'Terrorist attack thwarted'

On Christmas Eve, 20-year-old Sulayman Khalid from Regents Park in Sydney's west was charged after he was allegedly found with documents designed to facilitate a terrorist attack against potential government targets in Sydney.

A 21-year-old man was also charged by counter-terrorism police with breaching a control order.

Police seized documents which they allege were "designed to facilitate a terrorist attack". They also found guns, as well as hand-written notes of planned guerrilla warfare in the Blue Mountains.

Facebook user hits the dislike button

Facebook came under fire for toying insensitively with users' emotions after its "Year In Review" feature forced a prominent web designer to relive the pain of losing his young daughter.

Over the Christmas period the social network prompted users to create and share a personalised scrapbook of photographic moments they posted during the year.

In what he has dubbed Facebook's "inadvertent algorithmic cruelty", Eric Meyer, who is credited with advocating for web development standards such as cascading style sheets (CSS), was repeatedly shown images of his deceased daughter, Rebecca.

"I didn't go looking for grief this afternoon, but it found me anyway, and I have designers and programmers to thank for it," he wrote on his personal blog.

Air Asia flight goes missing, found one week later

It happened again. Another plane missing without a trace.

In the case of Air Asia flight QZ8501, debris was found a week after it disappeared off the radar while flying to Singapore from Indonesia.

Part of the wreckage was spotted by an Australian Orion search aircraft, and then found in 29 metres of water.

As of Sunday, 30 bodies have been accounted for of the 162 on board.

Australia's cricketers beat India and MS Dhoni retires

Australia continued their dominance against India in their own backyard - winning the first two Tests and drawing the third.

Steve Smith took over the captaincy reins from Michael Clarke, showing his worth with 581 runs at an average of 96.8 after three Tests.

Meanwhile, India's phlegmatic skipper MS Dhoni announced his shock retirement from Test cricket. Who needs it anyway when you're making tens of millions of dollars in endorsements?

Two-year-old shoots mum at Walmart

When will America learn?

An American mum was accidently killed by her 2-year-old son when he reached into her purse to grab her gun.

It came in the same year a nine-year-old girl accidentally shot an instructor dead with a machine gun at a shooting range near Las Vegas, which was captured on camera.

Chinese stampede kills 36 people

Early reports suggested it was the result of fake money being thrown over a balcony, but police later ruled out any such speculation after 36 people were killed in a New Year's Eve stampede in Shanghai.

Forty-two other people were injured when the stampede began at 11.45pm local time. There have been complaints floating around that not enough police were on duty when the incident occurred.

Peter Greste gets a re-trial

Australian journalist Peter Greste was granted a retrial by an appeals court in Egypt after originally being sentenced to seven years in prison for allegedly producing false news that damaged Egypt's reputation.

Defence lawyers have been working hard since Greste's arrest in December to highlight the flaws of his original criminal trial.

It serves as a mini-win for journalism, with thousands around the globe eager to see whether Greste will be freed from prison.

Want a beer with that?

It's what dreams are made of. Or, perhaps, nightmares.

KFC will make a request for a liquor license at one of its restaurants in Parramatta.

The fast-food giant reckons it can get more people through the door by selling beer and cider. It's an attempt to keep a grip on the fast-growing middle market of food dominated by a number of new fast-food chains.

Irish tourist allegedly punches brother, fighting for his life

Reunited in Australia just days earlier, the trip of a lifetime for two Irish brothers turned nasty when Barry Lyttle allegedly punched his younger brother Patrick, who fell onto the pavement in Kings Cross at around 3am on Saturday.

Patrick, who had been travelling in Australia since last June, was placed on life support and remains in a critical condition at St Vincent's hospital with his father by his bedside.

His older brother, who arrived in Australia last week with his dad, has been charged and remains in custody.