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Australian police are conducting what they called the largest counter-terrorism operation in the nation's history, with more than 800 police officers participating. Officials announced early Thursday that 15 people had been detained and one person charged "with serious terrorism-related offenses" allegedly related to plans for at least one beheading. The action comes less than a week after the Australian government raised its National Terrorism Public Alert level to "high" from "medium." Officials did not immediately offer details about what prompted Thursday's mass operation in the northwest suburbs of Sydney and in Brisbane. The suspects were planning to grab a random...

Police say a large-scale anti-terrorism raid in Sydney this morning has foiled a plot to "commit violent acts" in Australia, including a plan to behead a member of the public. More than 800 officers launched the raids as part of Operation Appleby in suburbs across Sydney's west and north-west, with a further 70 police involved in raids on properties in Brisbane's south.

•Omarjan Azari, 22, charged with ‘preparing to commit a terrorist act’ •Plan was allegedly to behead random member of the public and film it •More than 800 officers in biggest counter-terrorism operation •15 suspects detained •‘These people hate us for how we live,’ says Tony Abbott A senior member of Islamic State was urging a network in Australia to carry out public beheadings, the prime minister has revealed, as a suspect was charged after the largest counter terrorism raids in Australia’s history. More than 800 police officers were involved in raids in Sydney’s north-west on Thursday morning with 15 people...

CHURCH-goers in Sydney’s west have been left shaken after a stranger shouted death threats from a car bearing the Islamic State flag. The car drove past Our Lady of Lebanon Church at Harris Park on Tuesday and witnesses claim it had a flag similar to those brandished by Islamic State jihadists hanging out the window. A priest from the church told AAP the people in the car threatened to “kill the Christians” and slaughter their children. “They were strong words and people were scared of what they saw,” he said.

ASIO and counter terrorism police have swooped on homes across north-western Sydney and other states this morning in what is believed to be the largest anti-terrorism bust in the nation’s history. Several arrests have reportedly been made in the secret pre-dawn raid, which is still in progress. The arrests follow the execution of a number of search warrants in Beecroft, Bellavista, Guildford, Merrylands, Northmead, Wentworthville, Marsfield, Westmead, Castle Hill, Revesby, Bass Hill and Regents Park. The raid is believed to have been mounted following months of surveillance of people linked to the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria....

They may have lost the match but the New Zealand wheelchair rugby side certainly won over the crowd with their boisterous haka performance at the Invictus Games. The Kiwi players aggressively thumped the sides of their wheelchairs for the traditional dance as their British opponents watched on ahead of the rugby match on Saturday in London. It was the first haka of the Invictus Games - an inaugural military Paralympics event for men and women wounded in combat. New Zealand Victoria Cross winner Willie Apiata led the team of soldiers in the dramatic haka.

Scientists say the extent of Antarctic sea ice cover is at its highest level since records began. Satellite imagery reveals an area of about 20 million square kilometres covered by sea ice around the Antarctic continent. Jan Lieser from the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) said the discovery was made two days ago. "This is an area covered by sea ice which we've never seen from space before," he said.

Tony Abbott has decided to deploy a powerful, state-of-the-art Australian military force to the Middle East. The troops will make a material difference. This is not remotely tokenism, though of course it has powerful political significance. In the Super Hornets, the special forces and the Wedgetail AEWAC combat control aircraft, Australia is sending ultra-high-end war-fighting capabilities. In addition, there will be air-to-air refuellers, and Australian personnel in the joint coalition headquarters. The giant Australian C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft, and its smaller sibling, the C 130 Hercules, are already there too. ..... That Abbott was able to make this deployment at...

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has promised to send Australian military forces to the Persian Gulf to assist in attacks on the Islamic State. He told media in a press conference in Darwin today that he had decided to prepare and deploy an armed force to the UAE to assist the United States in its military action against the Islamic State’s forces in Iraq and Syria. He warned “should this extend into combat operations, it could go on for some time” Mr Abbott said his reaction to the latest video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines was: “Shock,...

WELFARE payments will be stripped from people within Australia suspected of supporting terrorism under a crackdown on funding for Islamic State fighters in Iraq and other terror groups. And the Federal Government may also be considering forcibly relocating terrorism suspects away from fellow extremists.

FEARS of “lone wolf’’ terror ­attacks on Australian soil, motiv­ated and informed by social-media sites, have driven the rise in the nationa­l-security alert level to high, immediately sparking tighter security at major public events and government buildings. Tony Abbott’s announcement yesterday that he had accepted ASIO’s advice to raise the terror alert prompted state governments to step up the police presence at last night’s football finals in Melbourne and Sydney and begin tightening security at airports, ports, railway and bus stations. The increase in the alert from medium to high is the first change in 11 years and means an...

Two heterosexual men have tied the knot on Friday morning under New Zealand's liberal marriage laws. Marrying not for love, but for Rugby World Cup Tickets, the two men from Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand officially said 'I do' in front of 60 family and friends. The ceremony was live broadcast by Edge Radio, who's 'I Love You, Man' competition was launched earlier this year in a bid to find two straight men willing to wed for the sought after tickets. 'It's official folks, Travis and Matt have just said 'I do'! Congrats to the happy couple!,'...

A suitcase containing plastic explosive was accidentally left at Sydney airport for three weeks by the Australian federal police in a serious training blunder. The AFP released a statement on Thursday apologising for mistakenly leaving a training device at the airport – containing 230g of plastic explosive ....

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has raised the public alert of a terror threat in Australia to high, “Our security agencies have raised the alert level based on an accummulation of indicators,” he said in a press conference today. The terror level has been set at medium on the National Terrorism Public Alert System since the system was introduced in 2003. The four levels include: • low — terrorist attack is not expected • medium — terrorist attack could occur • high — terrorist attack is likely • extreme — terrorist attack is imminent or has occurred. The move is expected...

Sweden has emerged from a bitter submarine technology row with Germany to mount a last-ditch effort to outbid Japan and Germany for the contract to build AustraliaÂ’s new submarines. The chief executive of Swedish defence giant Saab, Hakan Bushke, weighed into a heated Australian political row after Prime Minister Tony Abbott all but broke an election promise to assemble AustraliaÂ’s new submarines in Adelaide. Mr AbbottÂ’s insistence the decision will be based on value for money and regional policy rather than jobs in Adelaide suggests 10 submarines will be built in Japan for about $20 billion, though the government has...

THE United States is pushing for Australia to contribute special forces soldiers to help an international coalition defeat Islamic State extremists in Iraq. CITING senior government sources, The West Australian reports that Washington wants Australia to send Special Air Service Regiment troops and Commandos.

IF Australia is to raise the terror threat level from medium to high, it should do it quickly. Waiting for further evidence that jihadists might strike on Australian soil may be to invite disaster. Not only law-abiding Australians would be concerned at the implications of an increased level of alertness, so too any extremists plotting a domestic attack. The Herald Sun has reported on the participation of Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf in beheadings and executions in the Middle East. Sharrouf fled to Syria on his brother’s passport after being jailed for terrorist activities in Australia. He was part of a...

Australian Federal Police confirmed they've carried out a raid at an Islamic centre south of Brisbane. Two Queensland men have been arrested and will face terrorism charges relating to preparing to send fighters to join the conflict in Syria. One has been identified as 31-year-old Omar Succarieh, the brother of Australia's first suicide bomber to die in Syria, Ahmed Succarieh. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Queensland Police conducted a series of raids in Logan and the southern suburbs of Brisbane this morning, with 180 officers involved. The raids follow a year-long counter-terrorism investigation. Police said they seized two cross-bows,...

AUSTRALIA’s terrorism threat level is poised to rise from ­medium to high for the first time, after ASIO warned the government it had become increasingly concerned about the chances of an attack on home soil. The Australian has been told the Abbott government is privately bracing for formal advice from ASIO director-general David Irvine that the threat alert level be raised to the second highest level. Mr Irvine told the ABC last night the terror threat had been building in Australia over the past year and he had an “elevated level of concern’’. He revealed he was aware of people...