Australia’s government has announced plans to keep radical Islamist preachers from entering their nation.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he was ordering the moves because of rising tensions in the nation following a series of raids in the Muslim community of men who are directly connected to ISIS and other Islamic terrorist organizations.
“What we want to do is to ensure that known preachers of hate do not come to this country to peddle their divisive extremist message,” Abbott during a press conference in Sydney. “What I’m doing is declaring that we will henceforth have a new system in place which will ensure that preachers of hate can’t come to Australia to peddle their extreme, divisive and alien ideologies.”
Australia says at least 160 citizens have gone to the Middle East to work for ISIS and 20 have returned to the country and are under surveillance.
Australian Muslims claim they are being unfairly targeted in not allowing preachers of their own choosing form entering the country.
A bright blue and orange object that plunged from the sky and struck the ground with the force of a bomb startled residents of Queensland, Australia.
A resident of Mount Isa, Australia old ABC News that the object was a “blazing light” that was “falling straight down.”
“I am actually flabbergasted at the attention at the moment because it was just a complete fluke,” Virginia Hills said.
Residents of the area say the moment of impact was unusual in that despite looking like a bomb there was no audible sound.
“It was like an explosion but without a sound,” Kim Vega said. “It was like an atomic bomb effect when it would have hit the ground and all the trees and the skies lit up.”
Astronomers suggest the object was not an asteroid but rather a satellite that fell out of orbit. The colors of the object seemed to indicate a metallic object rather than a space rock.
A group of Australian Christians who entered a government Minister’s office and held a prayer vigil protest have had all charges against them dismissed by a court.
The five Christians had pleaded guilty in court to the charges against them before the Magistrate dismissed them.
“The aim was to pray about the asylum seeker issue in public, to draw attention to Australia’s cruel policies of indefinite detention,” said Matt Anslow, one of the Christians involved in the protest.
The Magistrate said “If ever there was a peaceful protest this was it” as he dismissed the charges.
“Martin Luther King Jr spoke about there being times when civil disobedience is necessary to dramatise an issue of injustice so that it can no longer be ignored,” Anslow said. “For us to be silent in the face of injustice is to be complicit in the injustice, for us not to speak is to speak.”
Minister Scott Morrison was targeted for the protest because he has said that he is a Christian. The group wanted to encourage Morrison to act on his Christian beliefs.