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The US State Department has approved the sale of 3,900 Raytheon GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bombs Increment II (SDB II) weapons to Australia for use with its Lockheed Martin F-35As. The $815 million Foreign Military Sale package includes the 3,900 weapons, test equipment, training equipment, and other support, says the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on its web site. "The proposed sale of SDB II supports and complements the ongoing sale of the F-35A to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)," says the DSCA. "This capability will strengthen combined operations, particularly air to ground strike missions in all-weather conditions, and increase interoperability...

SYDNEY, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday nine war ships set for construction in 2020 will be fitted with long-range ­anti-missile defence systems to counter the threat of rogue nations. Australia's proposed frigates will use Aegis combat systems, produced by Lockheed Martin, in conjunction with SAAB Australia technology, Turnbull said. Tensions in the region have spiked considerably in recent months as North Korea conducted a series of tests of its medium- and long-range ballistic missiles, some of which flew over Japan, as well as its sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3. Pyongyang, which ultimately...

AUSTRALIA’S new warships will have the capability to shoot down long-range missiles including those from rogue states such as North Korea. The Royal Australian Navy will add nine new anti-submarine frigates with anti-missile capabilities to its fleet, complete with the multi-billion dollar technology, with construction planned to begin in 2020. “Recent events in our region have proven that Australia’s future frigates must be equipped to defend Australia from the threat of medium and long-range missile attacks,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told the Pacific 17 maritime and naval showcase, referencing North Korea. “We must have the capability to meet and defeat...

American artist Macklemore sang in support of gay rights at one of Australia's biggest annual sporting events during the country's vote on same-sex marriage. The singer performed a set ahead of kick-off in the National Rugby League (NRL) grand final in Sydney. Opponents had called for the song Same Love to be left out of the show to stop the event becoming "politicised". But Macklemore said it "was one of the greatest honours of my career". Australians are in the middle of a postal vote on whether gay marriage should be introduced. The poll is non-binding for the government, but...

The first group of 1,250 mostly male Middle Eastern refugees is expected to soon arrive in the United States from Australia. The transfer of refugees comes after President Trump failed to shutter an Obama-era deal that could bring tens of thousands of the refugees’ family members to the U.S. in years to come. President Barack Obama signed the Australian-U.S. refugee deal during his last months in office — promising to take 1,250 Middle Eastern refugees off Australia’s hands. The refugees are being held in detention centers on Manus Island and Nauru Island. Despite Trump’s original statement calling the deal “a...

David Dunstan, a farmer in Victoria, about 10 miles outside the Australian town of Albury, found himself confronting a teen armed with a knife and a large club at 3 a.m. on the 14th of September, 2017. He slammed shut the door, and called for his wife to get the key to the gun cupboard.He retrieved an unloaded .22 rifle, and used it to convince the thug that he should get in a car and drive to the police station. The offender is in jail without bail.  He is suspected of invading another house just hours previously.From weeklytimesnow.com.au: A...

MEMBERS of the public threw a bike under a car in a desperate attempt to stop it being driven dangerously through Melbourne city streets this morning. There is a heavy police presence at Melbourne’s Flinders St after the incident at 8am that ended when police tasered the knife-wielding driver. Dramatic footage shows the man in some sort of body suit walking onto the road as he swung a baton. Officers have stopped traffic and trams in all directions as they bring the incident under control. The bomb squad is at the scene inspecting the vehicle amid reports the driver had...

When I came to Australia, I had read of the weapons laws regarding the carry of knives. I had read that knives could only be carried if you had a “good reason” to do so.I knew how much the “good reason” limitation had been abused in the United States to stop people from exercising their Second Amendment rights.States like New Jersey, New York, and California are notorious for the abuse of that limitation. I was apprehensive about carrying a pocket knife in Australia.On arrival, I wrote: As I talked to the manager, I mentioned that I understood it was...

CANBERRA, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Europe's largest shipbuilder has promised to list itself on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) if given a 27 billion U.S. dollar navy frigate contract. Italy's Fincantieri on Thursday released the details of its bid for the 27.4 billion U.S. dollar Future Frigates project which will see nine new vessels built for the Australian Navy, the first of which will be launched in the late 2020s. Fincantieri is one of three international companies bidding for the contract alongside Spain's Navantia and the Britain's BAE Systems, all of which are proposing different designs. A bid by Western...

Australia would have no way of stopping an intrusion by a major power if the government did not invest in modified off-the-shelf submarines, a defence expert warned as debate over the nation’s submarine capability reignites. An independent report released yesterday into the $50 billion future submarine project — Defence’s largest acquisition — called for the urgent purchase of six new off-the-shelf submarines on top of the 12 Shortfin Barra­cudas selected by the Turnbull government last year. The report from consulting firm Insight Economics, Australia’s Future Submarine: Getting This Key Capability Right, drew a fierce rebuke from Defence Minister Marise Payne...

The first group of Muslim refugees is set to arrive in the U.S. from resettlement camps in Australia. The first party to arrive in the states includes 52 people who are already in-transit from Australia to Los Angeles. In return, Australia will accept central American refugees from a camp in Costa Rica. Under an Obama-era deal over 1,200 Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Iran, and Sri Lanka will arrive in the U.S. ... the resettlement deal is unfair to the U.S. as central American migrants do not pose a threat of radical Islamic terror to Australia.

On Saturday, 16 September, 2017, my friend, Curtis Eykamp, was showing me a bit of Australia. He wanted me to see a captured Turkish gun from WWI, in Manila, NSW.We were traveling from Gunnedah, through a gorgeous countryside, dotted with cattle and the ubiquitous road killed kangaroo. Many people have noted the resemblance to the inner valleys of Southern California, (with different trees, and kangaroos). Roy Eykamp, a few months short of 100 years old, was along for the ride.Off in the distance, I spotted a white square on a berm. “That looks like a range”, I said. “Maybe...

Australian’s acting Minister of Industry, Innovation and Science was quoted as saying that Australia will not have a NASA but an agency “right for our nation, right for our industry … that will provide the vehicle for Australia to have a long-term strategic plan for space – a plan that supports the innovative application of space technologies and grows our domestic space industry, including through defense space procurement.” ... Australia has been very active in space exploration, being part of every deep-space mission NASA has flown with tracking and communications as part the Deep Space Network and the precursor system...

A man charged with blowing up a van packed with gas cylinders outside the Canberra headquarters of the Australia Christian Lobby has committed suicide. Jaden Duong, 36, had been accused of loading the van with four bottles and ramming the offices of the anti-gay marriage group in December 2016. Officers were reportedly called to the scene of his 'non-suspicious' death around 4.30pm Sunday, the Canberra Times reports. In a statement ACT Policing said investigations are ongoing, with a report to be prepared for the coroner. Mr Duong was charged in April after allegedly driving a white van into the Australian...

Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has commissioned its first Hobart-class air warfare destroyer (AWD), HMAS Hobart (DDG 39) at a ceremony in Sydney on Saturday. The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Fleet Commander Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, Defence Minister Marise Payne and the Governor of New South Wales (NSW) David Hurley. The ship is the third in the Navy to bear the Hobart name. The first was commissioned in 1938 and served in World War II. Hobart II was commissioned in 1965 and served in the Vietnam War. It was decommissioned...

With 60 percent of the vote counted: National 46.7 (58 seats), Labour 35.5 (45 seats)

POLICE are investigating after Tony Abbott alleged that he was headbutted in the face by a tattooed pro-gay-marriage campaigner in Hobart. The former prime minister said he was the victim of “politically motivated violence” when he was confronted by a man after attending a private function in the Tasmanian capital on Thursday afternoon. “A fellow sung out to me, ‘Hey, Tony’. I turned around, there was a chap wearing a ‘vote yes’ badge. He says ‘I wanna shake your hand’,” Mr Abbott told 2GB radio. “I went over to shake his hand and he headbutted me.” Mr Abbott said his...

It's all smiles on deck aboard the Australian Navy's newest ship, the Hobart, and there's none bigger than that on Captain John Stavridis. "I pinch myself everyday that I'm actually in command of a guided missile destroyer," he told AAP on Thursday. But the veteran sailor, with 29 years service, says it's not just him. All 186 crew members feel "very fortunate and very blessed" to be serving on the first of Australia's three new Hobart Class destroyers. "It's a very excited crew," he said. Australia's most sophisticated warship comes into service as regional tensions reach boiling point following North...

The final poll is in, and it shows either side could take power on Saturday.

The New Zealand dollar jumped as much as 1 per cent on Wednesday following the release of a new poll …