Weather records are falling as rapidly as the rain in Sydney, meteorologists say.

Sydney has experienced its wettest March and April in 21 years, with a total of 371 millimetres of rain - nearly 30 millimetres of which fell in the last 24 hours, Josh Fisher of weatherzone.com.au said.

A third of the average annual total of 1213 millimetres of rain has already fallen this year, with the wet weather expected to persist for the next one or two months as the La Nina pattern tapers off.

Misrata has come under attack by Libyan government forces attempting to retake the besieged city.

Three people were reportedly killed as missiles slammed into the city's port, a lifeline for those seeking to escape to the rebel stronghold Benghazi.

Nato is enforcing a UN resolution to protect civilians in Libya amid a two-month revolt inspired by other uprisings in the Arab world.

The UN Security Council is meeting to discuss a statement on the unrest.

BEIJING: The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has emerged from top-level talks to declare ''the relationship with China is in good shape'', despite pushing Australia's concerns about businessmen detained in Chinese jails.

Ms Gillard squarely raised questions about the Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu and tourism entrepreneur Matthew Ng, who has been charged but not prosecuted in Guangzhou, and also won plaudits for stabilising the relationship and focusing on its economic strengths.

''My argument today is that we can be positive about our relationship and that we should be ambitious for its future,'' Ms Gillard told business leaders in a speech last night.

DARNAH, Libya — For more than five years, Abu Sufian Ibrahim Ahmed Hamuda bin Qumu was a prisoner at the Guantánamo Bay prison, judged “a probable member of Al Qaeda” by the analysts there. They concluded in a newly disclosed 2005 assessment that his release would represent a “medium to high risk, as he is likely to pose a threat to the U.S., its interests and allies.”

The Crown Prince of Bahrain was last night forced to pull out of attending the wedding, hours before he had been due to fly in to London, amid anger over his role in the Gulf state's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.

Human rights activists had pledged to disrupt Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa's stay in Britain with a series of protests, insisting that he is the chief architect of the Saudi-backed security forces' violent response to the demonstrators, which has left up to 31 people dead...

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The office of Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie has confirmed he said Opposition Leader Tony Abbott would make a good Prime Minister.

Mr Wilkie is quoted in News Limited papers as declaring support for Mr Abbott's potential.

A spokeswoman says Mr Wilkie repaired his relationship with Mr Abbott last year.

Mr Wilkie has repeatedly threatened to withdraw support for the Federal Government if there is not progress towards putting restrictions on poker machines.

Asked about his comments, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she would keep working with Mr Wilkie on problem gambling.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s experimental effort to spur a recovery by purchasing vast quantities of federal debt has pumped up the stock market, reduced the cost of American exports and allowed companies to borrow money at lower interest rates.

From Elizabeth Farrelly

It may be, as one correspondent wrote last week, that advertising works on the "80/80 principle", the assumption that 80 per cent of Australians have an IQ average of 80. Now I'm fine with stupidity in advertising. Indeed, I expect nothing less - isn't that why God gave us the mute button? But what makes the 80/80 thought especially gripping - as in, by the throat - is how much it explains that branch of advertising we call politics.

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It had been a term of endearment which had cemented links with her Greek heritage and first adorned her cars more than five years ago following a loving gift from her husband.

But the nickname Kiki, given to lawyer Kristen Perry before she could even walk, has now put her in hot water with the Roads and Traffic Authority because her number plate also translates into a term for female genitals in the Filipino language of Tagalog.

''I rang my father last night and said: 'Do you know you have been calling me vagina all my life?','' she said.

From the Drum / ABC

By Scott Stephens

There is no surer way of bringing the simmering debate about the role of religion in Australia to a full boil than by invoking the money and tax concessions given by government to fund certain religious activities.

But under the current arrangement, because of the top-down provision of government funds, the mediation of state-level providers (such as Scripture Union), the lack of adequately (by which I mean theologically and pastorally) trained chaplains, and the concern to avoid the appearance of publicly-funded "proselytising," the relationship between the chaplain and the school is marred from the outset.

artwork on a wall in newtown...

The case about global warming scheduled to be argued on Tuesday before the Supreme Court is a blockbuster. Eight states — from California to New York, plus New York City — sued six corporations responsible for one-fourth of the American electric power industry’s emissions of carbon dioxide.

Gus toon from ages ago...

The minutes of a series of meetings between ministers and senior oil executives are at odds with the public denials of self-interest from oil companies and Western governments at the time.

The documents were not offered as evidence in the ongoing Chilcot Inquiry into the UK's involvement in the Iraq war. In March 2003, just before Britain went to war, Shell denounced reports that it had held talks with Downing Street about Iraqi oil as "highly inaccurate". BP denied that it had any "strategic interest" in Iraq, while Tony Blair described "the oil conspiracy theory" as "the most absurd".

Corporations are roaring. Wall Street is rolling in cash. C.E.O. bonuses are going gangbusters. It’s a really good time to be rich!

If you’re poor, not so much. The pall of the recession is suffocating. The unemployment rate is still unbearably high. The Census Bureau reported in September that the poverty rate for 2009 was 14.3 percent, higher than it has been since 1994, and the number of uninsured reached a record high. And the Department of Agriculture has reported record “prevalence of food insecurity.”