A super hornet similar to the one that flew in Iraq.

1. Australia enters the war against the Islamic State.

Australia has officially entered the war against IS after two Australian super hornets flew their first combat mission in Iraq.

Chief of the Defence Force Mark Binskin made a statement about the mission on Twitter saying: “2 F/A-18F completed 1st armed combat mission in Iraq. No munitions expended. Returned safely to base.”

The super hornets did not use any bombs during their 8 hours in the air.

2. South Sydney win their first NRL grand final in 43 years.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs have secured their first NRL grand final win in 43 years – the last time they won was in 1971. The score at full time was 30 – 6, with Rabbits favourite Sam Burgess playing with a broken cheekbone. Bulldogs fans went home disappointed from Sydney’s Allianz Stadium.

3. Police discover two bodies in a Brisbane apartment.

Police in Brisbane are investigating the deaths of a woman and a man, after two bodies were discovered on Saturday night. Apparently the deaths are being treated as murder-suicide. The woman’s remains were found in an apartment building, while the man was found in a green commercial rubbish bin after fleeing from the unit.

4. UK newspaper publishes ‘the news not propaganda.’

UK newspaper The Independent chose a very different tactic to cover the tragic news of the death of British taxi driver and humanitarian, Alan Henning, at the hands of the ISIS. Rather than publishing any images of Henning, or stills of the propaganda video released by the ISIS, the Independent’s front page held simply the following words:

“On Friday a decent, caring human being was murdered in cold blood. Our thoughts are with his family. He was killed, on camera, for the sole purpose of propaganda. Here is the news, not the propaganda.”

See the cover below:

5. Pauline Hanson backs Jacqui Lambie’s call to ban the burqa.

In an opinion piece published on News Corp sites today, former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has expressed her support for Palmer United Party member Jacqui Lambies call to ban the burqa in Australia.

Ms Hanson wrote:

Pauline Hanson

Ms Hanson said she believes many Muslim women did not want to wear the burqa. She added that fine for Muslim women to wear the burqa in their own home, but noted that women should not be able to wear the garment in shopping centres.

Two weeks ago, in the midst of the fear and angst surrounding alleged terrorism threats in Sydney and Brisbane,  senator Jacqui Lambie posted an image to illustrate the threat she believes all women in burqas pose to Australia. It was later revealed that the an image was in fact that of a heroic woman in a burqa – taken out of context to fulfil Lambie’s  political aims.

6. Taxes could go up to pay for Australia’s involvement in Iraq.

Australian Finance minister, Mathias Cormann, has confirmed that he is “not going to rule anything in or out” in regards to raising taxes to pay for the government’s involvement in Iraq.

The mission, estimated to cost about $500m per year, could go for an extensive period of time. However, Cormann told Sky News that the government is looking “right across the board for ways and means to deal with additional expenditure and any impact on savings of the slower passage of measures.”

“Our commitment is to get government spending back under control, to get back onto our trajectory as a result of our decisions to reduce spending,” he said.

7. Brisbane Chef kills and dismembers his girlfriend in Teneriffe apartment

It has been reported that Marcus Peter Volke, 28, killed and cooked the body of what police now believe to be his Indonesian girlfriend. Police were called to the Brisbane apartment after an on-site manager reported a strange smell seeping into the foyer.

When officers entered Volke’s apartment, Volke leapt through a window and hid in a side streets dumpster bin. He was later found with a fatal self-inflicted wound to the throat.

Marcus’ mother Dorothy Volke was shocked to hear the news from her home in Victoria. “He was happy and he was coming home for Christmas, everything was normal,’’ she said.

Police are yet to retrieve dental records of the victim, and are yet to confirm it is Volke’s girlfriend.