Hundreds of people have gathered in kayaks and small boats for a protest in the north-western US port city of Seattle against oil drilling in the Arctic by the Shell energy giant.

Paddle in Seattle is being held by activists who say the firm's drilling will damage the environment.

It comes after the first of Shell's two massive oil rigs arrived at the port.

The firm wants to move them in the summer to explore for oil off Alaska's northern coast.

Earlier this week, Shell won conditional approval from the US Department of Interior for oil exploration in the Arctic.

Chevron: A hornswoggler of the highest order

Unlike a Shell, a Caltex or a BP, Chevron is hardly a household name in this country. It soon will be though. 

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been accused of making a "calamitous captain's call" for deciding to throw his support behind a plan to set up another Australian medical school.

There is much speculation about US Secretary of State John Kerry’s rush visit to Russia in the wake of Russia’s successful Victory Day celebration on May 9. On May 11, Kerry, who was snubbing Russia on the 9th, was on his way to Russia, and Putin consented to see him on May 12.

Five major international banks are expected to plead guilty as soon as next week to criminal charges in the US related to their deliberate manipulation of global foreign exchange markets, which allowed them to rake in billions of dollars at the expense of retirees, university endowments and municipalities.

Just as Labor refuses to accept any responsibility for the fiscal handicap the country now faces, the [Abbott] Government resolutely refuses to concede that its performance on debt and deficit is no better.

from The Monthly by Robert Manne

With a tiger's pounce that blindsided everyone, George Brandis has moved ruthlessly to carve out his own arts fiefdom. But in doing so, he has taken on an industry with a loud voice, writes Ben Eltham.

Counter-terrorism advisers and Muslim community leaders have raised serious concerns about Prime Minister Tony Abbott's obsessive use of the phrase "death cult" to describe Islamic State, saying it is counter-productive, ineffective and does some of the terror group's marketing for them.

Of all the existential threats to the Australian way of life, none seem to have captured the Prime Minister's attention like the "death cult", otherwise known as Islamic State, ISIL or ISIS.

Politicians love a sporting analogy. Only war (the one waged on drugs, for example) gives sport a run for its money in the political metaphor stakes.

Peppering your speech with sporting references is seen as a way of avoiding that most unforgivable of political sins: appearing out of touch with the "average punter". Just think of Tony Abbott's "captain's calls" or Julie Bishop praising the PM for his talents in the "change rooms".

....

"It's not unlike, you know, the way that a prop forward takes the ball up," said the Cronulla Sharks diehard.

Treasury officials will not be interrogated about the Abbott government's much-anticipated second budget this year by Australia's chief economists.