Australia's defense minister has been left red-faced after apparently being unable to name the head of Islamic State on the day he committed more troops to help defeat the jihadist group.

Kevin Andrews was repeatedly asked during a television interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation late Tuesday to identify the IS chief -- widely seen as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

A Singaporean man and an Australian woman behind an online forum that often attacks immigrants and foreign workers in Singapore were charged Tuesday with sedition, an offence punishable by jail.

Singaporean Yang Kaiheng, 26, and Japanese-Australian Ai Takagi, 22, each face seven counts of sedition for articles published on a website called The Real Singapore and its Facebook page between October 2013 and February this year, court documents showed.

Australia said Tuesday 330 troops were heading to Iraq for two years to train local soldiers fighting jihadists including the Islamic State group, joining an aerial and special forces contingent in the region.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the troops would be deployed from Wednesday and operate from the massive Taji base complex north of Baghdad alongside 100 soldiers from New Zealand.

An Australian airport website was offline Monday after being taken over by pro-Islamic State hackers who published messages supporting the jihadist group.

Police said hackers appeared to have targeted the web host used by the Hobart International Airport in Tasmania and not the facility itself, and no direct threats were made. 

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Saturday that Iran should take back its citizens who failed in their bids for refugee status, confirming his government will lobby Tehran on the issue.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is expected to raise the deportation of Iranian nationals when she visits Tehran next week, a move which could ease pressure on Australian immigration camps on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Australia said Friday it was buying two long-distance C-17 Globemaster planes in an Aus$1 billion (US$770 million) procurement that will boost its military and disaster relief operations worldwide.

The Royal Australian Air Force has conducted aerial operations in Iraq against Islamic State jihadists, and provided humanitarian aid in natural disaster zones in Vanuatu, Japan, New Zealand and at home.

A lawyer for two Australian drug smugglers on death row in Indonesia has launched yet another bid to save the pair from the firing squad, despite the country's attorney-general declaring they've already exhausted all legal options.

The appeal, filed in Indonesia's Constitutional Court on Thursday, comes just days after a separate court dismissed an earlier challenge brought by Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

An Iranian asylum-seeker is recovering after a 40-day hunger strike, Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said Tuesday, but insisted the near-fatal protest would not influence the government's immigration policy.

Saeed Hassanloo, 25, is the second Iranian asylum-seeker to take on an extended hunger strike in recent months after a 33-year-old ended a similar protest in January -- both over Canberra's treatment of their claims for resettlement in Australia.

An Indonesian court Monday dismissed an appeal by two Australian drug smugglers facing imminent execution, and the country's legal chief said the pair have now exhausted all legal attempts to avoid the firing squad.

Following the ruling lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran vowed to take the case to the Constitutional Court -- but Indonesia's attorney-general accused the legal team of "playing with justice" and said the move would not delay the executions. 

Prince Harry reported for duty with the Australian Army on Monday to begin an "authentic" experience featuring bush patrols and indigenous engagement, as he prepares to retire from the British military.

Hundreds of well-wishers turned out to see the 30-year-old prince at the National War Memorial in Canberra -- the one scheduled public event of his visit -- before he met with the head of the Australian Defense Force (ADF), Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin.