More than a quarter of adult Americans have left the faith of their childhood to join another religion or no religion, according to a survey of religious affiliation by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. 

Some leading businesswomen have expressed disappointment at the lack of female representation on the steering committee for the Federal Government's 2020 summit. 

Actress Cate Blanchett is the only woman named as part of the Government-appointed 10-member panel that will choose people to attend the summit in April. 

The Rudd Government has commissioned a defence white paper which could see a dramatic change in strategic priorities or at least in the way defence dollars are spent.

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon is also reviewing whether to proceed with a $6 billion plus contract for a fleet of new Super Hornet fighter jet aircraft from the United States.  

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been caught on camera swearing at a member of the crowd at the annual farming fair in Paris. 

Ralph Nader says he will run again as an independent for the US presidency. The anti-establishment consumer advocate made the announcement in a televised interview on Sunday. 

Mr Nader was accused by many Democrats of handing the presidency to George W Bush in the November 2000 elections. He ran again unsuccessfully in 2004. 

The Federal Opposition says Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is putting the bipartisan approach to Indigenous affairs at risk by making his first visit to an Aboriginal community today without Brendan Nelson. 

Mr Rudd and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin are looking at Aboriginal housing in Walgett in western New South Wales. 

China has defended its sale of weapons to Sudan, amid growing criticism of its alleged failure to help resolve the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. 

China's special envoy on Darfur told the BBC that Beijing accounted for just 8% of Sudan's total arms imports. 

The first Friday sitting of Federal Parliament has led to such chaos that the speaker suspended the proceedings for a 15 minute cooling off period. 

The row erupted when Liberal MP Steve Ciobo moved that there should be a Question Time every Friday, despite the Government's rule that there will be no Question Times and no divisions taken on Fridays. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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"...  

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.