The first test of Prime Minister Rudd’s new asylum policy is floating near Christmas Island – US President Barack Obama puts a controversial court case into personal terms – And the risks of living under Sharia Law confront a westerner in Dubai.

A boatload of asylum seekers has reportedly been detected off Christmas Island, apparently the first since PM Kevin Rudd signed the agreement to send all future asylum seekers to Papua New Guinea.  The 90 people believed to be involved will be given health checks and then transferred to PNG within two weeks.

US President Barack Obama has made his most extensive comments on the trial that has divided America.  In a surprise appearance in a news briefing, Mr. Obama said that “Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago”.  Martin was the unarmed, African American 17-year old gunned down in Florida by a self-styled “neighborhood watch” white man who was found not guilty of murder even though he admitted starting the confrontation.  The president said America is striving to be a “more perfect union” but isn’t there yet.

A judge is refusing Detroit’s bankruptcy bid, saying it violates the US State of Michigan’s constitution.  The judge ruled that bankruptcy threatens civic workers’ pension benefits, and the conservative republican governor who approved it has no authority to do that.  The bankruptcy plan was to have the governor’s appointed manager liquidate the decaying city’s assets to the highest bidders.  Detroit is A$19.6 Billion in the hole after decades of mismanagement, state and federal inattention, and a business climate more interested in off-shoring jobs than rehabilitating cities.

Israel and the Palestinians could be ready to re-launch peace talks.  So says US Secretary of State John Kerry after days of meetings with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The last round of direct talks broke down nearly three years ago over the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been released from jail, less than 24 hours after being sentenced to five years in prison on what he calls trumped-up embezzlement charges.  Navalny is appealing the case.  His conviction on Thursday brought thousands on to the streets in Moscow and other cities, some right outside the walls of the Kremlin.

A Norwegian woman in Dubai reported to police she was raped, and wound up convicted of having sex outside marriage and sentenced to 16 months in jail.  The case is disappointingly similar to that of Alicia Gali in 2008, the Australian woman who was also sentenced to prison for having sex outside marriage despite the obvious evidence of rape.  That case set of international condemnation of Sharia Law.  Interior designer Marte Deborah Dalelv says she’s appealing the case.

FIFA says the cheapest tickets for international fans attending the World Cup in Brazil will start at A$99 for initial group matches to A$480 for the final.  Brazilians, millions of whom staged nationwide protests against the high cost of staging the games, will pay much less: A$16 for students, seniors, and those on social welfare programs, A$33 for the rest.  Tickets go on sale from 20 August.