A controversial Republican candidate for the US Senate is trying to play down revelations that she dabbled with witchcraft in high school.

"How many of you didn't hang out with questionable folks...?" said Christine O'Donnell, a day after a clip of her discussing the occult was rebroadcast.

Ms O'Donnell is backed by the right-wing, grassroots Tea Party and known for her conservative Christian views.

Last week she beat a veteran politician for the Senate nomination in Delaware.

In the biggest ticket scramble since the 2000 Olympics, Oprah is planning for an audience of about 3000 people for two episodes in the forecourt of the Opera House.

This will include the 300 loyal audience members, who were told at the opening show of Oprah's farewell season yesterday that they were being treated to the trip.

Ticketing for the summer telecasts will be finalised by Oprah's Harpo Productions next month, with fans to log their interest online on a date to be advised.

Amid frenzied scenes on the Chicago set of her show, the TV host sent a personalised message to Australia sharing her wish list for the "dream vacation".

Cracks have appeared in the agreement between the country independents and the major parties over parliamentary reform, after independent MP Rob Oakeshott dropped his bid to be speaker of the House of Representatives.

Mr Oakeshott announced his plans to seek the job as speaker last week, but changed his mind after meeting Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and manager of Opposition business Christopher Pyne yesterday.

He said he was backing a Liberal to take the speaker's job but accused the Opposition of moving away from the spirit of the reform agreement hammered out in the wake of the inconclusive federal election.

From Gerard Henderson...

WASHINGTON - Tea Party darling Christine O'Donnell's Delaware win triggered angry GOPer-vs.-GOPer backbiting Wednesday and gave Democrats new hope of avoiding disaster in November.

O'Donnell followed up her 6-point victory over veteran Rep. Mike Castle for the Republican Senate nomination by thumbing her nose at party establishment types and mocking the GOP feud with the Tea Party as "Republican cannibalism."

"There are a lot of people who are rallying behind me who are frustrated that the Republican Party has lost its way," O'Donnell said.

Malcolm Turnbull has laid out clearly why the Federal Government needs to do more to show that its planned $43 billion National Broadband Network is not a waste of taxpayer funds.

Back in the saddle as a senior Opposition frontbencher for the first time in nine months, Turnbull lost no time in carrying out the riding instructions of his leader Tony Abbott - to ''demolish'' Labor's political and policy case for the NBN.

But there is just one problem for Abbott.

RALSTON, Iowa — Piglets hop, scurry and squeal their way to the far corner of the pen, eyeing an approaching human. “It shows that they’re healthy animals,” Craig Rowles, the owner of a large pork farm here, said with pride.

Mr. Rowles says he keeps his pigs fit by feeding them antibiotics for weeks after weaning, to ward off possible illness in that vulnerable period. And for months after that, he administers an antibiotic that promotes faster growth with less feed.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he hopes the appointment of Malcolm Turnbull as communications spokesman will help convince key independent MPs to dump Labor and switch sides.

Mr Abbott is foreshadowing his tactics for the coming months after yesterday revealing a frontbench line-up which he described as "hungry" to hold the minority Government to account.

He has flagged the Government's broadband policy - one of the areas crucial in swinging at least one independent towards supporting Labor - as a major battleground over the next 18 months.

The Opposition's new communications spokesman, Malcolm Turnbull, has wasted no time in attacking the Federal Government's management of the National Broadband Network (NBN) amid claims of a potential budget blowout.

Earlier today Opposition Leader Tony Abbott ordered Mr Turnbull to "demolish" the NBN as he brought him back to the Coalition frontbench to head up its communications portfolio.

Declaring the NBN would be the "absolute focus" of the political battle of the next 18 months, Mr Abbott said he could think of no better person to "ferociously" hold the Government to account on the issue.

Terrorists' biggest bonus was gained when the US invaded Iraq

September 14, 2010

The pastor of a small US church who planned to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11 has cancelled his protest.

Terry Jones said he was calling off the event after the group behind a planned Islamic centre near Ground Zero in New York agreed to relocate it.

But the cultural centre's organisers said they had no plans to move it.

...

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates had telephoned him to urge him to reconsider his plans. The pastor had also been visited several times by the FBI.