Wednesday afternoon's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.

1. Teenager intercepted by counter-terrorist officers at Sydney airport.

By ABC.

A 17-year-old planning to travel to the Middle East to join Islamic State (IS) was intercepted by counter-terrorism officers at Sydney Airport a fortnight ago, the Federal Government has revealed.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the incident happened on March 12 at the international terminal.

“There was a male, 17 years of age, who was offloaded after being interviewed by counter terrorism unit (CTU) officers at the Sydney Airport,” Mr Dutton said.

“He was on his way to conflict in the Middle East and it comes off the back of two individuals —16 and 17-year-olds, as you would be aware — who had been intercepted by CTU [Counter Terrorist Unit] officers just before that.”

Mr Dutton said security agencies were investigating the matter but the boy had been returned to his family.

“Many of these young people, even without the knowledge of their parents, are downloading and receiving information through social media and on the internet,” Mr Dutton said.

“This death cult is reaching through the computer screens into the minds of young Australians, brainwashing them and that is a great difficulty that all western democracies have.”

Related content: Julie Bishop explains why young women are becoming radicalised.

The Prime Minister again warned young people against joining the militants.

“My message to them is, ‘don’t go, don’t go’,” he said.

“It is very dangerous for you, it is very dangerous for others and we will do everything we can to stop you if you do try to go.”

On March 9, two teenage brothers were intercepted at Sydney Airport on suspicion of attempting to travel to Syria to join IS fighters.

The pair were later released back into the custody of their parents.

The brothers’ luggage contained extremist paraphernalia and they were heading to Turkey, a common transit point for those joining IS.

This month also saw Melbourne teenager Jake Bilardi travel to Iraq where he carried out a suicide bombing for IS. The attack allegedly targeted an Iraqi armed unit west of Baghdad.

These incidents come amid a growing trend of young men travelling, or attempting to travel to the Middle East to fight for IS.

IS has a notorious online reach which features propaganda aimed at encouraging Western people to travel to conflict zones.

Last month, Attorney-General George Brandis flagged $18 million in funding for “real-time social media monitoring” and new measures including the active takedown of terrorist websites and postings.

This article was originally published by the ABC and was republished here with full permission.

2. More than 500 women kidnapped by terrorist organisation.

Militant group, Boko Haram, have kidnapped more than 500 women and children from the northern Nigerian town of Damasak.

According to ABC News, a local trader, Souleymane Ali, said they took 506 women and children.

“They killed about 50 of them before leaving,” he said.

“We don’t know if they killed others after leaving, but they took the rest with them.”

According to a 40-year-old woman named Fana, the fighters rounded up their victims in the main mosque before taking them out of town.

Fana said she saved her two children by hiding them in her house.

Last April, Boko Haram abducted nearly 300 schoolgirls, spurring an international campaign to #BringBackOurGirls.

Attacks on northern Nigerian towns are relentless, as the Boko Haram want to establish a caliphate — a type of Islam-run government — in the region.

“We’ve seen the worst possible things you can imagine, so after a certain point there was no point in trying to leave,” Mr Ali said.

“They killed all our friends, our family members, so we just submitted ourselves to God.”

3. Which Prime Minister reigns supreme? Latest poll ranks our best leaders.

John Howard has been hailed Australia’s best prime minister of the past 40 years, in a poll conducted by The Australian.

Howard, who lead the nation between 1996 and 2007, topped the list with a whopping 34 per cent of respondents saying he was our best PM.

He was followed by Bob Hawke (15 per cent), and Gough Whitlam (13 per cent), who has risen significantly in the ranks of our favourite leaders since his passing last year.

Our current PM Tony Abbott fell to the bottom of the list.

Malcolm Fraser, who passed away last week after the poll was conducted, garnered only three per cent support.

The full list, in order of “best” to “worst”:

1. John Howard (1996-2007)
2. Bob Hawke (1983-1991)
3. Gough Whitlam (1972-1975)
4. Kevin Rudd (2007-10, 2013) and Paul Keating (1991-1996)
5. Julia Gillard (2010-2013)
6. Malcolm Fraser (1975-1983)
7. Tony Abbott (2013-present)

4. An Australian podiatrist has been stabbed to death in the Bahamas.

A Sydney podiatrist was found stabbed to death in his luxury Bahamas home.

Phillip Vasyli, 59, ran three podiatry clinics in the Sydney area.

His wife, Dona, with whom he shares the home, has been taken into police custody and is assisting police with their investigation, Fairfax Media reports.

Mr Vasyli was reportedly stabbed once in the chest, in his house in the Old For Bay community on New Providence Island.

Mr Vasyli founded the orthotics brand, Orthaheel, and ran a not-for-profit organisation called the Vasyli Foundation to help improve the health of people in poor communities.

He also has two children.

5. Three glasses of wine per day may cause liver cancer.

Experts from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) have said consuming three alcoholic drinks per day can be enough to cause liver cancer.

The new review released by WCRF is allegedly the biggest so far, investigating the links between liver cancer and diet, weight and physical activity.

It assessed 34 previous studies, which surveyed 8.2 million people, and nearly 25,000 who suffered liver cancer, revealing strong evidence of alcohol causing the disease.

“Until now we were uncertain about the amount of alcohol likely to lead to liver cancer. But the research reviewed in this report is strong enough, for the first time, to be more specific about this,” director of WCRF UK, Amanda Mclean, said.

According to The Guardian, the findings of the study have prompted a call for alcohol cans and bottles to carry “toxic” health warnings.

“Alcohol, like tobacco and asbestos, is a class 1 carcinogen and it is totally unacceptable that the public is not provided with such basic information”, said Prof Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance.

6. Australian group is taking world-leading zoo association to court on animal cruelty charges.

The top international zoo body, The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), has been accused of overlooking or neglecting charges of several animal abuses in its zoos.

WAZA zoos in India, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia — to name only a few — have allegedly been known to mistreat its animals by beating them, killing them, keeping them in terrible conditions, and torturing them into to do “dance” or circus-type routines.

Now, Switzerland-based WAZA is being taken to court by an Australian conservation group for its crimes against animals.

Sarah Lucas, from Australia for Dolphins, told The Guardian:

“It’s very easy to find abuses in these zoos – elephants being beaten or bears being kept in tiny, grimy cages – but Waza doesn’t call out its members on any of these abuses.

“It’s easy to form the view that WAZA is an organisation that protects its members’ interests above that of the animals.

“Many of the zoos and aquariums do take the code of ethics seriously, but there’s clearly a significant number that don’t and WAZA itself doesn’t take it seriously. They need to enforce it, to take action. They’ve either got to do their job or stop pretending to be a policeman for zoos and aquariums.”

Zoos in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth are all members of WAZA.

7. Man accused of supplying pills that killed teenage festival-goer appeared in court today.

The young man accused of supplying the “purple speaker” ecstasy pills that killed Sydney teen, Georgina Bartter, has plead not guilty in court today.

Matthew Forti, 19, was charged with supplying the ecstasy tablets to Ms Bartter prior to Harbourlife dance music festival in November last year.

Ms Bartter suffered a severe allergic reaction to the pills supplied by Mr Forti and Georgina’s friend, Rebecca Hannibal, who is also facing charges of supplying drugs.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Forti’s lawyers are requesting a MERIT order to refer the accused to a drug rehabilitation centre.

He will appear in court again in May.

What’s making news for you today? Let us know in the comment section below.