POLITICS & POLICY

Prime Minister Julia Gillard will stay on, at least until her term ends, this according to Australian Labor Party stalwarts who called the whirling speculations about the impending return of Kevin Rudd to the Lodge as mere rubbish coming from the Liberals.

Australian female executives pushed for the government to make costly childcare and nanny services tax deductible. By doing that, there would be more women available for employed, while those already working could have more opportunities for promotion.

Libyan rebels announced Sunday the discovery of a mass grave in Tripoli containing the bodies of 1,700 prisoners allegedly massacred by the Gaddafi regime in 1996.

With another round of global economic crisis looming, there is a growing call for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut interest rate to avoid a recession.

The Australian Dollar opened at USD 0.9783 this week, finding support as the markets digest the IMF's policy board's weekend announcement, to act decisively and collectively, "to restore confidence and financial stability, and rekindle global growth".

Payment networks Visa and MasterCard will impose the highest fees for even the smallest debit transaction for cards issued by JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup as allowed by a U.S. law that put caps on such fees.

Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan acknowledged that the debt contagion problem in Europe and the budget deficit problem in the U.S. will affect Australia and Asia, which would make it harder to achieve a budget surplus by 2012-13.

Queen Elizabeth II will be in Australian to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth in late October.

South Korea accounts for the largest number of suicide cases among 34 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development with 28.7 individuals committing suicide for every 100,000 people last year, says the Korean Association for Suicide Prevention (TKASP).

Despite Japan's soaring debts, Prime Miniters Noda's administration has boldly offered additional loans to "Arab Spring" in North Africa and the Middle East for infrastructure projects, which will ensure to yield employment opportunities and emerging industries.

Sales of homes built under development lease arrangements commenced before 27 January 2011 will not pay GST, according to the Australian government. Residential development lease arrangements are used by government to partner with the private sector to supply housing on publicly owned land.

The Duchess of Cambridge is being groomed for her royal duties to prepare her for her future solo appearances.

Australia joined the walk out led by the United States and member states of the European Union on Thursday as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blithely accused ‘western powers’ of arrogance and military adventurism during his United Nations General Assembly speech.

Is there really finality in death? Two days after Troy Davis was executed via lethal injection close to midnight on Wednesday, the controversy surrounding his death still goes on. Can death really give both defendant and accused and all concerned parties the closure they need? Hardly it seems.

After the devastation left by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan,part of the Japan's rehabilitation efforts is to build fire-resistant homes in local communities especially in crowded districts.

The federal government stamped its environmental approval on the Chevron-led Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project that experts said would lead to billion-dollars of investments but could disrupt the marine eco-system off the coast of Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) lost in a court case the regulator filed against search engine giant Google. ACCC complained that Google violated Australia's trade practices law by its using advertisement placements as basis for ranking of search results.

Four years after Australia’ competition watchdog labelled its search results as confusing and misleading, giant internet firm Google won the nod of the court, which declared on Thursday that the company hardly violated any provisions in the country’s consumer law.

Although there is a growing movement within the Labor Party for Kevin Rudd to reassume leadership, current party leader and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has secured sufficient support from powerbrokers. Enough support for her to remain in post amid discontent over her failed Malaysia Solution on border security.

Koalas uniquely represent Australia but their dwindling numbers over the past decade prompted the Senate on Thursday to call on authorities to implement nationwide measures that would significantly cut down unnecessary deaths of the huggable marsupial.

Fighting in the Yemen capital of Sanaa between forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and troops who defected to the opposition entered its fifth day on Thursday and killed 15 people from both sides.

The AUD has opened this morning below USD0.9800 as market confidence and continued concerns of a global recession hit the markets hard.

South Korea and Washington stand firm on their stance on North Korea's denuclearization process, reiterating that North Korea should first comply with a preemptive measure demanded by South Korea and the United States before the communist country can enjoy economic assistance again.

What's up next for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin regarding the 2012 U.s. presidential election? More than likely, Palin won't run, but won't state that until absolutely necessary.

US ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas claims 40% of foreign men visiting the Philippines are sex tourists, which actually dismayed Philippine tourism officials.

The Strategic Review of the Student Visa Program, conducted by former Olympics Minister Michael Knight on behalf of the Commonwealth Government was released Thursday by Ministers Evans, drawing mixed reactions.

The US state of Georgia executed Troy Davis on Wednesday despite high opposition and an international outcry due to considerable doubts about his guilt over the 1991 murder conviction.

The United States and its allies South Korea and Japan will boycott six-party talks in Beijing this week on North Korean denuclearization, reports the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.

Eric Schmidt, Google Inc.'s CEO, stood up to U.S senators Wednesday to defend his company against allegations that it skews search results in favor of its own online services.