From Bente Lilja Bye

Believe in global warming?

Until last week Occupy Oakland took up about as much space in the national consciousness as Occupy Tulsa.

But then, last Wednesday, the Oakland Police Department tried to end the occupation in a violent clash that lead to the injury of Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen. As a result, Occupy Oakland saw an explosion of bodies and attention unseen at any camp elsewhere in the world.

In early May this year, two Dutch men reported a murder to their local police station in the city of Tilburg.

"There is a murderer who has admitted the deed on television and who dumped the evidence at sea," one of the men apparently said.

The "murder" in question referred to the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy Seals. By all accounts the Dutch men's actions in going to the police were not at all tongue-in-cheek, but completely serious.

Police across the state will be told this afternoon to stop issuing fines for minor traffic offences indefinitely  following the government's announcement it plans to slash compensation for officers injured in the line of duty.

The Police Association of NSW is planning to send a directive to all 16,000 members this afternoon encouraging them to launch "go slow" industrial action.

Police officers will be told to avoid work that collects revenue for the government.

Instead of giving tickets, they will give verbal warnings.

Results of a new poll commissioned by the European Commission show that Israel is believed by Europeans in 15 countries to be the greatest threat to world peace, greater than North Korea, Iran or Afghanistan.

While the European Commission will release the full results of the poll on Monday, the International Herald Tribune reported that the 7,500 people polled living in the European Union (500 in each of the 15 E.U. member states) were presented with a list of 15 countries and asked if these countries present a threat to world peace. Shockingly, Israel was rated first.

A senior ALP faction leader branded Rupert Murdoch's News Limited "a threat to democracy" today as the feud between the newspaper group and the Government intensified.

Left faction convenor Doug Cameron's extraordinary outburst was sparked by a story in News Limited's Daily Telegraph reporting that former PM Kevin Rudd is being urged by his backers to challenge Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Senator Cameron said he would take a motion to Labor caucus seeking to widen the existing inquiry into the media to look specifically at News Limited's "absolute hatred" of Labor.

THE FALLOUT from Unesco's decision [yesterday] to admit Palestine as a full member has been swift and dramatic. Out of 173 votes cast on the issue, 107 were for Palestine's inclusion, and only 14 were actively against it.

Unesco (the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) might seem an unimportant agency, given that its main duty is to preserve historical sites. But it was a symbolic victory for the Palestinian UN statehood bid, and it is deemed likely to have a domino effect. Here's how the world has reacted so far:

"welcome to the land of the not-so-free sex" automated translation by google*

Dear 'Shooty',

I've just watched our Prime Minister talking about shared Commonwealth values in Perth. My mind turned at once to you and your solitary, late-night death in Villawood detention centre last week.

The decision by Qantas to ground its fleet will inflict lasting damage on its brand and see the airline lose customers, says a marketing expert

The move by Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce, to ground the Qantas fleet around the world, will cause significant damage to the brand, regardless of his motives for doing so.

Branding is all about perception, rather than some objective reality. And the key to branding is trust. This move has the potential to further erode trust in the "flying kangaroo" among its key audiences, including business travellers and the government.

In the hit Broadway musical How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, a young window washer discovers a book that tells him the secrets to climbing the corporate ladder.

If such a book were to exist in Australia, it would be short, consisting of one sentence: ''Become the CEO of a company with monopoly power.''

Australia's top 10 biggest companies, by the value of their shares listed on the ASX, comprise four banks, three mining companies, a telecommunications company, a shopping centre owner and a grocery store.

A highly critical report into the moral standards of bankers has been suppressed by St Paul's Cathedral amid fears that it would inflame tensions over the Occupy London tent protest.

The report, based on a survey of 500 City workers who were asked whether they thought they were worth their lucrative salaries and bonuses, was due to be published last Thursday, the day that the Canon Chancellor of St Paul's, Giles Fraser, resigned in protest at the church's tough stance.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Qantas Airways grounded all of its aircraft around the world indefinitely on Saturday due to ongoing strikes by its workers.

The Australian carrier's entire fleet of 108 aircraft will remain grounded until unions representing pilots, mechanics and other ground staff reach an agreement with the airline over pay and conditions, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce told a news conference in Sydney.

"We have decided to ground the Qantas international and domestic fleets immediately," Joyce said.

Flights already in the air when the announcement was made were to continue to their destinations.

"I mean there's a lot of jokes about, you know, mother-in-laws," he told PM.

"Well they're funny, but they're not really funny. I mean there is a mechanism in there.

"You know, when you've got everybody living on top of each other and getting on each other's nerves, kids get on parent's nerves, parents irritate kids.

"I mean, you've got to understand when you've got 15 people in a house the result is just dreadful ... and that can be fixed tomorrow."

Women at the rally said his lack of awareness was disheartening from a long-serving Member of Parliament.

Domestic violence expert Betty Taylor has written reports for the Government on the issue.