future is with the New South Wales club.

AUSTRALIAN police said yesterday they had arrested four people after foiling a Somali-linked suicide plot to storm a military base in what would have been the country’s worst extremist attack.

BILLIONAIRE businessman Denis O’Brien is strongly believed to be the Irish backer of a possible Super 15 franchise on Australia’s Gold Coast.

THE AFL has poured cold water on a new Australian Rules team for Sydney which would be Irish-oriented, with one of its officials describing the idea as “extremely dumb”.

SYDNEY SWANS coach Paul Roos has expressed doubts about the proposed new Australian Rules team, the Sydney Celtics, which is to feature Irish players.

Prime Minister John Howard scored a convincing victory in Australia’s federal election, winning a historic fourth term in a vote that will ensure the country keeps its troops in Iraq for the foreseeable future.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard scored a stunning victory in his country’s federal election today, in a vote that will ensure Australia keeps its troops in Iraq.

GARY EVANS produced a magnificent display to reach halfway at the ANZ Championship only one point off the lead.

Wildlife authorities in Australia have launched a hunt for the killer of one of the few koalas still living in forests on the western edge of Sydney.

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.

At least 30 bush fires broke out around Sydney today, closing roads and railway lines, and threatening hundreds of homes.

Islamic officials today said that they believe that an attack on an Islamic school in Australia and the home of a Muslim leader was vengeance for the deaths in the bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali.

A 55-YEAR prison sentence handed down to the ringleader of a gang of young Lebanese men who raped four women in western Sydney has shocked lawyers.

Islamic groups in Australia held a crisis meeting today to condemn a series of brutal gang rapes by young Muslim men.

Police were today hunting a gunman who shot and wounded seven people, including an 8-year-old boy, at a wedding reception in a Sydney restaurant late on Saturday.

Two Australian rugby league players have tested positive for drugs following routine doping tests conducted by National Rugby League administrators.