Invoking extraordinary powers granted after the 1929 stock market crash, the government seized control of the insurance giant American International Group to preserve a crucial bulwark of the global financial system. 

The move to lend the Wall Street giant up to $85 billion in exchange for nearly 80 percent of its stock effectively nationalizes one of the central institutions in the crisis that has swept through markets this month. 

Ousted Liberal leader Brendan Nelson has stood by his decision to hold a leadership spill and has pledged to get behind the newly-elected Malcolm Turnbull. 

At a media conference with his wife at his side, the at times emotional Dr Nelson also said he would not seek or accept a position on the frontbench. 

The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department struggled yesterday to contain the fallout from an upheaval among the country's largest investment banks as they moved on to their next challenge - engineering a $75 billion private rescue of the nation's largest insurance company. 

But if he is unworried about God getting a foot in the Royal Society's door, many other fellows find recent developments troubling. 

Belated applause for a stand up comic... 

I laugh sometimes at the SUPERB hypocritical aplomb of the Liberal Party's personnel....  

It does not diminish Freddoso’s accomplishment to say that The Case Against Barack Obama is a perfect companion to Reason editor Matt Welch’s anti-McCain book, McCain: The Myth of a Maverick.  

Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are confronting a sharply abbreviated general election campaign season, the product of the late nominating conventions and a boom in early voting in tightly contested states.

This shortened timetable is forcing both campaigns to recalibrate the pace of television advertisements, accelerate voter turnout operations and tailor the candidates’ travelling schedules to accommodate states where voting is imminent. 

The new Premier Nathan Rees has made a guarantee to the people of NSW - he will work every waking hour between now and the next election to give taxpayers the standard of services they deserve. 

At a media conference after being sworn in as NSW Premier after the sudden departure of Morris Iemma today, he agreed that he was short on parliamentary experience but said that he brought a lot of life experience to the job. 

Outgoing New South Wales premier Morris Iemma has announced he is leaving politics altogether. 

At a press conference to explain his reasons for leaving his position as premier, he said he was also resigning as member for Lakemba to concentrate on being a husband and father. 

Senator McCain, 72, touted what he said were decades of working across the political aisle to solve problems, contrasting his record with that of Democratic nominee Barack Obama whom he faces in November's election.

'That's how I will govern as president. I will reach out my hand to anyone to help me get this country moving again,' he said.

Greens Leader Bob Brown has accused Family First Senator Steve Fielding of inexperience for killing off the luxury car tax bill before it could be further debated. 

Senator Fielding sided with the Opposition this morning to oppose the bill, which would have raised taxes on cars over $57,000 from 25 per cent to 33 per cent. 

The world arrived here more than a century ago with the gold rush and later the railroad. Yet one aspect of American life did not come to town until 1996, the year Sarah Palin ran for mayor and Wasilla got its first local lesson in wedge politics. 

Palin's daughter is pregnant, get over it. 

The 17-year-old daughter of Alaska governor Sarah Palin is pregnant. If not for the fact that Senator John McCain has chosen Palin to be his running mate, would we care? I doubt it. 

Russia's conflict with Georgia is the sign of a 'weak' Russian nation, not a newly assertive one, and Moscow now has put its place in the world order at risk, the top U.S. diplomat for relations with the country said in an interview yesterday. 

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone is to work as a consultant for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. 

Mr Livingstone, who has long been a supporter of Mr Chavez, will advise pro-government mayors in the capital Caracas on urban planning.