The NSW government has bulldozed opposition to more mines, with new rules that put economic benefits – including to the state coffers – above all else.

The gambling industry has emerged from an era of failed reforms with campaigners on the payroll, politicians in its pocket, and four new casinos in the offing …

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was poisoned to death in 2004 with radioactive polonium, his widow Suha said on Wednesday after receiving the results of Swiss forensic tests on her husband's corpse.

"We are revealing a real crime, a political assassination," she said.

from john pilger …..

The Brutal Past and Present are Another Country in Secret Australia

from politicoz …..

The government's new media strategy – explain as little as possible – is now causing considerable disquiet among journalists.

The financial fallout from a spate of corruption inquiries is beginning to hit crooked former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid.

from new matilda ….

What Americans don't know and don't understand is quite an obstacle to progress.

If you think the widening chasm between the rich and the rest spells trouble for American democracy, have a look at the growing gulf between the information-rich and-poor.

Justification for airport detention of partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald alarms human rights groups and Tory MP

The detention of the partner of a former Guardian journalist has triggered fresh concerns after it emerged that a key reason cited by police for holding him under terrorism powers was the belief that he was promoting a "political or ideological cause".

from peter fitzsimons …..

It's about the Pope's move last week to dismiss German Bishop Franz-Peter Terbatz-van Telst of Limburg, after finding out he'd spent no less than 31 million euros on his private residence. An admirable move, one might think, given that this Pope's motif seems to be simplicity and humility

"We do not kill our cattle the way the US is killing humans in Waziristan with drones." - Rafiq ur Rehman

Rupert Murdoch says Australia needs to embrace high immigration to add dynamism to the economy, enhance its human capital and create strong bonds with the rest of the world.

from new matilda …..

The rest of the world agrees that Tony Abbott's climate policy is crap. Standing firm on the carbon tax is Bill Shorten's chance to prove he's PM material, writes Ben Eltham

from politicoz ….

Thanks to cost cutting measures, two of the most loathed bureaucracies in Australia could merge – and drive users of their services to a state of apoplexy