Australia’s prime minister-elect today said he would pull his country’s combat troops out of Iraq by mid-2008 – setting a timetable for the withdrawal he has promised previously.

Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd named his Cabinet today, choosing a woman to be Australia’s deputy leader for the first time and former Midnight Oil rock singer Peter Garrett as environment minister.

Signing the Kyoto Protocol on climate change topped the agenda for the new Australian leader Kevin Rudd as he began work today after sweeping to power at weekend elections.

Prime minister John Howard faced the humiliating prospect of losing his seat in Parliament, as well as his grip on power, in Australia’s elections today.

Australians were voting today in elections that pit a four-term prime minister selling his economic management record against a new-age challenger who rates global warming as his number one priority.

AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister John Howard, pictured, battled yesterday to contain a last-minute scandal ahead of weekend elections, after campaigners for his Liberal Party were exposed distributing pamphlets accusing the opposition of sympathizing with terrorists.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard launched his general election campaign today with a pledge to provide massive tax breaks for people saving for their first home.

Australian prime minister John Howard today called a general election for November 24 that will decide the fate of his 11-year reign and whether Australia will start bringing home its troops from Iraq.

Aborigines greeted Australian Prime Minister John Howard's surprise plan to give constitutional recognition to the country's indigenous people with mixed views today, with many calling it a stunt ahead of elections.

FIRST he thanks Australian Prime Minister John Howard for sending troops to Iraq. Then he says English is his “second language” and how happy he is to be at the OPEC summit meeting (instead of APEC).

Prime Minister John Howard today said he would retire before the end of his next three-year term in Australia if he wins elections this year.

Pacific Rim leaders today pledged political will and flexibility to rescue faltering global trade talks after forging an agreement to curb climate change they hope will influence a new global strategy on the problem.

President Bush today defended his build-up of forces in Iraq and pledged to “hang in there” with Iraqis despite calls from Congress to get troops home.

World leaders attending an annual Pacific Rim summit will call for urgent progress in stalled global trade talks, according to a draft statement, but their officials struggled today to find consensus on another issue – climate change.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has announced an independent inquiry in to the outbreak of Equine Influenza.

AUSTRALIA’S Aborigines renewed calls for official recognition of past injustices yesterday after a court awarded an Aboriginal man A$525,000 (€329,500) for being taken from his family 50 years ago.

Late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwim is set to be posthumously honoured with an Australian wildlife reserve in his name.

Australian police searched a home in Perth today as an Indian doctor was charged in connection with the attempted bomb attacks in London and Glasgow.

Australian police charged an Indian doctor today with providing reckless support to a terrorist organisation by giving his mobile phone SIM card to two of the suspects in the failed British bomb attacks.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard today defended his government’s warnings that a terrorist attack in Indonesia may be imminent, despite officials saying there was no direct intelligence a strike was being planned.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard insisted oil had nothing to do with Australia’s involvement in the Iraq war, contradicting his defence minister who said protecting Iraq’s oil supplies was one of his country’s motivations for keeping troops there.

Police in Australia arrested an Indian doctor in connection with the foiled terror attacks in London and Glasgow as he tried to leave the country and were interviewing a second doctor in the case, officials said today.

An eighth suspect wanted in connection with the terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow was arrested in Australia, a television network reported today.

AUSTRALIA will ban alcohol and pornography in Aboriginal communities across the country’s vast Northern Territory to combat widespread child sexual abuse, Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday.

POLICE in Melbourne have launched a massive manhunt after a man who tried to rescue a woman being dragged by her hair was shot dead yesterday.

Taj Aldin al-Hilali attracted controversy instead of friends, said senior Muslim leader Rehin Ghauri.

Australia’s top Islamic cleric, who triggered a furore last year when he referred to women without head scarves as “uncovered meat,” stepped down today, prompting Muslim leaders to appoint a new mufti.

OIL is a key factor in keeping Australian troops in the US-led war in Iraq, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said yesterday, before his boss Prime Minister John Howard sharply contradicted him.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard today vowed to lead his conservative government to elections this year against a surging opposition, while admitting opinion polls suggest his government will be “annihilated”.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said his pledge to pave the way for nuclear power was not politically risky because the public understands that atomic energy is necessary to combat global warming.

There was harsh condemnation for US gun control laws today following the shootings at Virginia Tech university yesterday.

Prime Minister John Howard today said people with HIV should not be allowed to migrate to Australia and that the government was investigating whether it could tighten existing restrictions.

An Australian who pleaded guilty to supporting terrorism was sentenced to nine months in prison after becoming the first detainee convicted by military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay.

Zimbabwe’s African neighbours must pressure President Robert Mugabe to resign, says Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Japan and Australia today signed a security pact to boost an increasingly close defence relationship, while the countries’ premiers downplayed concerns that the pact was directed specifically at China or other countries in the region.

At least 23 people were killed today when a packed Indonesian plane burst into flames as it landed on Java island.

At least 49 people were reported to have been killed and more than 90 injured when an Indonesian passenger plane carrying more than 140 people burst into flames as it landed on Java island early today.

US vice-president Dick Cheney today renewed Washington’s warning to Iran that “all options” were on the table if the country continued to defy UN-led efforts to get the country to abandon its nuclear programs.

AUSTRALIA has announced plans to ban traditional light bulbs in a move Prime Minister John Howard called a practical step toward slowing climate change.

Australia’s leader defended his verbal attack on US presidential candidate Barak Obama today, after American politicians condemned it as interfering and Australian critics said it could harm the two countries’ ties.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard today announced a major Cabinet reshuffle ahead of federal elections later this year, signalling climate change as a key issue but standing firm on his support of the Iraq war.

Senior Russian defense ministry official Vladimir Shamanov said today that more US troops in Iraq “won’t be able to radically change the situation with ensuring peace and security".

Australia’s Parliament today lifted a ban on cloning human embryos for stem cell research despite opposition from the prime minister and other party leaders.

Elton John has criticised Australian Prime Minister John Howard's position on gay marriage.