POLITICS & POLICY

The mayor of London in the United Kingdom has called for the nation to open its doors and welcome New Zealanders who are currently restricted from entering. Boris Johnson made the public appeal following the results of survey conducted by the New Zealand government regarding the experience of Kiwis with work visas in the UK.

Pandemonium has erupted on Tuesday amid the ongoing verbal tussle between the U.S. and Syria, following the chemical weapons attack in Damascus on Aug 21. Global markets went berserk as Syrian President Bashar Assad's turf gears up for a U.S.-led nation strike, warning a massive counter retaliatory attack could be immediately carried out on Israel.

The New Zealand government has made 106 requests to Facebook to gain access to 119 users during the first half of 2013. Facebook said it gave New Zealand around 58 per cent of the requests containing private data of more than half of the requested users.

Kevin Rudd News Aug 28: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s family was saddened by accusation of rudeness; Rudd doubts Abbott’s temperament on dealing with Syria

Australian Federal Election Aug 28: Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott debates again in Sydney as the “duo” go on campaign trail.

China on Tuesday confirmed the discovery of a large 21 metric tonne gold deposit in Guangdong province.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar traded in a fairly tight band overnight under 0.9000 as financial markets reacted to the possibility of missile strikes in Syria.

Amid the furor created by the pork barrel scam in the Philippines and on the same week that the country was again battered by a storm that flooded parts of the country for days, the Filipino humour was not lost.

Harb Refuses to Be the Poster Boy of the Audit

Options Seem to be Limited at the Moment to Handle the Situation

Australian Federal Election Update: Aussies are already voting through pre-poll in London; AEC announced that remote polling is underway

United Nations chemical weapons experts have successfully reached the Syrian victims of a deadly chemical attack. The UN representatives took blood samples and interviewed the victims who survived the poison gas attack in the rebel territory of Syria's capital. Australia currently holds the presidency of the United Nations Council and will use its position to push for an end to the Syrian crisis. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called the deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria as a "medieval a...

Current nuclear-crisis embattled Japan, along with Ukraine, are set to hurtle into space a satellite that's specifically designed to monitor the amounts of radiation emitted by global nuclear power plants, such as that of the crippled Fukushima of 2011 and Chernobyl of 1986.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened weaker this morning after a volatile night of trading pulled it in different directions overnight.

Julian Assange wears blond mullet in Rap news 20’s video Australian Election: A Game of Polls in desperate attempt to win voters

Syria has "descended into hell," Archbishop Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio in Syria, described on Monday the situation in the country. Meanwhile, Faisal Mikdad, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister, warned of terrible and more global chaos should the U.S. send troops or launch airstrikes to control the recent Aug. 21 savage chemical weapons attack in the Syrian capital.

In news that could further embarrass the U.S. Administration and strain its relations with allies, the Germany weekly Der Dpiegel, on Sunday, citing documents obtained by fugitive former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, reported that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) wiretapped the United Nations (U.N.) Headquarters in New York.

In brazen attacks carried out by insurgents, on Sunday, in Iraq, at least 47 people were killed across the country. This is the worst spate of killing since 2008 and is seen as part of a month-long wave of attacks. The killing has brought the focus back on the country's security forces' ability to protect the country against insurgent groups. It raises fears that Iraq's ethnic divide and sectarian violence may push the country back towards a civil war.

As New Zealand Prime Minister John Key faced a Labour leadership challenge from Grant Robertson, Shane Jones and David Cunliffe, a poll said New Zealanders do not believe in what he says.

Right-wing Hindu organisation, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) said that demonstrations would be held across the country on Monday to protest against the ban on its 'Chaurasi Kosi Parikrama Yatra' (pilgrimage) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP). This comes after the state government foiled, on Sunday, the proposed ‘yatra’ of the VHP demanding a Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

In swift action that has earned them accolades; the Mumbai Police has arrested all the 5 accused in the gang-rape of the young photojournalist in Mumbai. As reported earlier, on Thursday, 5 men accosted the 22-year-old photojournalist and took turns to rape her. She and her male colleague were on an assignment at an abandoned mill compound in Mumbai. Her male colleague was beaten and tied up during the incident.

Drawing a parallel between Iraq in 2003 and Syria today, Russia warned the U.S. against taking unilateral action in Syria. The Russian Foreign Ministry on Sunday said such action will be a repeat of past mistakes of the U.S. in the region. This warning from Russia came amid reports of U.S. and UK were contemplating options for military strike against government forces in Syria on complains of chemical weapon use.

New Zealand is not yet ready for a gay prime minister, Georgina Beyer, the world's first transsexual mayor and MP, said. The former Carterton District mayor has warned the Labour party to be realistic with appointing a gay leader because the country isn't ready yet to be ruled by a homosexual.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened this week above 0.9000 as US new home sales for July fell well short of expectations.

Australia Federal Election 2013: Julia Gillard snubs ALP; Tony Abbott’s daughters were good luck charms and Voters’ support for ALP up says Newspoll

Bob Filner will resign on Friday, Aug 30, as mayor of San Diego, California. He was actually forced to leave office after less than nine months on the job when the city council, in a 7-0 vote, pressured him to step down over sexual harassment complaints.

The President May Be Accused of Inaction

He called on Allah’s wrath to be on others and now the police have expressed concerns about his safety. In his March sermon, the Tunisian-born Mosque Preacher Sheikh Sharif Hussein Sheikh who is said to be a leading member of the Adelaide Islamic community, attacked Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, US President Barack Obama and called Australian soldiers in Iraq as "Crusader pigs”.

Lebanon Has Allegedly Launched a Rocket Attack on Israel on Thursday