A long-awaited Pentagon report into gays in the military shows that repealing the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" law would have little effect on the army's ability to carry out missions. It found 70 per cent of soldiers believed it would have little or no effect on their units. The US Senate had been waiting for the study’s release before deciding whether to dump the policy.

 

Julia Gillard is under pressure from within her own party to put the issue of nuclear power on the agenda. News Limited is reporting that some federal Labor MPs want the Government to embrace nuclear energy. And today the Resources Minister Martin Ferguson will release a report by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. The report is in favour of nuclear power. 

 

A man arrested last week in Victoria’s biggest drug bust has died in custody. The 48-year-old Vietnamese man was found unconscious in a prison toilet and died later in hospital. He suffered from asthma.

 

And the drought is well and truly over in the country. Australia’s had its wettest spring on record. An average of 160 millimetres fell across the country. Queensland and the Northern Territory recorded their highest-ever spring rainfall.