From the ABC .....

Howard rejects warning on greenhouse emissions

Prime Minister John Howard has dismissed calls for Australia to cut its greenhouse emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 in order to combat the effects of global warming.

The suggestions were made in a report commissioned by the Business Roundtable on Climate Change, comprising companies such as BP, the Visy Corporation and Westpac Bank.

From the ABC .....

Govt has learnt lessons from Katrina, Bush says. 

As the first anniversary of hurricane Katrina approaches, US President George W Bush has promised Americans that his administration has learnt its lessons from the storm.

US authorities have warned that if the same storm were to hit New Orleans today, the city's levees would again fail.

Abbott remains unconvinced of stem cell benefits ….

Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott says there is no convincing evidence that therapeutic cloning will lead to a medical breakthrough in the treatment of diseases.

Liberal Senator Kay Patterson is developing a Bill to overturn a ban on therapeutic cloning, and the Prime Minister says he will allow a free vote on the issue.

Mr Abbott has told the ABC's Insiders program that despite the findings of the Lockhart review on stem cell research, [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200608/s1719247.htm|hedoes not think changes should be made].

From the ABC …..

Manufacturing tariffs to stay in China FTA

The Federal Industry Minister has ruled out abolishing import tariffs in the automotive and clothing industries as part of a free trade agreement with China.

It is expected Chinese negotiators will push for import tariffs to be cut to allow China to sell more products in the Australian market.

From the ABC …..

Communications Minister Helen Coonan says the Government will not necessarily go ahead with the final sale of Telstra.

Telstra has decided not to proceed with a new $4 billion broadband technology expansion, saying it would not be viable to invest in a fibre-to-the-node network under the current government regulations.

Senator Coonan says the Government will now look at the best way to move ahead with Telstra.

From the ABC …..

Coalition rules out cutting petrol excise.

The federal Coalition party room meeting has ended without coming up with a solution to high petrol prices.

Many MPs and senators say their constituents are angry about the extra dollars they have to spend because petrol costs have risen so much.

But in their first gathering since the winter break, they have decided there is little the Federal Government can do to ease the pain.

Blair signs climate pact with Schwarzenegger .....

California deal paves way to joining EU scheme
Agreement represents snub to White House

Patrick Wintour, political editor
Tuesday August 1, 2006
The Guardian

ony Blair yesterday sidestepped the Bush administration's refusal to act on climate change by signing what was hailed as a ground-breaking agreement with California, the world's 12th largest carbon emitter, to fight global warming.

‘The rage and extremism of the Islamic militants in Lebanon and the occupied territories in the West Bank and Gaza appear incomprehensible to the outside world. The wanton murder, the raw anti-Semitism, the callous disregard for human life, including the lives of children and other innocents, permit those on the outside to thrust these militant fighters in another moral universe, to certify them as incomprehensible.

But this branding of these militants as something less than human, as something that reasonable people cannot hope to understand, is possible only because we have ignored and disregarded the decades of repression, the crushing weight of occupation, the abject humiliation and violence, unleashed on Lebanese and Palestinians by Israel because of our silence and indifference. It is the Israeli penchant for violence and occupation that slowly created and formed these frightening groups.