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Australia will boost defence spending by almost A$30 billion (S$30.2 billion) over the next 10 years as it warns of growing regional tensions and the risk of increasing rivalry between the United States and China. An ambitious 20-year Defence White Paper released yesterday laid out A$195 billion of spending over the next decade, including plans to start buying a A$50 billion fleet of 12 submarines, as well as new frigates, combat jets and maritime surveillance aircraft. In a relatively frank assessment of Australia's defence challenges, the White Paper labelled the delicate ties between the US and China as one of...

The Australian Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) has bullied a car service company into discontinuing its advertisement because the “sexist” portrayal of women allegedly results in the “vilification of women.” ABC Australia reports Ultra Tune’s “Unexpected Situation” advertisement has been pulled after the ASB determined the ad violates a “code of ethics” pertaining to “discrimination against women.” The 15-second advertisement in question features two women caught on train tracks and then panicking as a train approaches them. In order to “avoid unexpected situations” like getting caught on train tracks, the ad suggests people should “get your car serviced at Ultra Tune.” Although the advertisement ends...

With lithium prices skyrocketing beyond wildest expectations, talk heating up about acquisitions and mergers in this space and a fast-brewing war among electric car rivals, it’s no wonder everyone’s bullish on this golden commodity that promises to become the ‘’new gasoline”. Moreover, land grabs, rising price predictions, and expectations of a major demand spike are leaping out of the shadows of a pending energy revolution and a new technology-driven resource era. For once, we have agreement across the board on a commodity: Demand for lithium will continue to rise throughout the year--and beyond--spurred by the rise of battery mega/gigafactories and...

In yet another blow to the BDS movement seeking to stir up an international boycott of the Jewish state, the international singer-songwriter phenomenon Sia announced on Tuesday she will be performing in Israel this August. The Australian pop star announced on Facebook she will be playing at Rishon Lezion's Live Park on August 11. The tickets went on sale starting today on her tour site, and start at 299 shekels going up to 799 shekels. Sia's announcement further caps a string of top pop stars performing in Israel this summer, as Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez are both to perform at...

Australia has a lush supply of regular kangaroos, but the albinos among the species are quite a rarity. On January 31st, Rosemary Faehrmann was driving with her husband in South Australia when she spotted one of the fair creatures. She did what any human of sound mind would do –- jumped out of the car immediately and snapped a picture. Faehrmann told GeoBeats of the experience, "The kangaroo jumped along the fenceline towards us, then stopped for a look –- which is when I took a couple of photos. It then continued on its way. There were lots of normal,...

Explanation: What strange world is this? Earth. In the foreground of the featured image are the Pinnacles, unusual rock spires in Nambung National Park in Western Australia. Made of ancient sea shells (limestone), how these human-sized picturesque spires formed remains unknown. In the background, just past the end of the central Pinnacle, is a bright crescent Moon. The eerie glow around the Moon is mostly zodiacal light, sunlight reflected by dust grains orbiting between the planets in the Solar System. Arching across the top is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. Many famous stars and nebula are also...

If you have never seen Tommy Emmanuel play the guitar, you need to see this.

Speculation: The mystery sea creature with razor sharp teeth has been confusing people ============================================================================================================= The image has divided social media with some claiming it is a large hairtail, a long, slender fish found in tropical seas, while others suggest it has been photoshopped With the body of a legless crocodile and the head of a dolphin, this strange sea creature looks more like something out of medieval myth than a real animal. It was photographed after washing ashore on the banks of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales in Australia. Ethan Tipper snapped an image of the creature before posting...

Mr. Tyrrell said he then heard his wife screaming and turned to see the man attacking her and ran to her aid. He got the man into a headlock but then he said up to eight other men ran in to join the fight. Mr. Tyrrell, a combat veteran and martial arts instructor, said he ended up on the ground and was kicked in the head. He says the main attacker was Muslim and believes the violent attack was racially and culturally motivated. "I'm a war veteran and I fought in the Middle East. The main attacker was Muslim and...

OK. So I forgot that today is Valentine's Day. Does that make me a criminal or something? Maybe in Minnesota. So I rushed right down to the store to buy my sweetie some chocolates. It was like when they had that news story about chocolate being an afrodes.....aprodez.....love potion for women. The men cleared out all the chocolate in the store that day. Yes sir.....miles and miles of empty shelves that day. You should have seen all the sad faces on the guys the next day. If I owned a turnip ranch, I'd just start a rumor that turnips made...

SYDNEY – A 93-year-old World War II veteran from the United States embraced his wartime girlfriend in Australia in their reunion Wednesday after more than 70 years apart.

Police prosecutors have dropped a charge against a soldier who caused panic after jogging through suburban Brisbane with a gun-shaped object last year. A full-scale police response was launched after 26-year-old Nicholas Paul Latham was spotted running through Rochedale South wearing camouflage clothing and carrying the object in December last year. Several schools were shut down and Mr Latham was eventually tackled by police. He told police it was all a misunderstanding as he was training with a metal object shaped like a gun, but was charged with public nuisance. His matter went before the Holland Park Magistrates Court on...

Holding hands and singing Kumbaya in Gaza. Sure. Maybe you're right to keep the rest of us away from Israel, might confuse us. Dear Mr Fooley (or may I call you Luke?*) Just got back from my Labor Parliamentary Excursion, dividing my time equally between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as you requested. What a trip! My feet hardly touched the ground! Monday: Arrived at Lod Airport, after circling around to avoid being blasted out of the sky by IS, Hamas, Hezbollah, and a bunch of other peace-loving friends of the Palestinian Arab People's Struggle to Wipe The Perfidious Jew...

A submission to a Senate inquiry into the feasibility of Government’s planned purchase of at least 72 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets says that the multirole planes will be instantly outmatched in air superiority by the airborne wings of competing countries in the region like China and Indonesia, and will fare even worse against future threats. It suggests — hypothetically — that Australia instead push for the F-22 Raptor, a jet that the United States has never sold to even its closest military allies. In the submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade’s Joint Strike...

2 men lucky to be alive after Lighting struck there boat shed in Sydney Australia

I saw a huge waterfall pouring over a beautiful rock formation and the water looked like liquid glass so pure and transparent you could see all the rocks behind it . All around the base of the waterfall were people and they were enjoying the refreshing spray and droplets covering them as a beautiful misty spray and the droplets just seemed to hang in the air effortlessly and the sound of the waterfalls was the roar of His Voice. As I looked over where the water goes over the falls I saw Jesus with his bare feet standing in the...

With Citi's chief economist proclaiming "only helicopter money can save the world now," and the Bank of England pre-empting paradropping money concerns, it appears that Australia's largest investment bank's forecast that money-drops were 12-18 months away was too conservative. While The Finns consider a "basic monthly income" for the entire population, Swiss residents are to vote on a countrywide referendum about a radical plan to pay every single adult a guaranteed income of around $2500 per month, with authorities insisting that people will still want to find a job.

Australia's prime minister gave a personal assurance on Friday that his government would legalize gay marriage if a majority of Australians choose marriage equality in a popular vote. The center-right government has promised to hold a plebiscite on the gay marriage question if the government is re-elected in a vote due this year. But a number of the government's most conservative lawmakers have recently announced that they might vote down gay marriage against the wishes of a majority of Australians. ...

19-year-old on trial for plot to 'pack' kangaroo with explosives and set it loose on police officers on veteran's day. Islamic State (ISIS) inspired jihadists have come up with creative terror attack plans in the past, but one 19-year-old in Australia who appeared in court Thursday topped them all by planning to launch a "kangaroo bomb." According to court documents Sevdet Ramadan Besim of Hallam, to the southeast of Melbourne, planned to "pack" a kangaroo with explosives, paint an ISIS symbol on it and then unleash it on police officers in Melbourne for Anzac Day, Australia and New Zealand's veteran's...

Nobody wants to take your guns. That's what most mainstream pro-gun control Democrats say ad nauseam at various rallies. There's also the "I support the Second Amendment, but…" that advocates of gun control say prior to offering some pie-in-the-sky policy proposals that usually venture into bans on so-called assault rifles, limiting magazine sizes, or an all-out ban on semi-automatic firearms. That's essentially a gun ban. Both Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama have praised the Australian-model of gun control, which the National Rifle Association decided to explain at length in a recent video. It deals with gun buybacks, confiscation, and bans....