Julia Gillard has finally been confirmed as Australia's first elected female Prime Minister, more than two weeks after an election that has now given her a razor-thin majority.

Julia Gillard's nail-biting victory over Opposition leader Tony Abbott, 17 days after Australians went to the polls, has hardly been convincing, writes Greg Ansley.

Julia Gillard will continue as Prime Minister of Australia after two independent MPs pledged allegiance to the Labor Party this afternoon.

The panic to bail out SCF reveals cracks in the economy, writes Gareth Morgan.

Australians probably won't know who their next prime minister will be until tomorrow.

One upside of the Christchurch earthquake is that nature has unleashed the biggest job creation scheme NZ has seen.

Chris de Freitas says risk-management planning can help society in practical and economic ways.

Mayor Bob Parker is unsure about the comparison with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, but the earthquake that struck Christchurch could help him keep his job.

Iran has sentenced a woman facing execution for adultery to 99 lashes for allowing an unveiled photo of herself to appear in a UK newspaper.

"It was like a giant had picked up our house and was just shaking it, shaking and shaking," said one resident.