Australian travelers could boycott Indonesia if Jakarta executes two drug smugglers on death row, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Friday as she refused to rule out withdrawing diplomats.

Bishop, who pleaded for the lives of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in parliament Thursday, said the situation was tense as Indonesian authorities made plans to transfer the pair from prison to the site of their execution.

Two Australian drug smugglers on death row in Indonesia will be transferred "as soon as possible" from prison for their executions, an official said Thursday, despite Canberra's insistence that their deaths would be a "grave injustice".

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the so-called "Bali Nine" heroin smuggling gang, were arrested in 2005 and sentenced to death the following year.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott Thursday urged tighter screening of migrants after police thwarted an alleged terror attack, while vowing that "ugly fanaticism" will be defeated.

Two men were arrested on Tuesday after police seized an Islamic State flag, a machete and an Arabic-language video detailing the apparent plot during a raid in Sydney.

Baghdad has not requested foreign ground forces to battle the Islamic State group, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari said Thursday after Barack Obama called for military operations that stop short of a full-scale invasion.

The U.S. president said Wednesday he would not flinch from sending U.S. special forces to kill Islamic State group leaders, as he urged Congress for authority to take the fight to the extremists beyond their current footholds in Syria and Iraq if necessary.

Australia has thwarted an "imminent" terror attack, arresting two men and seizing an Islamic State flag, a machete and a video detailing the alleged plot during a raid in Sydney, police said Wednesday.

New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn said the planned attack was "consistent with the messaging coming out of IS", while New South Wales state Premier Mike Baird described it as "beyond disturbing". 

Perturbed by Thailand's coup, the United States has scaled back a showpiece joint military exercise with its Southeast Asian ally, but analysts say that with China circling for influence, Washington will not push the kingdom's generals too far.

Famed for its jungle bonding sessions where U.S. and Thai soldiers down snake blood, the annual "Cobra Gold" event is the crown jewel of Thailand's decades-long strategic alliance with the U.S.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Monday survived a confidence vote on his leadership after just 17 months in power and urged an end to the disunity that has seen the government's popularity plummet.

Abbott has been fighting for his job after poor poll ratings and a series of policy backflips spurred some MPs from his conservative Liberal Party to openly attack him, calling for a leadership "spill" last week.

Canada pushed Egypt on Sunday to immediately release al-Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy, an Egyptian-Canadian who is set to be retried this week while also awaiting deportation.

"Canada is deeply concerned with the announcement that a retrial date has been set despite assurances that Mr. Fahmy would be released along with his colleague, Peter Greste," said Lynne Yelich, minister of state for consular affairs.

Survivors of a 16-hour siege in a Sydney cafe on Sunday told of their terror during the deadly standoff, as a jihadist gunman threatened to kill people "one by one".

Iranian-born, self-styled cleric Man Haron Monis held 17 people hostage at the Lindt chocolate cafe in the heart of the city's financial district before being killed when police stormed the building in the early hours of December 16.

Senior religious leaders in Australia Sunday called on Indonesia to show mercy to two men on death row in Bali, as Indonesia's top diplomat in the country said their executions would go ahead.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were arrested in 2005 on the holiday island of Bali and sentenced to death the following year for attempting to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia.