An Australian election candidate who thought Islam was a country has stepped down.

REPUBLICAN Sarah Palin has said she is still considering a potential 2012 presidential run, though her daughter said she has already made up her mind and is keeping the decision secret for now.

MPs from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s new Kadima party held their first formal meeting today, sketching out broad policy goals including peaceful co-existence between Israel and a future Palestinian state, but stopping short of adopting a detailed party platform.

Former right wing political leader Pauline Hanson has won her release from prison with a court ruling in Brisbane today overturning a fraud conviction and three-year jail sentence imposed in August.

PAULINE Hanson, the former right-wing Australian politician, was jailed for three years yesterday for fraudulently setting up her One Nation party and illegally using electoral funds.

Pauline Hanson, who founded Australia’s right-wing One Nation Party, today resigned as its leader saying she needed to concentrate on fighting fraud charges.

A decision by a branch of Prime Minister John Howard’s Liberal Party to do election deals with the anti-Asian One Nation Party could spread nationally, a Government lawmaker warned today.