Americans are a proud and patriotic people. They live in the world's only superpower. They have the highest standard of living in the world, measured by per-capita income. Today, however, they are perplexed, anxious. 

Rudd owes US popularity to Coalition: Opposition

The Federal Opposition has welcomed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's warm reception in the United States but says he owes a lot of it to the Coalition. 

Mr Rudd announced today he will seek a seat on the United Nations Security Council from 2013 after an absence of 22 years. 

The Iraqi army's offensive against the Shia militia of the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Basra is failing to make significant headway despite a pledge by the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to fight "to the end". 

from the Center for American Progress ….. 

From the New York Times ….. 

French First Lady More Than Tames British Press 

Was she the new Kennedy-Onassis or a reborn Diana? With her flat Dior pumps and calf-length gray overcoat, was she a high-school student on vacation, or, as one columnist asked, “Jackie O dressed as a nun”? 

The Pentagon needs two things to survive: war and oil. And it can’t make the first if it doesn’t have the second. In fact, the Pentagon’s methods of mass destruction - fighters, bombers, tanks, Humvees, and other vehicles - burn 75 percent of the fuel used by the DoD. For example, B-52 bombers consume 47,000 gallons per mission over Afghanistan.  

But don’t expect big oil (or even smaller petroplayers) to turn off the tap for peace. 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for France and Britain to open a new chapter in their long-fractious ties overnight, as he received a red-carpet welcome in London with his glamorous new wife. 

In a rare address to a joint session of the British houses of parliament, the French leader proposed that the traditional 'entente cordiale' between the two countries be transformed into more friendly relations. 

President Bush said Wednesday he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week in Russia to try to break a logjam between the two nations over a proposed U.S. missile defense system. 

''I think a lot of people in Europe would have a deep sigh of relief if we're able to reach an accord on missile defense,'' Bush said during a roundtable interview with foreign journalists. ''And hopefully we can.'' 

Cheney pledges support for Israel ...

Mr Cheney also plans to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank as part of efforts to reignite the peace process.... 

American Vice President Dick Cheney has given strong backing to Israel during a nine-day tour of the Middle East. 

As the American military death toll in Iraq reached 4,000, President Bush conferred yesterday with top U.S. officials in Washington and in Baghdad and vowed in a public statement that the outcome of the war "will merit the sacrifice." 

Letters to the Editor

The Times Editor,  

We're winning but the other side makes all the points.

The number of US soldiers to die in Iraq has reached 4000, the US military said on Monday, just days after the fifth anniversary of a war that President George Bush says the United States is on track to win. 

The US military said in a statement four soldiers were killed late on Sunday when a roadside bomb, the biggest killer of American soldiers in Iraq, exploded near their vehicle in southern Baghdad. One soldier was wounded in the attack. 

Dick Cheney, the US vice president, has met King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia with the soaring price of oil and instability in the region expected to be on the agenda. 

However, it is unclear whether Cheney will urge the leader of the world's largest oil exporter to increase output during the talks at the monarch's horse farm in Riyadh. 

Credit Suisse faced a double whammy of bad news yesterday, revealing it is almost certain to plunge into loss during the first quarter of this year and admitting a group of rogue traders in its London office had forced it to write down the value of its assets by SFr2.86bn (£1.43bn).