Australia plans to buy 100 state-of-the-art U.S. jet fighters and double the size of its modest submarine fleet in a bid to keep pace with an Asian military buildup.

Fiji’s military ruler defied international pressure to announce elections by Friday, confirming that he would not hold them for at least five years and setting the stage for his country’s ouster from a South Pacific bloc.

Australia announced Wednesday it will increase by almost one half its troops in Afghanistan to about 1,550 as part of the U.S.-led surge of international forces to bolster the faltering fight against Taliban insurgents.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says Australia will send 280 additional troops to Afghanistan, increasing the overall Australian deployment there to about 1,380.

The defense forces chief says another Australian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, the second in days and the 10th overall.

A newly developed fuel has almost wiped out gasoline-sniffing among Aborigines in Australia’s central desert and should be made mandatory at all gas stations in the region, a Senate committee reported Thursday.

The death of a ninth Australian soldier in Afghanistan will not diminish Canberra’s commitment to bringing stability to the Central Asian country, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Tuesday.

Two Iraqi soldiers who helped rescue a kidnapped Australian in 2005 have been granted asylum in Australia because their lives were at risk at home, officials said Monday.

Iraq’s leader called recent deadly bombings in Baghdad a “lapse” after a calm period, insisting Thursday that terrorists were no longer capable of disrupting efforts to bring security to the country.

When a dark intruder smashed through his bedroom window and repeatedly bounced on his bed, Beat Ettlin was initially relieved to discover it was a kangaroo.