Tag Archives: oceania

Melbourne woman charged with terrorism offences after returning from Syria

A repatriated 'ISIS bride' has been charged with two terrorism offences in Melbourne after arriving in Australia last year, federal police have confirmed.

The 34-year-old woman, who returned from Syria in September 2025, was arrested at a home in Broadmeadows in Melbourne's north today and has been charged with entering and remaining in a declared conflict zone and one count of being a member of a terrorist organisation.

It is alleged by police that the woman travelled to Syria with others, including a man, between 2013 and 2014 to join ISIS, before she was detained by Kurdish forces in 2019 and held in al-Hawl Internally Displaced Persons camp with family members.

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Melbourne woman arrested and charged with terrorism offences

The charged woman returned to Australia from Lebanon with another woman on September 26, 2025.

The man she is believed to have travelled to Syria with may be incarcerated in a Middle East prison, police said.

She will face the Melbourne Magistrates Court today.

Both charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Police made the arrest after conducting search warrants at two homes in Broadmeadows and Fitzroy North.

Krissy Barrett, AFP Commissioner

Officers seized a suspected stolen car, electronic devices, documents and photographs.

AFP Deputy Commissioner National Security Investigations Hilda Sirec said police are also investigating the 36-year-old woman who arrived from Lebanon in Australia.

Four so-called ISIS brides have been charged with domestic offences over the past month.

Sirec said the long period between the charged woman's arrival in Australia and her arrest is "not an indicator that investigations have ceased".

"I will confirm investigations are continuing in all recent adult female returnees who spent time in internally displaced person camps in Syria," she said.

"All the women who have returned recently are under investigation."

The first flight carrying ISIS brides back to Australia today has touched down in Melbourne.A group of two women and seven children arrived at Melbourne Airport about 4.30pm after they left the Al-Roj refugee camp in Syria late last week and travelled to Damascus.

Two cohorts of women and their children have arrived in Sydney and Melbourne in May after leaving Al-Roj refugee camp in Syria.

It is unclear at this stage which cohort the woman who has been charged today arrived with.

The second group included four women and their children, who arrived at Sydney Airport just after 5.30pm on Tuesday, having left the Al-Roj camp late last week and travelled via Damascus.

Another group of two women and their children arrived at Melbourne Airport about 4.30pm.

Counter-terrorism police searched the groups' belongings and downloaded information from their devices "for investigative purposes" but no arrests were made at the airport.

"No one arriving within this cohort has been charged, however, investigations into the activities of Australians who travelled to Syria, including those who have since returned, are ongoing," the NSW and Victoria Joint Counter Terrorism Teams said in a statement at the time.

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"Police and the JCTTs will continue to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure community safety is upheld.

"The safety of our communities remains a priority for all agencies."

Domestic charges were laid against three Islamic State-linked brides who landed in Australia earlier this month.

Operation Kurrajong is the name given to the joint counter-terrorism investigation, which handles the return or potential return of Australians who travelled to the Middle East during the ISIS caliphate.

Dozens of ISIS fighters and their brides have returned to Australia since 2013.

Australia repatriated two other groups of women and children who were living in the Al Roj camp in 2019 and 2022.

Government plans have been in place since 2014 to manage the returning citizens.

Almost 500,000 Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine war, says spymaster

Nearly 500,000 Russian troops have been killed since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine four years ago, according to a UK spy chief.

Details on the number of Russian casualties were revealed by Anne Keast-Butler, the director of Britain's Government Communications Headquarters.

In her first public speech, Keast-Butler said new intelligence pointed to half a million deaths, which proved Russian President Vladimir Putin was "going backwards on the battlefield". 

READ MORE: Putin's fears of coup ramp up amid Russia's backslide in Ukraine

The figure is equivalent to the number of people living in the Australian Capital Territory.

The spy chief also accused Russian security services of being behind espionage plots in multiple countries.

"One example is in the grey zone between peace and war… where Russia is scaling up its daily hybrid activity against the UK and Europe, stretching from the seabed to cyberspace – relentlessly targeting critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust," Keast-Butler said.

The Russian government denies it is involved in conducting espionage against the UK and European countries.

Ukraine and Russia have regularly released estimates of the opposing side's losses, but have been reluctant to put figures on their own.

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On February 24, 2022, Russian troops, under the direction of Putin, launched a "special military operation" against their neighbour Ukraine, expecting a swift victory.

But advances by the Russian army, which was hampered by poor logistical supplies and cumbersome command structures, quickly slowed.

The invaders met stubborn resistance from the Ukrainian armed forces which were aided by shipments of advanced weapons from their Western allies.

Putin's hopes for speedy battlefield success and the removal of his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy melted away as the conflict became a bloody war of attrition.

GCHQ is the UK's electronic and cyber intelligence agency. It works alongside the domestic security service MI5 and the foreign intelligence agency MI6.

Keast-Butler, the first woman to head the agency, delivered the GCHQ director's annual lecture speech at the agency's World War II headquarters of Bletchley Park.

It is a famed manor north-west of London where hundreds of mathematicians, cryptographers, crossword puzzlers, chess masters and other experts worked to crack Nazi Germany's supposedly unbreakable secret codes.

Trump plan would stop Australians flying to most popular US destinations

Australians would not be able to fly into the most popular entry points to the US under a plan proposed by the Trump administration.

A proposal from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin would stop "sanctuary cities" from being able to host international airports.

A "sanctuary city" is a place where local law enforcement does not hand over undocumented migrants to federal authorities for deportation.

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Los Angeles is the most popular destination for Australian tourists to America.

"Why are we processing international flights into the airport there?" Mullin told Fox News.

"We're currently drawing up plans to say, listen, these sanctuary cities where the local radical-left Democrats aren't allowing us to do our jobs and enforce federal laws, then we shouldn't be processing international flights into their cities either.

"Because they don't want us to enforce immigration, but they want us to process immigration at their facilities."

Such a policy would be a major inconvenience for Australians travelling to the United States.

Los Angeles and San Francisco are both considered sanctuary cities.

Most Australians flying to the US land in either of those California cities.

The only current direct route to the US mainland from Australia is to Dallas, which would not be affected.

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But the flight is two hours longer than Los Angeles and only flies from Sydney.

Which means if an Australian family wanted to go to Disneyland, they would need to fly 16 hours from Sydney to Dallas, then double back to Los Angeles on a three-hour flight.

Alternatively, they would have to do a stopover in Hawaii.

Direct routes to New York and Boston from Auckland would also be blocked under this policy.

The other Australian flight to North America, Sydney to Vancouver, would not be a viable stopover alternative because flights from Canada to the US would also be affected.

"Cutting off New York, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, and other major ports of entry/departure from international flights would be the biggest self-inflicted wound to our economy since closing the Strait of Hormuz," US economist Patrick Chovanec said.

"The costs would be ridiculous.

"It's really such an impressively stupid idea, I'm kind of in awe."

Other sanctuary cities include Seattle, Chicago, Denver, New Orleans and Philadelphia.

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Man seemingly caught asleep while driving on major motorway

A Tesla driver has been caught seemingly asleep behind the wheel while driving on one of Sydney's busiest motorways.

The video, shared on Instagram, appears to show the man with his eyes closed and leaning back in his seat. His hands are not on the wheel of his white Tesla.

A geolocation tag on the post suggests the man is driving on the M2 Motorway, a major roadway that travels from Sydney's north-west towards the North Shore and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

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The driver acknowledged the person videoing him.

The post was captioned with "arvo snooze", in a reference to the driver appearing to be asleep despite being in the driver's seat of the car.

After a few seconds, the man, who is wearing a seatbelt, opens his eyes and puts his hands on the steering wheel, waving a hand towards the person filming him, potentially looking to signal he is alert and awake.

The man was most likely using Tesla's Autopilot mode, which can allow the driver to use cruise control to maintain the speed of the car while also holding a safe distance between other cars on the road.

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Technically speaking, drivers using Tesla's autopilot mode are supposed to be "fully attentive".

It also offers an autosteer setting, where the car maintains a set speed if there is no car in front, and automatically detects lane markings, road edges and the presence of other objects on the road to keep the car in its lane.

Tesla's official website states users must still be fully attentive while engaged in Autopilot mode.

It says that if the car detects the driver not paying enough attention, they will be locked out of autopilot mode.

Some Tesla models also have a fully self-driving mode, however, the use of fully self-driving cars is currently not legal in Australia.

‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke’: Jill Biden reveals debate fears

Joe Biden's wife feared he was having a stroke during his disastrous presidential debate with Donald Trump in 2024.

Speaking to CBS, Jill Biden spoke of her fear while watching his performance.

"I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never," she said.

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"As I watched it, I thought, 'Oh, my God, he's having a stroke.' And it scared me to death."

The former First Lady made the remarks in an interview that is set to air in full later this week.

During the debate, Joe Biden repeatedly lost his train of thought, gave confusing or nonsensical answers and was unusually belligerent with Trump when it came to his golfing prowess.

It triggered calls for Biden to drop out of the race.

But in the immediate aftermath of the debate, Mrs Biden was publicly supportive.

"You did such a great job, you answered every question," she said at an event with her husband afterwards.

The oldest president in history at the time, Biden was already facing questions about his coherence and vitality.

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Jill Biden was publicly supportive of her husband immediately after the debate.

The unprecedented withdrawal from a re-election campaign came after he had secured the nomination after a series of largely uncontested primaries.

"It was a mistake for the president to stay in the race as long as he did," Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said today.

"We would've been better off as a party had he gotten out much sooner."

Former Obama administration staffer Tommy Vietor thought likewise.

"I think this is how most voters felt while watching that debate, and why it was obvious that Biden had to drop out of the race," he said.

"The impression left by Biden's performance was unfixable, and pretending otherwise was insulting to voters."

Vice President Kamala Harris, who was rushed into the nomination without a primary process, has blamed her election loss on her shorter-than-usual campaign.

READ MORE: Trump's handpicked candidate may cost his party their most important state

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Nine-months’ pregnant nursery owner chases down alleged plant thief

A heavily pregnant nursery owner has chased down a thief at her Adelaide business, stopping him from stealing plants worth hundreds of dollars.

Footage shows the thief yesterday pushing a trolley full of plants from Exotic Botanic in the city's north-east into a carpark.

Moments later, the owner who is nine months pregnant, runs after him.

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She managed to regain the trolley and pushed it back to the store.

The nursery later took to social media to explain what happened and appeal for thieves to stop.

"Please don't let me chase you while I'm nine months pregnant," the owner said.

"And, oh, please don't steal hundreds of dollars' worth of plants from us."

Police say they have not received any reports from the incident.

Man charged with murder after allegedly killing man in seemingly random rampage

A man has been charged with murder after allegedly killing a man and assaulting two others south-west of Bundaberg in a series of alleged violent attacks.

The rampage took place over about eight minutes in the small town of Childers, leaving an elderly man dead after he was allegedly brutally bashed with a metal pole.

This allegedly happened after a 36-year-old man, driving a Subaru Liberty, deliberately crashed into a Mitsubishi Pajero.

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The intersection of Crescent Street and Lord Street in Childers, where the man was restrained by members of the public.

When the Pajero driver got out of his car after the collision, it is alleged that the offender reversed into him, before punching the other man multiple times in the face.

After this, the 36-year-old drove onto Whietbridge Road in North Isis, where he confronted a 78-year-old man, allegedly punching him in the head before hitting him with a metal pole.

The North Isis man suffered critical injuries and died at the scene.

The Subaru driver then allegedly drove to Crescent Street in Childers, where he allegedly assaulted a 66-year-old man.

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Earlier, the alleged offender from Bundaberg West was allegedly involved in a car crash on the Bruce Highway at Glenorchy, where he allegedly deliberately reversed into a Tesla, before verbally abusing the driver of the Tesla.

None of the victims are believed to be known to the man.

Members of the public then restrained the man, allowing police to arrest him.

He has been charged with one count each of murder, attempt to murder, acts intended to maim, disfigure or disable, dangerous operation of a vehicle and evasion.

He will appear at Gladstone Magistrates Court via video link today.

Australia’s richest people – and how they amassed their fortunes – revealed

As ordinary Australians have battled cost-of-living pressures over the past year, some of the country's richest people have grown their substantial fortunes.

The Australian Financial Review has revealed its 2026 Rich List, and the country's 200 largest fortunes have collectively leapt by $39 billion to a total of $707 billion.

When the rich list was first published in the Business Review Weekly magazine in 1983, the total worth of Australia's wealthiest people was $4.6 billion.

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Gina Rinehart has topped the Rich List for the seventh consecutive year.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has topped the rich list for the seventh consecutive year, with an estimated wealth of $39 billion, up $900 million from last year.

Meriton founder Harry Triguboff is number two on the list.

The property developer is worth an estimated $32.29 billion, up from $29.65 billion.

Visy executive chairman Anthony Pratt and his family are ranked third on the list.

Their fortune is worth an estimated $25.19 billion, which they amassed by running Australia's biggest packaging and recycling company.

Former Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg saw his wealth explode from $13 billion last year to $22.38 billion this year.

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Meriton founder Harry Triguboff has amassed his fortune through property.

Out of the top 178 rankings of this year's Rich 200 list, just less than one in nine people carried estimated fortunes of $1 billion and above.

While total wealth is up, there have been some falls in the technology sector, as a result of the billions of dollars wiped off the value of listed software-as-a-service companies.

Mike Cannon-Brookes went from 13th on the Rich List to 22nd after his estimated fortune dropped from $12.18 billion last year to $6.71 billion this year.

His Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar and wife Kim Jackson, who leads Skip Capital, have dropped from fourth to 13th after the couple saw their wealth plummet from $21.4 billion to $11.7 billion.

WiseTech founder Richard White went from 15th to 17th after his wealth dropped by nearly $2 billion to $8.8 billion.

Marriage breakdowns continue to reshape the top Rich List rankings, with miner Andrew Forrest falling from Australia's second-richest person in 2023 to eighth this year, with a fortune worth $15.93 billion.

He was overtaken by his former wife, Nicola, who is ranked seventh at $17.32 billion.

Some Rich Listers have amassed their fortunes from artificial intelligence and data centres, including Swipejobs founder Katrina Leslie (worth $2.5 billion), Firmus co-founder Oliver Curtis (worth $1.25 billion) and Grafana Labs co-founder Anthony Woods (worth $881 million).

Nicola and Andrew Forrest outside the State Library of NSW in Sydney, NSW. 13th October, 2021.

Australian Financial Review Rich List editor Hannah Tattersall said behind each Rich Lister was a story about they built their wealth and where their ideas came from.

"Mining, property and tech always dominate the Rich List but this year's list shows there's money to be made in waste management, in chicken restaurants, in hoodies and of course AI," Tattersall said.

The Financial Review Rich List 2026's top 10

1. Mining magnate and businesswoman Gina Rinehart – $39.01 billion – Mining
2. Meriton founder and managing director Harry Triguboff – $32.29 billion – Property
3. Visy Industries executive chairman Anthony Pratt and family – $25.19 billion – Manufacturing
4. Former Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg – $22.38 billion – Mining
5. Mining magnate Clive Palmer – $19.56 billion – Mining
6. Canva founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht – $17.56 billion – Technology
7. Philanthropist Nicola Forrest – $17.32 billion – Mining
8. Miner Andrew Forrest – $15.93 billion – Mining
9. Stonepeak founder Michael Dorrell – $13.82 billion – Investment
10. Chemist Warehouse founders Mario, Marcello & Adrian Verrocchi – $12.76 billion – Retail

Where Australia's Rich Listers are based

NSW – 78 Rich Listers
Victoria – 52 Rich Listers
Queensland – 21 Rich Listers
Western Australia – 19 Rich Listers
South Australia – Five Rich Listers
Australian Capital Territory – 0 Rich Listers
Northern Territory – One Rich Lister
Tasmania – Two Rich Listers
USA – Eight Rich Listers
New Zealand – Two Rich Listers
United Kingdom – Three Rich Listers
China – Three Rich Listers
Switzerland – One Rich Lister
Argentina – One Rich Lister
Bahamas – One Rich Lister
Cyprus – One Rich Lister

Monster catch worth up to $70,000 but Aussie trio will never see a cent

Three brothers have hooked a monster tuna weighing 107.5 kilograms off the coast of south-west Victoria.

Peter, Michael and Andreas Salloum were fishing with their cousin in Apollo Bay on the state's Surf Coast this week when they came across the southern bluefin.

It took two hours for the four to wrangle the massive fish.

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The four spent two hours wrangling the massive fish.

"We were all in just pure shock," Michael told 9News.

"Even the charter captain we had, he was in disbelief as well."

Southern bluefin tuna are among the world's most prized fish, fetching up to $683 per kilogram, however recreational fishers in Australia can't sell their catch.

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Three brothers have hooked a monster tuna weighing 107.5 kilos off the coast of south-west Victoria.

The brothers have shared their monster trophy among family and friends.

"Some of it is in our freezer, some of it is in our bellies and some of it has been eaten by our friends and family," Michael said.

"Definitely something we'll remember, a hundred kilos is not something you catch every day," Peter said.

A 243-kilogram bluefin tuna sold for a record 510 million yen ($4.47 million) at a Tokyo market in January.