The Rudd government's tax hike on luxury cars is losing the support of key crossbench senators.
The tax increase, from 25 per cent to 33 per cent, was introduced in Labor's first budget and is estimated to affect the sales of about 105,000 cars per year.
The tax applies to cars selling for a retail price above $57,180 from July 1.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon has joined the Greens in questioning the sense in making new car buyers pay more for fuel efficient motor vehicles.

Is global warming causing more extreme weather? Many people seem to think that the last decade's heat waves, hurricanes and droughts did not happen just by chance, but were linked to the phenomenon of global warming.

In 2003, for instance, a ferocious heat wave settled unexpectedly across Europe and killed 35,000 people. Nobody saw it coming.

Voters in Indiana last week asked Barack Obama what his highest priorities would be in his "first 1,000 days in office". Ahead of universal healthcare and ending the Iraq war, the first item on Mr Obama's list was comprehensive energy reform.

Observers of the increasingly commuter-focused presidential debate in the US could be forgiven for thinking that the pain of high petrol prices has driven the issue of global warming off the political agenda.

Last year, a private company proposed "fertilizing" parts of the ocean with iron, in hopes of encouraging carbon-absorbing blooms of plankton. Meanwhile, researchers elsewhere are talking about injecting chemicals into the atmosphere, launching sun-reflecting mirrors into stationary orbit above the earth or taking other steps to reset the thermostat of a warming planet.

Every international report on India says that India should seek options that are proactive in terms of developing international strategies to reduce the risk of destructive climate change. Knowing this, why does the government refuse to do anything to establish alternative sources of energy?

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 1
Chief Minister urged the people to make