An Australian man indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury for plotting to export components for missiles, drones and torpedoes to Iran said Thursday he had no idea his actions were in breach of an embargo.

David Levick and his Sydney-based company ICM Components were each charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Arms Export Control Act, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Australian athletes have been warned against using Twitter during competition after officials found competitors tweeting during last week's Olympic diving test event in London.

Mike Tancred, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) director of media and communications, fears athletes tweeting during competition will be distracted.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday called a ballot on the leadership of the ruling Labor party, bringing to a head an increasingly bitter and ugly row with her predecessor Kevin Rudd.

Gillard said a vote would be held on Monday when parliament resumes, after Rudd dramatically quit as foreign minister while in Washington on Wednesday amid reports she was planning to sack him for undermining the party.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she was "disappointed" the man she deposed as leader, Kevin Rudd, had not discussed plans to resign as Foreign Minister or raised his concerns with her.

Rudd resigned his post at a dramatic midnight press conference in Washington, saying he had lost the confidence of Gillard amid speculation he was preparing a leadership challenge and would return home to consider his future.

Jay Allen used to love having what he thought was a healthy tan -- so much so that he would regularly expose his body to the lights of a sunbed to ensure he maintained his overall colour.

But after one session he noticed a small mole on his ankle was bleeding and at his wife's insistence, he went to the doctor. He was told he had a skin cancer which could kill him if he didn't have it removed.

The international community must rule out military intervention as a solution to the Syrian crisis, the leader of a global Islamic group said Wednesday.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, said he remained involved in "quiet diplomacy activities" with Syrian President Bashar Assad over the power struggle that has cost around 6,000 lives over the last 11 months. The violence has led to the country's most severe international isolation in more than four decades of Assad family rule.

Protesters attacked eight Syrian embassies around the world following reports of the bloodiest episode yet in Damascus' nearly yearlong crackdown on dissent. Mobs trashed diplomats' offices from London to Australia and set the embassy in Cairo on fire.

Activists say Syrian forces killed more than 200 people in the city of Homs before dawn Saturday, pounding restive neighborhoods with mortars and artillery. The government denies the reports.

More than 100 missing passengers were feared trapped inside an overloaded ferry when it sank off Papua New Guinea, a maritime official said Friday as rescuers scoured the ocean for more survivors.

So far, 246 people have been plucked to safety in a joint rescue operation conducted by PNG and neighboring Australia after the MV Rabaul Queen sank on Thursday morning.

More than 200 people were plucked from waters off Papua New Guinea Thursday after a ferry sank but many others remained missing, with rescuers scouring the area for survivors as night fell.

Operator Star Ships said it lost contact with the MV Rabaul Queen at about 6am on Thursday (2000 GMT Wednesday) while it was travelling between Kimbe and Lae in the east of the Pacific nation, blaming "bad weather" for the disaster.

Customs agents at the Rafik Hariri International Airport thwarted on Wednesday an attempt to smuggle 500 iPhones from Australia, reported the National News Agency.

The iPhones were discovered in the luggages of three Australians of Lebanese origin, who arrived in Lebanon from Australia through Dubai.