California lawmakers on Wednesday ordered the Schwarzenegger administration to perform a detailed cost-benefit analysis of the governor's plan to sell 24 state office buildings, expressing skepticism about whether taxpayers would save money in the decades ahead.

Their demand came during a legislative hearing called to examine whether selling some of the state's most iconic buildings would be a bad deal for taxpayers.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants the cash -- estimated at $660 million -- to help close California's budget deficit, projected at $20 billion over the next 14 months.

The state's independent legislative analyst issued a report Tuesday that found California would spend up to $1.5 billion more over the next 35 years to rent the buildings after they were sold.

"Our obligation isn't just to get the quick-year fix for this budget," said Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate. "Our job is to think of taxpayers over the long run. [Read the full article]

This undated image provided by the Department of Health and Ageing shows a mock-up of a cigarette package with the banding removed and graphic health warnings displayed. Tobacco companies would be forced to use plain, logo-free packaging on their cigarettes in a bid to make them less attractive to smokers under legislation introduced Thursday, April 29, 2010, by Australia's government, which dubbed the move a world-first. (AP Photo/Dept. of Health and Ageing)

Australia said Thursday it will force tobacco companies to strip all logos and color from their packaging, a move that will leave cigarette packs decorated with only a few words and graphic warning images of shriveled, diseased lungs or gangrenous toes.

The government said the move would make Australia the world's toughest country on tobacco advertising and is aimed unashamedly at driving more people away from the habit. [Read the full article]

The aid package being negotiated to bail out Greece is worth 120 billion euros (about $160 billion) through 2012, according to Vassilis Papadimitriou, a spokesman for Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

But the International Monetary Fund and European Union are demanding further austerity measures as a price for the bailout, according to a top Greek labor union official.

Greece will be required to cut civil servants' salaries, freeze their pay increases, reduce their pension payments, change tax rates and increase the value-added tax consumers pay on purchases, according to Ilias Iliopoulos, the general secretary of the public sector union ADEDY.

The International Monetary Fund did not respond immediately to a CNN request for confirmation of the value of the package. Its head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said Wednesday the agency did not release information about deals in the works until they were done. [Read the full article]

New proposals to raise taxes on Kansas businesses surfaced Thursday as a Senate committee wrestling with the state's budget problems sought to avoid cutting education funding and social services.

Members of the Ways and Means Committee already were mulling proposals to raise sales, tobacco, liquor and even individual income taxes for wealthy families. A few senators floated a plan to impose a penny-per-teaspoon tax on the sugar in soda and other packaged drinks, but it seemed unlikely to get a serious look.

Lawmakers had a new list of options Thursday, and it included proposals to reverse some tax breaks granted to businesses in previous years. The changes would increase their taxes by $52 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The committee has drafted a budget of more than $13 billion for the next fiscal year, but the spending would outstrip anticipated revenues by about $500 million. [Read the full article]