Sydney  - Five Australians who face life in jail if convicted on terrorism charges possessed enough ammunition to fire one of their high-powered rifles non-stop for 38 hours, a court in Sydney was told Friday.

The Muslim men have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to commit acts in preparation for a terrorist act.

The five on trial are among nine men arrested in Sydney in November 2005. At the same time, six Melbourne men were also arrested and also charged with terrorism offences.

Sydney  - A mongrel called Diesel received a bravery award and the biggest bone in the butcher's shop Friday after proving to be man's best friend.

Diesel put his life on the line last month to save a 3-year-old boy from a deadly brown snake on his family's farm in Queensland, in north-eastern Australia.

The courageous canine took two bites when he put his body between little Drew Beaston and the 2-metre reptile.

Sydney, Nov. 14 : A majority of cricket fans have welcomed the announcement of Andrew Symonds'' recall to the Test team, but don’t know why he was sacked by his teammates.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Symonds was sacked for many other reasons, and not just because he opted to go fishing when he was supposed to attend a team meeting in Darwin ahead of the series against Bangladesh.

S

Sydney, Nov 13 : As cricket is changing by the day, so are the paraphernalia. A new bat is in the making which would enable a batsman to hit with both the sides.

The back of the bat could be used to defuse full-length yorkers often employed by bowlers in Twenty20 cricket to restrict scoring options. With the back of the bat in play batsmen figure they can reach forward and "lap" it up over their shoulder to the undefended boundary behind first slip.

Stuart Kranzbuhler, the bat maker, said that but young hitters, looking for an advantage in Twenty20 cricket, are already interested in the new blade.

Sydney, Nov. 13 : The New Zealand cricket team see captain Ricky Ponting as the key to their chances of beating Australia in the two-Test series that gets underway from tomorrow.

New Zealand paceman Chris Martin, who will lead a likely four-pronged pace attack on the hard and fast Brisbane surface, said Ponting''s wicket remained the key for the tourists.