Morris Iemma was battling an escalating corruption scandal last night that threatened to draw in two of his most senior ministers and to bring down one of the state's biggest Labor-controlled councils. 

US Stock prices closed substantially higher overnight despite sizeable swings on Wall Street. 

The oil price has been to fresh record highs above $US100 a barrel, raising concern about an impact on corporate earnings. New inflation figures also put share prices under pressure early on.

An estimated half a million Optus Mobile customers were affected by a network outage last night, with only one in three calls reaching intended recipients.

A spokesman for Optus customer service said the outage was due to a problem with Optus' "HLR" (Home Locator Register) system, which routes the calls being made.

Americans traditionally thought of their country as a "city upon a hill," a "light unto the world." Today only the deluded think that. Polls show that the rest of the world regards the US and Israel as the two greatest threats to peace.  

If there were a prize for the world's sulkiest state, it would surely go to Russia. 

Enter the Kremlin, and you get an overwhelming sense of a great power that has been deeply offended. 

from Crikey ….. 

New Attorney-General just like the old one 

Greg Barns writes: 

The secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) says the Liberals' backflip on Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) means very little. 

The Coalition had said that WorkChoices was dead, but it would fight to keep AWAs in place. 

Every year in mid-February, tens of millions of Americans take the Monday off in celebration of the presidency.

And while the average civics teacher will tell you that we do not appreciate our national political heritage nearly enough, the typical American is not only too respectful of the presidency on this day; he is far too enamored of the institution all year round.  

Senior federal Liberals "spilling their guts" about the Howard government's downfall is degrading, outspoken former Victorian Liberal premier Jeff Kennett says. 

Mr Kennett said he would not watch tonight's ABC television Four Corners program, in which senior Liberals tell of the former Howard government's final weeks. 

Kevin Rudd has again been forced to defend his past contact with disgraced former WA premier Brian Burke.

The federal opposition has accused Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of having a 'chatty, intimate' relationship with disgraced former Western Australian premier Brian Burke. 

To some extent, I feel for our "Aussie Tony"...  

Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday. 

The US military conducts regular focus groups in five Iraqi cities. In December, right before Christmas, the Washington Post reported what the military was finding: 

President George Bush cited the London July 7 bombings in an interview broadcast last night to justify his support for waterboarding, an interrogation technique widely regarded as torture. 

In an interview with the BBC he said information obtained from alleged terrorists helped save lives, and the families of the July 7 victims would understand that. Bush said waterboarding, which simulates drowning, was not torture and is threatening to veto a congressional bill that would ban it. 

President Bush says Africa has been one of his foreign policy priorities. 

US President George W Bush has defended his decision not to send troops to the Sudanese region of Darfur, despite what he calls a genocide taking place there.