Doctor Tareq Kamleh, who left his native Australia to join the Islamic State in Syria, has written a letter to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency denying that he was “brainwashed” and vowing never to return to Australia.
Nauru’s opposition and refugee advocates have slammed a government ban on Facebook, calling the move an act of “dictatorship”.
Reports from Australia indicate a disturbing number of doctors and nurses have chosen to support ISIS, as summarized by Albawaba News from the Australian Daily Telegraph.
US reaffirms defense of Japan’s Senkaku Islands; Japan-U.S. military guidelines will include ‘collective self-defense’
Before Australian physician Tareq Kamleh became the star of the latest Islamic State propaganda video, encouraging other professionals in the West to join the jihad in Iraq and Syria, he was a womanizing “creep” whom former colleagues claimed struggled with balancing his religion and rampant promiscuity.
Turkey, Armenia hold dueling WW1 centennials over genocide and Gallipoli; Turkey commemorates the 100th anniversary of Anzac day and the Battle of Gallipoli; Turkey debates its role in the Armenian genocide; The politics of genocide and rape — in Turkey and elsewhere
Climate change activists have reacted hysterically to news that a think tank run by “sceptical environmentalist” Bjorn Lomborg is to be given state funding by Australia. (h/t Bishop Hill) Earlier this month the Australian government announced the awarding of a
Omar Hallak, the principal at the Al-Taqwa College in Australia, banned girls from running in school, alleging that the activity could cause them to lose their virginity. The regulators have launched an investigation into the accusations.
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.
Counter terrorism police in Australia have alleged that two of the five men they arrested in an operation in the Victoria state capital of Melbourne today were planning an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack on an Anzac Day ceremony and march
Australian model Sharky Jama, 25, died while fighting in Syria. He left a successful modeling and DJ career to join the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
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.
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.
U.S.-China diplomacy over South China Sea turns vitriolic; 400 die as illegal migrants flood into Italy from Libya; Illegal immigration from Mexico down sharply, but not for lack of trying
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.
Another Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) woman is using social media and the internet to entice women to join the sadistic jihadist group in Syria and Iraq.
The Australian government accidentally released the personal information of President Obama and some 30 other world leaders that were on file from the Group of 20 Summit held last winter in Brisbane.
Australia is the latest country to implement new cockpit safety laws after Germanwings pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed flight 4U9525 into the French Alps. The new law states two people must be in the cockpit at all times.
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.
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.
The Twitter account of a Melbourne, Australia, teen nicknamed the “White Jihadi” has been suspended after he tweeted about coming attacks that would “make 9/11 look like child’s play.”
Two teenage boys were stopped by Aussie authorities while they were attempting to fly out of Sydney Airport and join the Islamic State’s (ISIS) jihad in Syria and Iraq.
Yesterday, terrorists threatened to “behead” Tasmanian Senator Jacquie Lambie if she did not help “introduce sharia law in Australia.”
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.”
Reuters reported on a new national security initiative in Australia, announced by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, which includes measures that could “deny welfare payments to people seen as potential threats, strip the passports of those with dual nationality and curb travel overseas.”
Two men who appear to resemble Australian nationals Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar are featured in a new Islamic State (ISIS) video that shows the beheading of a man the terror group claims is a spy.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced new laws to lower the threshold for arresting terror suspects and to put “facial recognition technology” in place to scan those coming into the country.
Since Tuesday, an Australian fishing boat with 27 people on board has been stuck in thick ice in the Antarctic. The United States sent an icebreaker on Wednesday to rescue the boat and crew.
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.
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.
“Next year, I don’t think we’ll be sending doctors to Cuba.” Atabi Ewekia, the education department training officer for the tiny Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu, confirmed that sending Tuvaluan doctors to acquire their medical educations in Cuba may have been a mistake.
After surviving a “spill motion” that could have seen disgruntled members of his own Liberal Party knock him out of his seat, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott lashed Labor as hard as he struck back at opponents within his own party, in an evidently successful bid to contrast himself with the chaos of Labor government.
The first two sets between No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 6 Andy Murray played as some of the most intense in recent history before Djokovic soared through to win 7-6(7-5), 6-7(4-7), 6-3, 6-0.
Serena Williams won her sixth Australian Open and 19th Grand Slam by defeating No. 2 Maria Sharapova 6-3, 7-6(7-5) in one of the most electrifying finals matches.
Serena Williams faces Maria Sharapova in an Australian Open final between the tournament’s top-two seeds.
Madison Keys defeated No. 18 Venus Williams to reach her first Grand Slam final. The victory sets up a match between the American teenager and Venus Williams’s sister, Serena, who defeated Dominika Cibulkova.
What happened at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday? Usually the quarterfinals of a tournament are filled with exciting, nail-biting tennis because the top players face each other. Some of the top players faced each other, but this produced very lopsided tennis. The court completely powered one player while draining the other to nothing.
Kurdish militias drive ISIS out of the Syrian town of Kobani; Turkey opens its biggest refugee camp to house 35,000; Australian backlash grows over knighthood for Queen Elizabeth’s husband
The brackets are set for the Australian Open quarterfinals with three American women vying for the first Grand Slam.
Hamish McLachlan asked Andy Murray if he will wear a kilt or suit at his wedding to Kim Sears. Then he asked about what the 2013 Wimbledon champion would be wearing underneath.
