The Gillard government hoped to turn the asylum-seeker impasse to its advantage but the plan was doomed.

Thursday's cabinet debate on asylum seekers was the first big, long, hard-fought cabinet argument of the Gillard prime ministership. And the most important person in the debate wasn't even in the room.

The entire discussion, broken into two meetings and running close to three hours in all, was held in anticipation of how Tony Abbott would react to any government decision. And the final decision was made on the same basis.

Papua New Guinea is torn between customary rights and economic progress, writes Jo Chandler.

From 200 metres up, the jungles of Papua New Guinea's Western Province look like close-packed heads of broccoli. The canopy is so dense you can't see the trees for the forest.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott’s “blood pledge” to dismantle the carbon tax if he wins power would financially punish the vulnerable and reward the big end of town, Throsby MP Stephen Jones claims.

Labor has promised to defend the carbon tax if it loses government to the Coalition, which tried unsuccessfully to block the passage of the tax through the House of Representatives yesterday.

Mr Abbott believes the Parliament had no mandate to introduce a carbon tax, predicting it will lead to a higher cost of living and job insecurity. Yesterday, he reiterated his plan to repeal the tax if the Opposition wins government.

I may be wrong...

But I feel that Fran Kelly on Radio National ABC TV is not so secretly enamoured with Tony Abbott... She seems to hate Julia. It may be that she loves the sound of her own voice while talking with a man, but when talking with other journos, it's all in roundabouts based on politics rather than the importance of proper policies... Even this morning I think I heard her say something like "I don't trust this [Labor] government to achieve something worthwhile..." between two interview segments. Of course this comment does not appear on transcripts because the transcripts are focused on the interviews...

I could have heard wrong... but I don't think so...

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has taken his campaign of fear and misinformation across the country but his latest stunt is a blood oath to make Australian families, pensioners, workers, industry and business worse off.

Mr Abbott would remove pension increases. That's the pension increase of $338 for singles and $510 for couples that the Gillard Labor government is introducing. He has promised to remove the extra payments that are going to families receiving family tax benefits and he has committed to remove personal tax cuts. And on top of this, Mr Abbott would put a $1300 tax on families and give the money to polluters.

We are often reminded that we use only 10 % of our mental potentials... People will liberally quote Einstein on this belief... But is it true, did Einstein play a trick on us or did he really say that? ...

My view for what it's worth is that Einstein might have been using 10 per cent of his mind to create his most important theories while we need about 200 per cent of our brain power to understand these... People are different. 

The Wall Street Journal Europe – owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation – was mired in controversy yesterday as its publisher quit over fears the newspaper had "crossed the boundary" between editorial content and advertising.

Andrew Langhoff sent a memo to colleagues at Dow Jones – which produces The Wall Street Journal – saying: "I wanted to let you know myself that I have decided to resign." He added that it was "the most honourable course". The move comes at a time when the "culture, practices and ethics of the press" in the UK and of News Corporation have come under close scrutiny by Lord Justice Leveson.

Stunning images from high in the Himalayas - showing the extent by which many glaciers have shrunk in the past 80 years or so - have gone on display at the Royal Geographical Society in central London.

Between 2007 and 2010, David Breashears retraced the steps of early photographic pioneers such as Major E O Wheeler, George Mallory and Vittorio Sella - to try to re-take their views of breathtaking glacial vistas.

The Prime Minster, Julia Gillard, has taken a personal interest in the plight of a 14-year-old NSW boy arrested on drug charges in Indonesia, speaking to him over the phone yesterday to offer reassurance.

The Prime Minister's office confirmed to smh.com.au that Ms Gillard told the boy the government was doing "everything it could" to get him out of the situation.

Ms Gillard has also spoken daily to Australia's Indonesian ambassador, Greg Moriarty, and yesterday she also spoke to the boy's father, who was at the Denpasar police station with Mr Moriarty.

POSE a threat to the stability of Saudi Arabia, as Shia protesters are said to to have done in Awamiya, according to reports this week from the country's oil-rich Eastern Province, and you're brandishing a scalpel over the very heart of long-term US policy in the Middle East.

The US consumes about 19 million barrels of oil every 24 hours, about half of them imported. At 25 per cent, Canada is the lead supplier. Second comes Saudi Arabia with 12 per cent. But supply of crude oil to the US is only half the story. Saudi Arabia controls OPEC's oil price and adjusts it carefully with US priorities in the front of their minds.

And when the politically uncomfortable issue of his religion boiled over this weekend in the most pronounced way yet in the 2012 contest, Romney pursued his new strategy of not directly addressing his faith.

At a gathering of Christian conservative voters in Washington on Friday, evangelical megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, chosen to introduce Texas Gov. Rick Perry, attacked Romney by telling reporters the Mormon Church is “a cult” and “Mormonism is not Christianity.” Perry quickly distanced himself from that view, telling reporters in Iowa that he did not agree with the remarks.

Inspired by the populist message of the group known as Occupy Wall Street, more than 200 Facebook pages and Twitter accounts have sprung up in dozens of cities during the past week, seeking volunteers for local protests and fostering discussion about the group’s concerns.

Some 900 events have been set up on Meetup.com, and blog posts and photographs from all over the country are popping up on the WeArethe99Percent blog on Tumblr from people who see themselves as victims of not just a sagging economy but economic injustice.

In a recent debate Congressman Ron Paul claimed the United States military had troops in 130 countries. The St. Petersburg Times looked into whether such an outrage could actually be true and was obliged to report that the number was actually 148 countries. However, if you watch NFL football games, you hear the announcers thank members of the U.S. military for watching from 177 countries. The proud public claim is worse than the scandalous claim or the "investigative" report. What gives?

On a Monday morning in July, a gunshot rang out in the administration section of Milan's San Raffaele hospital. Seconds later, a frightened secretary entered the office of the institution's vice-president, Mario Cal, and found him lying in a pool of blood. Mr Cal clung briefly to life, but the Smith and Wesson revolver had done its job. Before long he died on one of his hospital's own operating tables.