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Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said there had been a "failure to disclose to the Australian people the qualified nature of the intelligence - for example, the pre-war warning that an attack on Iraq would increase the terrorist threat, not decrease it".

Mr Rudd, a former diplomat, also dismissed his prede- cessor's argument that Australia had been obliged to send troops to Iraq because of its long-standing alliance with the United States.

He said while he valued the alliance highly, it did not mean that Canberra should automatically accede to US requests for military support.

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Photos courtesy of AP and defenselink.mil/HomePagePhotos/

Original Source: Telegraph

To keep Jobless from becoming Homeless in the midst of economic turmoil, millions need direct financial aid. Australia now takes action though its unemployment rate stood at 5.2% in February, while in comparison, unemployment rate in U.S., for example, rose to 8.5% in March and homelessness rates across the States is soaring...

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The Australian government announced Sunday that the country's biggest four banks will give people who have lost their job up to a year free of mortgage repayments. After returning from G20 meetings in London, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told an employment conference in Melbourne the mortgage assistance plan would alleviate the "anxiety and fear" the jobless feel when faced with ongoing payments.

Australia's big-four banks, which dominate the home loan sector, include the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AU); National Australia Bank (NAB.AU); Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AU) and the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ.AU).  read more »

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April 4, 1865
Lincoln dreams about a presidential assassination
According to the recollection of one of his friends, Ward Hill Lamon, President Abraham Lincoln dreams on this night in 1865 of “the subdued sobs of mourners” and a corpse lying on a catafalque in the White House East Room. In the dream, Lincoln asked a soldier standing guard “Who is dead in the White House?” to which the soldier replied, “the President….he was killed by an assassin.” Lincoln woke up at that point. On April 11, he told Lamon that the dream had “strangely annoyed” him ever since. Ten days after having the dream, Lincoln was shot dead by an assassin while attending the theater.

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Photos courtesy of www.galesburgslincoln.org-a.googlepages.com and Wikipedia

Original Source: History.com

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Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States are all laying claim to a piece of the Arctic circle, hoping to be able to cash in on the vast natural energy resources believed to lie beneath. Each season the ice gets thinner, and the prospects of riches grows. Russia goes one step further - plans for dedicated Arctic military presence intensifies dispute with Canada.

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Original Source: Globe and Mail

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A British military band performs during the handover ceremony of Basra's international airport from British forces to the U.S. forces, 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad March 31, 2009. People in the Iraqi city of Basra fear the U.S. troops taking over from departing British forces, whose relatively light touch contrasts with the U.S. military's fearsome, and sometimes trigger-happy, reputation.

HOLLYWOOD - MARCH 21: Anti-war demonstrators carry model coffins in a protest march on Hollywood Boulevard to mark the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war ground invasion on March 21, 2009 in Hollywood, California. An estimated 91,000 Iraqi civilians have died since the invasion. The US has lost more than 4,200 military service members. While violence is reportedly at its lowest point since the US invasion, suicide bombers still terrorize the people of some regions of Iraq. President Barack Obama has ordered US combat troops home by September of 2010 and all US forces out by 2012.  read more »

Photos courtesy of TreeHugger and Keetsa

Read articles: TreeHugger - Seeking Oil, Russia Claims North Pole and Keetsa - Russians dispatching a Submarine

Window to the World, calling for Wind of Wisdom,
as common sense is a gift to each soul,
as common environment is the inseparable planet,
as common desire is to live in a better world.

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Earth Hour 2009 has garnered support from global corporations, nonprofit groups, schools, scientists and celebrities — including Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett and retired Cape Town Archbishop Desmond Tutu. From an Antarctic research base to the Great Pyramids of Egypt and beyond, the world switched off the lights on Saturday for Earth Hour, dimming skyscrapers, city streets and some of the world's most recognizable monuments for 60 minutes to highlight the threat of climate change. Time zone by time zone, nearly 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries joined the event sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund to dim nonessential lights from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

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