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Tag: Australia

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Australia, Iran Sign Intelligence Sharing Accord

Australia and Iran have reached an agreement that allows for the two nations to share intelligence regarding the fight against Sunni jihadists in the Middle East, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced over the weekend.

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Clinton Foundation to Continue Accepting some Foreign Money

WASHINGTON (AP)—The board of the Clinton Foundation said Wednesday night that it will continue accepting donations from foreign governments, but only from six nations, a move that appears aimed at insulating Hillary Rodham Clinton from controversies over the charity’s reliance on millions of dollars from abroad as she ramps up her presidential campaign.

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Australian Defense Minister Refuses to Name Head of ISIS

Australian Defense Minister Kevin Andrews refused to speak the name of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during a TV interview this week. Australia is sending another 330 troops to assist Iraqi forces against the Islamic State. Interviewer Leigh Sales notes that the United States put great effort into taking down Osama bin Laden after 9/11, and wonders if similar emphasis could be put on capturing the leader of ISIS.

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Australian Pol Arrested For Fighting Against ISIS, Could Face Life Imprisonment

The Assyrian International News Agency reports on the arrest of the latest Westerner to come home after volunteering for combat duty in Iraq and Syria. The twist in this case is that Matthew Gardiner was a politician of some prominence in Australia — he was the head of the Northern Territory Labor Party before departing for Syria — and he is in trouble for fighting against ISIS, as part of the Kurdish militia.

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Australia Blocks 230 Would-Be Jihadis from Traveling to Iraq and Syria

Australia has been conducting a strong push against terrorism, which began months ago with some general comments from officials who knew they had a problem, and it quickly developed into effective action. Part of the program involves preventing would-be jihadis, including teenagers, from fleeing the country and signing up with ISIS and other ugly crews in Iraq and Syria.

AFP

Sydney Theater Apologizes for Rejecting Jewish Play Series to Oppose ‘Colonialism’

The Red Rattler Theater in Sydney, Australia has apologized for refusing a Jewish group’s request to perform at its location. The theater originally denied the group because of its policy that “does not support colonialism/Zionism.” Red Rattler is now reconsidering opening its space to the Jewish group, which planned a series of performances on the Holocaust.

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Australian Volunteer Dies Fighting ISIS With the Kurds

Having written recently about Westerners traveling to Iraq and Syria to volunteer for duty with Kurdish units against ISIS, I was sad to see the UK Telegraph’s report that the first such volunteer has been killed in battle. He was an Australian who fought under the Kurdish name “Bagok,” and he died while serving with the YPG militia in Syria, which has a battalion of foreign fighters known as the “Lions of Rojeva.”

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‘Imminent’ Terrorist Attack Thwarted in Sydney, Australia

The people of Sydney, Australia, dodged a bullet–or, more accurately, a machete and a hunting knife–on Tuesday, as the authorities moved against a pair of alleged Islamist terrorists on the very day they reportedly planned to carry out an assault on police officers, according to the UK Daily Mail.

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Australia to Compete in 2015 Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest began in 1956 as a way to bring the nations of Europe together and sweeten relations between suspicious countries still recovering from World War II. Largely due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the contest has long included Asian participating nations, but this year, organizers intend to stretch the definition of Europe even further: to Australia.