Dan McIntosh, outback cook

Last year, Dan McIntosh, a station cook in the Northern Territory, wanted to share his photos of the outback life he loves so much. He was encouraged to start a Facebook page and one year later, he has 50,000 followers and 30 million views from around the world.

The photos page show a day in the life of an outback station and the very best are featured in his book called simply Outback Stations.

Dan is an itinerant cook for hungry jackaroos and travels around outback stock camps in the Northern Territory.  He became a cook by accident thirty years ago when he was with a shearing team in Western Queensland.

"The cook got drunk and was locked up in the jail in town and the men asked me if I could cook them a meal."  

But when he inspected the kitchen, he found plenty of fruit and vegetables but no meat, so he had to go over to the sheep yard and get two sheep. "We had to kill them and dress them and cut some back legs off for some roasts for the night" he said.

When he passed the strict standards of the shearers that night, the 52 year old has worked his way across northern Australia ever since. 

"It's nice out here, it's peaceful, there's no hassles, you wouldn't work anywhere else, it's beautiful.  I like it" he said.

George Clooney's wedding in Venice

George Clooney is getting married this weekend and his bride is not only beautiful, but very bright. Amal Ramzi Alamuddin is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London and specializes in international law, criminal law, human rights and extradition. Her clients include Julian Assange and former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko.

She was born in Lebanon in 1978 and during the 1980s, her family settled in England.  Her mother Baria, is the foreign editor of the Pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat and her father Ramzi is a retired professor of business studies at the American University of Beirut.

The Grand Canal in Venice will be closed off this weekend to let the famous couple proceed down the waterway to the seven-star Aman Canal Grande.  It will be a fabulous spectable - the couple will travel on a launch accompanied by a flotilla of gondolas.

From the hotel's website

Guests arrive at Aman Canal Grande by boat, docking at a landing that leads directly into the palazzo's Reception Hall.

With its soaring ceilings and historic frescoes and reliefs, the hall provides a sense of bygone luxury as well as direct access to the hotel's private gardens and a small Boutique which specializes in Murano glassware designed by Count Gilberto Arrivabene, the owner of the palazzo.

Amal will wear a Sarah Burton creation for Alexander McQueen, the same designer who created Kate Middleton's wedding dress.

Giorgio Armani announced that he will be dressing the 53 year old star for his wedding.

There will only be 60 guests and the bride's parents have insisted on paying the bill.

Melbourne terror suspect shot dead by police

When an 18 year old terror suspect was asked to come to a Melbourne police station to answer some questions, all hell broke loose.  

Last night, outside the station, he was met by two policemen and as they were about to introduce themselves, he suddenly pulled out a knife and started stabbing both men.  And when he turned and ran towards the police station, he was shot and died at the scene.

Both officers are recovering in hospital and one had life-threatening injuries and is lucky to be alive.

The terror suspect's name was Numan Haider and he was shouting insults about Tony Abbott and the Australian government moments before he was shot.

Ironically, counter-terrorism police hadn't considered him a major threat which is why he was invited to attend a low-key meeting outside the police station.

Victorian Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said "our members had no inkling this individual posed a threat to them and as far as we were concerned, it was going to be an amicable discussion about that individual's behaviour."

So what does the Muslim community say?  Yes, you guessed it - it's all our fault - the government hasn't dealt with the "alienation and disaffection" of young Muslim males.

Islamic Council of Victoria secretary Graith Krayem said he was disappointed that police had jumped to conclusions so quickly.  "I heard and saw the press conference with the police last night and I'm a little disappointed, I think it was a little pre-emptive - the police have come out very clearly and almost said it's the young man's fault" he told radio 3AW.

He said that naming people as radicals drove them to behave in ways "we find hard to understand" and the Muslim community is "under seige" and very upset.

And so are we Mr Krayem, so are we.

Lara Bingle is pregnant

Lara Bingle and Sam Worthington, who met last September, are having a baby.

Sam was born to British parents and moved to Perth when he was six months old and grew up in Warnbro, a suburb of Rockingham. He left home in his teens and travelled the country working in construction and eventually settled in Sydney.  When he auditioned for the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), he was awarded a scholarship and the rest is history.

Lara Bingle was born on 22 June 1987 to Graham and Sharon Bingle in Cronulla, a seaside suburb of Sydney.  She first appeared in the 2006 Tourism Australian So where the bloody hell are you? campaign and a star was born.   Her father died from cancer in 2008.

The baby is due in March 2015.  Sam is 38 and Lara is 27.

Exquisitely beautiful Lara Bingle

Terror plot to kill Australians

Ali Baryalei

Yesterday, 800 police raided homes of ISIL supporters in Sydney and Brisbane and a few hours later we learn there is a group of Australian Muslims who hate our country so much, they planned to grab people off the streets of Sydney, wrap them in the ISIL flag and video their beheading. And this is the man behind it - Ali Baryalei.

Terror recruiter and mastermind Baryalei is a high ranking member of the terror group in Syria, and on Tuesday, he spoke to Sydney man Omarjan Azari to discuss kidnapping a random person off the streets of Sydney and behead them on video.  Because police believed the attack was imminent, they decided to swoop on known ISIL supporters before the plan could be carried out.

Azari 22 was charged yesterday with conspiracy to organize a terror attack

Azari moved to Sydney from Afghanistan 10 years ago and went to Parramatta High School.  He completed a motor mechanic course at TAFE but six months ago, he caught the attention of ASIO.

Eshan Azari

Azari's uncle Eshan Azari is a lecturer at the University of Western Sydney.  He said his nephew's parents flew out of Sydney to attend the Hajj festival in Saudi Arabia the day before the raids.  "We cannot tell his father because he is very sick and might die" he said.

An unnamed police source said "Their operational security was pretty good, they would use things like public phone boxes and avoid talking in cars" he said.

Two women were issued with court appearance notices while another nine people were detained and released without charge, pending further investigations.

There is something terribly wrong with our system if Facebook and Twitter is allowed to be a vehicle to promote propaganda for this murderous group of maniacs.

Where is little William Tyrell?

Kendall is a little town halfway between Port Macquarie and Taree on the NSW mid-north coast. 

Last Friday morning, around 10.30 am, 3 year old William Tyrell was playing outside with his little sister at his grandparents' home, when suddenly he disappeared. He was wearing his Spiderman suit.

Police thought he had wandered into the surrounding bush but now they think he was abducted. A man went into a local shop and asked for directions to the toddler's street just before he disappeared.

There are now hundreds of people involved in the search, and police divers are checking all dams and waterways.  Members of the public are out in force, including locals on horseback. 

Local supermarkets have donated food and water to feed the volunteers.

The whole country is watching and waiting for news, praying he will be found alive.....it's almost personal.

Jacqui Lambie wants DNA test

Senator Jacqui Lambie wants a DNA test to prove she had Aboriginal blood.  She says she's a descendant of a prominent Aboriginal leader in Tasmania on her mother's side.

But Tasmanian Aboriginal Land Council (TALC) chairman Clyde Mansell said her claim is "absolutely outrageous and scandalous."  Mr Mansell is an elder and known descendant of Mannalargenna.

Yesterday Senator Lambie said she wanted a DNA test to prove she's not lying.  "I know what's in my blood" she said.  "If Mr Mansell wants to take me on, I guess I'll meet him up at the hospital and both have a DNA test and see how we go once and for all" she said.

Clyde Mansell

She stands by her maiden speech when she said "We trace our history over six generations to celebrated Aboriginal chieftain of the Tasmanian east coast, Mannalargenna."

Mr Mansell said DNA tests are not conclusive and he's probably right.

If a living person wishes to establish that he or she is a member of a particular family group, the person must find someone within that group who can provide a genetic sample for the purpose of comparison. This becomes more difficult where a person seeks to establish a biological relationship with a person or family group that has been dead for years, decades or centuries.

Senator Lambie is making more headlines than any other newcomer to Canberra in history and whatever she says is reported. She wants up to five indigenous MPs in the lower house and four in the Senate and cites New Zealand's Maori seats in parliament as evidence of how the policy could work.

Yesterday she said that anyone who supports Sharia Law should pack their bags and get out.  As an ex soldier, she warned that veterans were being "pushed back into the war zone" without adequate help when they returned, while supporters of Sharia Law are allowed to claim government handouts.

Clive Palmer put Senator Lambie into the Senate but now she's there, she doesn't need him anymore and Clive knows it.

"She certainly doesn't have to kowtow to me, she's elected by the Australian people" he said on Friday.  "And in our party room, it's done by voting, it's not done by my view or Jacquie's view, it's done by consensus."