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Philippines' Aquino Rejects Permanent Refugees from Australia

The Philippines will not accept any refugees sent by Australia if they are expected to live in the Southeast Asian nation permanently, President Benigno Aquino said Tuesday.

Aquino said he was "seriously considering" an Australian government proposal to accept some refugees but only if they were to transit in the Philippines before moving to another country.

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Dutch firebrand Wilders Attends Anti-Islam Party Launch in Australia

Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders was Wednesday shouted down by protesters as he helped launch a new political party in Perth, the anti-Islam Australian Liberty Alliance.

The Dutch firebrand and euroskeptic, who was controversially granted a visa, said the new party was modeled on his own Freedom Party in opposing "the Islamisation process".

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New Australia PM Defends Kiwi Crackdown on Maiden Trip

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull faced a grilling about his country's harsh immigration policies Saturday while visiting New Zealand on his first overseas trip since seizing power.

Turnbull, who ousted Liberal predecessor Tony Abbott in a party-room coup last month, would normally expect a warm reception in New Zealand, Canberra's closest ally.

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Shock as 12-Year-Old on Australian Terror Radar

Australian police revealed Thursday a 12-year-old is on the radar of counter-terrorism authorities as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged closer cooperation with Muslim leaders at national security talks to tackle the growing extremist threat.

The boy was listed on a federal court order among a group of males linked to Farhad Jabar, 15, who shot a police employee in the back of the head in Sydney this month while reportedly shouting religious slogans.

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Australia Vows to Pursue Justice for MH17 Victims

Australia vowed Wednesday it will not be "bullied" in the pursuit of justice after a Dutch-led investigation found flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made missile fired from war-torn eastern Ukraine.

Among the 298 passengers and crew on board the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 who died during a routine flight between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur on July 17 last year, 38 were Australian citizens and residents.

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Australia Shooting 'an Act of Terrorism', Says PM

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Saturday that an attack in Sydney in which a 15-year-old gunman shot dead a civilian police employee appeared to have been an act of terrorism.

Police said little was known about the unidentified teen, who was shot dead in an exchange of fire with officers after he killed finance worker Curtis Cheng at close range outside the force's headquarters in western Sydney on Friday.

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Hungary PM Tells U.S., Australia to Take some of Europe's Migrants

Hungary's populist prime minister called Friday on the U.S., Australia, Israel and "rich Arab nations" to take in some of the migrants flowing into Europe, while likening the influx to an "army".

"It's not fair, that the USA doesn't take any in, or only 10,000-15,000 refugees," Viktor Orban told radio station Kossuth.

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Australia Bids for Seats on Security Council, Human Rights Council

Australia has launched a new bid to be elected to the United Nations Security Council, with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop saying the nation hoped to maintain its focus on international security.

Bishop said in a statement Wednesday that Australia would be a candidate for a Security Council seat in 2029-30 as she signaled the country's intention to also seek a spot on the U.N. Human Rights Council for 2018-20.

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Australia's Ousted Abbott Snipes at New Government

Toppled Australian leader Tony Abbott took potshots at the new government Tuesday, saying it offered no new policies and that the nation should stop swapping prime ministers "like changing clothes".

Abbott was ousted by conservative colleague Malcolm Turnbull in a vote among ruling Liberal party lawmakers earlier this month, as opinion polls plunged two years into office and with an election about a year away.

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Australian Islamic State Fighters Doubled Last Year, Says FM

The number of Australians fighting for the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq doubled in the past year but was not expected to continue to grow so rapidly, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said.

Australia has been increasingly concerned about the ability of IS, also known as Daesh, to lure citizens to the conflict and at least 20 nationals are believed to have died there.

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