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Malcolm Turnbull made his 'captain's call' to block Kevin Rudd's United Nations bid because he didn't want to lie to the camera and pretend he believed he was the right person for the job. The night before the cabinet discussion last week, Mr Turnbull told his ministers he couldn't bring himself to feign support for Mr Rudd to media and the public, a source told Sydney Morning Herald. It comes after revelations cabinet was 11-10 in favour of nominating Mr Rudd for the international role of Secretary-General at the UN. But his bid was shut down by the Prime Minister...

A Melbourne street artist who was threatened with a council fine over a provocative mural he painted of US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has responded by covering her image with a niqab. Maribyrnong council took issue with the original mural, which depicted Clinton wearing a revealing swimsuit with $100 notes tucked into it. The council said residents complained about the piece, which was painted on to the side wall of a scooter shop in Footscray, 5km west of Melbourne. In a statement, the council said the mural contravened its gender equity policy. "We believe that this mural is offensive because...

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean who actively spread radical ideology online and helped radicalise at least two other citizens has been detained under the Internal Security Act. Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff, 44, had been living in Australia for 14 years, after leaving Singapore with his family shortly after run-ins with Muslim leaders and the authorities. He was arrested and detained in Singapore this month (July) for terrorism-related activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on Friday (July 29).

Melbourne (AFP) - An Australian mural of US presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in a revealing, stars and stripes swimsuit may be taken down, after it has reportedly been deemed offensive. The creator of the painting, the street artist who goes by the name Lushsux and who has also painted murals of the likes of Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian, branded calls to remove it "pathetic".

In regard to the recent exposure of the so-called torture of young offenders in the Northern Territory juvenile detention centres, I don’t think I have ever seen such an unprecedented over-reaction during all my years working in the criminal justice system. After more than 33 years working in both adult and juvenile corrections I feel I am qualified to present an informed opinion on this situation. The ABC “Four Corners” program a few nights ago showed just a few seconds of edited footage which has now resulted in politicians from all over the country jumping on the bandwagon and declaring...

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed he will not be nominating Kevin Rudd to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations. Speaking in Sydney today, Mr Turnbull said he had decided the former prime minister was not suitable for the role. He said the Federal Government would not be nominating anyone for the role. "When the Australian Government nominates a person for a job, particularly an international job like this, the threshold question is, 'do we believe the person, the nominee, the would-be nominee is well suited for that position?'" he asked. "My judgement is that Mr Rudd is...

The home flight simulator belonging to the MH370 pilot had a route plotted into it which ended in the Indian Ocean, officials have confirmed.... ...The confirmation corroborates earlier reports that the device had programmed in it a route similar to the one which investigators believe the doomed flight took on its final voyage.

AUSTRALIA has officially gone two years without people smugglers successfully bringing an ­illegal boat into the country. ..... The government’s uncompromising turnback policy has led to 28 boats being turned around, with 700 people on board, since Operation Sovereign Borders was implemented when the Coalition came to power in 2013.... nobody has died at sea during the operation. ..... It is stark contrast to the 50,000 people who arrived illegally on more than 800 boats during six years of Labor. More than 1200 people died at sea during the period.....

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake has struck near Australia, according to Geoscience Australia. The quake reportedly has the potential to cause a tsunami. Mag 6.1 Western Indian Antarctic Ridge, 25 July 2016, 18:58 (AEST). Lat/Long 49.36S, 126.0E. Depth 15km. Info is preliminary. — EarthquakesGA (@EarthquakesGA) July 25, 2016 The US Geological Survey (USGS) has put the quake at a 5.9, with a depth of 10km (6.2 miles). The quake struck at 8:58am GMT, 1704.1km (1058.8 miles) off the coast of Queenstown, Australia. DETAILS TO FOLLOW

The father of a north Queensland soldier says his son was unable to cast a vote in his home seat of Herbert while on a military exercise in South Australia. The father, identified only as Glen on the Townsville Bulletin website comments blog, said his son had left Townsville before pre-poll voting opened in the federal election. When the soldier arrived at Exercise Hamel in SA no polling station was available, despite having been told there would be. "A new poll is required ... this is a failing of process," Glen wrote. Sky News reported on Thursday more than 600...

The two world wars have long since passed, but for those employed to honour the dead, the task is never-ending. At a factory in the northern French city of Beaurains, machines operate 70 hours a week to produce a constant, global supply of gravestones for the 1.7 million Commonwealth soldiers killed in the two horrific conflicts. Although age may not weary them, the years continue to condemn their gravestones and they need to be replaced. "Some of these headstones are 100 years old," the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Peter Francis said. "For us an illegible headstone is a brave man...

The United States will have to comply with New Zealand law when it sends a naval ship here in November, Prime Minister John Key says. ... A surface vessel, which would not be nuclear-powered or carry nuclear weapons, would be the most likely US ship to come, Mr Ayson said. "That doesn't mean that New Zealand has got some sort of victory here over American policy. It just means the two sides are finding another way to work around this." Greenpeace, however, hailed the announcement as a victory for New Zealand, echoing the sentiments of investigative journalist Nicky Hager who...

A MAN is in custody after he set himself alight and drove a vehicle filled with gas bottles into a Western Sydney police station underground carpark, in what is suspected to be an attempted terror attack. It is understood the bottles did not detonate when the car rammed into the gates of Merrylands police station carpark about 7pm tonight. The driver was not arrested until about 8pm, after police closed off Memorial Ave, and he was taken to Westmead Hospital to be treated for minor burns.

IT WAS the worst day in Australian military history, an action described by one commander as a “tactical abortion” which succeeded in killing and wounding thousands of soldiers for no gain whatsoever. From the evening of July 19, 1916 — a century ago today — Australian troops attacked German lines, held a small section overnight and were expelled with casualties of 5533, including 1917 dead and 470 prisoners. In this one inconsequential 14-hour action, Australia lost almost a quarter of what was lost in eight-months at Gallipoli. So ended the Battle of Fromelles, the first major action involving Australian troops...

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has asked the government to nominate him for the United Nations top job, the foreign minister said on Monday. Julie Bishop said Rudd wanted the government’s endorsement to succeed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whose second five-year term ends Dec. 31. That decision would be made by Australia’s next cabinet, which will be named Monday following July 2 elections. …

PRISON officers fired live bullets and used tear gas to break up fresh violence involving radical Islamists allegedly trying to force other inmates to adopt their extreme views. The fighting at Goulburn jail is the latest serious violence in NSW’s overcrowded prisons and an apparent escalation of a campaign by a small but growing band of hard-line Islamist prisoners to use fear and threats to convert fellow prisoners. A radicalised teenage prisoner, said to be an ISIS supporter, was charged after allegedly pouring boiling water over another inmate and carving “e4e” (eye for an eye) into his head at Kempsey...

The attempted robbery happened on a Saturday night at Taste of Egypt takeaway shop in Christchurch. Ahmed was working alone, preparing a large chicken souvlaki for a customer. The street was quiet, the other kebab shops had closed an hour before and Ahmed was tired and wanted to go home. On the 26-second video an armed, masked person approaches the counter at 10.38pm. Ahmed gives him a cursory glance and appears to smile. He sees the pistol in his hand – and decides to ignore it.Ahmed, who emigrated from Egypt to New Zealand 20 years ago and has a degree...

Australian Arabic Council founder Joseph Wakim has been jailed for less than two years for a brazen sex attack on a teenage boy on Christmas Day. The former Victorian multicultural affairs commissioner was told he had already suffered from the public humiliation after being ordered to hand back his Order of Australia medal and resign from his advisory position with the NSW police. The 53-year-old pleaded guilty to the rape of a 13-year-old boy on Christmas Day in 2015 after showering him with gifts and holidays.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne has issued greetings to Muslims on the occasion of the feast of Eid al-Fitr. The Very Reverend Denis Stanley, Episcopal Vicar for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations for the Melbourne Archdiocese, wrote: The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne would like to extend its best wishes to the Muslim community in Victoria and Australia on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Feast of the Breaking of the Fast, celebrated at the end of the sacred month of Ramadan.The Holy Qur’an was first revealed in the month of Ramadan and had a special purpose:And We sent down of the...

Australia’s opposition leader conceded defeat on Sunday in a chaotic national election that has left Australia in a state of political paralysis for more than a week, while officials scramble to sort out who, if anyone, actually won the tight race. Vote counting was still underway from the July 2 ballot, but opposition leader Bill Shorten said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s ruling conservative coalition would eventually secure enough seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives to retain power. […] With Shorten’s center-left Labor Party out of the running, just two options remain: Either the coalition will form a majority government...