Debate over Afghan plan was intense, rigorous and frustrating

Peter Baker on the gruelling and competitive scene inside the White House situation room.

Downloaded

Temperamental Britain's Got Talent phenomenon Susan Boyle may have the No. 1 album this week (and the highest first week sales in UK chart history), but unsurprisingly her audience is more of a CD-buying one, and the rushed-out debut Golden Rule only came in at number eight on the digital album charts.

Outside payments under examination in free agency talks

THIRD-party payments to footballers have come under renewed scrutiny from the AFL, placing the league at odds with its players' union and creating another hurdle in the contentious free agency negotiations.

TELEVISION

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT 8pm, ABC1

Lockyer leads the Broncos back from dead

Broncos 58 Panthers 24

When Trust Is Lost, Viewers Go Shopping

IT IS logical to assume that most Australians buy DVDs to recapture their pleasure in a movie they remember from the cinema or to catch up with a movie they didn't get round to seeing when it was first on. Logical, but wrong. There's much to be learnt about how Australians are changing from this chart, kindly supplied by the research organisation GfK marketing:

Albums I Have Known

Brian Nankervis takes a stroll down musical memory lane.

How Hannah's Mum Bought Her Instant Top 40 Stardom

THE mother of ambitious Sydney pop singer Hannah has revealed how she helped manipulate the ARIA Top 40 singles chart in a misguided attempt to further her daughter's career.

Disposable Heroes

On today's singles chart the most popular music is loud and fast, and everyone over 25 hates it. Is it heavy metal? Grunge? A punk revival? Nope. It's dance music. And for several years it's made up about half of Top 40 singles. Since the late '60s, record companies have relied on single