The death toll from Vanuatu's devastating cyclone was revised down to 11 on Monday, according to the United Nations which also said contributions to the South Pacific nation's recovery have topped US$10 million. 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had on the weekend put the number of fatalities at 16, but its latest update noted that the Vanuatu government had advised the number was 11.

A nightclub bouncer who reportedly became a terror group leader. A man who tweeted a photo of his young son clutching a severed head. A teenager who is believed to have turned suicide bomber, and others suspected of attempting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State movement. All of them, Australian.

The London-based International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence reports that between 100 and 250 Australians have joined Sunni militants in Iraq and Syria. Given Australia's vast distance from the region and its population of just 24 million, it is a remarkable number. The center estimates that about 100 fighters came from the United States, which has more than 13 times as many people as Australia.

A strong cyclone swept ashore in northeastern Australia Friday, but widespread damage appears to have been avoided with the storm taking a late turn to make landfall in a remote area.

Tropical Cyclone Nathan barrelled in as a category four storm but veered north before hitting the coast to miss Cooktown, a community with 2,500 people some 260 kilometres (160 miles) from popular tourist destination Cairns.

Vanuatu has hit out at aid groups swarming the cyclone-ravaged Pacific nation over a lack of coordination, which it said cost precious time getting help to those in need, while warning food will run out in a week.

Relief agencies have been battling logistical challenges in the sprawling archipelago with a lack of landing strips and deep water ports hampering their efforts to reach distant islands and get a better grip on the full scale of the disaster.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was blasted Thursday after referring to the opposition leader as the "Dr. Goebbels of economic policy" in a rowdy parliamentary question time, sparking cries of "disgusting".

During a heated exchange about his economic credentials the conservative Abbott said criticism coming from Labor was like "the arsonist complaining about the fire".

An Indonesian court Thursday adjourned the latest legal bid by two Australian drug smugglers to avoid the firing squad, as Jakarta said they will not be executed until appeals filed by several convicts are completed.

Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, the ringleaders of the so-called "Bali Nine" drug trafficking gang, were sentenced to death in 2006 for trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia.

Northeastern Australia battened down Thursday in preparation for a strong cyclone forecast to hit coastal areas north of Cairns, one of the gateways to the Great Barrier Reef.

Tropical Cyclone Nathan, currently a category three storm, was tracking back towards the Cooktown area, some 260 kilometers (160 miles) from popular tourist destination Cairns, having first threatened the coast last week before moving out to sea.

The battle against the Islamic State group's extremism may last a generation, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has warned, likening the jihadists to fanatical followers of Adolf Hitler.

Bishop said the pernicious threat of global terrorism was one that "keeps me awake at night" and urged a strong counter-narrative to the messages of hate and division spread by violent extremists.

The Salvation Army failed to protect children from brutal sexual and physical abuse in four of its Australian homes, and instead punished them for complaining, a national inquiry ruled Tuesday.

A Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in Australia began hearing evidence last year into shocking allegations of abuse at four Salvation Army homes for children, between 1965 and 1977.

An Australian 18-year-old who reportedly blew himself up in Iraq this week has described his march to "martyrdom", blogging about the path he took from talented schoolboy to fanatical jihadi.

The blog widely attributed to Jake Bilardi also reveals a "Plan B" to wage bombings on home soil in case he was prevented by Australian authorities from leaving to fight overseas.