Sometimes in the newsroom you stumble on a photographer at work, flashes firing amid a full lighting set-up. The subject of Elesa Kurtz's glamour-shot treatment last week was a humble pile of cans - specifically cans of tomato (though we tend to call them "tinned"). In Food & Wine today Karen Hardy says tomato, putting the Italian cooking essential to the test - and it turns out top dollar doesn't always equal top taste.

In leading news this morning, senior political reporter Dana Daniel reveals the promised Australian Centre for Disease Control - a key item promised in the wake of the pandemic inquiry - is firmly on the backburner.

And for those of us who strapped our kiddos into car seats rented from Kidsafe, it's troubling news from Megan Doherty that the charity is on its last legs. Without an injection of funding from the government, it could be closed by the end of the year.

Keep up to date with breaking news on The Canberra Times website throughout today. And after a morning hovering around two degrees, enjoy a sunny day with a top of 16.

John-Paul Moloney, managing editor