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Australia's national security agency - ASIO - says the risk of a terror attack is the same as at the height of the so-called Islamic State Caliphate.
Since August last year the threat has been listed as "probable" which means there is more than a fifty per cent likelihood of a plot or actual attack in the next year.
In a statement, ASIO director of general security - Mike Burgess - says the threat level assigned by the agency is unlikely to change in the near future.
The statement comes after news a caravan filled with explosives was found in northwest Sydney.
A note was also found, with a list of apparent targets linked to the Jewish community.
Joint investigations by ASIO, the A-F-P and state police are underway into a series of antisemitic attacks that have occurred since December.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton says the Prime Minister should be doing more.
"It's been entirely predictable that When the Prime Minister hasn't stood up and been strong and renounced all of this activity over the course of the last 15 months or so, well, of course, it's going to escalate. Had this terrorist attack taken place, if the reports are correct, around the 40-meter blast zone, this would have been the most significant terrorist attack and loss of life in our country's history."
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The Federal and Victorian Governments have signed a $2.5 billion education funding deal they say will support students, staff and families.
The deal was announced last week and will see the federal government lift its share of public-school funding from 20 to 25 per cent, as recommended by the 2012 Gonski Review.
The federal government says it hopes the funding will increase the number of students finishing school - and attract and retain more teachers.
Education Minister Jason Clare says the funding will improve school attendance and completion rates.
“And it's about early intervention, providing more individual support for those children, perhaps out of a classroom of thirty into a classroom of three, to help them to catch up, and then they keep up. Then more kids will finish high school and go on to TAFE if they want, or Uni if they want get the job of their dreams. So fundamentally, that's what it's all about. It's about making sure that every child in Australia gets a great start in life, what every Mum and Dad wants and what every Australian child deserves. "
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Firefighters in Victoria are working to contain fires in the Grampians National Park, ahead of worsening fire conditions in the coming days.
CFA volunteers are conducting backburns between Dunkel and Cavendish in Western Victoria, to reduce the risk of fires spreading.
Blazes have been burning in the region for over a month, with the largest on the eastern flank still burning but now under control.
There are concerns fires at either end of the park could join as one, particularly as temperatures are expected to soar to 40 degrees in the week ahead.
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Reports are emerging of potential casualties after a passenger plane in the United States collided with a helicopter above Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The US Federal Aviation Administration says the plane collided mid-air with a helicopter before landing in the Potomac River.
US Senator Ted Cruz has posted on social media saying there are fatalities, however, did not provide a source for that information.
Reports say so far four people have been pulled from the water.
Speaking to U-S ABC News, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Plans, Programs and Operations Colonel Steve Ganyard says the situation is very concerning.
"The problem with this time of year is, obviously the water is quite cold, there is water is ice on the Potomac most of the way up towards the key bridge, and so getting anybody that is still alive out of the water quickly is going to be the real key for the fire department here but, I will tell you some of the video that we've seen is quite disturbing, and it does appear that there was a flash, which means that this is probably going to be a very significant and very serious mishap. "
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The Palestinian Health Ministry says an Israeli drone strike killed at least ten people in the occupied West Bank.
The strikes comes amid intensifying Israeli raids and attacks on the West Bank, which have escalated since the implementation of a ceasefire in Gaza on the 19th of January.
The raids have recently expanded to Tulkarm, where Israeli forces have blown up a warehouse beneath a residential building inside the Tulkarm refugee camp.
Palestinian News Agency - Wafa - says the resulting fire spread to a shop selling gas cylinders and has caused large explosions that damaged several homes nearby.
Hakim Abu Safieh works in Tulkarm.
He says the explosions and strikes are ruining important infrastructure.
''They demolished all the infrastructure for water, sewage and internet and electricity. All of the underground networks. The network of services which serves the area was targeted this is a main dynamic area that provides services to many neighbourhoods in the area and the city."
The Israeli military claims the drone strike was targeting armed militants.
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To sport now, former surfing champion Jack Robinson has started strong at Banzai Pipeline as the World Surf League's season opening event gets underway in Hawaii.
The Olympic silver medallist from West Australia started with a bang as surfers took to the water in the Pipe Pro after a two-day delay.
With waves between one and two metres on the North Shore of O'ahu, Robinson opened with a barrel that scored 8, the highest of the first round.
The women's competition is set to get underway following the men's round, with Molly Picklum, Sally Fitzgibbons, Isabella Nichols and Tyler Wright in action.
