Independent Senator Nick Xenophon says his bid to defer a vote on an emissions trading scheme is not designed to delay action on climate change.

He wants debate on the scheme to be pushed back to the next sitting period in August to allow more economic modelling to be done.

Senator Xenophon says the Parliament should consider alternative designs for the scheme that would have less economic impact.

But he says a decision should be made during the next sitting week.

A confidential record of a meeting between President Bush and Tony Blair before the invasion of Iraq, outlining their intention to go to war without a second United Nations resolution, will be an explosive issue for the official inquiry into the UK's role in toppling Saddam Hussein.

At more than $15 billion, the F-35 fleet will be the single largest purchase of any kind by an Australian government since Federation.The yet-to-be-completed F-35 has been plagued by cost overruns and delays, but it has retained the solid support of both the RAAF and Dr Nelson, who says it is easily the best, most cost-effective option for Australia's strategic requirements.

then ....

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has challenged the opposition to prove claims that he abused his position to help a friend's car-dealing business.

Mr Rudd said opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull must resign if he fails to produce an e-mail on which the claims are based by Monday afternoon.
Mr Turnbull has called for the prime minister to stand down, accusing him of lying to parliament over the issue.

"They have used their offices & taxpayers' resources to seek advantage for one of their mates & then lied about it to the Parliament."

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday that the BRIC economies are a factor of stability and growth amid the global economic crisis when commenting on the first BRIC summit meeting in Russia earlier this week, according to local media reports. Singh told Indian journalists that there was a need for reforming the present systems of global governance and international financial system.

He expressed his hope that the BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- would not remain only a "talk-shop" and they would work together so that their voice is heard in the global arena.

And yet, broadly speaking, Obama has been lying on a pretty impressive scale. You just have to get past his grandiloquent rhetoric - usually empty of substance - to get a handle on it. I offer a short, incomplete list, which I'm sure others could easily enlarge.

It isn't quite fair to call Barack Obama a liar. During the campaign he carefully avoided committing to much of anything important that he might have to take back later. For now, I won't quibble with The St. Petersburg Times's Obamameter, which so far has the president keeping 30 promises and breaking only six.

A Republican Senator who once denounced President Bill Clinton for his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky has confessed to an affair with a campaign aide whose husband also worked for him.

John Ensign of Nevada, 51, an evangelical Christian who had presidential ambitions, read out a statement in which he admitted to having "violated the vows of our marriage" to his wife Darlene.

President Barack Obama, referring to the violent attacks on protesters against the controversial election results in Iran's just-completed presidential election, this week lectured Iran's government, saying, "Peaceful dissent should never be subject to violence."

Referring to the tens and hundreds of thousands of frustrated and angry Iranians who have taken to the streets accusing Iranian authorities of rigging the election in favor of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Obama said that "the Iranian people and their voices should be heard and respected."

from Crikey .....

 Mulrunji inquest reopens ... to tell us what we don't know

 National Indigenous Times editor Chris Graham writes:

Given what we know already from leaks, the secrecy surrounding the Chilcot Iraq inquiry is as absurd as it is scandalous.

There really is no legitimate reason now for any of the inquiry into the invasion of Iraq to be held in private. Extremely sensitive information, intelligence material in particular, has already been disclosed, either here or in the US, by official inquiries or leaks.

In his long-awaited policy speech on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the creation of a Palestinian state - but only on condition that it was demilitarised, with no army, no control of its air space and no way of smuggling in weapons.

And he refused to halt the expansion of Israeli settlements, which US President Barack Obama demanded earlier this month in Cairo should be stopped. Netanyahu said settlers were not "enemies of peace" and that he backed the "natural growth" in existing settlements.

from Crikey .....

There's plenty Rudd could do about CBA's gouging

Adam Schwab writes:

A Pandemic Emergency Committee meeting in Sydney has left Australia's influenza alert at the contain level, despite the World Health Organisation declaring the swine flu virus a global pandemic.

Victoria's alert level was upgraded to 'modified sustain' last week.

More than 1,300 people have been confirmed as having swine flu in Australia; six people diagnosed with the virus are in hospital but underlying medical conditions may have exacerbated the virus's effect on them.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon says there is no need to cancel sporting events and other public gatherings.