Like a conscientious schoolboy, Kevin Rudd has spent the past month working through a list of Things To Do Before Calling An Election, writes Kathy Marks.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has thrown doubt on the likelihood of a September 7 election, saying he has made "no determination whatsoever" about the date and that he intends to attend a G20 meeting just days before.

Now that Silvio Berlusconi's tax fraud conviction and four-year prison sentence have been upheld by Italy's highest court, key questions remain about what will happen next to the former Italian premier. Here are some answers.

Labor has locked in its last major policy priority before the coming election, clearing the decks for a poll that could be held as early as the first week of September.

Two spectres haunt Tony Abbott, the man who may yet cement the first two decades of the century as a Liberal golden age.

Counting is under way in Zimbabwe's tightly fought election, amid high turnout and accusations of rigging by President Robert Mugabe's allies who wish to extend his 33-year rule.

The Defence Force may have a legitimate role in maintaining the military strength of the nation but since when was its job to suppress information?

He is the face of the military coup that ousted President Mohammed Morsi and engineered the crackdown on the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.

Israel's Cabinet endorsed the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners, paving the way for the resumption of peace negotiations in Washington DC as early as tomorrow.

We're all grateful to nurses, doctors and surgeons when we need them and survive their attempts to kill us, writes Bob Jones.

This week Anthony Weiner, a candidate for mayor of New York and former Democratic Congressman, publicly admitted he's been sending lewd messages to strange women online.

In Australia the issue has become what humanitarian issues should never be - a political football kicked around by politicians desperate to win an election, writes Grant Bayldon.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has played to the politics of fear and xenophobia with his plan to exile asylum seekers to Papua New Guinea, writes Greg Ansley.

It is 8.30am in the favela in Rio de Janeiro that will receive Pope Francis on Friday, and men carrying weapons walk along what will be the Pontiff's path.

Jeered by protesters, human rights activists, jurists, Australia's Prime Minister yesterday refused to budge on his new PNG refugee policy.

Israel has said it will release "heavyweight" Palestinian prisoners as part of an agreement to enter preliminary talks in Washington.