POLITICS & POLICY

Iran will blast another space monkey within a month, according to a report in the Iranian Web site Press TV.

Bill Shorten was elected on Sunday as the new leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). His first agenda as replacement for former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is to block the attempts by the Abbott government to dismantle the carbon pricing scheme.

Colombian companies and individuals will now have to pay a 33 percent fee when they transfer funds to countries listed by the government as a tax haven, announced Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas on Tuesday, after tax authorities estimated that up to 20 trillion pesos ($10.6 billion) in potential tax revenue were being lost due to funds sent abroad.

Rewards of up to $500,000 are offered by the NSW police force for any information that might help them to crack the unsolved murder cases. Here are five such cases that the police needs help from the community to crack.

Essex authorities caught a man for keeping endangered birds in a freezer. Apparently, they found frozen owls inside the household freezer of the arrested man.

Electronics manufacturer Foxconn, embroiled in yet another work labour controversy, has admitted that it has an existing internship program with Xi'an Technological University of China that allows its students to work in the company's plant in the Chinese city of Yantai. However, it denied that work-study program is only voluntary and it does not allow students to render overtime and night work.

Malala Yousafzai, one of the strongest Nobel Peace Prize contenders, was declared winner of the prestigious EU Sakharov Human Rights Prize 2013 for her progressive thoughts. But a Pakistani Taliban thought otherwise.

Ernie Awards 2013, in its 21st year recognizes sexism and misogyny and awards the highest stature at being sexist. The awards winners were announced on Wednesday. The Australian Prime Minister received nominations and has been awarded “The Clinton” the award for the “repeat offender.”

An investigative journalist working for Guangzhou-based newspaper New Express has been arrested by Chinese authorities for allegedly spreading corruption rumours against high ranking officials.

Kuwait is not the only country which bans homosexuals. Homosexuality is not only banned but dealt with extreme measures in many other non-Gulf countries.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Sydney University students are among the 9 awardees of the country's annual Ernie awards for sexism.

Same-sex marriage advocates in Australia said states and territories have the constitutional power to legalise gay marriage based on a Tasmanian report. The Tasmania Institute of Law Reform has published a report in response to an upper house vote in same-sex marriage legislation in Tasmania in 2012.

NASA is currently on the hot seat after it decided to bar Chinese scientists to an upcoming conference in November. China has cried discrimination. Some U.S. scientists likewise expressed disgust.

"These children here are fighting for the jihad. Are you an infidel to keep them away from the jihad? We will shoot you and bury you here if you come here again.” a Turkish father, who went to Syria, fanatically searching for his twin sons, was told. He returned home empty-handed.

China came up with yet another unique kind of destination and this one comes in the form of a bookstore but situated oddly in an underground car park.

MI5's Andrew Parker warns that thousands of extremists in the United Kingdom see the British public as target for terrorist attacks.

Canadian Treasury Board President Tony Clement said the federal government would cite national security as reasons in scrutinising the potential buyer of Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry in case it would be a foreign company.

Taxpayers paid total of $56 million of election funding to political parties

Blame it on the conservatives in the House of Representatives, but the squabble is hurting the U.S. hard, not only at home, but even abroad.

A third of New Zealanders are unemployed afraid of losing their jobs or are have temporary work, according to a study conducted by the Council of Trade of Unions. The results of the study were released in a biennial conference in Wellington. The study also suggested that temporary workers in New Zealand have limited legal protection compared to workers in most developed nations.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will meet his Indian counterpart Dr. Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the India-ASEAN and the East Asia Summit Oct 9-10. Top on the agenda will be the need for finalisation of a nuclear deal between the two countries. The External Affairs Ministry has already said that the two countries are hoping to hold a third round of nuclear cooperation talks in Dec 2013.

Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, had earlier leaked information about PRISM, a highly sensitive issue commonly known as global spying program. This was a bombshell that shocked the country after the revelation that the U.S. government had installed a global spying system, which can burrow deep an individual's web activities through social media platforms and email exchange.

Xi Jinping, China's new president, may have to go to the root core of corruption in the country if he wants it totally eliminated - the state educational system. While academic performance still matters, it's been found that Chinese parents bribe teachers and school administrators to ensure their child gets preferential treatment and placement in the school.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the APEC summit in Bali, Indonesia and raised the issue of piracy charges of Kiwi Greenpeace activities who were detained in Russia.

Under the newly proposed legislation, all kinds of cigarettes are banned in Europe. According to the new rules that will be implemented by the European parliament Tuesday, 65 percent cigarette packs will contain health warnings while menthol cigarettes and other flavored versions will now be banned.

Prime Minister proves Bali Bombing victims that his promises are not made to be broken

A state official of the China's ruling Communist Party was sacked Tuesday after the reported three-day lavish wedding celebration of his son amounting to over 1.6 million yuan ($260,000). Such move amplifies the government's intent to restrict government staff from extravagant lifestyle and curb the notion for graft and corruption.

Australia Government knows about spying program PRISM months before Edward Snowden’s expose’

Canada and Brazil are in a diplomatic stand-off over accusations by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff that Ottawa attempted to steal state secrets in 2012 from Brazil's mining and energy ministry.