Egypt claimed it killed 16 Islamist militants in an operation in Sinai yesterday following President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s order in November to defeat Islamists in the region by the end of February.  

In a statement from the military, the country’s army arrested 30 suspects and 4 militants and claimed dozens of targets including weapon dumps, motorbikes and cars.

According to a spokesman for the Sinai operation, a communication centre, an explosives laboratory and six drug farms were also found.

The Indonesian navy boarded a vessel this morning between Singapore and Batam Island and seized 1.1 tonnes of the drug ‘ice’.

The boat was initially boarded by the navy under suspicion of illegal fishing, however when officers searched the 70-tonne vessel they found more than one tonne of the drug in the hold packed into sacks and hidden beneath food supplies.

Revolutionary Hepatitis C drugs are being ignored by thousands of Australians despite huge government subsidies.

New courses of medication for Hepatitis C were introduced back in 2016, and deemed so effective that the Australian government put in place a five year funding plan to subsidise the medications in a bid to eradicate the disease entirely.

Recent studies show that despite the effort, the numbers of people taking the drugs had fallen, with people suspected to be keeping quiet due to stigmas surrounding the disease.

The Australian Stock Market has been predicted for another week of chaos, as declining portfolios have prompted speculation of another Global Financial Crisis.

The mining and energy sectors looked particularly low as of this mornings opening, despite the US market rallying on Friday afternoon.

The end outcome of the last weeks deficits has not yet been seen however, as some analysts have advised people to prepare for a crisis, while many economists have reported that the fluctuations are a part of fairly routine corrections.   

Labor rejected claims this morning that it’s public scepticism of the Adani Queensland coal mine will impact Australia’s investment attractiveness.

According to Adani Australia’s Chief Executive Jayakumar Janakaraj, Labor’s attacks on the project has cast doubt on Australia’s potential as an investment destination.

In response to Janakaraj, deputy opposition leader, Tanya Plibersek has said that none of Labor’s criticism should harm Australia’s ability to remain an attractive destination for capital.

The Sydney Morning Herald has revealed how the Catholic Church’s massive wealth contradicts evidence presented in major inquiries into child sexual abuse.

According to results of the six-month investigation, the Catholic Church owns property worth more than $30 billion Australia-wide, meaning that the church has grossly undervalued it’s property holdings.

The Church has previously claimed that increasing payments to abuse victims would require cuts to social programs due to a lack of financial capital.

A gun battle in the Indian province of Kashmir is entering its second day, leaving multiple dead and many more injured.

An unknown number of attackers have barricaded themselves inside multi-story buildings, and are suspected to be affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan based anti military group.

As of this morning at least six people are dead and eleven wounded.

Members of the Myanmar military have faced legal action for war crimes involving the deaths of ten Rohingya Muslims.

Seven soldiers, three policemen and six villagers were under investigation following conflicting stories from the Myanmar army and civilian witness involving the killing of the Rohingyas.

The military claimed the muslims belonged to a group of terrorist who attacked security forces, whereas civilian witnesses claim the ten men were captured and slaughtered at random.

Tonga is expected to be hit with an upgraded category 5 storm as severe tropical cyclone Gita makes its predicted landfall this evening.

A massive cleanup is already underway in Samoa in the wake of Gita sweeping through over the weekend, with some parts still underwater and emergency teams working to restore power and running water to thousands of households.

The Tonga Meteorological Service has predicted the country to feel the worst of Cyclone Gita at around midnight with the storm currently packing winds of over 200km/h.