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.

Helen Thomas, the irrepressible White House correspondent used her seat in the front row of history to grill 10 presidents.

Australia and Papua New Guinea have signed a new agreement that will allow the resettlement of asylum seekers in PNG under a regional arrangement, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said last night.

They're the faceless men, women and children Tony Abbott isn't so keen to talk about.