POLITICS & POLICY

New South Wales Finance Minister Greg Pearce is being accused of using taxpayers money to fund his parliamentary travels that coincided with various sporting events across Australia.

Lack of stability and inappropriate funding for federal small business has led the small business shadow minister Bruce Billson to take up the issue for immediate solution.

After Labor lost the last state election in 2012, former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh is now battling cancer. The 52-year-old politician was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after a tumour was removed from her neck at the St Vincent Hospital in Sydney last week.

Amid claims that Australia's 457 visas for skilled workers is being abused by employers, the Australian Sex Workers' Association (ASWA) is calling on the federal government to allow the entry of foreign sex trade workers using that visa category.

Ousted PM Eddie Obeid remains confident that he will be vindicated from corruption allegations leveled against him and his family. Mr. Obeid faced the ICAC recently over corruption issues that claimed he made millions of dollars from the mining licenses issued to him by former minister Ian MacDonald.

The Turks were now clear about what they want; apparently the government chose to remain deaf

Israel Defense Forces or IDF is on its way of passing a regulation specifying limitations on soldier’s use of social networks.

Amid safety concerns raised by some sectors particularly the Rail, Train and Bus Union, the NSW government is pushing through with its plan to operate Sydney's North West Rail Link with driverless trains.

Australian employers have expressed opposition to the proposed reforms by the government to the 457 visa scheme. They complain of the tedious compliance requirements that the changes will bring, and accuses the government of politicising the issue and perpetuating fictitious stories of systemic abuse to justify such reforms.

Cleveland kidnapping victims, Amanda Berry, Gina de Jesus and Michelle Knight are to be given $25,000 per year and college tuition

The world had been asking why a hero will kill innocent civilians. American soldier Robert Bales finally had the answer.

The same-sex marriage debate in Australia is far from over. Since Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott did allow a bill to recognize gay marriage in Australia, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young will move to a vote in a Senate before June ends.

Protesters in Istanbul remained unfazed on the eighth day of protests; however, motives for the protests reached an incomprehensible state.

Defence Minister A.K. Anthony of India came to Australia to meet with Australian Labor Party Defence Minister Stephen Smith discussing maritime security and bilateral defence cooperation.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has fallen quite suddenly overnight, dropping to a low of USD0.9512 early this morning, which has it more than two-and-a-half cents since Tuesday.

New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell will likely fire state Finance Minister Greg Pearce over suspicions he has been using public funds for his private travel. The threat came after Mr O'Farrell warned Mr Pearce of his drunk behaviour in the state parliament last week.

A latest report released on Wednesday by the Council of Australian Governments Reform Council showed the number of homeless is growing in Australia.

The tiny landlocked nation Andorra is poised to introduce a personal income tax for the first time, effectively putting an end to its status as a tax haven as it comes under increasing pressure from its European neighbours to clampdown on tax evasion.

The Australian economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the first three months of the year, still resilient albeit below the target expectations of 0.8 per cent. Year-on-year, the country down under grew 2.5 per cent, also slower than expected.

Africa will become the global engine of growth in the coming decade said Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday at the end of a three-day African development conference in Yokohama, as he unveiled a $32 billion investment package aimed at accelerating growth, sustainable development as well as poverty reduction on the continent.

Convicted hacker Adrian Lamo testified on the Bradley Manning case of Tuesday saying that the accused did not intend to aid US enemies when he leaked classified information to WikiLeaks. Lamo said Manning was only acting out of a sense of moral and civic duty. He also claimed that Manning did express intent to kill himself over government atrocities in Iraq.

Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant, its only power-producing reactor, has been damaged by the recent successive earthquakes that struck the country in April and May.

Russian President President Vladimir Putin does not want Russian children placed for adoption to be adopted by foreign gay or same-sex couples.

A lesbian who used to work for a British Conservative member of parliament and his wife has filed charges against her former employers for unfair dismissal, unpaid holiday pay as well as sexual advances and discrimination. She alleged her former employers wanted her to engage in a threesome act.

The French court ordered Apple Inc to pay over 5 million euros or $6.5 million worth of copyright taxes for iPad sales in 2011. The court ruling was removed last 2012 but this time, the French government is considering creating a new law on involving cultural taxes related to devices.

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar is steady at USD 0.9650 following yesterday's 'no change' announcement at 2.30pm by the RBA and a relatively quiet overnight session offshore.

Twenty five year old US army private Bradley Manning faces possible 154-year imprisonment for leaking classified information to website WikiLeaks. The young soldier is also being accused of aiding the terror group of the late Osama Bin Laden.

As the price of the safe haven yellow metal gold continues to slump, India, the world's biggest buyer of the metal, wants to control gold importation after data showed it imported the metal by a whopping 150 per cent increase over the month of April.

Many were disappointed as the supposedly partial news source, CNN Turk, opt to air a penguin documentary while protests happens