Australian terror threat

Australian authorities disrupted what they described as a pending attack "on a member of the public," part of a sweeping counterterrorism operation on Thursday that came just days after the country raised its terror alert level to high. At least one person was arrested in connection with "terrorism offenses" and another 15 were detained during more than two dozen searches in Sydney. Authorities declined to detail the specific threat, citing an ongoing operation. The identity of the suspect in custody and the specific charges are expected to be released later following a court appearance. Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters that authorities received intelligence that Islamic militants inside Australia had been urged to carry out a public execution or "demonstration killing.” Australia media reported that the suspects were planning to kidnap and behead a member of the public, before draping them in an ISIS flag. This week, the Australian government was one of 40 nations that agreed to contribute to the fight against ISIS, the terror group that calls itself the Islamic State.

In Other News The deadliest Ebola outbreak in history has killed at least 2,400 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone -- the countries most affected by the virus. Thousands more are infected and new cases have emerged in Nigeria and Senegal. Blood from survivors, referred to as convalescent serum, is said to have antibodies that can fight the deadly virus. Though unproven, it has provided some promise in fighting a disease with no approved drug to treat it. It appears desperate patients are turning to the black market to buy blood from survivors of the virus. Scotland's voters are heading to the polls today to cast their ballots in the country's landmark independence referendum. There, they will face a straightforward yes/no question: Should Scotland be an independent country? More than 4.2 million people have registered to vote, the largest electorate ever in Scotland, and turnout in the referendum is expected to be high. A vote for independence would mean Scotland, with its population of about 5.3 million, splits from the rest of the United Kingdom, made up of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Arizona Cardinals backup running back Jonathan Dwyer was arrested in connection with domestic abuse allegations. The Cardinals deactivated Dwyer after news of the arrest. It was also announced that Greg Hardy of the Carolina Panthers, took paid leave from to focus on his legal case involving domestic violence. German prosecutors have charged a 93-year-old man with being an accessory to murder in at least 300,000 cases while working for the Nazis at the Auschwitz concentration camp. The man, from the German state of Lower Saxony, is accused of having helped remove the luggage left by new arrivals to the camp at the Birkenau rail platform. The aim was to get rid of any clues to the mass killings going on at the camp for inmates arriving later. The man, who was not named in the statement, was also tasked with counting the cash found in the belongings and sending it to Nazi headquarters in Berlin. The accused was previously charged in 1985 but that case was dropped because of a lack of evidence.