THE PICK OF THE MORNING’S STORIES
Ahmadinejad re-election sparks Iran clashes – BBC News
Chinese rise in industrial output raises hopes of end to global recession – London Daily Telegraph
POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
Australia
Political life
Whelan rewarded on the well-worn path to Canberra – Another NSW Labor backroom operator has landed in Canberra with the appointment of John Whelan as a senior strategist in Kevin Rudd’s office. Mr Whelan has a political pedigree dating back to premier Bob Carr, for whom he spent six years as senior adviser and executive officer – Sydney Sun Herald
Old political foes call for return of lost marbles – Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser have united behind fresh efforts urging Britain to return the Parthenon sculptures to Greece -Sydney Sun Herald
Kooyong calling: the egos behind the battle – for Liberal Party pre-selection – Sunday Melbourne Age
Shorten backs safe seat for former staffer – Former Labor staffer Natalie Sykes-Hutchins is being championed by influential Victorian federal MP Bill Shorten to be shepherded into a safe Labor state seat at the next election – Sunday Melbourne Age
Law and order
State’s police licensed to Taser – Taser stun guns will be rolled out across the state in the biggest revolution of police equipment since the NSW force was formed in 1862 – Sydney Sun Herald
Man launches civil action after stun-gun attack – the planned roll-out of Tasers comes as lawyers prepare the first civil action against NSW Police over the alleged misuse of a Taser on a Sydney man – Sydney Sun Herald
Men of colours stand united in face of bikie bill – Sydney Sun Herald
‘Street violence to blame, not racism’ – bashed doctor of Indian origin tells the Sunday Melbourne Age
Budgetary matters
Libs skewer ALP over looming NSW budget deficit – Sydney Sun Herald
Government perks, free lunches to end in Queensland budget – Brisbane Sunday Mail
Rate rises in double digits as Queensland councils claw back lost revenue – Brisbane Sunday Mail
Economic matters
Salaries slashed as jobless line grows – Queensland Sunday Mail
Leadership
Sartor claws towards Labor leadership – MP Frank Sartor is being seriously considered for the premier’s job as infighting paralyses Nathan Rees. Senior Labor figures and MPs are so frustrated by the party’s performance they are actively weighing Mr Sartor’s leadership potential despite years of dismissing his ambitions because of his hot-headedness – Sydney Sunday Telegraph
ALP conference no school for scandal – John Brumby gave the topics of branch-stacking and local government scandals a wide berth yesterday as he addressed hundreds of the Labor Party faithful at Melbourne Town Hall reports the Sunday Melbourne Age
A hint of strange things
Confiscated drug-money use `favoured Labor’ – an audit has allegedly revealed consficated drug money was used by the former government as a slush fund to pork-barrel Labor electorates – Perth Sunday Times
Public transport
Are cyclists being taken for a ride? – the Sunday Melbourne Age looks at the proposed costs of hiring a bike for inner city travel
Defence
Afghanistan battle bonds brothers in arms – The story of a Dutch soldier’s courage reveals what our army keeps secret, writes Tom Hyland in the Sunday Melbourne Age
Opinion
Anything flies in Wonderland – Glenn Milne in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph and other News Sundays, on what the Commonwealth Bank’s mortgage interest rate rise will be on consumer confidence and thus economic recovery.
PM denies flood victims a fair shake – Piers Akerman in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph makes the case for federal aid to north coast NSW flood sufferers
Ghost in the machine – Josh Gordon in the Melbourne Sunday Age writes that the endless speculation about Peter Costello is turning out to be, well, endless.
Stop wasting time and save the planet, Mr Rudd – urges Damien Lawson in the Melbourne Sunday Age
Elsewhere
Elections
Ahmadinejad re-election sparks Iran clashes – BBC News
World Financial Crisis
Big economies ‘stabilising’ – G8 – world’s largest economies are beginning to stabilise but still face major risks amid an ongoing global recession, G8 finance ministers say – BBC News
BUSINESS
George Soros urges governments to outlaw ”toxic’ credit default swaps – London Daily Telegraph
Chinese rise in industrial output raises hopes of end to global recession – London Daily Telegraph
ENVIRONMENT
Rebate shock could prove a panel beater – Sydney Sunday Telegraph on the impact of changes to solar panel rebate
MEDIA
Winners and losers in an all-digital TV world – Christian Science Monitor
Eddie McGuire’s TV games gold – Eddie to host coverage of winter Olympics next year – Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun
It’s comedy as usual at ABC – The Chaser’s Chris Taylor was offering a newsflash on his Facebook page yesterday: he told friends he had just learned “that the ABC will appoint Ruth Cracknell’s corpse as the new Head of Comedy” – Sydney Sun Herald
I’ll have a little Elvis with that, thanks – Cafe and restaurant patrons could soon be eating in silence, after a proposal by Australia’s largest record labels to increase the cost of background music by up to 2000 times – Sunday Melbourne Age
LIFE
Swine flu
Swine flu fear dries up wine at Communion – Sydney Sun Herald
Australian U21 lacrosse team confined in Korea in swine flu scare – Sunday Melbourne Age
Shopping
Night shopping hours decision ‘this week’ – Barnett – Premier Colin Barnett will introduce a Liberal Party Bill this week to extend week night shopping hours to either 8 or 9pm – Perth Sunday Times
Housing
Slumlord millionaires cash in on hard times – Melbourne Sunday Age
Hair
Cure for baldness may lie in stem cells – Sydney Sun Herald
Drugs
More workers caught as drug tests increase – Sydney Sun Herald
Abyss awaits young as teen drug rehab closes – Children with drug and alcohol addictions will “slip through the net” when the Victoria’s only residential rehabilitation program for young teenagers closes this month because of a lack of funds. Melbourne Sunday Age
‘I felt like I was part of the family’ – the story of a successful treatment of a teenager – Melbourne Sunday Age
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