Americas Cup officials decided to postpone todays planned Louis Vuitton Cup challenger races on Auckland's Hauraki Gulf due to high winds and squalls.

The wind conditions are cosidered outside the range agreed to in the Louis Vuitton Cup Notice of Race.

Winds in excess of 25 knots were recorded this morning with gusts of 45 knots and increasing during the day. The gulf match racing course also has around a three metre swell.

Race officials are likely to play a cautious hand after the demise of the New York Yacht Club, Young America challenger boat USA 53 suffering structural damage during racing yesterday. Young America split almost in half after ploughing through a series of freak waves.

Caption: The crew of Young America struggle to keep the yacht afloat after she split almost in two during racing on the Hauraki Gulf on Tuesday.

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

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