Three Muslims from Melbourne were convicted in Victoria's Supreme Court on Friday, 16 December 2011, of conspiring to plan a terrorist attack. Wissam Fattal, Saney Edow Aweys, and Nayef El Sayed were sentenced to 18 years jail. Justice Betty King emphasised in her sentencing remarks the "extremist views" of the accused whilst admitting the "amateurish" nature of their alleged plans.

US President Barack Obama arrives in Canberra this afternoon for a 28-hr visit to Australia. In addressing the Federal Parliament and visiting Darwin tomorrow, he is expected to announce a renewed Asia-Pacific focus to US foreign policy, and to further military cooperation between Australia and the US. He will then travel to Indonesia to attend the East Asia Summit in Bali.

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, arrives in Australia today, ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which begins in Perth tomorrow. She will be participating in the CHOGM program, one of the key themes of which is ‘human rights and democracy', as well as meeting the Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd.

Senator Russell Trood alleged last week, during a Senate estimates hearing on legal and constitutional affairs, that Hizb ut Tahrir advocated the use of violence as a legitimate means of political expression. He referred to Hizb ut Tahrir's views as ‘unsavoury' and ‘obnoxious' and alleged that it had called for the destruction of Hindus in Kashmir, Russians in Chechnya and Jews in Israel, and that it ‘incite[s] violence against particular…