Citing the possibility of a terrorist organization getting hold of a nuclear weapon as the greatest threat to U.S. security, Barack Obama persuaded 46 other countries at the recent Nuclear Security Summit to agree to secure the world's loose nuclear material. Those leaders who came to Washington might have made done more to avert a nuclear attack, however, if they had asked the U.S. President to account for America's own loose nukes.

Sydney has experienced its fifth warmest April on record with a month of balmy nights and little rain.

But don't put away the warm clothes just yet with predictions that winter is on the way; it's just running a little late.

The average April minimum temperature was 1 degree above the average of 16 degrees. Combined with high humidity and little wind, temperatures rose.

from the Mayne Report .....

There's nothing quite like a big court case between powerful media personalities so I've really enjoyed spending 9 hours over the last two days soaking up the damages action that sacked Herald Sun editor-in-chief Bruce Guthrie has brought against News Ltd in the Victorian Supreme Court.

What can possibly justify the relentless U.S. diplomatic (and mainstream media) assault on Iran?

The US Coast Guard is investigating reports that oil has started washing ashore on the Gulf Coast from a leaking offshore well.

Up to 5,000 barrels of oil a day are thought to be spilling into the water after last week's explosion on a BP-operated rig, which then sank.

President Barack Obama has pledged "every single available resource" to help.

The US navy has been deployed to help avert a looming environmental disaster.

The US Coast Guard said it had sent investigators to confirm whether crude oil had begun to wash up on parts of the Louisiana shoreline.

'Mind-boggling'

By LOUISE STORY and MICHAEL J. de la MERCED

AS NEWS spread that cigarette prices were on their way up, a tobacconist in St Marys saw a few more faces than usual.

''We really got busy'' in the afternoon, said the manager of the tobacconist Free Choice, Harshad Vekaria. ''People started knowing then.''

From midnight last night, the government increased tobacco taxes by 25 per cent, adding about $2.16 to a pack of 30 cigarettes.

Over four years the government expects this will generate an extra $5 billion, which it has pledged to invest in hospitals.

The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that the crisis in Greece could spread throughout Europe.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that every day lost in resolving Greece's problems risks spreading the impact "far away".

World financial markets, recovering slightly on Wednesday, have been badly hit by fears of contagion from Greece.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8648029.stm

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The U.S. and Israel have been acting in tandem to extend and deepen the occupation.  In 2005, recognizing that it was pointless to subsidize a few thousand Israeli settlers in Gaza, who were appropriating substantial resources and protected by a large part of the Israeli army, the government of Ariel Sharon decided to move them to the much more valuable West Bank and Golan Heights.

from Crikey .....

Rudd's and Wong's response to the 'great moral challenge': CPRS into the deep freeze

Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes:

from Crikey .....