Australia

The Country Liberals candidate for Lingiari has declined to participate in a debate on Alice Springs local radio tomorrow.

Australia's election rivals have faced off in an occasionally heated second election debate, less than three weeks before the polls.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia came in for sharp criticism on Monday over his performance in the first leadership debate of the federal election campaign, with opponents publicly accusing him of having cheated by using notecards.

Australia's Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and opposition leader Tony Abbott have sparred over the economy and immigration in the first televised debate of the election campaign.