Sydney's oldest barmaid Lil Miles has never been a drinker, but after four decades on the job at her family's Bells Hotel in the Australian city's Woolloomooloo suburb, the 91-year-old still hasn't tired of pulling beers. "I'll keep going," said the diminutive great-grandmother, even though the Sydney pub scene has changed vastly from the wild days of the 1970s, when big-spending sailors and dockside workers kept the hotel busy.

Striker Matt Simon will return to Australian A-League champions Central Coast Mariners next season after a release from his South Korean club, the Mariners said on Thursday. Simon, 27, has signed a one-year deal after he was released from K-League side Chunnam Dragons following an injury-blighted season. The player, who left the Mariners in January last year, said he was looking to recapture his form playing again under coach Graham Arnold.

Australia's red centre Alice Springs will host England on their Ashes tour this year, with a two-day match announced Tuesday at Traeger Park against a Chairman's XI. Alice last hosted an international game in 2001 when the West Indies played a Northern Territories XI, and Cricket Australia said it hoped fans would travel to the iconic Outback town for the November 29-30 game. "We are excited about this announcement, and about the opportunity to bring elite cricket to the red centre," said Cricket Australia official Andrew Ingleton.

Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto on Tuesday forecast global iron ore production of 265 million tonnes this year after posting record output in the March quarter. The mining titan said its global iron ore production from operations in Australia and Canada increased to 61 million tonnes in the three months to March, up four percent on the same period last year. This came despite three tropical cyclones in the quarter at its Pilbara business in Western Australia which forced shiploading to be suspended or slowed for several days.