Sydney  - Australia's bid to host the 2018 World Cup looked better Wednesday with the government putting up 45 million Australian dollars (28 million US dollars) to pay for campaigning.

"This announcement today shows to the entire football world we are very serious in our commitment," Sports Minister Kate Ellis said.

Football Federation of Australia chairman Frank Lowy is spearheading a bid that many say is doomed to fail.

Sydney  - A Muslim leader and former government adviser told an Australian court Wednesday that she lied to her drug dealer because she didn't want him to know that she was using cocaine during the holy month of Ramadan.

Iktimal Hage-Ali, 24, who is suing the state for wrongful arrest, admitted she had a cocaine habit but denied she was an addict.

Hage-Ali, who was a personal adviser on Islamic issues to then prime minister John Howard, was arrested in 2006 for drug possession. She was released without charge and just days later accepted the award for New South Wales state's Young Australian of the Year.

She is claiming the arrest was unlawful as police had no warrant and is asking to be paid compensation.

Sydney  - The world-famous New Year's Eve fireworks display at the end of this month on Sydney Harbour will be environmentally friendly, creative director Rhoda Roberts said Wednesday.

The claim that detonating explosives worth 5 million Australian dollars (3 million US dollars) would not add to Australia's greenhouse gas emissions was made in an interview on national broadcaster ABC.

Sydney  - The finalists in last week's Homeless World Cup football tournament in Australia are expected to seek asylum after going missing in Melbourne or failing to show up for flights home.

The Afghans, who beat the Russians in the men's final, are missing, as are the Liberians, who lost 7-1 to Zambia in the women's final.

Most of the Liberians absconded before Sunday's final was played, prompting organizers to field Australians as substitutes.

Sydney, Dec. 9 : Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders have signed up young New South Wales all-rounder Moises Henriques for 300,000 dollars.

Henriques''s contract is believed to be heavily incentive-based, but it still stands to make him the highest-paid junior cricketer in Australia, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The St George all-rounder said he was unaware whether the contract had been finalised, although Kolkata chief executive Joy Bhattacharya confirmed terms had been agreed upon.

Sydney - An Australian father who handed a teacher an envelope filled with thousands of dollars in cash told a Sydney tribunal Tuesday it was not an inducement to get his son through an exam and into a top school but a reward for paying him extra attention in class.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has accused Qinghua Pei and his former partner Xiaodong Lu of twice attempting to bribe Jodie-Lee Pearce to change their son's marks in order for him to get a prized school place.