POLITICS & POLICY

Australia's Labour-backed carbon tax is now gone, thanks to the Senate. As Prime Minister Tony Abbott's promise to repeal carbon tax finally came true, the government has declared that the country's climate policy is "not in limbo."

Israel launched it ground invasion on Gaza after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had placed orders to the military to go ahead. Israeli tanks arrived at Gaza on Thursday, July 17.

In commemoration of the life and legacy of South African anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela, Google treats visitors to the search engine home page with a visual journey of his life with accompanying six of his remarkable quotes.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott finally fulfilled his campaign promise on Thursday, July 18, to repeal Julia Gillard's carbon tax law. To do that after two years when the tax was collected, the PM had the backing of the new crossbenchers in the Senate, along with the Palmer United Party. Thirty-nine legislators voted to repeal the carbon tax, while 32 Labor and Green members opposed the repeal.

Meteorologists from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology announced on Wednesday that the tropical Pacific Ocean has cooled off, enough to surmise that the anticipated weather event El Niño is unlikely to be strong after all.

Typhoon Rammasun, now on its way to strike southern China and northern Vietnam, forced over 400,000 people in the Philippines to evacuate and seek higher and safer grounds on Tuesday till Wednesday.

Canadian navy soldiers are now in the hot seat after navy ship HMCS Whitehorse was pulled out of an international naval exercise in the U.S. due to serious misconduct of at least three service men onboard.

Kiwis living in Australia are gearing up to fight for social service rights by making a bold move to win a seat in the New Zealand Parliament. If they succeed, they will lobby for New Zealanders in Australia to have fairer access to the country's social services and push for permanent residency rights.

China's southern coastal regions are now bracing for Typhoon Rammasun as it left 20 dead in the Philippines, alongside a massive electrical knockdown affecting millions of people.

Hamas has refused to take part in peace talks scheduled to be held in Cairo. Israel, on the other hand, is reportedly planning ground invasion of Gaza.

New Zealand-based Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has announced he will "drop a political bombshell" on the eve of the country's general election. According to reports, Dotcom said he will prove Prime Minister John Key has been "lying."

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas was detained at a U.S. airport on Tuesday, July 15.

Canada has strongly criticised Hamas for refusing to accept Israel’s ceasefire, as proposed by Egypt.

The massacre in Palestine continues but now the civilians in the country may start accusing Hamas of being responsible for further bloodshed.

Mr Abbott had vowed to continue his push to repeal the Labour-imposed carbon tax. He said he was confident Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer will change his mind on July 15. The prime minister said his government "won't rest until the carbon tax is gone."

Canada made history after the Royal 22e Regiment at the Buckingham Palace on Monday, July 14.

The Jewish suspects, who are accused of killing 16-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khdeir, have confessed to Israeli police that they burned him alive. One of them is 29 and the other two are 17.

New records have been created in Gaza, of which humanity should not be much proud of. Israel managed to kill 184 Palestinians and injure around 1,300 others.

Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked world leaders to support Israel. He said on Sunday, July 13 that terrorists in Palestine intentionally used civilians as human shields against Israeli attack.

A survey by the Herald's DigiPoll has asked New Zealanders if they supported the legalisation of cannabis or wanted it to remain illegal. New Zealand laws currently consider marijuana possession a crime with a penalty of $500. Violators may also be imprisoned for up to three months.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened this morning below 0.9400 after a very quiet day of trading on Friday.

A supposedly classified government report exposes harrowing sex acts experienced by children in children’s state care in Melbourne

The United States is ready to negotiate peace talks between Palestine and Israel after 81 Palestinians were killed within three days of Israeli airstrikes. One may wonder what held the White House back so far as the death toll continued to rise by leaps and bounds in Palestine.

Germany has expelled a U.S. official in its capital as a response to a couple of alleged spying cases against Barack Obama’s government.

Japan's capital of Tokyo is now on high alert in anticipation of Typhoon Neoguri which is expected to reach areas near the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant on Friday.

Amidst the chaos in the Senate regarding the carbon tax repeal, Prime Minister Tony Abbott stressed that this move is good news for families, business, jobs, and prices.

Mining magnate and MP Clive Palmer continued to push his weight around the repeal of the carbon tax issue by playing kingmaker and withdrawing his party's support for the measure on Thursday. The result is the measure that Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been dying to be enacted into a law lost anew in the Senate by two votes - 37 to 35.

The Australian government is hoping to repeal carbon tax by next week despite the chaos in the Senate. After further talks with the Palmer United Party, the government is preparing to bring back the bill to the lower house on July 14.

The Pentagon may ask U.S. President Barack Obama to launch a drone attack on Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the spearhead of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.