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Protesters Clash with Police in Sydney over Film that Mocks Islam

Hundreds of protesters clashed with police in Sydney on Saturday, as a wave of unrest against a film that mocks Islam spread to Australia, with bottles and shoes hurled outside the U.S. consulate.

Furious protests targeting symbols of U.S. influence flared in cities across the Muslim world on Friday in retaliation for a crude film made in the United States by a right-wing Christian group that ridicules the Prophet Mohammed.

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Charges Over Genital Mutilation of Girls in Australia

Many cases of female genital mutilation likely go unreported in Australia, a state minister said Friday after four people were charged over the alleged circumcision of two girls aged 6 and 7.

Two men and two women were charged on Thursday over their involvement in the alleged mutilation of the girls in Sydney homes over the past 18 months.

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Man Charged after Australian Terror Raids

A man was charged with terrorism offences in Australia Thursday after a series of raids connected to a Melbourne Islamic center.

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Australia Slams 'Sick Joke' Cigarette Packs

Australia slammed as a "sick joke" Wednesday new cigarette packs on sale as part of the national phase-in to plain packaging which play on drab branding and claim it's "what's on the inside that counts."

Tobacco products in Australia will have to be sold in drab, uniform khaki packaging with graphic health warnings from December 1 under a new anti-smoking policy upheld last month by the nation's highest court.

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Australia Says Karzai 'Wrong' on Afghan Operation

Australia Monday flatly rejected comments from Afghan President Hamid Karzai that a recent night-time raid which left two men dead was carried out without the approval of local authorities.

Kabul had slammed Australia over the mission, carried out in the wake of last week's killing of three Australian troops by a rogue Afghan soldier, describing it as a "unilateral military operation".

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55 Rescued from Missing Indonesia Asylum Boat

Rescuers plucked 55 survivors from the ocean on Thursday, more than a day after an asylum-seeker boat heading for Australia disappeared off the Indonesian coast with 150 people aboard.

After Indonesia abandoned its search, six people were rescued overnight by a cargo ship and 49 more were pulled from the water by an Australian navy crew after being located by spotter planes late Thursday.

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Asylum-Seeker Boat Sinking Off Indonesia

An asylum-seeker boat carrying an estimated 150 people was sinking in Indonesia's Sunda Strait, reports said on Wednesday, with Indonesian rescue services responding.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said a distress call indicated the boat was in trouble between Java and Sumatra, some 220 nautical miles from the Australian Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island.

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Rare Australian 'Holey Dollar' Fetches $425,000

Three rare Australian coins including the most famous example of the nation's first coin the "Holey Dollar" have fetched Aus$880,000 (U.S. $911,000) at auction.

The coin known as the "Hannibal Head" Holey Dollar -- created in New South Wales state in 1813 from an 1810 Silver Dollar minted at the Lima Mint in Peru -- sold for Aus$410,000, an auction record for a coin of its type.

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Australia Reopens Probe of 1982 Anti-Israel Bombings

Australian police Sunday reopened inquiries into the 1982 bombing of the Israeli consulate in Sydney and a Jewish club, reportedly after interviewing an extremist jailed over a blast on a Pan Am flight that year.

No one was killed but two people were injured in the attacks on the consulate and the Jewish Hakoah sports club in Bondi on December 23, 1982 -- crimes that have gone unsolved for almost 30 years.

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Australia Central Bank Rules Out Currency Intervention

Australia's top central bank official Friday ruled out intervening in currency markets to rein in the booming local dollar, which is squeezing some industries.

The Australian dollar is trading around 104.34 U.S. cents and has been consistently above parity with the greenback this year, around 70 percent higher than the lows it experienced during the global downturn.

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